How to control conflicts of interest in anti-corruption in Vietnam?

One of the actual situations showing signs of corruption is a conflict of interest. According to Clause 8 Article 3 of the Anti-corruption Law 2018 of Vietnam, “conflict of interest” means a situation where the interests of an office holder or his/her relative have or are likely to have an influence on performance of the office holder’s duties.

According to Article 29 of the Decree No. 59/2019/NĐ-CP of the Vietnam’s Government, there are 09 cases of conflict of interest of office holder, such as:

- Receiving money, property or other benefits of the agencies, organizations, units or individuals involved in their work or under their management;

- Establishing, managing, operating sole proprietorship, limited liability companies, joint-stock companies, partnerships or cooperatives unless specified otherwise;

- Assigning spouses, biological parents, children, siblings to hold managerial ranks in positions such as human resources, accountants, treasurers, warehouse-keepers in the agencies, organizations, units or to trade goods, services, sign contracts for the agencies, organizations, units in which he/she is the head or deputy;

- …

In order to manage conflict of interest, Clause 3 Article 23 of the Anti-corruption Law 2018 of Vietnam stipulates 03 acts as follows:

Article 23. Managing conflict of interest

3. If the office holder’s manager or employer finds that the integrity, objectivity or truthfulness of the office holder can be affected by the conflict of interest, he/she shall:

a) supervise the performance of duties by the office holder affected by the conflict of interest;

a) suspend the office holder from performance of his/her duties; or

c) temporarily reassign the office holder.

It can be seen that depending on each specific case, one of the above three methods will be applied to control conflicts of interest.

View more details at the Anti-corruption Law 2018 of Vietnam, effective from July 01, 2019.

Phuong Thanh

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