Control of Law Enforcement Activities of State Agencies

directly participate in research activities, develop draft laws, ordinances, decrees as members of Drafting Committees, Editorial Teams and as members of the Appraisal Council of the Ministry of Justice for many draft laws and sub-law documents. Through these activities, the Vietnam Fatherland Front increasingly demonstrates its role and function of representing the legitimate rights and interests of all classes of people in providing comments on draft laws, while supervising law-making activities to contribute to ensuring that legal provisions are consistent with real life and the interests of the people.

In addition to participating in the debate activities organized by the Vietnam Fatherland Front, member socio-political organizations also proactively implemented many of their own debate programs. The Vietnam Women's Union organized debates to protect the rights of female workers in the Law on Social Insurance and the draft revised Labor Law. Many recommendations were incorporated into the National Assembly's Resolution and implemented. The Vietnam Farmers' Union debated the draft Law on Cultivation and the draft Law on Animal Husbandry drafted by the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development. The Ho Chi Minh Communist Youth Union debated the draft Law on Youth (amended).

Local socio-political organizations at all levels organized many social criticism conferences and contributed opinions to draft legal documents at the request of central drafting agencies. In the period of 2014 - 2018, the Vietnam Fatherland Front Committees at all levels in localities coordinated with member socio-political organizations to "organize 86,872 social criticism meetings, of which: 4,059 social criticism meetings were chaired at the provincial level; 15,166 meetings at the district level; 69,710 meetings at the commune level" [102, p.12]. Through social criticism activities, socio-political organizations have made important contributions to perfecting local policies and laws in a more transparent, reasonable and scientific direction. Many recommendations on government building, comments on draft policies, plans, projects and legal documents were accepted. Many local socio-economic development programs and projects (especially in Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City) have overcome shortcomings and inadequacies thanks to social criticism activities, in line with capacity requirements.

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local reality and the aspirations and legitimate interests of the people.

The organization of direct dialogues between the heads of government, agencies, units and people at the provincial, district and commune levels has been focused on. Typically, Hanoi (2014 - 2017) "organized 1,893 dialogues, Nghe An (2017) organized 480 dialogues with 57,845 participants; 3,491 people spoke, with 7,604 dialogue opinions" [102, p.26]. Through dialogue activities organized by the Vietnam Fatherland Front, state agencies have promptly responded to people's recommendations and questions in many areas of local activities; received people's contributions; resolved shortcomings and difficulties, adjusted policies and guidelines accordingly; enhanced responsibility, contributed to building a strong grassroots government; strengthened consensus and unity among the people.

Other socio-political organizations at local levels also actively organize social criticism activities. Typically, the Ho Chi Minh Communist Youth Union, in 2018, "The provincial-level Youth Union organized 43 criticism conferences and 48 direct dialogues, the district-level Youth Union organized 316 criticism conferences and 512 direct dialogues, the commune-level Youth Union organized 2,058 criticism conferences and

3,397 direct dialogues” [103, p.15]. The Vietnam Farmers’ Union organizes conferences, seminars, consultations, and dialogues to solicit social feedback to propose the development, amendment, and supplementation of mechanisms, policies, and laws on land accumulation and concentration; credit policies for agricultural and rural development; management of agricultural materials; development of collective economic forms in agriculture; the role of farmers as subjects in restructuring the agricultural sector associated with building new rural areas, etc.

However, there are still many limitations in the implementation of social criticism work of the Front and its member organizations, affecting the effectiveness of controlling state power and promoting people's mastery.

- Regarding the subject of social criticism : only focusing on a number of draft laws, programs, and plans of the state, mainly at local levels. Programs and projects closely related to people's interests are rarely organized.

Dialogue for people to express their opinions and seek support, so when implemented, it encountered opposition and dissatisfaction from the people. The transparency of state activities and the creation of conditions for socio-political organizations and people to access information have not been focused on, therefore, the criticism work has not been in-depth and of high quality.

- Regarding the subject of social criticism : mainly carried out by the Vietnam Fatherland Front at all levels, socio-political organizations also participate in this activity but their role is not really clear. "The gathering of intelligence and strength of member organizations of the Vietnam Fatherland Front in performing the function of social criticism is currently weak" [80, p.294]. The Front has not promoted the role of scientists, experts, typical individuals and the Front's Advisory Councils in participating in policy criticism. Attention has not been paid to exploiting the role of social and professional organizations in criticizing policies related to their fields of operation. Not yet well combined with mass media, seeking support from public opinion to increase pressure and effectiveness of criticism work on state agencies.

