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Quyền tiếp cận thông tin trong tố tụng hành chính ở Việt Nam.Quyền tiếp cận thông tin trong tố tụng hành chính ở Việt Nam.Quyền tiếp cận thông tin trong tố tụng hành chính ở Việt Nam.Quyền tiếp cận thông tin trong tố tụng hành chính ở Việt Nam.Quyền tiếp cận thông tin trong tố tụng hành chính ở Việt Nam.Quyền tiếp cận thông tin trong tố tụng hành chính ở Việt Nam.Quyền tiếp cận thông tin trong tố tụng hành chính ở Việt Nam.Quyền tiếp cận thông tin trong tố tụng hành chính ở Việt Nam.Quyền tiếp cận thông tin trong tố tụng hành chính ở Việt Nam.Quyền tiếp cận thông tin trong tố tụng hành chính ở Việt Nam.Quyền tiếp cận thông tin trong tố tụng hành chính ở Việt Nam.Quyền tiếp cận thông tin trong tố tụng hành chính ở Việt Nam.Quyền tiếp cận thông tin trong tố tụng hành chính ở Việt Nam.Quyền tiếp cận thông tin trong tố tụng hành chính ở Việt Nam.Quyền tiếp cận thông tin trong tố tụng hành chính ở Việt Nam.Quyền tiếp cận thông tin trong tố tụng hành chính ở Việt Nam.VIETNAM ACADEMY OF SOCIAL SCIENCES GRADUATE ACADEMY OF SOCIAL SCIENCES NGUYEN TRUNG THANH RIGHTS OF ACCESS TO THE INFORMATION IN ADMINISTRATIVE PRODECURE IN VIETNAM Major Constitutional and Administra.
VIETNAM ACADEMY OF SOCIAL SCIENCES GRADUATE ACADEMY OF SOCIAL SCIENCES NGUYEN TRUNG THANH RIGHTS OF ACCESS TO THE INFORMATION IN ADMINISTRATIVE PRODECURE IN VIETNAM Major : Constitutional and Administrative Laws Major code : 9.38.01.02 SUMMARY OF THE DOCTORAL THESIS IN JURISPRUDENCE Hanoi, 2022 THE WORK IS COMPLETED IN GRADUATE ACADEMY OF SOCIAL SCIENCES Supervisors 1: Assoc Prof PhD Le Mai Thanh 2: PhD Tran Kim Lieu Opponent : Prof PhD Pham Hong Thai Opponent : Assoc Prof PhD Vu Thu Opponent : Assoc Prof PhD Truong Ho Hai The thesis will be defended in front of the Academy-level Thesis Assessment Committee held at Graduate Academy of Social Sciences - Vietnam Academy of Social Sciences At ………., Date …… 2022 The thesis is vailable at: PREAMBLE The urgency of the thesis In administrative procedure activity, to ensure the right of access to information means to ensure the sanctity of the law, the fundamental principles of the rule of law, human rights, citizenship rights and to protect social justice The right of access to information of the involved parties is one of the basic conditions to exercise citizenship rights and obligations, to live and work in compliance with the legal provisions, and to protect legitimate interests recognized by law However, in reality, the exercise of this right in general and in administrative procedure in particular in our country faces a number of problems and shortcomings, which not meet the requirements of the new situation It has shown that the information published and provided by state agencies is not adequate; people still encounter many difficulties when accessing to information On the other hand, the legal system on ensuring and exercising citizens’ right to access information in administrative proceedings still has many shortcomings, the law has not yet ensured the consistency and uniformity between the law on the right to access information and the right of access to information in administrative proceedings, the provisions of legal responsibilities in ensuring the exercise of the rights and obligations of the litigants to access information are not specific… Therefore, the PhD student has chosen the thesis on "The right of access to information in administrative procedure in Vietnam" to carry out a comprehensive study in terms of theory as well as practice on the rights of access to information in administrative procedure in Vietnam today The purposes and and tasks of the research 2.1 Research purposes Assess the actual status of legal provisions and implementation of legal provisions on the right of access to information in administrative procedure; thereby recommend solutions to ensure the right of access to information in administrative procedure in Vietnam 2.2 Research tasks - Research and clarify the concept, characteristics, roles and contents of the right of access to information in administrative procedure and the mechanisms to exercise the right of access to information in administrative procedure - Assess the current status of legal provisions and implementation of legal provisions on the right of access to information in administrative procedure in Vietnam today - Propose directions and solutions to ensure the right of access to information in administrative procedure in Vietnam The objectives and scope of the research 3.1 Research objectives The thesis’s research objectives include: - Scientific viewpoints, jurisdential thought on the rights of access to information in administrative procedure - Vietnamese policies and laws to ensure the right of access to information in administrative procedure in Vietnam today - The practical application of the rights of access to information in administrative procedure currently in Vietnam 3.2 Research scope About the content of reserach: The thesis studies the right of access to information in administrative procedure, focusing on the right of access to information of individuals who initiate administrative lawsuits About the location of research: The thesis focuses on researching the rights of access to information