Decree 118/2021/Vietnam on Administrative penalties

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DECREE 118/2021/ND-CP

December 23, 2021

Detailing a number of articles of, and measures to implement, the Law on Handling of Administrative Violations

Pursuant to the Law on Organization of the Government dated June 19, 2015, and the Law Amending and Supplementing a Number of Articles of the Law on Organization of the Government and the Law on Organization of Local Administration dated November 22, 2019;

Pursuant to the Law on Handling of Administrative Violations dated June 20, 2012, and the Law Amending and Supplementing a Number of Articles of the Law on Handling of Administrative Violations dated November 13, 2020;

At the proposal of the Minister of Justice;

The Government hereby promulgates the Decree detailing a number of articles of, and measures to implement, the Law on Handling of Administrative Violations.

Chapter I. GENERAL PROVISIONS

Article 1. Scope of regulation

This Decree details a number of articles of and measures to implement the Law on Handling of Administrative Violations regarding:

1. Entities subject to sanctioning of administrative violations.

2. Provisions on administrative violations and sanctioning of administrative violations.

3. Application of provisions on sanctioning of administrative violations.

4. State management of the implementation of the law on handling of administrative violations.

Article 2. Subjects of application

1. Agencies competent to manage the implementation of the law on handling administrative violations.

2. Agencies and persons competent to handle administrative violations.

3. Agencies, organizations and individuals involved in the implementation of the law on handling administrative violations.

Article 3. Entities subject to sanctioning of administrative violations

1. Entities subject to sanctioning of administrative violations are specified in Clause 1 Article 5 of the Law on Handling of Administrative Violations.

2. An organization shall be sanctioned for an administrative violation when the following conditions are fully met:

a) It is a legal entity as defined by the civil law or another organization established in accordance with law;

b) The administrative violation is committed by the representative or a person assigned to act on behalf of the organization or person committing the act of violation under the organization’s direction, administration, assignment or approval and such act is specified in the decree on sanctioning of administrative violations in the field of State management.

3. Organizations to be sanctioned for administrative violations shall be specified in the decrees on sanctioning of administrative violations in the field of state management.

4. If a branch, representative office, or business location commits an administrative violation within the scope and period as authorized by a legal entity or organization, or as directed, managed, assigned, or approved by the legal entity or organization, the entity subject to sanctioning of administrative violations shall be the legal entity or organization itself, and be sanctioned according to the fine levels applicable to an organization, for the acts of violation committed by its branch, representative office or business location.

If a branch, representative office, or business location of a legal entity or organization commits an administrative violation beyond the scope or period delegated as authorized by the legal entity or organization or inconsistent with the direction, management, assignment, or approval of the legal entity or organization, such branch, representative office, or business location shall take responsibility and be sanctioned according to the fine levels applicable to an organization, for the acts of violation committed by the branch, representative office, or business location.

5. Business households, households and communities committing administrative violations shall be subject to fine levels applicable to violating individuals. Representatives of business households, heads of households, heads of communities shall take responsibility for the implementation of decisions on sanctioning administrative violations applicable to business households, households and communities.

6. In case cadres, civil servants, public employees, servicemen of the People’s Army and People’s Public Security forces, or persons engaged in cypher work commit acts of administrative violation while performing public duties or tasks and such acts pertain to their public duties or tasks, they will not be sanctioned in accordance with the law on handling of administrative violations but shall be handled in accordance with relevant laws.

State agencies that commit acts of violation pertaining to their tasks will not be sanctioned in accordance with the law on handling of administrative violations but shall be handled in accordance with relevant laws.

Chapter II. PROVISIONS ON ADMINISTRATIVE VIOLATIONS AND SANCTIONING OF ADMINISTRATIVE VIOLATIONS

Article 4. Provisions on administrative violations, sanctions, sanctioning levels and remedial measures in decrees on sanctioning of administrative violations in the fields of state management

1. Provisions on administrative violations must satisfy the following requirements:

a) Dealing with violations of regulations on law-prescribed obligations, responsibilities and prohibitions regarding the administrative management order in the fields of state management;

b) Satisfying the requirements of assurance of state administrative management order;

c) Clearly, fully and specifically describing administrative violations so as to enable their identification and sanctioning in practice.

2. Administrative violations must be specified in decrees on sanctioning of administrative violations in the fields of state management relevant and suitable to the nature of such violations.

In case an administrative violation is in a certain field of state management but related to another state management field, in order to ensure the completeness, comprehensiveness and consistency of provisions on sanctioning of administrative violations, it is possible to stipulate references to violations specified in the decrees on sanctioning of administrative violations in other fields, and at the same time assign sanctioning competence to a number of titles competent to sanction of this field.

In case an administrative violation has specific elements and characteristics related to the field and location of the violation, consequences of the violation, and objective factors and conditions that change the nature and extent of the violation, in order to meet the requirements of state management, a decree on sanctioning of administrative violations that does not directly regulate such field of state management may prescribe the sanctions higher or lower for that applicable to such violation.

3. Provisions on sanctions and sanctioning levels for each administrative violation must be based on the following factors:

a) The nature and degree of infringing upon the state administrative management order of violations. For violations that are simple and not serious, the sanction of caution must be applied;

b) The average income level and living standards of people in each period of national socio-economic development;

c) The educational or deterrent effect and reasonability and feasibility of the application of sanctions and sanctioning levels.

4. Provisions on the fine frame for each administrative violation must be specific and the difference between the minimum fine and maximum fine of the frame is not too great. Fine levels in an article must be arranged ascendingly.

5. Remedial measures are prescribed for each administrative violation and must be based on the following requirements:

a) The administrative violation causes consequences or is likely to cause consequences;

b) Remedial measures satisfy the requirement of restoration of state administrative management order affected by the administrative violation;

c) Remedial measures must be clearly, fully and specifically described so as to be feasible and practical.

6. If a license, practice certificate or operation registration certificate is erased or modified to falsify its contents, the remedial measure to be applied is the return of the license, practice certificate or operation registration certificate which has been erased or modified to falsify contents to the agency or person competent to grant such license, practice certificate or activity registration certificate.

Article 5. Provisions on the sanction of deprivation of the right to use licenses or practice certificates for a definite time, suspension of operations for a definite time or confiscation of material evidence and means used for commission of administrative violations of decrees on sanctioning of administrative violations in the fields of state management

1. Provisions on deprivation of the right to use licenses or practice certificates for a definite time for administrative violations must be based on the following grounds:

a) Administrative violations are directly related to activities stated in the licenses or practice certificates;

b) Administrative violations are serious and infringe upon the state administrative management order.

2. It is not allowed to provide regulations on deprivation of the right to use licenses or practice certificates for a definite time, in case where law provisions on revocation of licenses or practice certificates are available.

3. Provisions on partial suspension of operations for a definite time for administrative violations of production, business and service establishments that require licenses as prescribed by law must be based on the following grounds:

a) Administrative violations are directly related to activities stated in the licenses;

b) Administrative violations are serious and infringe upon the state administrative management order;

c) Administrative violations cause serious consequences or are likely to cause serious consequences to human life, health, environment and social order and safety.

4. It is not allowed to provide regulations on suspension of operation for a definite time of a production, business or service establishment requiring licenses as prescribed by law, in case where law provisions on revocation of licenses are available.

5. Provisions on suspension of part or all of operations for a definite time for administrative violations of production, business and service establishments or other activities that do not require licenses must be based on the nature and seriousness of infringing upon the state management order or the serious consequences for human life, health, the environment and social order and safety that the violations are likely to cause.

6. Administrative violation material evidences and means which are drugs, weapons, explosive materials, supporting tools, objects of historical or cultural value, national treasures, antiques, precious and rare forest products, objects banned from storage or circulation must be confiscated. For other cases, provisions on confiscation of material evidence and means used for commission of administrative violations must be based on the following grounds:

a) Administrative violations are serious or intentionally committed;

b) Things, money, goods and means are direct material evidence of administrative violations or directly used for commission of administrative violations; without these things, money, goods and means, such administrative violations cannot be committed.

7. Provisions on the sanction of deprivation of the right to use licenses or practice certificates for a definite time, suspension of operation for a definite time or confiscation of material evidence and means used for commission of administrative violations as a principal or additional sanction for specific administrative violations in decrees on sanctioning of administrative violations must be pursuant to Articles 21, 25 and 26 of the Law on Handling of Administrative Violations, and Clauses 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 and 6 of this Article, and based on the characteristics of each field of state management.

8. The duration for which the right to use licenses or practice certificates for a definite term or suspension of operations for a definite term is deprived of for administrative violations must be provided as a specific time frame with a not too great difference between the minimum duration and maximum duration.

Article 6. Provisions on sanctioning competence and competence to make written records of administrative violations

1. The competence to impose fines of each title must be specified in decrees on sanctioning of administrative violations. For a decree concerning many fields of state management, such competence must be specified for each field.

In case the competence to impose fines of the titles specified in Articles 38, 39, 40, 41 and 46 of the Law on Handling of Administrative Violations is determined based on percentages of the maximum fine level in the relevant field specified in Clause 1 Article 24 of the Law on Handling of Administrative Violations, such percentages must be calculated in specific sums of money to be specified in the decrees on sanctioning of administrative violations in the fields of state management.

