Right to access information under Vietnamese law and compatibility with international legal standards

- Members of the supervisory body are appointed in a manner protected against political interference and have security of tenure so that they are protected against arbitrary removal once appointed.

- The oversight body reports to and has a budget approved by parliament, or other effective mechanisms are in place to protect its financial independence.

- The independent oversight body has the necessary duties and powers to carry out its functions, including reviewing classified documents and inspecting the premises of public bodies.

- Upon deciding on a complaint, the independent ombudsman has the power to order appropriate redress to the claimant, including the declassification of information.

- During the appeal process, the state agency bears the responsibility to prove that it does not operate in violation of the rules.

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2.3.6. Propaganda and dissemination measures

Article 19 of the LTCTT requires state agencies to establish a list of information that must be made public. International experience suggests that it is appropriate to require state agencies to publish a list of all documents or at least a list of all types of information held by these agencies, with specific and clear annotations for information that is classified as state secrets. This can assist information requesters in identifying the information they need more effectively, saving time and effort.

The law also does not stipulate the obligation of state agencies to periodically report annually on the implementation of the Law on Information Technology. International experience shows that it is necessary to require all state agencies to report on the implementation of the Law on Information Technology or to devote a part of the annual report to this issue.

Specific responsibility should be assigned to a central agency for synthesizing information into a general report on the implementation of the right to access information in the field of public services.

The law does not yet provide for a specific agency to play a coordinating role in implementing communication measures, promoting and supporting the implementation of the Law on Information Technology.

2.3.7. Protection of informants

Currently, Vietnam's Law on Information Technology does not have any provisions that mention or are even related to this issue. Taking into account international practice and its significance, the Law needs to supplement provisions on information providers.

Chapter 2 Conclusion

In this chapter, the author has introduced and provided readers with an overview of the right to access information in international legal documents as well as some typical countries. The author also introduced the basic contents of the right to access information in Vietnamese law. On that basis, a comparison is made to find similarities and differences between the Vietnamese legal system and international standards in the core issues of the right to access information.

The author also assessed the positive and negative points and the causes of those limitations in Vietnamese law on access to information through comparison and recognition of international law on access to information, drawing lessons and making the basis for proposing recommendations in chapter 3 of the Thesis.

In general, through studying the system of access to information in countries that have long been famous for their democratic, transparent and open traditions such as Japan, the US and Sweden, we can see the diversity of regulations as well as the approaches of each country on the right to information. This shows that it is difficult for any country to fully meet the legal standards set out for the right to information, but it also depends on the historical, social and legal cultural circumstances of each country. However, comparing with the standards

International standards clearly show us the goals that need to be achieved and set out directions for perfecting the law on access to information and improving the effectiveness of law enforcement in Vietnam.

Chapter 3: RECOMMENDATIONS DRAWED FROM COMPARATIVE STUDY OF THE RIGHT TO ACCESS INFORMATION UNDER VIETNAMESE LAW

NAM AND INTERNATIONAL LAW

3.1. Continue to perfect legal documents regulating information disclosure.

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Article 17 of the law stipulates a list of information that the state needs to make public, but the regulations on the disclosure of these documents and materials are scattered in many different documents, making it difficult for people to find. To ensure that the law can be put into practice, we need to review current documents in all fields, especially those related to state management activities, public administration and the judiciary, gradually amend and supplement current documents in the direction of ensuring publicity and transparency in state activities in accordance with the provisions of the Constitution and the Law on Information Technology, and at the same time issue documents guiding the implementation, defining the responsibilities of state agencies in determining which information must be made public, in what form and when, so that the law can be quickly put into practice.