in administrative procedure in Vietnam About the period of research: From 2015 when the Law on Administrative Procedure 2015 and Law on Access to Information 2016 was enacted Methodology and Research methods 4.1 Methodology: To achieve the research purpose, the thesis uses dialectical and historical materialism methodology in combination with human rights-based approach, as well as the idea of establishing Vietnam socialist rule-of-law-state to serve as theoretical basis for the research 4.2 Research method: The PhD student uses the observation, comparative jurisprudence; analysis, synthesis and specific historical methods to research the contents of the thesis New scientific contributions of the thesis Firstly, the thesis has researched, developed and given the viewpoint/concept, characteristics, as well as the contents and basic principles of the right to access information in administrative procedure Secondly, the thesis is the only scientific work on the practice of ensuring the right to access information in administrative procedure Thirdly, the thesis has proposed directions and solutions to improve the law in order to ensure the right to access information in administrative procedure in Vietnam in the coming time Theoretical and practical significance of the thesis - Theoretical significance: The research results have made significant contribution to clarifying the concepts, position, role, contents and conditions for ensuring the rights of access to information in administrative procedure - Practical significance: The thesis is a valuable reference material for researching and teaching in administrative law in general and administrative procedural law in particular Structure of the thesis Excluding the preamble, conclusion and list of reference materials, the thesis is structured into chapters Chapter 1: Overview of the research situations and issues raised in the thesis Chapter 2: Theoretical issues of the right of access to information in administrative procedure Chapter 3: The current status of the rights of access to information in administrative procedure in vietnam today Chapter 4: Directions and solutions for the right of access to information in administrative procedure in Vietnam CHAPTER OVERVIEW OF THE RESEARCH SITUATION AND ISSUES RAISED IN THE THESIS 1.1 Overview of the research situation It can be seen that there has not been many studies directly deal with the right of access to information in administrative procedure However, in certain aspects, other studies have partly mentioned the theoretical issues, the current status and solutions about the right of access to information in administrative procedure Previous studies are an important foundation to study and clarify the fundamental theoretical issues about the rights of access to information in administrative procedure 1.2 Some issues have not been properly studied in relation with the thesis contents Currently, most studies only stop at the right of access to information from the perspective of a civil and political right In term of information provision responsibility, the majority of domestic studies mainly focus on a sole subject: the State With regards to the content of the right of access to information, the other authors have not yet given convincing arguments The previous studies had very few systematic research in terms of theory and practice for the right of access to information in administrative procedure in Vietnam today Some have initially assessed the status of the right of access to information in administrative procedures, but only briefly mentioned in a number of journal articles or in theises and scientific reports from certain research perspectives; they have not deeply evaluated the current situation and proposed useful solutions to ensure the right of access to information in administrative procedure 1.2.3 Issues that need to be resolved in the thesis Firstly, analyze and clarify the theoretical basis, characteristics and contents of the right of access to information in administrative procedure Secondly, assess the legal actual status and implementation of the law on the right to access information in administrative procedure, point out the advantages and limitations in organization to exercise this right in Vietnam today Thirdly, propose some directions and solutions to improve policies and laws in order to ensure the right of access to information in administrative procedure in Vietnam in the coming time 1.3 The research’s theoretical basis, hypothesis and questions 1.3.1 The research’s theoretical basis The thesis uses the theoretical basis of human rights, mainly the human rights-based approach 1.3.2 The research’s hypothesis and questions The research’s hypothesis: Currently, the right of access to information in administrative procedure are not fully identified from the perspective of the subject, scope, content and method of exercising the rights In fact, the right of access to information in administrative procedure have not been ensured in terms of both legal provisions and enforcement, and it is essential to propose comprehensive and appropriate solutions to ensure the right of access to information in administrative procedure in Vietnam today Improvement of the law and enhancement of the efficiency of