2. For the fields of state management specified in Clause 3 Article 24 of the Law on Handling of Administrative Violations which see administrative violations subject to fines determined according to the number of times of violation and value of material evidence and goods involved in the violations, the competence to impose fines of the titles specified in Articles 38, 39, 40, 41 and 46 of the Law on Handling of Administrative Violations shall be determined based on percentages of the maximum fine level in such fields, which must be calculated in specific sums of money to be specified in the decrees on sanctioning of administrative violations in the fields of state management.

3. In case a decree on sanctioning of administrative violations specifies many titles of the forces with competence to participate in the sanctioning in different fields of state management, the sanctioning competence of each force must be clearly specified in separate provisions.

4. Persons competent to make written records of administrative violations include persons with sanctioning competence, civil servants and public employees, servicemen of the People’s Army and People’s Public Security forces or persons engaged in cypher work who are performing their public duties or tasks; captains of aircraft, ships and trains and persons assigned by the captains to make written records.

The titles competent to make written records must be specified in decrees on sanctioning of administrative violations in each field of state management.

5. For administrative violations that are subject to both the principal sanction of fines and the additional sanction of expulsion, the decree on sanctioning of administrative violations in the fields of state management shall prescribe the sanctioning competence for such acts for the titles competent to apply the sanction of expulsion in accordance with Point dd Clauses 5 and 7 Article 39 of the Law on Handling of Administrative Violations.

Chapter III. APPLICATION OF PROVISIONS ON SANCTIONING OF ADMINISTRATIVE VIOLATIONS

Article 7. Application of legal documents to sanction administrative violations

1. The selection to apply legal documents to sanction administrative violations shall comply with the provisions of Article 156 of the Law on Promulgation of Legal Documents.

2. In case an administrative violation is committed within a period of time when several decrees on sanctioning of administrative violations in the fields of state management are in effect, but the decree to apply under Clause 1 of this Article cannot be determined, the selection of application of legal documents to sanction administrative violations shall be made as follows:

a) For a completed administrative violation, the decree in force at the time when the violation stops shall be applied for the sanction;

b) For an in-progress administrative violation, the decree in force at the time when the violation is detected shall be applied for the sanction.

Article 8. Principles of determination of administrative violations, application of administrative sanctions, remedial measures and force majeure events

1. The determination of a completed administrative violation or an in-progress administrative violation to calculate the statute of limitation for sanctioning administrative violations shall be conducted according to the following principles:

a) A completed administrative violation means an act that is committed once or many times with the grounds proving that such act has been completed before the time it is detected or administratively handled by a competent agency or person;

b) In-progress administrative violation means an act that is happening at the time the competent agency or person detects the violation and such act is still infringing upon the state management order.

2. Sanctions and remedial measures shall be applied only when the decree on sanctioning of administrative violations in the fields of state management prescribes these sanctions and remedial measures for specific administrative violations, except for the case specified in Clause 2 Article 65 of the Law on Handling of Administrative Violations.

3. For cases where administrative violations are committed directly from objective conditions and circumstances due to the epidemic or the need to implement measures to prevent and control the epidemic, in order to determine whether to impose administrative sanctions, the person with sanctioning competence shall verify and collect sufficient information, data, papers or documents related to the administrative violations to clarify the details of the specific case. In case the epidemic is the direct cause of administrative violations; the violator cannot foresee the epidemic situation and cannot remedy it, despite all necessary and feasible measures have been taken to remedy it, the provisions of Article 11 Clause 4 of the Law on Handling of Administrative Violations shall be applied to refrain from imposing administrative sanctions.

Article 9. Application of the sanction of fines; deprivation of the right to use licenses or practice certificates for a definite time; suspension of operations for a definite time; confiscation of material evidence and means used for commission of administrative violations and application of remedial measures

1. The determination of the fine level for a specific administrative violation involving several aggravating or extenuating circumstances shall comply with the following principles:

a) Upon determining the fines for the violating organization or individual who has both aggravating circumstance(s) and extenuating circumstance(s), the aggravating circumstance(s) shall be canceled according to the principle that one extenuating circumstance shall cancel out one aggravating circumstance;

b) A specific fine level for a violation is the average level of the fine bracket for such violation. In case there are 2 or more extenuating circumstances, the minimum level of the fine bracket shall be applied; if there are 2 or more aggravating circumstances, the maximum level of the fine bracket shall be applied.

2. The sanction of deprivation of the right to use licenses or practice certificates for a definite time shall be applied as follows:

a) For individuals or organizations who commit many administrative violations and are sanctioned at the same time, of which two or more violations are subject to the sanction of deprivation of the right to use different types of licenses or practice certificates for a definite time, the sanction of deprivation of the right to use with a separate term for each violation shall be applied.

 In case there are two or more violations subject to the sanction of deprivation of the right to use for a definite term of the same type of license or practice certificate, the maximum level of the time frame for deprivation of the use right applicable to the violation subject to the longest duration of deprivation shall be applied;

b) In case an organization or individual commits administrative violations many times and is sanctioned for each violation, of which two or more violations are subject to the sanction of deprivation of the right to use for a definite term of the same type of license or practice certificate, the maximum level of the time frame for deprivation of the use right applicable to the violation subject to the longest duration of deprivation shall be applied;

c) In case the remaining validity duration of the license or practice certificate is shorter than the duration of deprivation of the right to use the license or practice certificate, the duration of deprivation shall be the remaining time of that license or practice certificate.

3. The competence to apply the sanction of deprivation of the right to use licenses or practice certificates does not depend on the agency or person granting the license or practice certificate but complies with the Law on Handling of Administrative Violations.

4. Violating individuals and organizations must hand over their licenses and practice certificates at the seizure request of the person with sanctioning competence, except for cases in which measures to deter administrative violations and assure the handling thereof have been applied, and their licenses and practice certificates have been temporarily seized as prescribed in Clause 7 Article 125 of the Law on Handling of Administrative Violations. The handover of licenses and practice certificates shall be made in written records, of which, one shall be handed over to the violator or representative of the violating organization, unless a record of temporary seizure of licenses or certificates has been made. In this case, the record shall remain valid until the expiration of the duration for deprivation of the right to use the licenses or practice certificates under the decision on sanctioning of administrative violations.

5. Within 2 working days from the date of issuance of the decision on sanctioning of administrative violations with the application of the sanction of deprivation of the right to use licenses or practice certificates, the competent person who has issued the sanctioning decision shall send the sanctioning decision to the agency that has granted the licenses or certificates.

6. The sanction of suspension of operations for a definite time shall be applied as follows:

a) In case an individual or organization commits many administrative violations and is sanctioned once for such violations, including two or more violations subject to the sanction of suspension of operations for a definite time, the longest duration of suspension shall be applied;

b) In case an individual or organization commits administrative violations many times and is sanctioned for each violation, in which there are two or more violations subject to the sanction of suspension of operations for a definite time, the maximum level of the time frame for suspension of operations applicable to the violation subject to the longest duration of suspension shall be applied.

7. The determination of the duration for deprivation of the right to use licenses or practice certificates or suspension of operations for a specific administrative violation in case of many aggravating or mitigating circumstances shall comply with the following principles:

a) Upon determining the duration for deprivation of the right to use licenses or practice certificates, or suspension of operations for an administrative violation committed by a violating organization or individual that has both aggravating circumstances and extenuating circumstances, the aggravating circumstances shall be canceled according to the principle that one extenuating circumstance shall cancel out one aggravating circumstance;

b) The duration for deprivation of the right to use licenses or practice certificates, or suspension of operations for a specific act of administrative violation is the average level of time frame for the deprivation and suspension prescribed for such violation. In case there are 2 or more extenuating circumstances, the minimum level of the time frame shall be applied; if there are 2 or more aggravating circumstances, the maximum level of the time frame shall be applied.

8. A person competent to confiscate material evidences and means used for commission of administrative violations specified in Clause 2 Article 65 and Clause 4 Article 126 of the Law on Handling of Administrative Violations is the person with the competence to sanction administrative violations for such case.

For material evidences and means used for commission of administrative violations banned from storage or circulation, the identification of persons competent to confiscate shall comply with the provisions of Clause 2 Article 24 of this Decree.

9. A person competent to apply remedial measures specified in Clause 2, Article 65 of the Law on Handling of Administrative Violations is the person competent to sanction administrative violations for such case.

10. Person competent to destroy material evidences and means used for commission of administrative violations being goods or articles harmful to human health, domestic animals, plants and the environment, or harmful cultural products as prescribed in Clause 5 Article 126 of the Law on Handling of Administrative Violations, is the person competent to sanction administrative violations for such case.

Article 10. Empowerment in sanctioning administrative violations

1. A decision on empowerment specified in Article 54, Clause 2 Article 87 and Clause 2 Article 123 of the Law on Handling of Administrative Violations must clearly state the scope, contents and duration of empowerment.

A decision on empowerment must clearly indicate its serial number, date of issuance and reference, and bear signatures and seals. In case agencies or units of empowering persons may not use seals, they shall append seals of their superior agencies on empowerment decisions.

The legal grounds stated in a decision on sanctioning of an administrative violation, a decision on enforcement of a sanctioning decision, a decision on application of deterrent measures to deter administrative violations and assure the handling thereof issued by an empowered deputy must clearly indicate the serial number, date of issuance and reference of such decision.

2. Persons assigned to act as heads or be in charge of agencies and units that have sanctioning competence are competent to sanction administrative violations, enforce sanctioning decisions and take measures to deter administrative violations and assure the handling thereof like the heads.

3. During the period of empowerment, the persons competent to sanction administrative violations specified in Clause 1 Article 54 of the Law on Handling of Administrative Violations still have the competence to impose sanctions, enforce sanctioning decisions and take measures to deter administrative violations and assure the handling thereof.