- Regarding the content of social criticism : it mainly stops at the level of contributing opinions to the content of draft legal documents. At local levels, criticism often stops at giving opinions on the form and technical aspects of drafting documents. The consideration of constitutionality, legality, correctness, scientificity, feasibility; assessment of the impact and effectiveness in politics, economy, culture, society, national defense, security, and foreign affairs of the draft has not been focused on. Therefore, when implementing, many legal projects, programs, and plans of the state encounter difficulties, even making unnecessary mistakes. The phenomenon of unconstitutionality in the promulgation of legal documents is still quite common, causing many unpredictable consequences, affecting the effectiveness of the state apparatus and the interests of the people. In 2017 alone, through inspection, the Ministry of Justice discovered up to 5,639 illegal documents issued by ministries, ministerial-level agencies and localities. [17]. This proves that the social criticism work of socio-political organizations has not yet been put into practice and has not been effective.

not high

- Regarding the form of criticism : the organization of social criticism is carried out in batches according to a predetermined plan and has not become a regular, continuous activity as an intrinsic need to seek support and intellectual contributions from the people for state policies. The forms of criticism have not been diversified to attract people's participation. The main form is still organizing social criticism conferences, other forms such as consulting experts, Advisory Councils and organizing dialogues are not many, therefore, the scientific quality, level of participation and effectiveness of criticism activities are still limited.

- In terms of effectiveness, the legal effect of social criticism has only stopped at the right to petition and the right to request. The level of state reception of social criticism is difficult to measure and determine. The effectiveness created by the monitoring and criticism activities of the Vietnam Fatherland Front and its member organizations is not strong enough to create fundamental changes or reject any immature or wrong law or policy from the state. Compared with the power of mass media and other power monitoring mechanisms, the effectiveness of criticism by political and social organizations is still limited.

3.3.2.2. Control of law enforcement activities of state agencies

Controlling the organization of law enforcement by state agencies is always a key step in the control of state power by socio-political organizations. In fact, law enforcement is a complex activity, related to most areas of social life, therefore, power control is also carried out in many different ways. The basic content is to control the law enforcement by the Government and People's Committees at all levels in both aspects: legality and rationality. The purpose is to ensure that the power enforcement activities of the Government and People's Committees at all levels comply with the provisions of the law; the decisions and options chosen are optimal, suitable to reality, and bring about the best efficiency. At the same time, controlling the organization and operation of the Government

The government and administrative systems at all levels aim to ensure that the operations of these agencies comply with legal regulations; properly perform assigned functions and tasks; comply with regulations on employment regimes, operating rules, etc.

First, organize delegations to monitor the implementation of policies and laws related to people's rights and interests.

According to the Politburo's "Regulations on supervision and social criticism of the Vietnam Fatherland Front and socio-political organizations" in 2013 and the 2015 Law on the Fatherland Front, socio-political organizations can proactively establish supervision teams to supervise agencies, organizations and individuals from the central to grassroots levels on the implementation of the Party's guidelines and policies and the State's laws. This form of supervision is carried out relatively effectively by socio-political organizations, showing that: First, socio-political organizations are increasingly proactive in developing supervision plans and implementing supervision activities. The number of supervisions has been increasing every year and tends to cover many areas.

Field of operation of state agencies from central to local levels.

At the central level, socio-political organizations and their member organizations coordinate with relevant agencies (such as the National Assembly Standing Committee, the Government, ministries, branches, the People's Court, the People's Procuracy, etc.) to develop plans and organize the implementation of joint monitoring topics; guide socio-political organizations at local levels to perform monitoring functions; and preside over pilot monitoring programs in a number of localities. At the local level, in 5 years (2013-2018), the Vietnam Fatherland Front coordinated with socio-political organizations at local levels to organize "657,019 monitoring sessions in 63 provinces and cities. The provincial level presided over and participated in inter-sectoral monitoring sessions in 4,093 sessions; the district level presided over and supervised 22,679 sessions; the commune level presided over and supervised 466,012 sessions" [102, pp. 8-9].

In addition to participating in coordination with the Vietnam Fatherland Front to conduct monitoring, member socio-political organizations at all levels also regularly and proactively organize monitoring activities in areas related to their rights and responsibilities to protect the interests of union members. The Vietnam General Confederation of Labor

Vietnam Labor Union organizes activities to monitor compliance with the law on food safety, the implementation of the law on social insurance in enterprises. Vietnam Women's Union organizes the monitoring of the implementation of specific regulations for female workers in the Labor Code; the implementation of policies and laws on domestic violence prevention; on food safety; on the settlement of cases related to child abuse by the prosecution agencies. Vietnam Farmers' Union organizes the monitoring of the implementation of the law on production and trading of agricultural materials, the law on land planning and management, food safety and hygiene, rural environment; Vietnam Veterans' Association organizes the monitoring of the implementation of regimes and policies for soldiers. Ho Chi Minh Communist Youth Union organizes the monitoring of the implementation of policies and laws for youth.