enforcement of the law on the right of access to information in administrative procedure in Vietnam today The research’s questions: - What are the right of access to information in administrative procedure? What are the characteristics, roles, contents, principles to ensure the right of access to information in administrative procedure? - What is the current status of the right of access to information in administrative procedure in Vietnam today? - What are the directions and solutions to ensure the right of access to information in administrative procedure in Vietnam today? CHAPTER THEORETICAL ISSUES OF THE RIGHT OF ACCESS TO INFORMATION IN ADMINISTRATIVE PROCEDURE 2.1 The concepts, characteristics and roles of the right of access to information in administrative procedure 2.1.1 The concepts of the right of access to information in administrative procedure 2.1.1.1 The concepts of the right of access to information The right of access to information is the citizens’ rights to seek, receive and impart the information promulgated and preserved by the state competent authorities in compliance with the legal provisions 2.1.1.2 The concepts of administrative procedure Administrative procedure is the handling order of administrative cases in compliance with the legal provisions at the court in order to settle complaints against administrative decisions and actions of state agencies, civil servants and competent officials 2.1.1.3 The concepts of the right of access to information in administrative procedure The the right of access to information in administrative procedure is the involved parties’ rights to seek, take note, copy, impart and make use of documents and evidences from competent agencies, organizations and individuals in order to protect their own legitimate rights and interests when participating in administrative procedure 2.1.2 Characteristics of the right of access to information in administrative procedure Firstly, the right of access to information in administrative procedure is one of the basic rights of the involved parties stipulated and recognized by the law Secondly, subjects related to the right of access to information in administrative procedure include those that exercise their right of access to information, those that ensure their right of access to information and those providing information Thirdly, the scope of information to be accessed in administrative procedure includes information about evidences in administrative cases, information about the rights and obligations of subjects participating in administrative procedure, information about trials, enforcement of administrative judgments Fourthly, the right of access to information is the right that can be restricted by law 2.1.3 The role of the right of access to information in administrative procedure Firstly, the right of access to information in administrative procedure contributes to ensuring human rights, legitimate rights and interests of citizens toward establishing a socialist rule-of-law state Secondly, the right of access to information in administrative procedure contributes to conducting the State's responsibilities to citizens, thereby enhancing the State's prestige for the people and the society Thirdly, the right of access to information in administrative procedure contributes to the prevention and combat against corruption and negative behaviours in the operations of the state apparatus, officials and civil servants Fourthly, the right of access to information in administrative procedure contributes to improving the efficiency of state’s administrative management activities 2.2 Contents of the right of access to information in administrative procedure 2.2.1 The right to seek information in administrative procedure The right to seek information refers to the ability of the “right holder” to be permitted to request the “obligation holder” to provide the information that he or she needs or is interested in, to the extent prescribed by law This right is associated with the information provision responsibility by the “obligation holder” at the request of the “right holder” The right to seek information is considered as one of the conditions in ensuring the receipt of information The reason is that, other than the information published in accordance with legal provisions, a lot of information will only be provided at the request of individuals and organizations because such information may only related to the rights and interests of a number of individual and organization The right holders of the information can only search and collect information upon their request to the competent state agencies that store such information In term of administrative procedure, the information that the involved parties have the right to actively collect are documents and evidences directly related to the administrative case During the process of seeking information, the court is responsible for supporting and conducting collection and verification of evidence; or requesting agencies, organizations and individuals to provide documents and evidences to the Court or involved parties 2.2.2 The right to receive information in administrative procedure The right to receive information indicates that individuals, organizations and agencies have the right