4. The empowerment shall be terminated in one of the following cases:

a) The empowerment decision expires;

b) The job for which the empowerment is made has been completed;

c) The head terminates the empowerment to his/her deputy. In this case, the termination of empowerment must be expressed in a decision;

d) The empowering or empowered person retires, quits his/her job, or is transferred, appointed, rotated or seconded, resigns, is relieved from duty, removed from office, demoted or suspended from his/her job in accordance with law;

dd) The empowering or empowered person is dead or declared by court to have lost his/her civil act capacity, have his/her civil act capacity restricted, missing or dead;

e) The job for which the empowerment is made remains uncompleted but the case must be transferred to another competent agency or person for handling in accordance with law;

g) The empowering or empowered person is prosecuted or held in custody or detained to serve the investigation, prosecution or trial;

h) The conditions for the head to empower the right for holding of persons in temporary custody according to administrative procedures specified in Clause 2 Article 123 of the Law on Handling of Administrative Violations no longer exist.

Article 11. Competence to sanction administrative violations of specialized inspectorate heads

1. The head of a specialized inspection team is competent to sanction administrative violations falling under the inspection scope and contents in the inspection period in accordance with the law on inspection.

In case the inspection period as prescribed by the law on inspection expires but the sanctioning decision cannot be issued for objective reasons, the case of violation shall be transferred to the person competent to sanction.

2. In case a decision on sanctioning of an administrative violation is complained about, a person who has issued the inspection decision shall receive, settle or direct the person who has issued the decision on sanctioning of administrative violation to settle the case in accordance with the law on complaints.

Article 12. Making of written records of administrative violations

1. Making and transferring of written records of administrative violations:

a) Persons with sanctioning competence who are performing their public duties or tasks shall, upon detecting an administrative violation, make written records of administrative violations.

For acts of violation show signs of administrative violation not falling under the competence to make written records of administrative violations or not falling under their fields or localities, persons with sanctioning competence who are performing their public duties or tasks shall make the minutes to record the case and immediately transfer the minutes to the competent person;

b) If the case requires assessment, testing, inspection and testing of material evidences and means and other necessary cases, competent persons who are performing their public duties or tasks shall make a record of work to record the case.

The minutes specified at Points a and b of this Clause is one of the grounds for making a written record of administrative violations;

c) In case administrative violations are detected by professional technical means and equipment, the location for making administrative violation records shall comply with the provisions of Clause 2 Article 58 of the Law on Handling of Administrative Violations;

d) The transfer of results collected by professional technical means and equipment to the person competent to sanction administrative violations to make a written record of administrative violations and issue decisions on sanctioning of administrative violations shall comply with the Government’s regulations on the list, the management and use of professional technical means and equipment, and the collection and use of data obtained from technical means and equipment provided by individuals and organizations to detect administrative violations.

2. Time limit for making of records of administrative violations:

a) A written record of administrative violations shall be made within 2 working days from the date of detection of administrative violations;

b) If a case involves multiple complicated circumstances or has a wide scope, affecting the lawful rights and interests of individuals or organizations, the administrative violation record shall be made within 5 working days from the date of detection of administrative violations;

c) In case an administrative violation is detected by professional technical means and equipment or where the determination of the value of material evidences and means, or assessment, testing, inspection and verification of relevant circumstances is required, the written record of administrative violations shall be made within 3 working days from the date of determining the violator by professional technical means and equipment, or receiving the results of determining the value of material evidences and means, or assessment, testing, inspection, and verification of relevant circumstances;

d) For administrative violations committed on airplanes, seagoing ships or trains, the persons competent to make written records of administrative violations or airplane commanders, shipmasters or trainmasters shall make written records of administrative violations and hand them to persons competent to sanction administrative violations within 2 working days after the arrival of the airplanes, seagoing ships or trains at airports, seaports or railway stations;

dd) In case a case involves many different administrative violations, in which an administrative violation is detected by professional technical means and equipment or where the determination of the value of material evidences and means, or assessment, testing, inspection and verification of relevant circumstances is required, the written record of such administrative violations shall be made within 3 working days from the date of determining the violator by professional technical means and equipment, or receiving the results of determining the value of material evidences and means, or assessment, testing, inspection, and verification of relevant circumstances.

3. Making of written records of administrative violations in some specific cases:

a) An administrative violation shall only be made in one written record and sanctioned once. For an administrative violation for which a written record has been made but no sanctioning decision has been issued, if the individual or organization refuses to comply with the request or order of a competent person, and still deliberately commits such violation, the competent person shall apply measures to deter administrative violations and assure the handling thereof in order to stop the violation. When issuing a sanctioning decision for such violation, the person with sanctioning competence may apply aggravating circumstances specified at Point i Clause 1 Article 10 of the Law on Handling of Administrative Violations, or sanction the act of failure to comply with the request or order of the competent person in case where the corresponding decree on sanctioning of administrative violations in the field of state management provides regulations and sanction the violation for which a written record has been made but no sanctioning decision has been issued;

b) In case an individual or organization committing many different administrative violations in the same case, the competent person shall make a written record of administrative violations, clearly stating each violation;

c) In case many individuals or organizations commit the same administrative violation in the same case of violation, the competent person shall make one or more written record(s) for each violating individual or organization. In case the value of material evidences and means used in administrative violations is different, the competent person must clearly write the value of material evidences and means used in administrative violations of each violating individual or organization;

d) In case many individuals or organizations commit different administrative violations in the same case, the competent person shall make one or more written record(s), clearly stating each violation of each individual or organization;

dd) In case an individual or organization commits administrative violations many times, the competent person shall make a written record of administrative violations, clearly stating each violation and each time of violation.

4. A written record of administrative violations must have the following principal contents:

a) Date, month, year and place of making the written record;

b) Full name and position of the person making the written record;

c) Information about administrative violators and related agencies, organizations and individuals;

d) The hour, date month, year and place of the violation;

dd) A detailed and complete description of the case and violation;

e) Measures to deter administrative violations and assure the handling thereof;

g) Statements of the individual violator or the representative of institutional violator, (the at-law representative or the authorized representative);

h) Statements of witness(es) and individual victim(s) or representative(s) of institutional victim(s) (if any); opinions of parents or guardians in case the minor commits an administrative violation (if any);

i) The right and time limit for making explanations about the administrative violation by the violating individual or organization, agency of the person competent to receive explanations; if the violator does not wish to give explanations, his/her/its opinions must be clearly written in the record;

k) Time and place where the individual violator or the representative of the institutional violator must be present to handle the case;

l) Full name of the person who receives the written record, time of receipt in case the record is delivered directly.

5. Signing written records of administrative violations:

a) A written record of an administrative violation must be made in at least 2 copies and signed by its maker and the individual violator or the representative of the institutional violator, except for the case where the record is made under Clause 7 Article 58 of the Law on Handling of Administrative Violations. In case the violator cannot sign, his/her fingerprint is required; if there are witness(es), interpreter(s), individual victim(s) or representatives of institutional victim(s), they shall all sign the written record; in case the written record consists of many pages, every page must be signed;

b) In case the individual violator or the representative of the institutional violator is absent from the location of the violation or intentionally shirks to sign or press fingerprint in the written record or is unable to sign or press fingerprint for an objective reason, or is present but refuses to sign, press fingerprint in the written record or if the subject of the administrative violation cannot be identified, the written record must contain the signature of the representative of the commune-level authority of the location where the violation is committed or the signature of at least one witness certifying that the individual or institutional violator does not sign the record; in case there is no signature of the representative of the commune-level authority of the location or the witness, the reason must be clearly stated in the record.

6. Handing over written records of administrative violations:

a) One copy of the completed administrative violation record must be handed over to the individual violator or institutional violator unless the violator cannot be identified. In case an administrative violation is not within the sanctioning competence of the person making the written record, the record and other documents must be transferred to a person competent to sanction within 24 hours from the date of making the record;

b) In case administrative violators are minors, written records of their violations must also be sent to their parents or guardians;

c) In case the individual violator or the representative of the institutional violator is not present at the place where the written record of administrative violation is made or is present but refuses to receive or has grounds to believe that the individual violator or institutional violator shirks to receive the record, the handover of the written record of administrative violations shall comply with Article 70 of the Law on Handling of Administrative Violations on sending decisions on sanctioning of administrative violations for execution.

7. The written record of administrative violations shall be made and sent electronically as prescribed in Clause 7 Article 58 of the Law on Handling of Administrative Violations in accordance with the provisions of Decree on sanctioning of administrative violations in the field of state management, suitable to the nature of each field.

8. Persons competent to make written records of administrative violations, related individuals and organizations, who are at fault in failing to timely transfer the written records of administrative violations or the dossier of violation cases, leading to the expiry of the time limit for issuing the sanctioning decision, shall be handled in accordance with law provisions.

Article 13. Cancellation of decisions on handling of administrative violations or issuance of new ones

1. A person that has issued a decision shall, by himself/herself or at the request of the persons specified in Clause 3 Article 18 of the Law on Handling of Administrative Violations, issue a decision to cancel all contents of such decision in one of the following cases:

a) Wrong subject of violation;

b) Violations against regulations on competence to issue the decision;

c) Violations against regulations on procedures to issue the decision;

d) The cases mentioned in Clause 1 Article 12 of the Law on Handling of Administrative Violations;

dd) The cases mentioned in Clause 6 Article 12 of the Law on Handling of Administrative Violations;

e) The cases mentioned in Clause 10 Article 12 of the Law on Handling of Administrative Violations;

g) The cases mentioned in Clause 3 Article 62 of the Law on Handling of Administrative Violations;

h) In case of failure to issue a sanctioning decision specified in Clause 1 Article 65 of the Law on Handling of Administrative Violations.