Second, the number of violations discovered and recommendations for handling from the monitoring of socio-political organizations has also been constantly increasing, related to many areas of social life such as: compensation, site clearance, resettlement; citizen reception, complaint and denunciation settlement; food safety and hygiene; medical examination and treatment, insurance; poverty reduction; preferential policies for people with revolutionary contributions, etc. From the monitoring results, socio-political organizations have made many recommendations to the competent authorities for consideration and resolution. Some recommendations after monitoring "have good quality and are seriously received and responded to by responsible agencies, organizations and individuals" [102, p.15], contributing to protecting the legitimate rights and interests of the people.

However, the effectiveness of state power control from the monitoring activities of socio-political organizations still has many limitations. First of all, these organizations "mainly organize the monitoring of the activities of economic organizations and career organizations. Regarding the activities of state administrative management agencies, elected agencies and judicial agencies, the Vietnam Fatherland Front and socio-political organizations at all levels mainly send representatives to participate in monitoring delegations organized by state agencies, and have not yet organized many independent monitoring activities." [49].

Although the number of findings and recommendations after monitoring is constantly increasing,

However, the response, consideration and resolution rate of the competent authorities is not high. Most of the proposals and recommendations considered and resolved by the competent authorities are in cases where socio-political organizations coordinate supervision with relevant agencies. Proposals and recommendations from supervision activities organized by socio-political organizations are rarely responded to by the competent authorities, or if there are responses, they are only formal. In addition, "the monitoring and urging of the resolution of recommendations after supervision has not been focused on, leading to recommendations being one-sided, formal and not very effective." [102, p.17].

Second, control the organization of law enforcement through voter contact activities, reflecting the opinions and recommendations of voters and people.

According to the provisions of law, the Vietnam Fatherland Front at all levels and its member socio-political organizations shall coordinate with local authorities to organize the implementation of the plan for meeting with voters of National Assembly deputies and People's Council deputies at all levels; organize meetings to meet with voters to receive opinions of voters and people; coordinate with the National Assembly Standing Committee to synthesize opinions and recommendations of voters and people nationwide to report at National Assembly sessions.

Activities of contacting voters and reflecting voters' and people's recommendations at sessions of the National Assembly and People's Councils at all levels of socio-political organizations have increasingly gone into depth in both quantity and quality, creating conditions for interaction between delegates and voters, voters and delegates. "In the period of 2016 - 2018, on average, more than 2,000 voter contacts were organized each year" [7]. In 2018, the Vietnam Fatherland Front in coordination with the National Assembly Standing Committee "synthesized 5,091 opinions and recommendations sent by voters and people nationwide to be presented at the 5th and 6th sessions of the 14th National Assembly" [98, p.1]. Through voter contact activities, voters' opinions and reflections on law enforcement activities of state agencies were synthesized by the Vietnam Fatherland Front and transferred to competent state agencies, most of which were considered and resolved by these agencies at different levels. “Complaints and petitions at National Assembly sessions are also forwarded to competent authorities and considered, resolved, and responded to in writing by the National Assembly delegation where the voters petitioned (reaching 100%)” [98, p.1].

Through reflecting the recommendations of voters and people in the sessions of the National Assembly, many hot issues attracting public attention have been promptly surveyed by the National Assembly agencies, and held explanation sessions at the Committees as a basis for recommendations to competent authorities. Typically: "surveying the implementation of policies and laws in publishing, printing, and distributing general education textbooks in the period 2012-2017; organizing an explanation session by the Minister of Education and Training on the organization of high school graduation exams; organizing a survey on the implementation of the Cat Linh - Ha Dong railway project; organizing an explanation session by the Minister of Health on improving the quality and efficiency of the grassroots health network;..." [98, p.6].

Based on voters' recommendations and reflections, "in the first 9 months of 2018, the Government Inspectorate, ministries and branches organized 5,500 administrative inspections, over 180,000 specialized inspections and examinations, and transferred 65 cases and 75 subjects to the investigation agency for consideration. Among them, a number of particularly serious cases were discovered and promptly handled, such as the AVG case, land violations in Da Nang city, Quy Nhon port, Vietnam Feature Film Studio, Thu Thiem New Urban Area,..." [98, p.6].

However, in addition to the achieved results, controlling the implementation of state power through reflecting the opinions and recommendations of voters and people still has some limitations. The form of voter contact is still monotonous, mainly contacting before the sessions of the National Assembly and People's Councils at all levels. The number of voter contacts is still small, the number of voters participating in the contact is not large, and the participants are limited. For example, "in 2016, in Hanoi there were only 15,000 voters, in Ho Chi Minh City there were

22,000 voters participated in voter contacts out of about 5 million voters in each city, accounting for about 0.3% and 0.44%" [100, p.8]. The coordination of voter contacts and the synthesis of opinions and recommendations of the Fatherland Front at all levels, especially at the local level, still has many shortcomings, some places are still formal and ineffective. The monitoring and follow-up activities of the competent authorities in handling and responding to opinions and recommendations still face many obstacles and difficulties, and are not very effective.

The effectiveness and efficiency of controlling the implementation of state power through

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