to receive information that is correct, sufficient and timely and easily accessible The right to receive information requires the information holding agencies to be responsible for disclosing information as well as creating favorable condition to the receiver of such information The subjects who are entitled to receive information include: individuals, agencies, organizations The subjects who are responsible to disclose information are state agencies that have created information or obtained information while performing their task 2.2.3 The right to impart information in administrative procedure The involved parties’ right to impart information in administrative procedure is the process of the involved parties disclosing documents and evidences to the Court and establishing a shared access to documents and evidences between involved parties in preparation for the judgment of administrative cases The involved parties’ right to impart information also includes the process of sharing information with other involved parties about the documents and evidences that he/she has collected The involved parties and the defence councels of their legitimate rights and interests have the right to collect, hand over and provide documents and evidences at the begining of the administrative case and are obligated to notify each other of the submitted documents and evidences 2.3 Principles to ensure the right of access to information in administrative procedure - All subjects are equal in the access to administrative procedural information - Information provided in administrative procedure must be provided in an accurate, complete and transparent manner - Information in administrative procedure must be provided timely - Privacy, State secrets and limits of human rights must be ensured and respected 2.4 Conditions and mechanisms to ensure the right of access to information in administrative procedure 2.4.1 Conditions to ensure the right of access to information in administrative procedure - Awareness of the right to access the information in administrative procedure - Political conditions - Legal conditions - Socio-economic conditions 2.4.2 Mechanisms to ensure the right of access to information in administrative procedure - Administrative Court - Procuracy - Judical support organizations CHAPTER THE CURRENT STATUS OF THE RIGHTS OF ACCESS TO INFORMATION IN ADMINISTRATIVE PROCEDURE IN VIETNAM TODAY 3.1 The current status of legal provisions and the implementation of the right of access to information in administrative procedure in Vietnam today 3.1.1 The current status of legal provisions and the implementation of the right to seek information in administrative procedure in Vietnam today 3.1.1.1 Legal status of the right to seek information in administrative procedure First of all, the right to seek information of the involved parties is reflected through the initiative in collection of documents and evidences This is stipulated in Clause Article and Clause Article 18 of the Law on Administrative Procedures 2015 Types of information that the involved parties have the right to access are clearly specified in Articles 5,6,7 of the Law on Access to Information 2016 and a number of specialized legal documents such as: Law on Construction; Law on Land 2013; Law on Planning 2017, Measures to seek information: The Law on Administrative Procedures 2015 stipulates measures to collect evidences from individuals, agencies and organizations to ensure that involved parties have enough evidence to provide to the Court as well as to ensure that such evidences are legal, including: Collection of readable, audible, and visible documents, electronic data messages; Collect evidences; Identify witnesses and obtain witnesses' confirmations; Request the Court to collect documents and evidences if the involved parties cannot collect them Other than the involved parties of the administrative case, the defenders of the involved parties' rights and interests are also entitled to seek and collect documents and evidences such as: examiners, prosecutor, lawyers, legal assistants or legal assisting participants in accordance with the law on legal assistance, witness, appraisal 3.1.1.2 Exercising the right to seek information in administrative procedure in fact According to the data collected from the report of the Supreme People's Court on the performance of the Court from 2016 to 2021, it can be seen that administrative cases in recent years have increase in number, mainly related to complaints about administrative decisions and administrative actions on land management such as land acquisition, site clearance, compensation, resettlement support thereby showing the compliance with the law, the understanding of the law on administrative procedures is increasingly improving While participating in administrative procedure, the involved parties are explained by the People's Court about their rights and obligations, including the rights to seek information to discover the objective truth of the administrative case in an accurate, prompt and correct manner However, in practice, the right to seek information of the involved parties in administrative procedure still faces certain difficulties One of the three biggest problems in settling administrative cases is that: the