Proposal to apply compensation regulations according to other laws
On the morning of August 3, at the first non-scheduled session of the 16th National Assembly, Minister of Justice Hoang Thanh Tung presented a report on the Law amending and supplementing a number of articles of the Law on State Compensation Liability.
The draft Law amends and supplements 35 articles, abolishing 2 articles of the current Law on State Compensation Liability.
The draft law inherits the regulation "State compensation shall be carried out in accordance with the provisions of this Law", and at the same time supplements the regulation "In case another law stipulates the scope of state compensation liability, the determination of the scope of state compensation liability shall be applied according to that law".
This is to overcome contradictions, overlaps, and lack of unity in the legal system, increase flexibility in legislative activities, ensure timely response to practical requirements and limit the need to amend the Law when other laws stipulate the State's compensation responsibility.
However, due to different opinions, the Government submitted 2 options to the National Assembly:
Option 1, supplementing the regulation "In case another law stipulates the scope of state compensation liability, the determination of the scope of state compensation liability shall be applied according to that law".
Option 2, keep the provisions of the current Law on State Compensation Liability, only stipulating "State compensation shall be carried out in accordance with the provisions of this Law".
The draft is also amended in the direction that the person injured in criminal proceedings has the right to request the management agency of law enforcement officers to resolve compensation claims or file a lawsuit requesting the Court to resolve compensation according to civil procedures or combine resolving compensation claims in the criminal proceedings and administrative proceedings at the Court to ensure similarity and consistency with the settlement of compensation in other fields.
In addition, the draft supplements regulations to simplify administrative procedures and digital transformation in resolving compensation claims, supplements regulations on issuing decisions to resolve compensation in cases of unsuccessful negotiations; and at the same time, increases the statute of limitations for initiating lawsuits requesting the Court to resolve compensation.
The draft also stipulates in the direction that the compensation settlement agency at which level, the budget of that level shall allocate funds; regulations on funds for state management of state compensation work.
Along with that, the draft Law supplements regulations on exemption from reimbursement responsibility in some specific cases such as: Making great contributions, suffering from serious illnesses; falling into particularly difficult and prolonged economic circumstances due to natural disasters, fires, accidents,...
Still many opinions on expanding the scope of compensation in tax management
In the thẩm tra report, Chairman of the National Assembly's Law and Justice Committee (UBPLTP) Phan Chi Hieu said that the majority of opinions in the Committee agreed with option 2 because this principle has been stipulated and implemented consistently since the promulgation of the Law to date. This is also an important basis for determining the scope of state compensation responsibility, which needs to be centrally regulated in the Law on State Compensation Liability to ensure transparency and feasibility, avoiding the situation of expanding without basis the scope of state compensation liability in other laws.
In addition, some opinions in the UBPLTP and some agencies of the National Assembly agreed with Option 1 because they believe that these regulations will ensure the stability of the Law, overcome the situation of having to amend when specialized laws stipulate new cases of state compensation liability,...
Regarding the field of tax management, many opinions in the Committee proposed to maintain the current regulations because the draft does not specifically stipulate cases where state compensation liability arises, but refers back to the Law on Tax Administration, expanding the scope of compensation from 4 groups of acts to more than 10 groups of acts. This leads to major policy changes, impacting the state budget, human resources and the effectiveness of new tax management that needs to be carefully assessed.
The Ministry of Finance has also repeatedly proposed to maintain this regulation because the general reference to the Law on Tax Administration does not clearly stipulate specific acts, which may lead to unclear and inconsistent understanding and application in practice.
In the opposite direction, some opinions in the UBPLTP agreed with the provisions of the draft Law because the Law on Tax Administration has expanded the scope of the State's compensation responsibility in the direction of not being limited to a specific group of acts.
Thus, this draft Law amends Clause 9, Article 17 of the current Law on State Compensation Liability according to the guidance referring to the Law on Tax Administration to ensure consistency and synchronization with the Law on Tax Administration.
