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Microsoft Word TTTA Mai Thi Thanh Tam QD cap HV doc HO CHI MINH NATIONAL ACADEMY OF POLITICS MAI THI THANH TAM THE LEGAL MECHANISM FOR PEOPLE’S PARTICIPATION IN LEGISLATIVE ACTIVITIES IN VIETNAM SUMMA.
HO CHI MINH NATIONAL ACADEMY OF POLITICS MAI THI THANH TAM THE LEGAL MECHANISM FOR PEOPLE’S PARTICIPATION IN LEGISLATIVE ACTIVITIES IN VIETNAM SUMMARY OF THE DOCTORAL THESIS MAJOR: THEORY AND HISTORY OF STATE AND LAW Code: 938 01 06 HANOI - 2022 The thesis is completed at Ho Chi Minh National Academy of Politics Supervisors: Assoc Prof., Dr Tao Thi Quyen Dr Hoang Minh Hoi Reviewer 1: Reviewer 2: Reviewer 3: The thesis will be defended in front of the Thesis Committee at Academy level, at Ho Chi Minh National Academy of Politics At time day month year 2022 The thesis can be found at The National Library of Vietnam and Library of Ho Chi Minh National Academy of Politics INTRODUCTION The rationale of the study In the process of renewal and development of the country so far, the issue of building and improving the socialist rule-of-law state of the people, by the people, for the people has always been a concern and focus of the Communist Party of Vietnam Since the VII Congress, through each congress, the Party's theoretical thinking on the socialist rule-of-law state of the people, by the people, for the people has been increasingly developed It has oriented the entire process of building a clean and strong state that meets the requirements of the national development In the Platform of national construction during the transitional period towards socialism (amended in 2011), the Party declared: “Our State is a socialist rule-of-law State of the people, by the people and for the people All state powers belong to the people whose foundation is the alliance between the working class, the peasantry, and the intelligentsia, led by the Communist Party of Vietnam”; “The State serves the people, is closely associated with the people, fully exercises the people's democratic rights, respects and listens to the people's opinions, and is subject to the people's supervision” This viewpoint is institutionalized in the 2013 Constitution: “The Socialist Republic of Vietnam is a socialist rule-of-law State of the People, by the People and for the People The people are the masters of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam; all state powers belong to the people whose foundation is the alliance between the working class, the peasantry, and the intelligentsia” The populist and democratic nature of the State of Vietnam is not only reflected in the State's responsibility to serve the people but also in mobilizing people to participate in State activities Legislative activities are one of the main areas of State activities The legal mechanism for people’s participation in legislative activities plays an important role in promoting the mastery and political activeness of the people The people's participation in legislative activities also helps the authorities obtain helpful and critical information on policy issues in the bills; helps the policy selection in drafting laws become more public, transparent, and in line with the will and aspirations of the people In addition, this legal mechanism helps to improve the relationship between the State and the people The government is more concerned with the people’s needs and interests On the other hand, the people will gain knowledge about the bill to be promulgated while participating in legislative activities, thus increasing trust in the State and having a positive attitude to comply with the law From a legal perspective, the legal mechanism for people’s participation in legislative activities in Vietnam is reflected in many legal documents such as the Constitution 2013, Law on Organization of the National Assembly 2014 (amended in 2020); Law on Promulgation of Legislative Documents 2015 (amended in 2020); Law on Organization of Government 2015 (amended in 2019); Law on Referendum 2015; Law on Vietnam Fatherland Front 2015; However, the current regulations have not yet created a broad legal framework for people's participation in legislative activities To illustrate, the scope for people's participation in legislative activities has not been specific; there is a lack of active forms of people's participation in legislative activities; the procedures for people’s participation in legislative activities are incomplete; there is no mechanism to bind the responsibility of state agencies in receiving and responding to people's opinions; It can be seen that the legal mechanism for people’s participation in legislative activities in Vietnam has not operated adequately The main form of participation is the collection of people's opinions about law-making proposals and the bills Up to now, collecting people's opinions about the bills has become a regular activity done by the authorities However, this activity has many limitations: limited entities (mainly state agencies, socio-political organizations, experts, and scientists while rarely consulting the public); the contents raised for people's opinions are broad and lack of focus; the collecting of people's opinions, absorbing and answering people's opinions is just a formality in some cases, thus failing to obtain valuable comments Besides, social criticism on the bills done by the Vietnam Fatherland Front and its member socio-political organizations is weak No referendum has been taken in reality From the above arguments, it can be seen that the research topic: "The legal mechanism for people’s participation in legislative activities in Vietnam" is significant both in theory and practice It has been the requirement of building a socialist democracy and a socialist rule-of-law state of the people, by the people, and for the people in Vietnam today Research purpose and tasks 2.1 Research purpose Based on theoretical analysis and assessment of the current situation of the legal mechanism for people’s participation in legislative activities in Vietnam, the purpose of this research is to propose viewpoints, and solutions to improve the legal mechanism for people’s participation in legislative activities in Vietnam 2.2 Research tasks With the above purpose, the thesis has the following research tasks: - Giving an overall assessment of domestic and foreign research related to the topic of the thesis and pointing out issues that need further research - Clarifying the theoretical basis of the legal mechanism for people’s participation in legislative activities, in which, the thesis focuses on the