involved parties’ ability to collect information; some agencies and organizations have not fully cooperated with the Court, even neglected their responsibilities in providing documents, evidences, verifications, participating in evaluation of properties as requested; The involved parties cannot seek information and collect evidences by themselves to protect their legitimate rights and interest 3.1.2 Current status of legal provisions and the application of the right to receive information in administrative procedures in Vietnam today 3.1.2.1 Current status of legal provisions on exercising the rights to receive information in administrative procedures Citizens' right to receive information is recognized in Clause 1, Article 29 of the Law on Access to Information 2016; Clause Article 55 of Law on Administrative Procedure 2015 Some specialized laws have mentioned the right to receive information such as: The right to receive information publicly announced by state agencies is reflected in a number of documents such as: Article 131 of Law on Environmental Protection 2014; Clause 2, Article 55 of the Law on Promulgation of Legal Documents in 2015 and its amendment and supplement in 2020; Clause 1, Article 31 of the Law on Accounting in 2015 The right to receive information through requesting for infcormation from state agencies: Article 14, Law on Anti-Corruption 2018; Article 38, Article 39 of the Law on Press 2016, 10 3.1.2.2 Exercising the rights to receive information in administrative procedure The citizens' right to receive information has not been expanded so far, it has mainly been conducted through direct communication channels between citizens and state agencies Although public posting has improved transparency and publicity, it has not ensured that the information can be easily received A number of provisions are still too general, citizens still have to contact competent authorities directly for guidance or spend a lot of time and expenses to have their questions answered Provisions on disclosure of information are differrent in each locality, and not have a general guideline, which cause difficulties for citizens to look up information In the process of settling administrative cases, the court system at all levels has thoroughly grasped the spirit of the Law on Administrative Procedures, actively organized dialogues between the parties; however, the rate of dialogues in administrative cases has not shown high result There are many reasons that cause the low success rate of dialogues, other than the difficulties and problems arising similarly to conciliation in civil cases, the process of conducting dialogues also has certain difficulties and obstacles related to defendants as well as the responsibilities of the parties involved, the public authorities, failure to timely provide documents and evidences to the settlement of administrative cases The practice of administrative cases also shows that these cases still face difficulties in receiving information related to administrative procedure due to of the lack of responsibility of the administrative prosecution agencies 3.1.3 Current status of legal provisions and the application of the right to impart information in administrative procedure in Vietnam today 3.1.3.1 Current status of legal provisions on the right to impart information in administrative procedure Other than seeking for and collecting documents and evidences by themselves, the involved parties and defense are also entitled and obliged to provide documents and evidences to the Court for information exchange between the involved parties during the trial 11 Article of the Law on Administrative Procedures 2015 stipulates: "The involved parties have the rights and obligations to hand over documents and evidences to the Court" Article 10 of the Law on Administrative Procedures 2015 also stipulates the obligations to provide documents and evidences of competent agencies, organizations and individuals, in which stipulating that agencies, organizations and individuals “must take responsibility for the provision of such documents and evidences” The involved parties are also obliged to provide documents, evidences to protect their legitimate rights and interests The obligation to provide documents and evidences is prescribed in Article 78 of the Law on Administrative Procedures 2015 3.1.3.2 The practice of the rights to impart information in administrative procedure In practice, the practical advantages of implementing provisions on the right to impart information of the involved parties in administrative procedure are shown as follows: Firstly, the involved parties, agencies, organizations and individuals initiating lawsuits have more obligation in providing evidences of the involved parties; agencies, organizations and individuals initiate lawsuits to protect the rights and interests of involved parties in administrative cases Secondly, the involved parties including the plaintiffs and the defendants have been more actively participated in the meetings for the handover, access and disclosure of evidences, from which the parties can learn about the available evidences to prepare the best possible conditions to support his claim In addition to these advantages, the implementation of the law on the right