2. Persons specified in Clause 3 Article 18 of the Law on Handling of Administrative Violations shall, within their competence, issue decisions to cancel the entire decision with errors, if the person who has issued the decision does not cancel the decision as prescribed in Clause 1 of this Article.

3. In the cases specified at Points a, b, c, dd and e Clause 1 of this Article, if there are grounds to issue a new decision, the person who has issued the decision must issue a new decision or transfer the competent person to issue a new decision.

In the case specified at Point h Clause 1 of this Article, if the material evidences and means used in administrative violations are prohibited from storing or circulating, or if the law prescribes the application of a sanction of confiscation, remedial measures to remedy consequences for administrative violations, the person competent to issue the decision must issue a new decision or transfer the person competent to issue a new decision to confiscate and apply remedial measures.

Article 14. Correction, amendment, supplementation, or partial cancellation of decisions on handling of administrative violations

1. A person that has issued a decision shall, by himself/herself, or at the request of the persons specified in Clause 3 Article 18 of the Law on Handling of Administrative Violations, correct such decision when there are technical errors in drafting.

2. The person who has issued the decision shall, by himself/herself or at the request of the persons specified in Clause 3 Article 18 of the Law on Handling of Administrative Violations, amend, supplement or cancel part of the decision if the decision contains errors or violations that do not fall into the cases specified in Clause 1 Article 13 of this Decree and Clause 1 of this Article.

3. The decision correcting, amending, supplementing or partially canceling a decision shall be kept in the sanctioning dossier.

Article 15. Time limit for implementation and contents of correction, amendment, supplementation, partial or total cancellation of decisions on handling of administrative violations

1. The time limit for correction, amendment, supplementation, partial or total cancellation of a decision:

a) The time limit for correction, amendment, supplementation, or partial cancellation of a decision is 1 year after the competent person issues such decision. In case of expiration of the statute of limitations prescribed at Point a Clause 1 Article 6 of the Law on Handling of Administrative Violations, the correction, amendment, supplementation or partial cancellation of the decision shall not be carried out;

b) In case of totally canceling a decision issued from the date on which the Law on Handling of Administrative Violations takes effect as specified in Clause 1 Article 13 of this Decree, the time limit is not applied.

2. The time limit for correction, amendment, supplementation or partial cancellation of a decision specified at Point a Clause 1 of this Article shall not be applied in the following cases:

a) The sanctioning decision applies the sanctioning form of confiscation of material evidences and means used in administrative violations, remedial measures specified in Clause 1 Article 74 of the Law on Handling of Administrative Violations;

b) There is a complaint settlement decision of the person or agency competent to settle complaints about the need to amend, supplement or cancel part of the decision;

c) There is a conclusion that the denunciation contents of the person or agency competent to settle the denunciation about the need to amend, supplement or cancel part of the decision;

d) There is a court judgment or decision on the amendment, supplementation or cancellation of part of the decision over which a lawsuit is instituted.

3. For the case specified in Clause 3 Article 13 of this Decree, if there are grounds to issue a new decision, the competent person must make a written record to verify the circumstances of the administrative violation case under Article 59 of the Law on Handling of Administrative Violations.

The time limit for issuing a new decision must comply with the provisions in Clause 1 Article 66 of the Law on Handling of Administrative Violations, from the date of making a record to verify the circumstances of the administrative violation case.

4. The decision applying the sanction of confiscating material evidences and means used in administrative violations, and remedial measures to be corrected, amended, supplemented or partially canceled under Point a Clause 2 of this Article may only have the content relating to the confiscation of material evidences and means used in administrative violations, and application of remedial measures corrected, amended, supplemented, or partially canceled.

Article 16. Effect and time limit of and statute of limitations for implementation of decisions correcting, amending, supplementing or partially or totally canceling decisions on handling of administrative violations, or new decisions on handling of administrative violations

1. A decision correcting, amending, supplementing, partially or totally canceling a decision, or a new decision takes effect on the date of its signing as stated in such decision.

2. The time limit for implementation of a decision correcting, amending, supplementing, partially or totally canceling a decision, or a newly issued decision is 10 working days after the violator receives such decision. For a newly issued decision with the time limit for implementation that is longer than 10 days, such time limit shall prevail.

3. The statute of limitation for execution of a decision correcting, amending, supplementing, partially or totally canceling a decision, or a newly issued decision:

a) The statute of limitation for execution of a decision correcting, amending, supplementing, partially or totally canceling a decision, or a newly issued decision is 1 year from the date of issuance of the decision to correct, amend, supplement or partially cancel the decision, or the date of issuance the new decision;

b) In case where the correction, amendment, supplementation, or partial cancellation of a decision, or issuance of a new decision is carried out many times, the statute of limitation for execution is 2 years from the date of issuance of the corrected or amended, supplemented or partially canceled decision;

c) Past the time limit specified at Points a and b of this Clause, such decision shall not be executed; except for the case where the sanctioning decision includes the sanction of confiscation of material evidences and means used in administrative violations, remedial measures, such measures of confiscation and remedial measures shall be applied;

d) In case the sanctioned individual or organization intentionally shirks or delays the execution, the above statute of limitations must be counted from the time when the act of shirking or delaying the execution stops.

Article 17. Explanation

1. In case the violating individual or organization fails to send a written explanation to the person competent to sanction administrative violations or fails to send a written request for extension of the time limit for explanation within the time limit specified in Clause 2 Article 61 of the Law on Handling of Administrative Violations or clearly stating opinions in the written record of administrative violations about the failure to exercise the right of explanation, the person with sanctioning competence shall issue a sanctioning decision within the time limit specified at Point a Clause 1 Article 66 of the Law on Handling of Administrative Violations.

In case the violating individual or organization requests explanations under Clauses 2, 3 and 4 Article 61 of the Law on Handling of Administrative Violations, the person with sanctioning competence shall issue a sanctioning decision within the time limit specified at Points b and c Clause 1 Article 66 of the Law on Handling of Administrative Violations.

2. In case the violating individual or organization does not request explanation but then requests the explanation before the expiration of the time limit specified in Clauses 2 and 3 Article 61 of the Law on Handling of Administrative Violations, the person competent to sanction administrative violations shall be responsible for considering the violator’s explanation according to the procedures specified in Clauses 2 and 3 Article 61 of the Law on Handling of Administrative Violations, except for the cases subject to the immediate application of remedial measures of forcible destruction of goods and items harmful to human health, livestock, plants and the environment, measures to remedy environmental pollution, spread of epidemics and diseases, for material evidences of administrative violations being live animals and plants, goods or items that are perishable or difficult to be preserved, or material evidences and means used in administrative violations that pose a risk or are likely to cause environmental pollution, spread epidemics and diseases.

3. The explanation and consideration of explanations shall be made in writing and kept in the sanctioning dossier.

4. If the person competent to sanction is not identified when making the administrative violation record, the violating individual or organization shall send a written explanation to the person competent to make the record. The person competent to make a record shall transfer the case file and written explanation to the competent person as soon as the competence to sanction administrative violations is determined.

Article 18. Publicization in the mass media of the sanctioning of individuals and organizations that commit administrative violations

1. For a violation subject to publicization specified in Clause 1 Article 72 of the Law on Handling of Administrative Violations, the head of the agency or unit of the person that has issued the sanctioning decision shall, within 3 working days after the issuance of the sanctioning decision, send a document on the publicization and a copy of the sanctioning decision to the newspaper or website of the ministerial- or departmental-level agency or provincial-level People’s Committee of the locality where such violation is committed.

The correction, amendment, supplement, cancellation, or issuance of a new decision in sanctioning of administrative violations is also subject to publicization in accordance with this Clause.

2. Information to be publicized includes: Full name, date of birth, people’s identity card or citizen identity card or personal identification number, citizenship of the violator, or name, address of the violating organization; the administrative violation; sanctioning forms, remedial measures and time of implementation.

3. Heads of newspapers or persons in charge of managing websites’ contents and time limit for publicization shall:

a) Fully post the information to be publicized within 2 working days, after receiving the document on the publicization and a copy of the sanctioning decision;

b) Publicly post the information of each sanctioning decision at least once, the posting period is at least 30 days;

c) Post corrected information within one working day on the website or the next issue, after receiving the request.

4. The head of the agency or unit where the person who has issued a sanctioning decision works shall:

a) Take responsibility for publicized information;

b) Correct erroneous information within one working day after detecting an error or receiving a request for correction.

5. Correction of erroneous information:

a) In case the website or newspaper incorrectly publishes the information specified in Clause 2 of this Article, it must properly correct the column or position in which the erroneous information was posted within 24 hours from the date of detecting or receiving the correction request on the website or the next issue and must bear the cost of correction;

b) The correction is made once for each sanctioning decision, the posting period is at least 30 days.

6. In case the sanctioning cannot be publicized within the prescribed time limit as prescribed in Clause 1 of this Article for force majeure reasons, persons competent to publicize the sanctioning shall report such to their immediate superiors and publicize the sanctioning right after force majeure events are remedied.