concept, characteristics, roles, constitutive elements, evaluation criteria, and conditions to guarantee the legal mechanism for people’s participation in legislative activities - Studying legal mechanisms of people's participation in legislative activities in some countries and drawing lessons for Vietnam - Analyzing and evaluating the current situation of the legal mechanism for people’s participation in legislative activities in Vietnam - Proposing viewpoints and solutions to improve the legal mechanism for people’s participation in legislative activities in Vietnam Object and scope of the research 3.1 Object of the research Under the perspective of theory and history of state and law, the thesis studies theoretical and practical issues of the legal mechanism for people’s participation in legislative activities in Vietnam Following that, the thesis argues for the scientific basis, viewpoints, and solutions to improve the legal mechanism for people’s participation in legislative activities in Vietnam 3.2 Scope of the research - Regarding the space: The thesis studies the legal mechanism for people’s participation in legislative activities in Vietnam The theoretical and practical issues of the legal mechanism for people’s participation in legislative activities are closely related to political, economical, and social characteristics of Vietnam The viewpoints and solutions are also derived from the reality of Vietnam In addition, when studying legal mechanisms for people’s participation in legislative activities in some countries so as to draw lessons for Vietnam, the author chooses the United States, China, and some European countries to study - Regarding the time: The thesis studies the legal mechanism for people’s participation in legislative activities in Vietnam since 2014 when the 2013 Constitution took effect until now and proposes solutions in the coming period Theoretical basis and research methods 4.1 Theoretical basis The theoretical basis of the research is based on the Marxist-Leninist doctrine, Ho Chi Minh's thought, and the Vietnamese Communist Party's viewpoints on the state and law, the socialist rule-of-law state, the socialist democracy, and the exercise of the people's mastery, including the exercise of the right to participate in legislative activities 4.2 Research methods The thesis uses the Marxist - Leninist approach of dialectical materialism and historical materialism In addition, the thesis uses the theory of direct democracy and the theory of public participation to clarify theoretical and practical issues of the legal mechanism for people’s participation in legislative activities Based on the above approach, the thesis uses specific research methods such as the analysis and synthesis method; statistical method; comparative jurisprudence method; logical method; historical - specific method; and case study method New contributions of the thesis The thesis has the following new contributions: First, the thesis has built the theoretical basis of the legal mechanism for people’s participation in legislative activities in Vietnam including the concept, characteristics, roles, constitutive elements, evaluation criteria, and guarantee conditions of the legal mechanism for people’s participation in legislative activities The thesis has also studied legal mechanisms for people’s participation in legislative activities in some other countries and drawn lessons for Vietnam Second, the thesis has analyzed the current situation of the legal mechanism for people’s participation in legislative activities in Vietnam, including achievements as well as limitations, and causes Third, the thesis has built up a system of viewpoints and proposed possible solutions to improve the legal mechanism for people’s participation in legislative activities in Vietnam Academic and practical significance of the thesis - Academic significance: The research results of the thesis have contributed to completing the theoretical basis of the legal mechanism for people’s participation in legislative activities in Vietnam - Practical significance: The results of the thesis are references for the Party and the State in the process of improving the legal mechanism for people’s participation in legislative activities in Vietnam today The thesis is also a valuable reference in studying and teaching relevant issues Structure of the thesis In addition to the introduction, conclusion, list of references, and appendices, the thesis consists of 04 chapters, with 11 headings Chapter LITERATURE REVIEW ON THE LEGAL MECHANISM OF PEOPLE’S PARTICIPATION IN LEGISLATIVE ACTIVITIES IN VIETNAM 1.1 DOMESTIC RESEARCH RELATED TO THE THESIS 1.1.1 Research related to the legal mechanism Research related to the legal mechanism gives the author an overview of the legal mechanism, thereby determining an appropriate approach to the legal mechanism and orientation to build concepts, clarify constitutive elements and criteria for improving the legal mechanism for people’s participation in legislative activities 1.1.2 Research related to the legal mechanism for people’s participation in legislative activities A literature review on the legal mechanism for people’s participation in legislative activities shows that different aspects of this legal mechanism have been mentioned to some extent However, little research has been done on the legal mechanism for people’s participation in legislative activities in Vietnam in a systematic and comprehensive way 1.2 FOREIGN RESEARCH RELATED TO THE THESIS Many studies have been done overseas on people’s participation in public policy-making activities/processes (and legislative activities are also one form of public policy-making activity) Some studies mentioned the levels/forms/scales of people's participation in public policy decisions Despites different approaches, all studies refer to various levels of people’s participation Besides, there are studies on people's participation in the legislative process in some countries Foreign studies have contributed to clarifying some theoretical issues of the legal mechanism for people’s participation in legislative activities and suggesting experiences about legal mechanisms in some countries in the world 1.3 GENERAL ASSESSMENT AND ISSUES FOR FURTHER RESEARCH 1.3.1 General assessment A literature review on both domestic and foreign studies related to the thesis topic shows that, in general, the mentioned-above studies have contributed to certain aspects of the theory and practice of the legal mechanism for people’s participation in legislative activities This thesis will consult, and selectively