to impart information also encounters difficulties and obstacles, specifically in: (i) involved parties, agencies, organizations, individuals who are obliged to provide evidences have not been proactive, so they cannot provide evidences; (ii) The involved parties, agencies, organizations and individuals are obliged to provide evidences have not been providing evidences on time as prescribed; (iii) Information provided and shared by state agencies is still inconsistent, in uniform format or provided in formats that make it difficult to share and exchange information 12 3.2 Current status of mechanisms to ensure the right to access information in administrative procedure in Vietnam 3.2.1 Current status of ensuring the right to access information from administrative prosecution agencies 3.2.1.1 People’s Court Clause 2, Article of the 2015 Law on Administrative Procedures clearly stipulates: “The court has the responsibility to assist the involved party in collecting documents and evidences and to conduct the collection and verification of evidences, and to request agencies, organizations or individuals to provide documents and evidences to the Court or involved parties in accordance with this Law” On the other hand, in some cases, “The Court can requests agencies, organizations and individuals that are managing and keeping documents and evidences to provide it to the court” so that the involved parties can access them In administrative procedure, the Court has proactively collected information and assisted the involved parties to collect evidences to shorten the time for settlement of administrative cases The Courts have taken their responsibilities for ensuring legitimate interests of the involved parties Specifically, it is the guarantee for the involved parties’ right to seek, receive and impart documents and evidences during the administrative procedure process and to fulfill the involved parties’ requests for the provision and handover of documents and evidences as well as related parties’ requests for the provision of evidences for trials However, the Court’s request to provide information from the parties still has certain shortcomings, making it difficult to collect documents and evidence for trial 3.2.1.2 Procuracy For ensuring the right to access information in administrative procedure, the office of the People's Procuracy must be responsible to provide information prepared by the Procuracy, information held by it in case that it is deemed necessary and appropriate In practice, for administrative complaints and lawsuits, the Procuracy still has to "chase after" the Court to have access to files In many cases, the first-instance Court often breaks the time limit to send its judgment or decision on the settlement of the case to the Procuracy, so by the time it is delivered, the Procuracy has no time to study, verify and evaluate the violations The Procuracy is entitled to verify and collect information and evidences related to the case by itself, or may request agencies, 13 organizations and individuals that are managing and keeping documents and information to provide fully at the request of the Procuracy However, in some complicated cases, agencies, organizations and individuals only provide the requested information and documents when the statutory time limit is about to expire 3.2.2 Status of participation in support of the right of access to information of judicial support organizations 3.2.2.1 Lawyer Association The quality of lawyer association’ activities is improving, making positive contributions to improving the quality of procedural activities and adversarial process at court hearing, especially to the rights of access to information, documents and evidences of involved parties in administrative procudure The lawyer association has been contributing to the protection of the legitimate rights and interests of the people, as well as promoting the process of exercising the right to access information of the involved parties in administrative procedures However, the participation of the lawyer association in this field is still limited, such as inadequate capacity, the dismay of working with lawyers of some civil servants, legal provisions still have certain limitations, 3.2.2.2 Notary organisations Currently, the guidance on the exchange and provision of information on secured assets between agencies resistering for secured transactions at notarial practice organizations is implemented in accordance with Circular No 15/2013/TTLT-BTP-BGTVT-BTNMTBCA dated November 5, 2013, whereby the exchange and provision of information must compliance with the principles of timeliness, accuracy, completeness and proper usage The exchange, provision, management and usage of information must be carried out on time and orderly as prescribed Notary organisations have fufilled their function of imparting and providing information to citizens, especially the involeved parties in administrative complaints However, there are many cases where notary organiztions are still limited in capacity and unable to recognise fake documents, leading to misleading information, directly affecting the rights and interests of the involved parties 3.2.2.3 Judicial assessment organization In practice, the role of judicial assessment organizations