Disciplinary procedures for public employees in Vietnam

Disciplinary procedures for public employees in Vietnam (Internet image)

Regarding this issue, LawNet would like to answer as follows:

1. Who has the authority to discipline public employees?

According to Article 31 of Decree 112/2020/ND-CP (amended in Decree 71/2023/ND-CP)), the authority to discipline public employees is stipulated as follows:

- For management officials, heads of agencies, organizations, and units with authority to appoint, conduct disciplinary actions, and decide on disciplinary forms.

For officials holding elected positions or titles, the competent authority shall approve and decide to recognize the election results, conduct disciplinary action, and decide on the disciplinary form.

- For public employees who do not hold management positions, the head of the public service unit managing the public employee shall conduct disciplinary action and decide on the form of discipline, except for the cases specified in Clause 6, Article 35 of Decree 112/2020/ND-CP.

In case of dismissal, the head of the public service unit shall report to the competent recruitment authority before making a decision, except in cases where public service units have recruitment authority or are assigned recruitment authority.

- For seconded officials, the head of the agency where the officer is sent on secondment conducts disciplinary action and agrees on the disciplinary form with the seconding agency before deciding on the disciplinary form.

In case of discipline in the form of dismissal, based on the recommendation of the Disciplinary Council, the dispatching agency shall issue a decision on dismissal.

Records and disciplinary decisions on seconded public employees must be sent to the agency managing seconded public employees.

- For public employees working in the People's Courts and People's Procuracy, the authority to handle disciplinary actions is carried out according to the regulations of the agency competent to manage the public employees.

2. Disciplinary procedures for public employees in Vietnam

Article 32 of Decree 112/2020/ND-CP (amended in Decree 71/2023/ND-CP)) stipulates the order and procedures for disciplinary action against public employees as follows:

- Disciplinary action against public employees is carried out according to the following steps:

(i) Organize review meetings;

(ii) Establish a Disciplinary Council;

(iii) The competent authority issues a disciplinary decision.

- Do not comply with the provisions in point (i) in the following cases:

+ Disciplinary action according to the provisions of Clause 10 and Article 2 of Decree 112/2020/ND-CP;

+ Disciplinary action according to the decision of the competent authority specified in Clause 4, Article 3 of Decree 112/2020/ND-CP, or a review has been organized according to the provisions of the law, and the individual has accepted responsibility for his violation.

- Do not comply with the provisions in points (i) and (ii) in the following cases:

+ There has been a conclusion from a competent agency or organization about the violation, including specific proposals for disciplinary action according to regulations;

+ An official who violates the law is sentenced by the court to imprisonment without a suspended sentence or is convicted by the Court of corruption;

+ There has been a decision to discipline the party, except in cases where the competent authority decides to establish a Disciplinary Council as prescribed in Clause 6, Article 2 of Decree 112/2020/ND-CP.

In the cases specified above, conclusions about violations (if any) can be used without re-investigation or verification.

3. Regulations on holding meetings to review public employees in Vietnam

- Responsibility for organizing review meetings

+ For management officials, heads of agencies, organizations, and units with appointment authority are responsible for organizing review meetings and deciding on participants.

+ For public employees who do not hold a management position, the head of the agency, organization, or unit employing the public employee is responsible for organizing the disciplinary meeting.

In case the head and all deputies of the head of an agency, organization, or unit employing public employees fall into one of the cases specified in Clause 11, Article 2 of Decree 112/2020/ND-CP, the leader of the immediate superior agency of the agency employing the officer presides over the meeting.

- Meeting participants specified in Point b, Clause 1, Article 33 of Decree 112/2020/ND-CP are specified as follows:

+ In case the agency, organization, or unit where an employee works is a constituent unit, the participants in the meeting are all employees of the constituent unit and representatives of the unit's leaders, party committees, and trade unions;

+ In case the agency, organization, or unit managing public employees does not have a constituent unit, the participants in the review meeting are all officials of the agency, organization, or unit;

+ In case the person being criticized is a seconded officer, in addition to the above-mentioned members, there must also be a leadership representative of the agency appointing the seconded officer.

- The organization of the review meeting is conducted as follows:

+ The person chairing the meeting declares the reason for the meeting and informs or authorizes the advisory agency on organizational and staff work to announce the following contents: summary of the work process; violation; issued handling forms (if any); the time the violation occurred; the time the violation was discovered; aggravating and mitigating circumstances of the violator; statute of limitations and processing time limit as prescribed by law;

+ The person who committed the violation presents a review, clearly stating the violation and accepting disciplinary action.

In case the person committing the violation is present at the meeting but does not make a review, the review meeting will still be conducted.

In case the person committing the violation is absent from the meeting according to the second convening notice, the review meeting will still be conducted;

+ Members attending the meeting speak and clearly state their opinions on the contents specified in Point a of this Clause. At this meeting, no votes will be conducted;

+ The person chairing the meeting concludes.

The content of the review meeting must be recorded in minutes.

- Within 03 working days from the end of the review meeting, the meeting chairperson is responsible for sending the report and minutes of the review meeting to the competent authority for disciplinary action. The report must clearly show the following contents:

+ Violations, nature, and consequences of violations;

+ Aggravating and mitigating circumstances;

+ Responsibilities of violators and corresponding disciplinary measures;

+ Statute of limitations and time limit for disciplinary action according to the provisions of law;

+ Recommendations on disciplinary action; disciplinary action (if any) and implementation procedure.

(Article 33 of Decree 112/2020/ND-CP (amended in Decree 71/2023/ND-CP))

Nguyen Ngoc Que Anh

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