3.2. Complete regulations on information focal point staff.

A focal point officer or an information provider has long been an important criterion for evaluating procedures to ensure citizens' right to access to information in international law. The Law on Access to Information and its guiding decrees have determined that the responsibility for providing information belongs to state agencies at all levels, including a focal point officer to assist the head of the agency in implementing it. However, the regulation that there must be a focal point officer is not enough to ensure the right to access to information. We need to clearly define the standards, conditions and positions of officers performing this task in each state agency so that they can be applied consistently, avoiding the situation where many agencies and units do not have enough staff to provide information.

capacity and skills to perform the activities of synthesizing, receiving, processing and providing information according to the provisions of law. Experience from a country in the world shows that having a specialized officer in a number of units to provide information is also a solution to ensure the right to information for citizens. However, to be consistent with the movement of innovation and streamlining the apparatus in Vietnam, having an officer in the agency with sufficient qualifications and skills to provide information is currently enough to meet the information needs of the people. In addition, it is necessary to open training courses on the process of providing information for officers to foster and improve the capacity, expertise and professionalism of those assigned to the task.

3.3. Establish an independent monitoring agency

The right to access information is considered as “oxygen for democracy”, the right to ensure the implementation of other citizens’ rights, enhance policy transparency and the effectiveness of the state. Therefore, in my opinion, having an independent monitoring agency on the right to access information to have the function of checking and evaluating the information provision activities of public agencies and at the same time being a mechanism to review decisions of those agencies not to provide information to the people is completely reasonable and correct. A state of the people, by the people and for the people, of course, information must also be of the people, by the people and for the people. However, there are no regulations explaining or specifically defining the criteria and conditions considered “information that is harmful or affects the interests of the State, national defense, national security, international relations, order, social security, social morality, public health; "life, life or property of others" or what information is "necessary for public interest, community health" has created a big loophole for officials to determine based on their subjective judgment or evade responsibility. Having an independent inspection and supervision agency will make state agencies more responsible.

of its own in providing information, and must also have the obligation to prove that the reasons for not providing information are consistent with the public interest.

3.4. Perfecting regulations on obligations and responsibilities of state agencies in providing information

In addition to regulations on citizens' right to access information, regulations on the obligations and responsibilities of public authorities are also an extremely important aspect in ensuring this right of citizens. These are the subjects with the obligation to respect, protect and ensure the right to access information, so legal regulations are needed to ensure that these subjects properly perform that obligation, specifically:

Firstly, supplement sanctions on assessment, review and handling of agencies and organizations that do not complete their tasks or do not properly perform their tasks of providing information as prescribed by law to enhance and promote the responsibility of heads of agencies and units in information provision activities.

Second, supplement regulations on the obligations of state agencies in reporting annually on the implementation of the Law on Information Technology. All state agencies must have the obligation to report on the implementation of the Law on Information Technology or dedicate a part of the annual report to this issue.

3.5. Publish a list of all documents

In addition to publicizing information on mass media or local electronic information pages, there should be regulations on how to manage and arrange documents to create consistency, and each agency must list and publish a list of all documents or at least a list of all types of information held by these agencies, with specific and clear annotations for information that is a state secret. This can support

information requesters can more efficiently locate the information they need, saving time and effort.

Chapter 3 Conclusion

In chapter 3, the author has made recommendations and solutions to improve the law on access to information and enhance the effectiveness of implementing the law on access to information in Vietnam based on the shortcomings and limitations mentioned in chapter 2.

Based on research and comparison with international standards and laws of several other countries in the world, the author's proposals are scientific, practical and feasible.

CONCLUDE

Through the researched contents, the Thesis has generalized and systematized the general theoretical issues on the right to access information such as the concept, history of formation and development of the right to access information, general principles and the importance of the right to access information in ensuring the civil and political rights of the people and building a democratic, public and transparent state.

The thesis has presented and evaluated the current status of Vietnamese law on access to information and international law on access to information, the law on the right to access information of some countries in the world such as the United States, Japan and Sweden and drawn lessons for Vietnam. Based on the research on Vietnamese and international law as well as some countries in the world on the right to access information to find out some existing limitations and the causes of those shortcomings in Vietnamese law.

Finally, the Thesis proposed a number of recommendations drawn from the comparative study of Vietnam's law on access to information with international law and some countries in the world to propose a number of solutions to improve Vietnam's law on access to information and improve the effectiveness of law implementation, while comparing to find compatibility with international standards.

Right to access information under Vietnamese law and compatibility with international legal standards - 10

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