7. Expenses for publicization and correction of erroneous information are covered by regular operating funds of agencies or units of persons who have issued sanctioning decisions.

8. Persons committing violations specified in Clauses 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 and 6 of this Article shall, depending on the nature and severity of their violations, be disciplined. If causing damage, they shall pay compensations in accordance with the law on responsibility of the State to pay compensations.

Article 19. Execution of decisions to sanction administrative violations in case sanctioned individuals are dead or missing or sanctioned organizations are dissolved or bankrupt

1. In case the sanctioned person dies or is missing or the sanctioned organization is dissolved or falls bankrupt under Article 75 of the Law on Handling of Administrative Violations while the sanctioning decision remains valid, the person that has issued such decision shall issue a decision on execution of part of the sanctioning decision within 60 days after the sanctioned person dies as stated in the death certificate or is missing as stated in the decision declaring the person missing; from the time the business registration agency notifies the enterprise’s dissolution; or from time the bankruptcy announcement decision takes effect. An execution decision contains the following:

a) Termination of the application of sanctions and reason for termination, except the case specified at Point b of this Clause;

b) The confiscation of material evidences and means used for commission of the administrative violation, and remedial measures which continue to be applied.

2. Responsibility for the implementation of confiscation of material evidences and means used for commission of the administrative violation, and remedial measures in case the sanctioned person dies or is missing or the sanctioned organization is dissolved or falls bankrupt:

a) Individuals and organizations that are managing material evidences and means used for commission of violations shall confiscate such material evidences and means;

b) Individuals who inherit estates as identified in accordance with the civil law’s provisions on inheritance shall continue to execute the remedial measures within the scope of inheritance.

3. Sending decisions on execution of part of sanctioning decisions:

a) The decision on execution of part of sanctioning decision in case sanctioned organization is dissolved or falls bankrupt must be sent to the agency, organization or person competent to handle the dissolution, bankrupt; the at-law representative of the organization that is dissolved or falls bankrupt for execution;

b) The decision on execution of part of sanctioning decision must be sent to the individual or organization specified in Clause 2 of this Article, or Point a of this Clause within 3 working days, from the date of issuing the decision.

4. Procedures for execution of part of sanctioning decisions:

a) The procedures for execution of part of sanctioning decisions under Point b Clause 1 of this Article shall comply with the provisions of Section 2 Chapter III Part Two of the Law on Handling of Administrative Violations.

b) In case the time limit for execution of the decision expires but the individual or organization specified in Clause 2 of this Article fails to execute remedial measures, the agency of the person with sanctioning competence who is processing the administrative violation dossier shall organize the execution of these measures.

Expenses for execution of remedial measures are deducted from the estates bequeathed by the sanctioned person or remaining assets of the sanctioned dissolved or bankrupt organization, and regarded as expenses prioritized for payment (if any).

5. In case the sanctioned person dies without leaving any inheritance estate or the sanctioned organization is dissolved or falls bankrupt without leaving any assets, the execution of remedial measures complies with Clause 4 Article 85 of the Law on Handling of Administrative Violations.

6. Heirs of the sanctioned person who is dead or missing or at-law representative of the sanctioned organization which is dissolved or falls bankrupt may supervise, file a complaint or institute a lawsuit about expenses and payment of expenses for the implementation of remedial measures mentioned in Clause 4 of this Article.

Article 20. Forms of and procedures for collection and payment of fines

1. Violators shall pay fines in any of the following forms:

a) Paying fines in cash directly at the State Treasury or commercial banks where the State Treasury opens accounts written in sanctioning decisions;

b) Remitting fines into accounts of the State Treasury indicated in sanctioning decisions through the National Public Service Portal, or e-payment services of the banks or intermediary payment service providers;

c) Paying fines directly to persons with sanctioning competence specified in Clause 1 Article 56 and Clause 2 Article 78 of the Law on Handling of Administrative Violations, or directly to airport authorities or their representatives in case sanctioned persons are passengers transiting the Vietnamese territory for boarding international flights from the Vietnamese territory; flight crew members on flights transiting the Vietnamese territory; flight crew members of foreign airlines on international flights taking off from the Vietnamese territory;

d) Paying fines for administrative violations in the field of road traffic into the State Treasury under Points a, b and c Clause 1 of this Article, or by the public-utility postal service.

2. Procedures for payment of fines:

a) In case a sanctioning decision imposes only a fine but the sanctioned person does not reside or the sanctioned organization is not based in the locality where the violation is committed, the person with sanctioning competence may, at the request of the sanctioned person or organization, decide on fine payment in the form specified at Point b Clause 1 of this Article and send to the violator the sanctioning decision by post as a registered mail within 2 working days after the issuance of the sanctioning decision;

b) The sanctioned person or organization shall pay the fine into the account of the State Treasury indicated in the sanctioning decision within the time limit specified in Clause 1 Article 73 of the Law on Handling of Administrative Violations;

c) Within 5 working days after the fine is directly paid into the account of the State Treasury, or paid indirectly through the public-utility postal service, the person who temporarily seizes papers to secure the sanctioning under Clause 6 Article 125 of the Law on Handling of Administrative Violations shall return to the sanctioned person or organization such papers by post as registered mails for the case of direct payment, or by public-utility postal service for the case of indirect payment. Expenses for sending the sanctioning decision and returning seized papers are paid by the sanctioned person or organization;

d) The sanctioned person or organization may directly receive the seized papers, or through an at-law representative or authorized representative.

3. In case of late payment of the fine under Clause 1 Article 78 of the Law on Handling of Administrative Violations, the fine-collecting agency shall base itself on the sanctioning decision to calculate and collect an interest for late payment of the fine.

4. Decisions on postponement of execution of sanctioning decisions; reduction of or exemption from remaining part or the whole of the fine; or payment of fines in installments must be in writing.

The duration for consideration and decision on reduction of or exemption from remaining part or the whole of a fine, or on permission for payment of a fine in installments is not included in the period of late payment of fines.

5. The collection, payment and return of fines must comply with the Government’s regulations on administrative procedures in the field of the State Treasury.

6. The Minister of Finance shall guide the collection and payment of fines for administrative violations specified in Clauses 1, 2 and 3 of this Article; method for calculating and offsetting the difference in fines (if any) in case there is a decision to correct, amend, supplement, cancel or issue a new decision in sanctioning of administrative violations.

Article 21. Documents on collection and payment of fines for administrative violations and interests for late payment

1. Documents on collection and payment of fines for administrative violations and interests for late payment must be printed, issued, managed and used uniformly nationwide, or e-documents of the payment to the State budget in accordance with law in order to certify money amounts already paid by sanctioned persons and organizations to agencies collecting fines. Documents on collection and payment of fines for administrative violations and interests for late payment must be kept in the administrative violation sanctioning dossier in accordance with the law on archives.

2. Documents on collection and payment of fines and interests for late payment include:

a) Fine receipts, which must be printed with a par value and used for on-the-spot collection of fines for administrative violations under Clause 2 Article 69 and Clause 2 Article 78 of the Law on Handling of Administrative Violations in case of a fine of up to VND 250,000 for persons, or VND 500,000 for organizations;

b) Fine receipts, which are not printed with a par value and used for collection of fines in other cases of sanctioning of administrative violations and collection of interests for late payment of fines;

c) Payment slips, e-documents of the payment to the State budget (if any);

d) Written certification of payment of fines relating to road traffic of public-utility postal service provider (if any);

dd) Other documents as prescribed by law.

3. The issuance of fine receipts is prescribed as follows:

a) The Ministry of Finance shall provide fine receipts to agencies or units of persons competent to sanction administrative violations and agencies and units collecting fines for administrative violations in accordance with law.

Postal service providers shall organize the printing and management of written certification of payment of fines relating to road traffic through public-utility postal service;

b) Distributing agencies or organization shall notify in writing the distribution before the form of fine receipt, or written certification of payment of fines relating to road traffic is put into use for the first time;

c) Persons and organizations provided with fine receipts or written certifications of payment of fines relating to road traffic shall manage and use such receipts or certifications under this Decree and other relevant regulations.

4. Use of documents on collection and payment of fines and interests for late payment:

a) When using fine receipts, fine collectors shall compare information in sanctioning decisions with contents written in fine receipts under regulations.

 The total amount of money stated in the fine receipt must be consistent with the fine amount stated in the sanctioning decision;

b) In case of collection of an interest for late payment of fine as specified in Clause 1 Article 78 of the Law on Handling of Administrative Violations, the receipt must clearly state the collected amount and indicate that it is an interest for late payment of fine;

c) Persons and organizations liable to pay fines for administrative violations may refuse to pay fines or request the refund of paid fine amounts if detecting that fine receipts or documents are improperly made or written inconsistently with sanctioning decisions or state incorrect fine amounts or interests for late payment of fines (if any) and report such to agencies managing persons competent to collect fines, for timely handling.

5. Management of fine receipts:

a) The management of fine receipts for administrative violations complies with current regulations applicable to each type of receipt;

b) Agencies and organizations provided with fine receipts shall keep books for monitoring the receipt, issuance, preservation and keeping of receipts under current accounting regulations; and make monthly and quarterly reports on use of fine receipts and annually finalize fine receipts under regulations;

c) The destruction of fine receipts complies with current regulations applicable to each type of receipt.

6. E-documents of payment to the State budget shall be distributed and used in accordance with law.

7. The Minister of Finance shall specify contents and presentation of fine receipts and other fine collection documents; organize the printing, distribution, management and use of documents on collection of fines for administrative violations and interests for late payment of fines, except for written certifications of payment of fines relating to road traffic through public-utility postal services specified in Clause 3 of this Article.