inherit those studies There are some helpful contents for the thesis, such as: - Some studies have provided an approach to the concept of people, the concept of legislative activities and the concept of legal mechanisms in general They provide good suggestions for understanding the concepts, constitutive elements, evaluation criteria, and guarantee conditions of the legal mechanism for people’s participation in legislative activities - Some studies have analyzed each component of the legal mechanism, such as regulations on people’s participation in legislative activities (regulations on the people's right to participate in legislative activities, forms of people’s participation in legislative activities, responsibilities of relevant state agencies); legislative activities of the National Assembly; and the participation in legislative activities of some entities;… - Some studies have analyzed the situation of exercising the people’s right to participate in legislative activities; or analyzed the practice of exercising specific forms of people’s participation in legislative activities (collecting people’s opinions, organizing referendums, ); or the participation of various entities in the legislative activities (Vietnam Fatherland Front and its member organizations, social organizations, experts, scientists,…) Following from that, the studies have also proposed viewpoints and solutions to improve different aspects of the legal mechanism However, due to different research purposes and requirements, the mentioned above studies have only considered some specific aspects of the legal mechanism for people’s participation in legislative activities In general, there has not been a comprehensive and systematic study on the legal mechanism for people’s participation in legislative activities in Vietnam so far 1.3.2 Issues for further research in the thesis Theoretically, the issues that need further research include: building the concept of the legal mechanism for people’s participation in legislative activities; presenting the characteristics and role of the legal mechanism for people’s participation in legislative activities; analyzing the constitutive factors and criteria for improving the legal mechanism for people’s participation in legislative activities in Vietnam; conditions to guarantee the operation of the legal mechanism for people’s participation in legislative activities; the legal mechanism for people’s participation in legislative activities in some countries in the world and lessons for Vietnam Practically, issues that need further research include: analyzing and evaluating the current situation of the legal mechanism for people’s participation in legislative activities in Vietnam (achieved results, limitations, and causes) Based on comprehensive and systematic research on the theory and practice of the legal mechanism for people’s participation in legislative activities, the thesis needs to build a system of viewpoints and propose solutions to improve the legal mechanism for people’s participation in legislative activities in Vietnam 1.3.3 Hypothesis and research questions On the basis of the literature review, the thesis poses a hypothesis as the following: To ensure that state power belongs to the people, the people delegate the power but not lose their power, it is necessary to have a legal mechanism for the people to participate in the state’s activities, especially the legislative activities Currently, although the legal mechanism for people’s participation in legislative activities in Vietnam has been gradually formed and achieved some results, it has also revealed many shortcomings As a result, some laws (products of the legislative activities) not reflect or fully reflect the will, aspirations, and interests of the people Therefore, a comprehensive legal mechanism for people’s participation in legislative activities needs to be in place in Vietnam today With this research hypothesis, the thesis aims to answer the following questions: What is the legal mechanism for people’s participation in legislative activities? What elements is this mechanism composed of? Which evaluation criteria are used to assess this mechanism? What are the conditions to guarantee this mechanism in practice? How is the legal mechanism for people’s participation in legislative activities operated in practice? What are the achievements and limitations? How to continue to improve the legal mechanism for people’s participation in legislative activities in Vietnam today? Sub-conclusion of chapter In Chapter 1, the thesis has done a literature review on domestic and foreign research related to the topic “the legal mechanism for people’s participation in legislative activities” It can be seen that there has been much scientific research related to the thesis topic, but research on the legal mechanism for people’s participation in legislative activities under the perspective of theory and history of state and law has still been absent Many theoretical and practical issues on the legal mechanism for people’s participation in legislative activities have been raised; and it is essential to identify viewpoints and solutions to improve the legal mechanism for people’s participation in legislative activities in Vietnam Chapter THEORETICAL BASIS OF THE LEGAL MECHANISM OF PEOPLE'S PARTICIPATION IN LEGAL ACTIVITIES 2.1 CONCEPT, CHARACTERISTICS, AND ROLE OF THE LEGAL MECHANISM ON PEOPLE’S PARTICIPATION IN LEGAL ACTIVITIES 2.1.1 Some related concepts 2.1.1.1 The concept of legislative activity Legislative activity is a form of state activity implemented based on legislative power, including many different stages with the participation of various actors to translate the common will of the people into laws 2.1.1.2 The concept of the people and the people’s participation in legislative activities The people is a political-legal term that is understood as the entire Vietnamese regardless of social classes, religions, ethnicities, and social status, forming a great national unity bloc, based on the alliance of the working class, the peasantry, and the intelligentsia They jointly participate in the construction and defense of the Socialist Vietnam Fatherland, led by the Communist Party of Vietnam People's participation in legislative activities is understood as the people’s contribution to legislative activities through different forms to influence the content of policies in bills and to ensure that laws reflect the will and aspirations of the people, and have good quality In Vietnam, people can participate in legislative activities in the form of direct democracy