in improving the efficiency of the involved parties' access to information and speeding up the process of resolving administrative cases, 14 coordinating with specialized agencies, involved ministries and branches through dialogue, exchange of information, is undeniable However, due to many provisions, guiding documents have not been issued in time or are not specific, leading to many difficulties and limitations in the operation of Judicial assessment organization and leading to low performance efficiency overall 3.2.2.4 Legal Assistance organisations The legal assistance in administrative procedures for poor households, ethnic minorities in extremely difficult areas and vulnerable groups in society is provided free of charge This activity not only demonstrates the humanity of the Vietnamese Communist Party and State but also ensures citizens’ right of access to information Due to their difficult circumstances, they not have regular access to policy information and are afraid to communicate with state agencies, leading to the inability to protect their own legitimate interests The Law on Legal Aid 2006 and the Law on Administrative Procedures 2015 have very clear provisions on the responsibility to ensure legal assistance for legal aid recipients Therefore, being consulted, instructed and disseminated by legal assistance organizations helps the people to access information easier 3.3 Assessing the current status of the right of access to information in administrative procedures in Vietnam today 3.3.1 Obtained results Regarding the legal provisions on access to information in administrative procedures: (1) The review and assessment of the current legal system shows that the legal provisions on administrative procedures such as provisions on the process of handling and settling cases, provisions on the provision of information for involved parties in administrative lawsuits, provisions on publicity and transparency in the adversarial process, have demonstrated the obligation of publicity and transparency in judicial activities; (2) Clearly defining the rights and methods of requesting the provision of information, documents and evidence related to an administrative case as well as specifying the responsibility to provide information of agencies, organisations and individuals who are keeping documents and evidences in the Law on Administrative Procedures 2015 and other specialized laws, is one of the important steps to ensure the right of access to information in administrative procedures 15 Regarding the implementation of the law on the right of access to information in administrative procedures: (1) Basically, administrative cases have been handled and resolved quickly by competent People’s Courts in accordance with provisions, the rate of returning petition is quite trivial In the process of participating in administrative procedures, the competent People’s Court has shown its role in supporting and guiding the involved parties in searching and collecting relevant documents and evidences, actively organizing dialogue between the parties; (2) The information channels has been increasingly expanded, modernized and diversified in form; (3) Mechanism to ensure the right of access to information from administrative procedural agencies as well as judicial support organisations have increasingly been improved 3.3.2 Limitations and shortcomings First, the current legal system is still not unified and synchronized with the provisions of the 2013 Constitution on the right of access to information Second, the current law has not really focused on citizens’ right to actively request information Third, there is a lack of provisions on the process, procedures, and time limit to provide information in administrative procedures Fourth, there have not been specific and complete provisions on the responsibilities of the Administrative Court and state agencies with relevant information to provide to involved parties The provision of information by state agencies is still lacking and inconsistent Fifth, the provisions on the court’s mandate for the collection of evidence not specify which agencies and units are mandated as well as the guaranteed conditions to receive mandate from the court Sixth, sanctions for handling violations of not providing information, or providing information in an untimely manner, beyond the permitted time limit are still not strong enough Seventh, activities of the legal support system have revealed many limitations and inadequacies in term of the organisation structure, the level of access of people eligible for legal assistance, the quality of legal services has not yet met the requirements of people to access information, Judicial assessment organizations still face many difficulties and limitations 16 3.3.3 Cause of limitations and shortcomings First, the lack of compliance with the law together with the lack of procedural provisions, lead to limited access to information, evidence, and documents in administrative cases Second, the sanctions for handling violations of the principle of providing information, documents and evidence in the current Code of Administrative Procedures and other related documents have not yet covered all the acts in which agencies or organizations violate the obligation to