Article 22. Transfer of decisions to sanction administrative violations for organization of execution

1. The agency of the person who has issued the decision to sanction administrative violations for the cases specified in Clauses 1 and 2 Article 71 of the Law on Handling of Administrative Violations shall transfer all the originals of dossiers and documents related to the agency receiving the sanctioning decision for execution. Material evidences and means used in administrative violations that are temporarily seized or confiscated (if any) shall be transferred to the agency receiving the sanctioning decision for execution.

The transfer and handover of material evidences and means used in administrative violations to the agency receiving the sanctioning decision for execution must be recorded in writing.

2. Consideration of postponing, reducing, or exempting fines in case of transferring decisions to sanction administrative violations for execution:

a) In case the sanctioned individual or organization requests the postponement, reduction or exemption of fine in accordance with Articles 76 and 77 of the Law on Handling of Administrative Violations, the competent person at the agency receiving the sanctioning decision for execution shall receive, consider and decide on the postponement, reduction or exemption, and at the same time notify the requester and the competent person who has issued the sanctioning decision. In case of disapproving the postponement, reduction or exemption, he/she shall clearly state the reason for disapproval;

b) In case a sanctioned individual or organization sends a written request for postponement, reduction or exemption of fine to the competent person who has issued the decision to sanction the administrative violation, the competent person who has issued the sanctioning decision shall receive and forward such written request to a competent person at the agency receiving sanctioning decision specified at Point a of this Clause for consideration and decision on postponement, reduction or exemption.

3. In case the sanctioned individual or organization fails to voluntarily comply with the sanctioning decision as prescribed in Clause 1 Article 73 of the Law on Handling of Administrative Violations, the competent person at the agency receiving the sanctioning decision for execution shall have to issue decisions to enforce sanctioning decisions in accordance with law.

4. In case material evidences are temporarily seized as prescribed in Clause 3 Article 71 of the Law on Handling of Administrative Violations, and material evidences and means used in administrative violations are real estate, aircraft, ships, and inland waterway vessels, goods and vehicles that are bulky, difficult to transport, with high transportation costs, the agency of the person who has issued the decision to sanction an administrative violation shall retain the sanctioning decision for execution.

Article 23. Handling of material evidences and means which are illegally appropriated or used for commission of administrative violations and subject to confiscation

1. For material evidences and means being temporarily seized due to illegal appropriation or use for commission of administrative violations and subject to confiscation, to comply with Clause 1 Article 126 of the Law on Handling of Administrative Violations. In this case, individual or institutional violators shall pay a sum of money equivalent to the value of material evidences and means of the administrative violations into the state budget.

For a case involving many individual or institutional violators where the payment of a sum of money equivalent to the value of material evidences and means of the administrative violation is required, all individual or institutional violators are responsible for paying the mentioned sum of money to the state budget according to the proportion decided by the person with sanctioning competence, unless the individual or institutional violators have reached a written agreement and sent it to the person with sanctioning competence within the time limit for issuing a decision to sanction an administrative violation specified in Article 66 of the Law on Handling of Administrative Violations.

2. For material evidences and means of an administrative violation subject to confiscation for which the security interest of mortgage of assets has been registered under civil laws, the handling shall be as follows:

a) The mortgagee may receive back the material evidences and means or an amount corresponding to the secured obligation; individual or institutional violators must pay a sum of money equivalent to the value of material evidences and means of the administrative violation to the state budget;

b) The mortgagee shall notify in writing the results of realization of collateral to the person competent to sanction the administrative violation within 03 working days, from the date of the results of realization of collateral being material evidences and means of the administrative violation subject to confiscation. After the realization, if the value of collateral is greater than the value of the secured obligation and the individual or institutional violators have not fully paid the sum of money equivalent to the value of material evidences and means of the administrative violation to the state budget, the mortgagee is obliged to transfer the difference in value of the collateral into the state budget within 05 working days from the date of written notification of the results of realization of collateral;

c) The mortgagee not performing the obligation of transfer of the difference in value of the collateral being material evidences and means of the administrative violation within the time limit as specified shall be sanctioned in accordance with law on sanctioning of administrative violations in the fields of money and banking or in other relevant fields.

3. Depending on specific categories of material evidences and means, the valuation of the material evidences and means of violations to determine the equivalent amount of money remitted into the state budget by the individual or institutional violators shall be based on one of the different grounds specified in Clause 2 Article 60 of the Law on Handling of Administrative Violations.  Competent persons who are settling cases of violation shall be responsible for valuating such material evidences and means of violations.

In case it is impossible to apply the grounds specified in Clause 2 Article 60 of the Law on Handling of Administrative Violations, competent persons who are settling cases of violation must set up valuation councils. The establishment of valuation councils shall comply with Clause 3 Article 60 of the Law on Handling of Administrative Violations.

4. Forms of and procedures for collection and payment of sums of money equivalent to value of material evidences and means of violations to the state budget shall comply with Article 21 of this Decree.

Article 24. Determination of sanctioning competence in cases material evidences and means of administrative violations are goods banned from storage, circulation

1. In case the decrees on sanctioning of administrative violations in the fields of state management provide for provisions on value or quantity of goods banned from storage, circulation and fine frame applicable to administrative violations involving material evidences and means of administrative violations being goods banned from storage, circulation, the sanctioning competence shall be determined under Chapter II, Part Two of the Law on Handling of Administrative Violations and the decrees on sanctioning of administrative violations.

Material evidences and means of administrative violations being goods banned from storage, circulation other than those mentioned above shall not be valuated, and case files shall be transferred to persons competent to sanction violations specified in Clause 2 of this Article.

2. In case material evidences and means of an administrative violation are goods banned from storage, circulation, the sanctioning competence shall be determined on the following principles and order:

a) If a competent person who is settling the case of violation is the person with the highest sanctioning competence in the relevant field of state management, he/she is still competent to sanction the violation;

b) If a competent person who is settling the case of violation  is neither the person with the highest sanctioning competence in the relevant field of state management nor the chairperson of provincial-level People’s Committee, he/she shall transfer the case of violation to the chairperson of the provincial-level People’s Committee of the locality where the violation is committed or to the person with the highest sanctioning competence in the relevant field of state management for issuing a sanctioning decision.

3. The competence to decide on temporary seizure of material evidences and means of administrative violations being goods banned from storage, circulation must comply with Clause 3 Article 125 of the Law on Handling of Administrative Violations.

Article 25. Sanctioning of administrative violations of minors

1. In case of sanctioning administrative violations of minors, if the ages of violators cannot be accurately identified for application of sanctions, persons with sanctioning competence shall choose a sanction which is the most favorable for violators.

2. Before deciding to apply the measure of caution to minors committing administrative violations, persons with sanctioning competence shall consider conditions for application of admonition measure prescribed in Article 139 of the Law on Handling of Administrative Violations and Article 26 of this Decree. They may issue a decision to impose caution on minors only when the conditions for application of admonition are not satisfied.

Article 26. Admonition

1. Admonition is an educational measure applied in substitution for caution to minors committing administrative violations to make these minors aware of their violations.

2. Subjects of and conditions for application of admonition:

a) Minors who are between full 14 and under 16 years old and sanctioned for administrative violations willingly report, admit and sincerely repent their violations;

b) Minors who are between full 16 and under 18 years old and sanctioned for administrative violations subject to caution willingly report, admit and sincerely repent their violations.

3. Persons with sanctioning competence shall base themselves on the conditions specified in Clause 2 of this Article to consider and decide to apply admonition. Admonition is imposed orally on the spot, and the minutes are not required.

Article 27. Responsibilities of persons competent to sanction administrative violations while performing public duties

1. When sanctioning administrative violations, competent persons shall:

a) Have an order or decision on performance of public duties by a competent agency, wear uniforms, military uniforms and badges of their sectors or use inspector cards, civil servant cards to perform specialized inspection tasks as prescribed by laws;

b) Handle violations promptly and properly according to the nature and severity of violations and in accordance with the law on sanctioning of administrative violations and the rules and regulations of each sector;

c) Be polite and serious during performance of their public duties.

2. Persons committing violations specified in Clause 1 of this Article or prohibited acts specified in Article 12 of the Law on Handling of Administrative Violations or violations of other laws shall, depending on the nature and severity of their violations, be disciplined or examined for penal liability. If causing damage, they shall pay compensations in accordance with the law on state compensation liability.

Article 28. Settlement of responsibilities in enforcement of the law on handling of administrative violations

The consideration and settlement of responsibilities of competent agencies and persons in enforcement of the law on handling of administrative violations shall, depending on specific cases, comply with the Government’s regulations or relevant laws.

Chapter IV. STATE MANAGEMENT OF THE ENFORCEMENT OF THE LAW ON HANDLING OF ADMINISTRATIVE VIOLATIONS

Section 1. CONTENTS OF STATE MANAGEMENT IN THE ENFORCEMENT OF THE LAW ON HANDLING OF ADMINISTRATIVE VIOLATIONS

Article 29. Formulation, improvement and monitoring of the enforcement of the law on handling of administrative violations

1. Studying, reviewing, formulating and improving policies and law on handling of administrative violations.

2. Formulating and promulgating legal normative documents on handling of administrative violations or submitting them to competent agencies for promulgation in accordance with law, according to the competence.