or representative democracy through the Vietnam Fatherland Front, socio-political organizations, and other social organizations 2.1.2 The concept of the legal mechanism for people’s participation in legislative activities The legal mechanism for people’s participation in legislative activities is a combination of legal institutions and organizations which are interrelated and operated based on certain conditions to guarantee that people can actively participate in the legislative activities and that laws fully reflect the will and aspirations of the people and have good quality 11 and role Legal institutions create the legal framework for the operation of organizations The organizations play a role in realizing legal institutions on people’s participation in legislative activities in practice 2.2.2 Criteria for improving the legal mechanism for people’s participation in legislative activities Criteria for improving the legal mechanism for people’s participation in legislative activities are understood as benchmarks or standards used to evaluate the legal mechanism for people’s participation in legislative activities First, the criteria for the legal institutions on people’s participation in legislative activities include comprehensiveness; synchronicity, consistency; suitability; feasibility, and modern legislative techniques Second, the criteria for organizations that guarantee people’s participation in legislative activities include the adequacy of organizations to ensure people’s participation in all stages of law-making; the rationality of structure, functions, tasks, powers as well as relationships between organizations In order to ensure people’s participation in legislative activities, it is also necessary for these organizations to implement their duties in accordance with the law Third, the criteria for the effectiveness and efficiency of the legal mechanism for people’s participation in legislative activities Criteria for the efficiency of the legal mechanism for people’s participation in legislative activities are determined based on ensuring the role of each component and the relationship between them Criteria for the effectiveness of the legal mechanism for people’s participation in legislative activities include: (1) The rate and quality of people participating in legislative activities, reflected in the possibility to have influence on policy decisions in the bills; (2) The level of implementing various forms of people's participation in legislative activities; (3) Responsibilities of relevant state agencies in receiving and answering people’s opinions in legislative activities 2.3 CONDITIONS TO GUARANTEE THE LEGAL MECHANISM FOR PEOPLE’S PARTICIPATION IN LEGAL ACTIVITIES 2.3.1 Political conditions The political conditions to guarantee the legal mechanism for people’s participation in the legislative activities include ensuring the leadership of the Communist Party of Vietnam, improving the socialist democracy, and developing a culture of participation 12 2.3.2 Legal conditions Legal conditions include not only regulations on people’s participation in legislative activities but also the connection of those provisions with the legal system in general, with regulations on legislation in particular; with law enforcement and handling of violations on people’s participation in legislative activities 2.3.3 Economical, social, and cultural conditions Economic, social, and cultural conditions to guarantee the legal mechanism for people’s participation in the legislative activities include the stability and development of the economy; facilities, funding, information technology for the implementation of legislative activities; the improvement of democracy; and level of public awareness 2.3.4 Conditions regarding the capacity of cadres and civil servants in handling people’s participation in legislative activities The capacity of cadres and civil servants to operate the mechanism for people’s participation in legislative activities depends on their awareness about the importance and meaning of ensuring people’s participation in legislative activities and their skills in organizing people’s participation in legislative activities 2.3.5 Conditions regarding people’s ability to participate in legislative activities The ability of people to participate in legislative activities includes people’s awareness of the right to participate, their legal knowledge and participation skills 2.4 LEGAL MECHANISMS OF PEOPLE'S PARTICIPATION IN LEGISLATIVE ACTIVITIES IN SOME COUNTRIES AND LESSONS FOR VIETNAM 2.4.1 Legal mechanisms of people’s participation in legislative activities in some countries The thesis selects legal mechanisms of people’s participation in legislative activities in the US, China, and Europe to research 2.4.2 Lessons for Vietnam First, the legal institutions on people’s participation in legislative activities must be clear and detailed to guarantee the smooth operation of the legal mechanism Second, the legal mechanism for people’s participation in legislative activities needs to recognize various forms of people’s participation in legislative activities Third, the legal mechanism for people’s participation in legislative activities needs to guarantee the people's participation right from the early 13 stages of the legislative process (proposing legal initiatives) and throughout the legislative process Fourth, the operation of the legal mechanism for people’s participation in legislative activities needs to eliminate negative group interests Fifth, taking advantage of information technology to improve the effectiveness of the legal mechanism for people’s participation in legislative activities Sub-conclusion of chapter Chapter of the thesis focuses on researching the theoretical basis of the legal mechanism for people’s participation in legislative activities In this chapter, the thesis has built up the instrumental concept of “the legal mechanism for people’s participation in legislative activities”, and clarified the characteristics, roles of the legal mechanism for people’s participation in legislative activities This chapter also deals with the central theoretical issue of identifying the constitutive elements of the legal mechanism for people’s participation in legislative activities, including legal institutions, organizations, and the relationship between them In addition, the chapter has identified the criteria and conditions to guarantee the legal mechanism for people’s participation in legislative activities; studied the legal mechanism for people’s participation in legislative activities in some countries, and