What are the 03 levels of state secret in Vietnam?

What are the 03 levels of state secret in Vietnam? (Internet image) 

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

1. What are the 03 levels of state secret in Vietnam?

According to Article 8 of the State Secrets Protection Law 2018, based on the importance of their contents and scale of damage in case of divulgence or loss, state secrets are classified into the following 03 levels:

- State secrets classified as “top secret” are those related to politics, national defense and security, cryptography and foreign affairs whose divulgence or loss can cause exceptionally grave damage to national interest;

- State secrets classified as “secret” are those related to politics, national defense and security, cryptography, constitution formulation, legislation, judiciary, foreign affairs, economy, resources and the environment, science and technology, education and training, culture, sport, information and communications, healthcare, population, labor and social affairs, organizational structure and official affairs, inspection, supervision, handling of violations, settlement of complaints and denunciations, anti-corruption and state audit whose divulgence or loss can cause extremely grave damage to national interest;

- State secrets classified as “confidential” are those related to politics, national defense and security, cryptography, constitution formulation, legislation, judiciary, foreign affairs, economy, resources and the environment, science and technology, education and training, culture, sports, information and communications, healthcare, population, labor and social affairs, organizational structure and official affairs, inspection, supervision, handling of violations, settlement of complaints and denunciation, anti-corruption and state audit whose divulgence or loss can cause grave damage to national interest.

2. Promulgation of state secrets lists in Vietnam 

Pursuant to Article 9 of the State Secrets Protection Law 2018, promulgation of state secrets lists is as follows:

- The Prime Minister shall promulgate state secrets lists according to regulations of Article 7 and Article 8 of the State Secrets Protection Law 2018.

- The persons who hold responsibilities for compiling state secrets lists include:

+ Ministers and heads of Ministerial-level agencies shall compile lists of state secrets concerning the areas under their management;

+ Chief of Office of the Central Steering Committee shall compile the list of states secrets of the Communist Party;

+ Heads of central bodies of socio-political organizations shall compile lists of state secrets of socio-political organizations;

+ The Secretary General of the National Assembly - Chief of Office of the National Assembly shall compile the list(s) of state secrets of the National Assembly, organizations of the National Assembly, organizations affiliated to the Standing Committee of the National Assembly, Secretary General of the National Assembly, Office of the National Assembly and Delegation of the National Assembly Deputies

+ Chief of Office of the President shall compile the list of state secrets of the President and Office of the President;

+ The Chief Justice of the Supreme People’s Court, Chief Prosecutor of the Supreme People’s Procuracy and State Auditor General shall compile lists of state secrets of the areas under their management.

- A person responsible for compiling a list of state secrets defined in Clause 2 herein shall send a dossier to the Ministry of Public Security for appraisal, excluding the cases provided for in Clause 5 Article 9 of the State Secrets Protection Law 2018.

A dossier to be sent to the Ministry of Public Security consists of a proposal to the Prime Minister; draft decision on promulgation of the list of state secrets; a compiled report containing explanations and selected opinions from relevant regulatory bodies and organizations; and copies of opinions.

The appraisal record of the Ministry of Public Security must be sent to the person responsible for compiling such list no later than 30 days from the date of receipt of the complete dossier.

- After receiving the appraisal record of the Ministry of Public Security, the person responsible for compiling the list of state secrets defined in Clause 3 herein shall submit the list to the Prime Minister for consideration and decision on promulgation.

- The Minister of National Defense and Minister of Public Security shall submit the lists of state secrets under their management to the Prime Minister for consideration and decision on promulgation.

3. Determination of state secrets and confidentiality of state secrets in Vietnam

According to Article 10 of the Article 9 of the State Secrets Protection Law 2018 stipulates the determination of state secrets and the level of state secrets as follows:

- State secrets and confidentiality thereof must be determined according to state secrets lists and regulations of the State Secrets Protection Law 2018.

- Heads of regulatory bodies and organizations shall determine state secrets, confidentiality thereof, scope of distribution and whether duplication or photographing of containers of such state secrets is permitted.

When a state secret of another regulatory body or organization is used, its confidentiality level must be determined as appropriate. If different pieces of information in the container of a state secret included in a state secret list have different confidentiality levels, the highest level shall prevail.

- Confidentiality of state secrets shall be denoted by confidentiality markings, confidentiality notices or in other forms suitable to state secret containers.

Ho Quoc Tuan

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