3. Monitoring the enforcement of the law on handling of administrative violations.

4. Reviewing, summarizing the enforcement of the law on handling of administrative violations in order to improve the system of legal normative documents.

Article 30. Dissemination of law, provision of guidance, professional training and retraining in the law on handling of administrative violations

1. Studying and compiling documents to serve the dissemination of law and professional training and retraining in the law on handling of administrative violations.

2. Organizing professional training and retraining for persons engaged in the handling of administrative violations.

3. Disseminating the law on handling of administrative violations with contents and in forms suitable to different target groups.

4. Providing professional guidance on application of the law on handling of administrative violations.

Article 31. Examination of the enforcement of the law on handling of administrative violations

1. Plans on examination of the enforcement of the law on handling of administrative violations of ministries, ministerial-level agencies, Vietnam Social Security, Supreme People’s Court, State Audit Office, and provincial-level People’s Committees must be sent to the Ministry of Justice within 10 days from the issuing date for monitoring, coordination and organization of implementation.

The Ministry of Justice shall assume the prime responsibility for monitoring and summarizing the examination plans of ministries, ministerial-level agencies, Vietnam Social Security, Supreme People’s Court, State Audit Office, ensuring the principle of no more than one examination per year for agencies and units under the management, except for cases of extraordinary examination.

2. The Ministry of Justice shall, within its tasks and powers, coordinate with ministries, ministerial-level agencies, Vietnam Social Security, Supreme People’s Court, State Audit Office in formulating examination plans, handling duplicated, overlapping examination plans.

3. The Minister of Justice shall examine the enforcement of the law on handling of administrative violations of ministries, ministerial-level agencies, Vietnam Social Security, People’s Committees of provinces and centrally-run cities and agencies managing persons competent to handle administrative violations.

4. The Minister of Justice shall assist the Government to examine the enforcement of the law on handling of administrative violations by the Supreme People’s Court, State Audit Office in accordance with Article 17 of the Law on Handling of Administrative Violations.

5. Examination in the enforcement of the law on handling of administrative violations shall comply with the Government’s regulations on examination and disciplinary actions in the enforcement of the law on handling of administrative violations.

Article 32. Coordination in inspection of the enforcement of the law on handling of administrative violations

1. Coordination in inspection of the enforcement of the law on handling of administrative violations between the Ministry of Justice and relevant central agencies; between provincial-level Departments of Justice and professional agencies of provincial-level People’s Committees, hierarchically organized agencies based in provinces and centrally-run cities, and district-level People’s Committees may be carried out when there are proposals and reports from individuals, organizations or the press on the application of the law on handling of administrative violations seriously affecting the rights and legitimate interests of individuals and organizations.

2. The order and procedures for inspection coordination must comply with the law on inspection.

Article 33. National database on handling of administrative violations

1. The national database on handling of administrative violations is built on the basis of integrating e-data from the databases on handling of administrative violations of ministries, ministerial-level agencies, Vietnam Social Security, State Audit Office, Supreme People’s Court, People’s Committees at all levels and agencies managing persons competent to handle administrative violations.

2. The national database on handling of administrative violations must be connected to the national database on population and other specialized databases as prescribed by law.

3. The building, management, exploitation and use of the  national database shall comply with regulations of the Government and the Minister of Justice.

Article 34. Statistics on handling of administrative violations

1. Statistics on the handling of administrative violations serve as a basis for evaluating the situation and forecasting the trend of administrative violations, proposing solutions, improving policies and laws, and serving the state management of enforcement of the handling of administrative violations.

2. Statistical information on the handling of administrative violations must be collected in accordance with the law on statistics.

Article 35. Reports on the enforcement of the law on handling of administrative violations

1. Reports on the enforcement of the law on handling of administrative violations include reports on the sanctioning of administrative violations and reports on the application of administrative handling measures, which are made on an annual basis.

2. A report on the sanctioning of administrative violations must contain:

a) General evaluation of the situation of administrative violations and sanctioning of administrative violations;

b) Number of detected and sanctioned violations; sanctioned subjects; application of sanctions and remedial measures; measures applied to deter administrative violations and assure the sanctioning thereof; common violations;

c) Results of execution of decisions on sanctioning of administrative violations: total number of sanctioning decisions; total fine amount; number of licenses and practice certificates deprived of the use right for a definite time; number of violators suspended from operation for a definite time; number of completely executed sanctioning decisions; number of decisions on fine payment postponement, reduction or exemption; number of decisions of which the enforcement is made; number of decisions against which complaints or lawsuits are made or brought;

d) Number of minor violators subject to the measure of admonition in substitution for administrative violation handling measures;

dd) Number of case files showing signs of crime transferred to competent agencies for penal liability examination;

e) Number of case files sent by bodies competent to conduct the criminal proceedings for sanctioning of administrative violations;

g) Difficulties and problems in the implementation of the law on sanctioning of administrative violations; proposals and recommendations.

3. A report on the application of administrative handling measures must contain:

a) General evaluation of the application of the measure of commune-, ward- or township-based education and making of dossiers of request for application of administrative handling measures of consignment to reformatory, consignment to compulsory education institution, consignment to compulsory drug rehabilitation facility; number of violation cases against which complaints or lawsuits are made or brought;

b) General evaluation of People’s Courts’ consideration and decision on application of administrative handling measures of consignment to reformatory, consignment to compulsory education institution, consignment to compulsory drug rehabilitation facility;

c) Number of violators for whom dossiers of request for application of the measure of commune-, ward- or township-based education are made and number of violators for whom dossiers of request for application of administrative handling measures of consignment to reformatory, consignment to compulsory education institution, consignment to compulsory drug rehabilitation facility by the court are made; number of violators to whom the measures of commune-, ward- or township-based education, consignment to reformatory, consignment to compulsory education institution, consignment to compulsory drug rehabilitation facility are applied;

d) Number of minor violators subject to the measures of management at home and community-based education in substitution for administrative violation handling measures;

dd) Assessment of the execution of decisions on application of commune-, ward- or township-based education measure; number of decisions on suspension from execution of such decisions;

e) Assessment of the execution of decisions on consignment to reformatory and on consignment to compulsory education institution; number of decisions on postponement of or exemption from the execution of such decisions;

g) Assessment of the execution of decisions on consignment to compulsory drug rehabilitation facility; number of decisions on postponement of or exemption from the execution of such decisions;

h) Number of persons currently executing decisions on consignment to compulsory education institution and on consignment to reformatory; number of persons eligible for reduction of the execution duration or suspension or exemption from the execution of those measures for the remaining duration;

i) Number of persons currently executing decisions on consignment to compulsory drug rehabilitation facility; number of persons eligible for reduction of the execution duration or suspension or exemption from the execution of this measure for the remaining duration;

k) Difficulties and problems; proposals and recommendations.

4. Data cut-off dates for reports shall comply with the Government’s regulations on the reporting regime of state administrative agencies.

5. The Minister of Justice shall detail the reporting regime applicable to the enforcement of the law on handling of administrative violations.

Section 2. RESPONSIBILITIES OF STATE MANAGEMENT IN THE ENFORCEMENT OF THE LAW ON HANDLING OF ADMINISTRATIVE VIOLATIONS

Article 36. Responsibilities of the Ministry of Justice

1. Formulate and improve the law on handling of administrative violations:

a) Propose the competent agencies on formulation and improvement of the law on handling of administrative violations;

b) Formulate and promulgate legal normative documents on handling of administrative violations within its competence or submit them to the competent agency for promulgation;

c) Assume the prime responsibility for, coordinate with the Government Office, ministries, ministerial-level agencies, Vietnam Social Security in formulating the list of decrees detailing the Law on Handling of Administrative Violations; guide, examine, urge ministries, ministerial-level agencies, Vietnam Social Security in proposal and implementation of the Program on formulation of the decrees;

d) Request competent agencies to study the amendment, supplementation and improvement of the law on handling of administrative violations based on proposals of agencies, organizations and individuals and the practical management of enforcement of the law on handling of administrative violations; assume the prime responsibility for, coordinate with the Government Office and relevant agencies in, researching and proposing the plan on addressing limitations and problems in the practical application of the law on handling of administrative violations to the Government, the Prime Minister;

dd) Review, summarize the enforcement of the law on handling of administrative violations.

2. Monitor the enforcement of the law on handling of administrative violations:

a) Guide, examine and urge ministries, sectors, localities in implementing the law on handling of administrative violations, and promptly detect difficulties and problems for proposing measures to address them;

b) Give its opinions on the application of the law on handling of administrative violations as assigned by the Government and the Prime Minister.

3. Guide the implementation of the law on handling of administrative violations according to its competence or at the request of ministries, sectors and localities.

4. Guide the dissemination of the law on handling of administrative violations; assume the prime responsibility for, and coordinate with ministries, sectors and localities in, providing professional guidance, training and retraining for implementation of the law on handling of administrative violations.

5. Assume the prime responsibility for, and coordinate with ministries, sectors, localities, relevant agencies and organizations in, conducting examination of the enforcement of the law on handling of administrative violations.

6. Propose agencies competent to organize inspection upon receiving proposals or reports of individuals and organizations on the application of the law on handling of administrative violations which seriously affects the rights and legitimate interests of such individuals and organizations.

7. Build the national database on the handling of administrative violations; guide the management, exploitation and use of this database in accordance with law.

8. Set up and maintain operation of an e-portal to receive reports, proposals and results of handling of administrative violation cases under regulations.

9. Prescribe the reporting regime, forms of statistics of data in handling of administrative violations and implement report and statistics on handling of administrative violations.