pointed out lessons for Vietnam Chapter THE CURRENT SITUATION OF THE LEGAL MECHANISM FOR PEOPLE’S PARTICIPATION IN LEGAL ACTIVITIES IN VIETNAM 3.1 ACHIEVEMENTS REGARDING THE LEGAL MECHANISM FOR PEOPLE’S PARTICIPATION IN LEGISLATIVE ACTIVITIES IN VIETNAM 3.1.1 Achievements in legal institutions on people's participation in legislative activities in Vietnam The legal institutions on people’s participation in legislative activities in Vietnam are stipulated in many legal documents such as the Constitution 2013, Law on Organization of the National Assembly 2014 (amended in 2020); Law on Promulgation of Legislative Documents 2015 (amended in 2020); Law on Organization of Government 2015 (amended in 2019); Law on Referendum 2015; 14 Law on Vietnam Fatherland Front 2015;… The current provisions have created a legal framework for people’s participation in legislative activities; determined the rights and obligations of the people when participating in legislative activities, and stipulated the responsibility of the organizations to guarantee people’s participation in legislative activities in Vietnam At the same time, there are also regulations on the content, scope, forms, and procedures of people’s participation in legislative activities The results achieved in the legal institutions on people’s participation in legislative activities in Vietnam have been reflected in various categories of regulations in this field 3.1.2 Achievements of organizations to guarantee people's participation in legislative activities in Vietnam 3.1.2.1 Achievements of state organizations In general, the organizations entitled to request law formulation and draft the bills; the organizations entitled to inspect and comment on the bills; and the organizations entitled to review and approve the bills have complied with the provisions on people’s participation in legislative activities in Vietnam 3.1.2.2 Achievements of social organizations Social organizations have encouraged people to contribute opinions on lawmaking proposals and draft laws composed by these organizations; and to participate in other forms of social criticism over the bills These activities have obtained initial achievements 3.1.3 Achievements regarding the effectiveness and efficiency of the legal mechanism for people's participation in legislative activities in Vietnam 3.1.3.1 Achievements regarding the effectiveness First, the components of the legal mechanism have initially demonstrated their position and role in operating the legal mechanism Second, these components have closely coordinated with each other In particular, the coordination between the organizations has contributed to improving the quality of many laws and ensuring that promulgated laws reflect the will and aspirations of the people 3.1.3.2 Achievements regarding the efficiency First, the rate and quality of people’s participation in legislative activities have been increasingly improved Second, the implementation of some forms of people’s participation in legislative activities has achieved certain positive results 15 Third, the influence of the people on policy decisions in the bills has been initially recognized In some law projects, people’s opinions, comments, and suggestions have been listened to and partly reflected in the bills 3.2 LIMITATIONS OF THE LEGAL MECHANISM FOR PEOPLE’S PARTICIPATION IN LEGISLATIVE ACTIVITIES IN VIETNAM AND CAUSES 3.2.1 Limitations of the legal mechanism for people’s participation in legislative activities in Vietnam 3.2.1.1 Limitations of legal institutions on people’s participation in legislative activities in Vietnam First, the regulations on people’s right to participate in legislative activities have not ensured democracy, widespread participation of the people in legislative activities, and the people’s ability to participate in all stages of the law-making process Second, the regulations on the content of people’s participation in legislative activities are still quite sketchy Third, the regulations on the forms of people’s participation in legislative activities have not ensured active and widespread public participation Fourth, there is a lack of specific regulations on procedures for people’s participation in legislative activities Fifth, the regulations on the legal consequences for the subjects who violate the provisions on people’s participation in legislative activities are unclear, unspecific, and lack a binding obligation of the state agencies Obviously, the legal institutions on people’s participation in legislative activities have not met the requirements of comprehensiveness, consistency, synchronism, suitability, and feasibility 3.2.1.2 Limitations of organizations to guarantee people’s participation in legislative activities in Vietnam First, limitations of state organizations - The organizations entitled to request law formulation and draft law Regarding what to ask for people’s opinions: the organizations entitled to request law formulation and draft law not specify in detail what they want to hear from the people Regarding the forms of collecting people’s opinions: some forms of collecting opinions are not very effective 16 Regarding the procedures for collecting people’s opinions: the collection of people's opinions in the law-making proposals and drafting laws does not meet the requirements as prescribed by law - The organizations entitled to inspect and comment on the bills have been unable to ensure the substantive participation of the people - The organizations entitled to review and approve the bills The forms of mobilizing people’s participation in legislative activities in the stage of reviewing and approving a law project are not diversified The main and popular form is organizing conferences to collect opinions on law projects However, this activity has not achieved the desired effect Second, limitations of social organizations - The role of social organizations in mobilizing people to participate in social criticism on law projects has not met the expectation The number of social criticism activities towards law projects held by the Vietnam Fatherland Front and its member organizations is very limited, and the quality of social criticism is unclear The impact of social criticism is not strong enough to make changes to the content of laws - The mobilization of people in giving opinions on the bills is often a formality and does not ensure the representativeness of various population groups in society The quality of public participation in contributing ideas to the bills has been still limited 3.2.1.3 Limitations regarding the efficiency and