Aggravating Circumstances for Disciplinary Actions Against Organizations and Members of Vietnam Communist Party in Violation

Aggravating Circumstances for Disciplinary Actions Against Organizations and Members of Vietnam Communist Party in Violation​ (Image from Internet)

1. Aggravating Circumstances for Disciplinary Actions Against Organizations and Members of Vietnam Communist Party in Violation

According to Article 6 of Regulation 69-QD/TW in 2022, if there is one or more of the following circumstances in the case of a violation, the disciplinary actions must be considered and aggravated:

* For organizations of Vietnam Communist Party

- Failing to promptly address and rectify shortcomings and violations as per the conclusions of competent Party organizations or agencies; not voluntarily admitting shortcomings and violations.

- Suppressing those who fight against, report, testify, or provide evidence of violations; obstructing, hindering, or causing difficulties in the inspection, verification, and collection of evidence of violations; covering up and concealing violations.

- Providing false information and reports; threatening, coercing others not to provide evidence and documents; failing to provide or providing incomplete documents, destroying documents and evidence related to violations; forging dossiers, documents, and evidence to evade responsibility.

- Exploiting emergencies, natural disasters, fires, epidemics, social security policies, and national defense and security measures for personal gain.

- Committing violations two or more times, having a systemic nature, or continuing violations despite previous disciplinary actions; deliberately delaying the consideration and rectification process, complicating the situation within the organizations, agencies, and units.

- Knowing about but failing to prevent or allowing staff, Party members under their direct management to engage in corruption, causing serious consequences.

* For members of Vietnam Communist Party

- Failing to comply with the Party organization's request to review but not implementing and not rectifying shortcomings and violations. Not voluntarily admitting shortcomings and violations, incurring disciplinary actions corresponding to the content, nature, and severity of the violations; causing material damage but not compensating, not rectifying the consequences, or not fulfilling the competent agency's requirements, not voluntarily returning money and property obtained through violations.

- Evasion, obstruction of the inspection, supervision, audit, investigation, prosecution, adjudication, and execution processes. Shielding violators; threatening, retaliating, or targeting those who fight against, report, or testify about the violations, and those providing documents and evidence of violations.

- Violations involving organized schemes, being the mastermind; providing false reports; preventing others from providing evidence of violations; concealing, altering, and destroying evidence, creating forged documents, dossiers, and evidence.

- Exploiting positions, authorities, emergency situations, natural disasters, fires, epidemics to implement social security policies and national defense and security measures for personal gain. Coercing, persuading, organizing, or aiding others to commit violations.

2. Principles for Disciplinary Actions Against Violating Organizations and Members of Vietnam Communist Party

The principles for disciplinary actions against violating organizations and members of Vietnam Communist Party according to Article 2 of Regulation 69-QD/TW in 2022, are as follows:

- All Party organizations and Party members are equal before the discipline of the Communist Party. Any Party organization or member violating the Party's guidelines, regulations, and State laws must be impartially, accurately, and promptly disciplined.

- Disciplinary actions must comply with the principles, processes, procedures, and authorities as stipulated by the Vietnam Communist Party.

- Disciplinary reviews must be based on the content, motives, nature, severity, consequences, causes of violations, specific circumstances, aggravating or mitigating factors, and the perpetrators’ attitude toward self-criticism, accepting criticism, and the results of rectification and damage control.

- An act of violation can only be disciplined once with one form of disciplinary action. When considering multiple violations simultaneously, each violation should be evaluated separately but a combined decision will be made using the highest form of disciplinary action; each violation should not be separated to apply different disciplinary measures multiple times.

- After 12 months from the date of announcing the disciplinary decision or decision on resolving disciplinary complaints (except for expulsion decisions for Party members or dissolution decisions for Party organizations), if the Party organization or member does not complain, do not repeat the offense, or do not commit new violations necessitating disciplinary actions, the disciplinary decision will automatically cease its effect.

- If a Party organization or member is unjustly disciplined, the organization issuing the decision must annul or amend the decision accordingly; if the organization does not take action, the superior Party organization has the authority to decide and concurrently review the responsibility of the organization that issued the unjust decision, and if there are violations necessitating disciplinary actions, they will be dealt with per the regulations.

- A disciplined Party organization that has been transferred, divided, merged, or terminated will have its disciplinary decision announced at the receiving organization or the superior Party organization directly overseeing the transferred, divided, or merged entity.

- Disciplinary actions against a Party organization must clearly assess the responsibility of the organization and the related individuals to impose relevant disciplinary measures on the violating Party members, especially the responsibility of the leader.

Party members in a disciplined organization are accountable for the organization's violations, the form of disciplinary action imposed on the organization, and this must be recorded in their Party member profile; Party members not personally disciplined will continue to be reviewed and subject to personnel actions by the competent Party organization per regulations. Party members who did not support or were not directly involved in the organization’s violations must also have this noted in their Party profiles.

- Party members violating laws must be seriously handled according to legal provisions; if violations are severe enough for criminal prosecution, and they are wanted or sentenced to non-custodial reform or longer, they will be expelled from the Communist Party; if the punishment is lighter than non-custodial reform, disciplinary actions will be imposed depending on the content, nature, severity, consequences, causes of violations, and any aggravating or mitigating factors. If financial losses are incurred to the Communist Party, State, organizations, or individuals, responsibilities and compensations will be reviewed.

- Party disciplinary actions do not replace administrative, organizational, or legal punishments. If a Party member is disciplined, their managing Party committee must promptly direct or request the competent State agency or political-social organization to enforce administrative or organizational discipline (if any) within 30 days of announcing the Party disciplinary decision.

When State agencies, the Vietnam Fatherland Front, political-social organizations, and law enforcement agencies discipline, prosecute or criminally investigate officials, public employees, members, and workers who are Party members, they must notify the managing Party organization. Within 30 days of receiving the notification, the managing Party organization must implement Party disciplinary measures.

- In cases involving multiple Party members committing violations, each member will be disciplined based on their own violations.

- Party members who change jobs, leave, or retire and are later found to have committed violations at their previous organization must be disciplined in accordance with the Party rules and State law.

- Party members must not be transferred, rotated, appointed, promoted, or conferred titles by the Party or State while under disciplinary review.

- Conditions for delaying, exempting, or not imposing discipline:

+ Female Party members who are pregnant, on maternity leave, or raising children under 12 months old, or male Party members in similar situations due to the death of their spouse or other unavoidable reasons, will not be considered for discipline.

+ Party members undergoing inpatient treatment for severe illnesses will not be disciplined until their health stabilizes.

+ Deceased Party members who violated policies will still be evaluated but not disciplined unless the violation is particularly serious.

+ Party members declared missing will be evaluated but not disciplined until found alive, at which point disciplinary actions will be taken if necessary.

+ Party members proposing innovations in accordance with Conclusion 14-KL/TW dated September 22, 2021, from the Politburo and authorized by competent agencies, causing damage due to objective reasons, will be exempt or have reduced responsibility if their motives were pure and for common interests.

+ Violations due to complying with incorrect guidelines, decisions, or orders from superior organizations, or due to coercion but proactively and promptly reporting in writing to the competent organizations before implementing, will be exempt from discipline.

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