10. Formulate and submit reports on the enforcement of the law on handling of administrative violations to the competent agencies.

Article 37. Responsibilities of ministries, ministerial-level agencies, Vietnam Social Security, Supreme People’s Court and State Audit Office

1. Responsibilities of ministries, ministerial-level agencies and Vietnam Social Security:

a) Perform the tasks of formulation and improvement of the law on handling of administrative violations within their competence;

b) Perform the task of reporting on the enforcement of the law on handling of administrative violations within their competence;

c) Perform the task of statistics on handling of administrative violations within their competence;

d) Carry out the coordination in establishing databases on handling of administrative violations; direct agencies and units to provide information for building the databases on handling of administrative violations and integrate them into the national database on handling of administrative violations at the Ministry of Justice;

dd) Carry out the inspection and examination of the enforcement of the law on handling of administrative violations in the fields under their management;

e) Perform the tasks of dissemination of the law on handling of administrative violations and professional training and retraining in the application of the law on handling of administrative violations under the management of ministries, ministerial-level agencies, Vietnam Social Security;

g) Build physical foundations, consolidate the organizational structure and allocate resources for the enforcement of the law on handling of administrative violations.

2. Responsibilities of ministries, ministerial-level agencies and Vietnam Social Security in reporting on the enforcement of the law on handling of administrative violations:

a) Report on the sanctioning of administrative violations, using the contents specified in Clause 2 Article 35 of this Decree.

The Vietnam Social Security, hierarchically organized ministries, ministerial-level agencies based in provinces and centrally-run cities shall summarize data of their attached units and send it to the Ministry of Justice;

b) The Ministry of Labor, Invalids and Social Affairs shall report on the application of the measure of consignment to compulsory drug rehabilitation facility, using the contents specified at Points a, c, g, i and k Clause 3 Article 35 of this Decree;

c) The Ministry of Public Security shall report on the application of the measures of commune-, ward- or township-based education, consignment to reformatory and consignment to compulsory education institution, using the contents specified at Points a, c, d, dd, e, h and k Clause 3 Article 35 of this Decree;

d) Send reports on the enforcement of the law on handling of administrative violations to the Ministry of Justice within the time limit under the Minister of Justice’s regulations on reporting regime for the enforcement of the law on handling of administrative violations.

3. The Supreme People’s Court shall perform the tasks as specified in Clause 4 Article 17 of the Law on Handling of Administrative Violations and annually send the Ministry of Justice reports on sanctioning of administrative violations, using the contents defined in Clause 2 Article 35 of this Decree and reports on application of administrative handling measures, using the contents defined at Points b, c, d, e, g, h, i and k Clause 3 Article 35 of this Decree.

4. The State Audit Office shall perform the tasks specified in Clause 4 Article 7 of the Law on Handling of Administrative Violations and annually send the Ministry of Justice reports on sanctioning of administrative violations, using the contents defined in Clause 2 Article 35 of this Decree.

5. Legal departments of ministries, ministerial-level agencies, Vietnam Social Security shall assume the prime responsibility for assisting the ministers, heads of ministerial-level agencies, General Director of the Vietnam Social Security to manage the enforcement of the law on handling of administrative violations in the fields under their management; perform the tasks specified in Clauses 1 and 2 of this Article and other tasks as assigned.

Article 38. Responsibilities of the Ministry of Finance

1. Perform the tasks specified in Clauses 1, 2, and 5 Article 37 of this Decree.

2. Assume the prime responsibility for, and coordinate with the Ministry of Justice in, guiding and ensuring the funds for the state management of enforcement of the law on handling of administrative violations and organizing the enforcement of the law on handling of administrative violations in accordance with the Law on State Budget.

Article 39. Responsibilities of People’s Committees at all levels

1. In the course of enforcement of the law on handling of administrative violations, if People’s Committees at all levels find that law regulations on handling of administrative violations are infeasible, impractical, overlapping or contradictory, they shall request the agencies in charge of elaborating such regulations or the Ministry of Justice to for studying and settlement.

2. Responsibilities of People’s Committees at all levels in reporting on the enforcement of the law on handling of administrative violations:

a) Chairpersons of commune-level People’s Committees shall report on the enforcement of the law on handling of administrative violations in the fields under their localities’ management to the district-level People’s Committees within the time limit under the Minister of Justice’s regulations on reporting regime for the enforcement of the law on handling of administrative violations.

District-level Divisions of Justice shall advise and assist chairpersons of district-level People’s Committees in reporting on the enforcement of the law on handling of administrative violations in their localities;

b) Heads of professional agencies of provincial-level People’s Committees and hierarchically organized agencies based in provinces and centrally-run cities, and district-level People’s Committees shall report on the enforcement of the law on handling of administrative violations in the fields under their management to provincial-level Departments of Justice, so that provincial-level Departments of Justice can summarize and send such reports to provincial-level People’s Committees within the time limit under the Minister of Justice’s regulations on reporting regime for the enforcement of the law on handling of administrative violations.

Provincial-level Departments of Justice shall advise and assist chairpersons of provincial-level People’s Committees in reporting on the enforcement of the law on handling of administrative violations in their localities;

c) Chairpersons of provincial-level People’s Committees shall report on the enforcement of the law on handling of administrative violations in the fields under their localities’ management to the Ministry of Justice within the time limit under the Minister of Justice’s regulations on reporting regime for the enforcement of the law on handling of administrative violations.

To serve the monitoring of handling of administrative violations in localities, chairpersons of provincial-level People’s Committees are required not to summarize data on handling of administrative violations of hierarchically organized agencies based in provinces or centrally-run cities in their reports on the enforcement of the law on handling of administrative violations sent to the Ministry of Justice;

d) Chairpersons of People’s Committees at all levels shall, within their competence, report on the contents specified in Clause 2, Points a, c, d, dd and k Clause 3 Article 35 of this Decree.

3. Perform the task of statistics on handling of administrative violations within their scope of management.

4. Provincial-level People’s Committees are responsible for building databases on handling of administrative violations in their localities; directing provincial-level departments, agencies and branches to provide information to serve the establishment of the databases on handling of administrative violations.

Provincial-level Departments of Justice shall assist their provincial-level People’s Committees to build databases on handling of administrative violations and integrate them into the national database on handling of administrative violations at the Ministry of Justice.

5. Examine the enforcement of the law on handling of administrative violations.

6. Organize inspections at the request of provincial-level Departments of Justice or upon receipt of reports or proposals of individuals, organizations or the press on the application of the law on handling of administrative violations which seriously affects the rights and legitimate interests of individuals and organizations in localities in the cases specified in Article 32 of this Decree.

7. Perform the tasks of dissemination of the law on handling of administrative violations and professional training and retraining in the application of the law on handling of administrative violations under their management.

8. Direct the building of physical foundations, consolidation of the organizational structure and allocation of resources for the enforcement of the law on handling of administrative violations.

9. Provincial-level Departments of Justice shall assume the prime responsibility for, advise and assist the provincial-level People’s Committees in, managing the enforcement of the law on handling of administrative violations in the localities.

Chapter V. IMPLEMENTATION PROVISIONS

Article 40. Funds for the enforcement of the law on handling of administrative violations

1. Funds for the state management and organization of the enforcement of the law on handling of administrative violations shall be allocated by the state budget and arranged in state budget estimates of relevant agencies and units in accordance with the Law on the State Budget.

2. Central agencies, local agencies and units shall make estimates of funds for organizing the enforcement of the law on handling of administrative violations concurrently with making their annual budget estimates, and send them to finance agencies at the same level for summarization and submission to competent authorities for consideration and decision.

Article 41. Forms to be made in the handling of administrative violations

1. Promulgate together with this Decree Appendix of forms of written records and decisions to be made in the sanctioning of administrative violations.

2. The forms used in the application of administrative handling measures are issued together with the Decrees detailing the regime of application of administrative handling measures.

3. When necessary, to meet requirements of the state management, ministers, heads of ministerial-level agencies may issue forms other than those specified in Clauses 1 and 2 of this Article for use in their sectors, fields, after obtaining the written consent of the Minister of Justice.

4. The forms used in the sanctioning of administrative violations shall be archived in paper and electronic forms. Competent agencies and persons may use pre-printed forms or print such forms by themselves, and shall manage and take responsibility under law regulations.

5. Agencies competent to handle administrative violations must be responsible for the accuracy and completeness of the forms issued under Clauses 1, 2 and 3 of this Decree during the printing, distribution, management and use of forms.

Article 42. Effect

1. This Decree takes effect on January 01, 2022.

2. Provisions of Point a Clause 1, Clauses 2 and 4 Article 15 of this Decree are applicable to decisions of sanctioning administrative violations issued from January 01, 2021.

3. This Decree replaces the Government’s Decree No. 81/2013/ND-CP dated July 19, 2013, detailing a number of articles of, and providing measures to implement, the Law on Handling of Administrative Violations and the Government’s Decree No. 97/2017/ND-CP dated August 18, 2017, amending and supplementing a number of articles of the Government’s Decree No. 81/2013/ND-CP dated July 19, 2013, detailing a number of articles of, and providing measures to implement, the Law on Handling of Administrative Violations.

Article 43. Implementation responsibility

Ministers, Heads of ministerial-level agencies, Heads of government-attached agencies, Chairpersons of People’s Committees of provinces and centrally-run cities and relevant agencies shall take responsibility for the implementation of this Decree.

* All Appendices are not translated herein.