effectiveness of the legal mechanism for people’s participation in legislative activities in Vietnam First, limitations regarding the efficiency of the legal mechanism for people’s participation in legislative activities - The legal institutions on people’s participation in legislative activities are incomplete and have not created a strong legal framework for people to actively participate in legislative activities The responsibility of state organizations in receiving, reflecting, and answering people’s comments on the bills has not been fully demonstrated - State organizations have not played their role in guaranteeing, facilitating, and mobilizing people to participate in legislative activities well - Social organizations have not played their role well as representative organizations for all social classes 17 - The coordination between these organizations is not synchronized and has not yet ensured people's participation Second, limitations regarding the effectiveness of the legal mechanism for people’s participation in legislative activities in Vietnam - The rate and quality of people’s participation in legislative activities have not met the requirements The possibility for people to influence the bills is not high - The implementation of the forms of people’s participation in legislative activities has many limitations The main forms include information, people’s opinions collection (a lower level of public consultation), and social criticism (mainly implemented through the Vietnam Fatherland Front and its sociopolitical organizations) The more substantive forms of people’s participation such as referendums, citizen initiatives, and agenda initiatives are not regulated in detail; hence, there is no opportunity for people to participate through these forms in practice - The collection of people’s opinions by several state agencies is still a formality It seems to be a fact that collecting, receiving, and answering people’s opinions in legislative activities have not been paid much attention 3.2.2 Reasons for the limitation of the legal mechanism on people’s participation in legislative activities in Vietnam First, the leading of the Party in legislative activities still has several limitations Second, Vietnam has not yet established a complete socialist democracy and created a people's participation culture Third, the legal regulations on the legislative process have not met the requirements The enforcement of laws and handling of the law’s violations on people’s participation in legislative activities are still limited Fourth, the capacity of cadres and civil servants who work in the legislative field has not met the requirements, making the operation of the legal mechanism not as effective as expected Fifth, the people’s capacity to exercise the right to participate in legislative activities is still limited Sixth, funding for organizing the collection of people’s opinions in legislative activities is limited The application of information technology in legislative activities has not met the requirements 18 Sub-conclusion of chapter Chapter analyzed the current situation of the legal mechanism for people’s participation in legislative activities in Vietnam It is clear that this legal mechanism has improved a lot The legal institutions on people’s participation have created a legal framework for people's participation and the operation of relevant organizations These organizations have better ensured people’s participation in legislative activities The effectiveness and efficiency of the legal mechanism for people’s participation in legislative activities have been guaranteed to some extent However, the legal mechanism for people’s participation in legislative activities in Vietnam has revealed many limitations: the legal institutions on people’s participation in legislative activities are still incomplete; relevant organizations have not ensured the substantive participation of people in legislative activities; the rate and quality of people’s participation in legislative activities have not met the requirements; the coordination between the constitutive elements is also not well guaranteed Besides, the guarantee conditions have not created a favorable environment for the operation of the legal mechanism Chapter VIEWPOINTS AND SOLUTIONS TO IMPROVE THE LEGAL MECHANISM FOR PEOPLE’S PARTICIPATION IN LEGISLATIVE ACTIVITIES IN VIETNAM 4.1 VIEWPOINTS ON IMPROVING THE LEGAL MECHANISM FOR PEOPLE’S PARTICIPATION IN LEGISLATIVE ACTIVITIES IN VIETNAM First, while improving the legal mechanism for people’s participation in legislative activities, it is required to fully grasp the Party’s viewpoints on promoting people's participation in legislative activities Second, improving the legal mechanism for people’s participation in legislative activities in association with promoting democracy and building the Vietnam socialist rule-of law-State of the people, by the people, for the people Third, while improving the legal mechanism for people’s participation in legislative activities, it is highly essential to strengthen the responsibility of the State and promote the activeness of the people 19 Fourth, while improving the legal mechanism for people’s participation in legislative activities, it is important to ensure a harmonization of interests between the State, enterprises, and the people Fifth, while improving the legal mechanism for people’s participation in legislative activities, it is possible to learn from other countries’ experiences with a thorough consideration of the reality in Vietnam 4.2 SOLUTIONS TO IMPROVE THE LEGAL MECHANISM FOR PEOPLE’S PARTICIPATION IN LEGISLATIVE ACTIVITIES IN VIETNAM 4.2.1 Improving the legal institutions on people’s participation in legislative activities in Vietnam First, improving regulations on collecting people’s opinions in the legislative process - The issues for asking public opinions in legislative activities need to be stipulated more specifically; - Supplementing regulations on the procedures of people’s participation in legislative activities; - Binding the obligations of state agencies in receiving and responding to people’s comments, with strict legal consequences for not receiving and responding to people’s comments; - Contemplating replacing regulations on collecting people’s opinions with regulations on people's consultation (public consultation) Second, improving regulations on social criticism in legislative activities - It is necessary to stipulate the responsibility of the State in providing information on legislative activities at the request of the subject of social criticism more specifically; - The mechanism for receiving critical opinions and ensuring the accountability of relevant state agencies in accepting or not accepting people’s opinions needs to be regulated more clearly; - Regulations on legal consequences in case the authorities refuse to receive criticism also need to be in place; - Attracting organizations and individuals affected by the bills and experts in the social criticism activities through more sensible channels; 20 - Apart from the Vietnam Fatherland Front and its member organization, there is a need to legally expand the scope for social criticism to other parties, especially social organizations, media, and press agencies Third, completing regulations on referendums on laws - Supplementing the provision on people’s right to propose a referendum - Supplementing the form of a compulsory referendum (the Constitution stipulates the issues that are compulsory to hold a referendum) - It is recommended to assign the task/authority of “organizing a referendum according to the decision of the National Assembly” to the National Election Council instead of the Standing Committee of the National Assembly as per current regulations - Clearly indicating the conditions and procedures for conducting a referendum on the bills Fourth, contemplating adding regulations on agenda initiatives 4.2.2 Improving the strength of relevant organizations to guarantee people’s participation in legislative activities in Vietnam 4.2.2.1 Improving the strength of state organizations to guarantee people’s participation in legislative activities in Vietnam First, as for the organizations entitled to request law formulation and draft laws: - Raising awareness among the organizations entitled to request law formulation and draft laws on the meaning and importance of mobilizing people’s participation in legislative activities - Enhancing the operational effectiveness of law drafting boards by expanding the participation of experts, scientists, and practical activists Besides, in the long term, it is necessary to build an independent and professional law drafting agency Second, it is necessary to continue improving the quality of law inspection at the Ethnic Council and Committees of the National Assembly by further strengthening the critical review of policy issues in the bills and the participation of experts, scientists, and subjects directly affected by the bills before and during the inspection of law projects 21 Third, it is recommended to continue renovating the organization and operation of the National Assembly (the organization entitled to review and approve laws) in order to ensure democracy, professionalism, modernity, and the representative role - Renovating the National Assembly’s organizational structure by enhancing the professionalism of the National Assembly members - Clearly defining the authority of the National Assembly when discussing and passing the bill, especially in reviewing legislative policies, that is, determining whether the policies expressed in the bills reflect the interests of the people and ensure the harmony of interests between the State and the people - Continuing to improve the effectiveness of the National Assembly members in voters meeting activities and National Assembly delegations in organizing conferences to collect opinions on the bills - Effectively utilizing experts in legislative activities 4.2.2.2 Improving the strength of social organizations to guarantee the people’s participation in legislative activities First, renovating the organization and operation of the Vietnam Fatherland Front and its member socio-political organizations to ensure that these organizations constitute a political base of the democratic administration, and to ensure people’s participation in legislative activities - Renovating the apparatus and operation of the Vietnam Fatherland Front and its member socio-political organizations to eliminate the tendency of bureaucratization in these organizations - Creating a mechanism for the Vietnam Fatherland Front and its member socio-political organizations to participate more actively in legislative activities - Strengthening the relationship between the Vietnam Fatherland Front, socio-political organizations, and the people in the process of participating in legislative activities Second, it is necessary to promote the role of social organizations to guarantee the participation of the people in legislative activities 22 4.2.2.3 Strengthening the coordination between relevant organizations to guarantee people’s participation in legislative activities First, strengthening the coordination among state organizations to guarantee people’s participation in legislative activities Second, strengthening the coordination among social organizations to guarantee people’s participation in legislative activities Third, strengthening the coordination between state organizations and social organizations to guarantee people’s participation in legislative activities 4.2.3 Improving conditions to guarantee the legal mechanism of people’s participation in legislative activities 4.2.3.1 Improving political conditions First, strengthening the Party’s leadership over legislative activities Second, continuing to build and enhance the socialist democracy Third, expanding the culture of participation in Vietnam 4.2.3.2 Improving legal conditions First, while improving the legal mechanism for people’s participation in legislative activities, it is crucial to guarantee the synchronization and consistency in regulations on people’s participation in legislative activities in relation to other relevant regulations There is a need to improve regulations directly related to the people’s mastery; expand the forms of direct democracy to facilitate public participation in the State’s affairs, including the formulation of policies and laws; and improve regulations on the legislative process to better ensure people’s participation in the legislative activities Second, improving the effectiveness of law enforcement and resolutely handling violations of the regulations on people’s participation in legislative activities 4.2.3.3 Improving economical, cultural, and social conditions In addition to maintaining stability, achieving socio-economic development, and raising public awareness, it is essential to focus on the followings: First, funding for activities to attract people’s participation in legislative activities Second, utilizing information and communication technology (ICT) in legislative activities 23 4.2.3.4 Enhancing the capacity of cadres and civil servants who work in the legislative field First, it is necessary to raise the awareness of cadres and civil servants about the importance of mobilizing people to participate in legislative activities Second, it is necessary to continue training and fostering cadres’ and civil servants’ skills in organizing activities to mobilize people to participate in legislative activities 4.2.3.5 Enhancing people’s ability to participate in legislative activities First, raising people's awareness of their rights and how to participate in legislative activities Second, practicing people’s participation skills such as skills in identifying policy issues, presentation skills, and critical skills, Third, further promoting public participation, especially the participation of scientists, experts, and practical activists in legislative activities through academic forums and the mass media Fourth, expanding the forms of people’s participation in legislative activities to ensure people’s participation in the early stages and throughout the legislative process Sub-conclusion of chapter Chapter of the thesis has given viewpoints on improving the legal mechanism for people’s participation in legislative activities in Vietnam It has proposed solutions to continue promoting the achievements and overcoming the limitations of the legal mechanism If this legal mechanism is operated synchronously and smoothly under suitable conditions, the quality of lawmaking will be enhanced, and the laws will be able to reflect the will and aspirations of the people 24 CONCLUSION In the process of building a socialist rule-of-law State of the people, by the people, and for the people in Vietnam, the improvement of the legal mechanism for people’s participation in legislative activities is an objective requirement to exercise the people’s mastery, realizing people’s right to participate in state activities, improving the quality of law-making, and ensuring that each law reflects the will and aspirations of the people The thesis has clarified the theoretical basis of the legal mechanism for people’s participation in legislative activities It has analyzed the concept of the legal mechanism for people’s participation in legislative activities and clarified the characteristics, roles of this legal mechanism It has also identified the constitutive elements, criteria, and conditions to guarantee the legal mechanism for people’s participation in legislative activities Through the analysis and comparison of the legal mechanism for people’s participation in legislative activities in some countries, the thesis has drawn valuable lessons for Vietnam The thesis has evaluated the current situation of the legal mechanism for people’s participation in legislative activities in Vietnam It has analyzed both achievements and limitations of legal institutions, organizations, and the effectiveness and efficiency of the legal mechanism for people’s participation in legislative activities; at the same time, it has pointed out the causes of the limitations The thesis has identified five viewpoints in improving the legal mechanism for people’s participation in legislative activities in Vietnam including: 1/Fully grasping the Party’s viewpoints on promoting democracy and people's participation in State affairs; 2/ Promoting different forms of democracy and building the socialist rule-of-law State of the people, by the people, for the people in Vietnam; 3/ Strengthening the responsibility of the State and promoting the activeness of the people; 4/ Ensuring the harmonization of interests between the State, enterprises, and the people; 5/ Learning from other countries’ experiences with a thorough consideration of the reality in Vietnam The thesis has proposed solutions to improve the legal mechanism for people’s participation in legislative activities in Vietnam, including: 1/ Improving the legal institutions on people’s participation in legislative activities; 2/Improving the strength of relevant organizations to guarantee people’s participation in legislative activities; 3/ Improving the fundamental conditions to guarantee people’s participation in legislative activities LIST OF PUBLISHED WORKS BY AUTHOR RELATING TO THE THESIS Mai Thi Thanh Tam (2019), “People’s participation in legislative activities in Vietnam - Current situation and Solutions”, Journal of Science Hanoi Open University, No.51, pp.36-43 Mai Thi Thanh Tam (2019), "Implementation of regulations on citizens' right to participate in state management in legislative activities in the 2013 Constitution", In the book: Implementation of the 2013 Constitution of the Social Republic of Vietnam - Current situation and raised issues (Proceeds of Scientific Conference at Academy level), Political Theory Publishing House, Hanoi, pp.315-323 Mai Thi Thanh Tam, Tao Thi Quyen (2020), “People’s participation in Legislative activities in Vietnam, in book Association for Asian Constitutional Studies and Vietnam National University, Hanoi, School of Law, 8th Asian Constitutional Law Forum (International Conference Proceedings): ASIAN Constitutional Law Recent Developments and Trends, Vietnam National University Press, Hanoi, Volume, 2, Vietnam National University Press, Hanoi, pp.135-142 Tao Thi Quyen, Mai Thi Thanh Tam (2020), “Ensuring people’s sovereignty through the constitutional protection mechanism in Vietnam”, in book Association for Asian Constitutional Studies and Vietnam National University, Hanoi, School of Law, 8th Asian Constitutional Law Forum (International Conference Proceedings): ASIAN Constitutional Law Recent Developments and Trends, Vietnam National University Press, Hanoi, Volume, 2, pp.89-100 Mai Thi Thanh Tam (2021), "Ensuring the exercise of the people's right to participate in law-making", Journal of Political Theory, No 526 (12), pp.38-42 Mai Thi Thanh Tam (2022), "Law on people's participation in legislative activities in the US and some valuable lessons for Vietnam", Journal of Political Theory Scientific Information, No 01 (83), pp.82-87 ... IMPROVE THE LEGAL MECHANISM FOR PEOPLE’S PARTICIPATION IN LEGISLATIVE ACTIVITIES IN VIETNAM 4.1 VIEWPOINTS ON IMPROVING THE LEGAL MECHANISM FOR PEOPLE’S PARTICIPATION IN LEGISLATIVE ACTIVITIES IN VIETNAM. .. for improving the legal mechanism for people’s participation in legislative activities in Vietnam; conditions to guarantee the operation of the legal mechanism for people’s participation in legislative. .. of the thesis The thesis has the following new contributions: First, the thesis has built the theoretical basis of the legal mechanism for people’s participation in legislative activities in Vietnam