provide relevant information, documents, and evidence during administrative procedures Third, the clear delineation of the scope of information to be accessed and restricted access is still not clear, the subjects responsible for providing information, the process and order of providing information have not been clearly identified Fourth, some agencies and organizations have not really paid attention and have not fulfilled their responsibilities in accordance with the provisions of law in providing documents and evidence at the request of the involved parties Fifth, the awareness of the petitioner is still limited, the participation of lawyers and legal assistants in the process of solving cases is still lacking… Sixth, there is still the issues of apprehension, fear of administrative prosecution agencies in requesting information, petitioning for judgement of administrative decisions, administrative actions CHAPTER DIRECTIONS AND SOLUTIONS TO E ACCESS TO INFORMATION IN ADMINISTRATIVE PROCEDURES IN VIETNAM 4.1 Directions to ensure the right of access to information in administrative procedures in Vietnam - Ensuring the right of access to information in administrative procedures based on the requirements of ensuring human rights and civil rights - Ensuring the right of access to information in administrative procedures to meet the requirements of judicial reform in accordance with the specific characteristics of administrative procedures - Ensuring the right of access to information in administrative procedures to meet the trend of publicity and transparency in state management activities 17 - Enhancing the effectiveness of ensuring the right of access to information in administrative procedures 4.2 Solutions to ensure the right of access to information in administrative procedures in Vietnam 4.2.1 Solutions to raise awareness about the right of access to information in administrative procedures First, promoting the propaganda, dissemination and education of the law to raise awareness and understanding for involved parties about the order of administrative procedures and the rights and obligations of the parties Second, renovating the form, content, means, and grouping of objects to have a suitable form and communication channel for each target group Third, making a proactive and innovative communication strategy to suit the digital age 4.2.2 Solutions to improve the law to ensure the right of access to information in administrative procedures - Reviewing, amending and supplementing legal provisions on the right to seek information in administrative procedures First, the law must clearly define the holders of the right of access to information and expand the scope of subjects obliged to provide information in administrative procedures Second, clearly define the scope of information to be accessed and information that is restricted Third, supplementing the order and procedures of evidence collection for the evidence collection measures taken by the involved parties Fourth, supplementing and completing provisions on information search models in the field of administrative procedures - Completing legal provisions to ensure the right to receive information in administrative procedures First, rename Article 82 of the Law on Administrative Procedures 2015 as “Verification of evidence sources” Second, regulates on measures to ensure the exercise of the right to receive information of the involved parties Third, agencies and organizations with obligation and responsibility to provide information need to have specific provisions on the information provision model to avoid arbitrary practices in agencies and organizations 18 Fourth, finalizing provisions on dialogue sessions during the process of settling administrative cases It is necessary to review the provisions on conducting dialogue - Completing legal provisions to ensure the right to impart information in administrative procedures First, there should be provisions on privacy protection so that agencies storing personal information are not allowed to make this information public Second, there should be sanctions against the involved parties who fail to provide evidence and proof to the Court Third, there should be specific legal provisions to tighten the participation obligations of the involved parties to ensure that the meeting session to hand over, access and disclose evidence and dialogue takes place in accordance with the procedures Fourth, it is necessary to supplement to the Law on Administrative Procedures 2015 with the provisions on the obligation to copy and send documents and evidences of one involved party to another when handing over documents and evidences 4.2.3 Solutions to improve the capacity of mechanisms to ensure the right of access to information in administrative procedures Solutions to improve the capacity of administrative prosecution agencies First, clearly stipulate the responsibility to ensure the right of access to information of the plaintiff of administrative prosecution agencies Promote decentralization, avoid overlapping, duplication of authority Second, improve the quality of staff of administrative prosecution agencies Third, strengthen coordination between agencies to ensure the provision and exchange of information, documents and evidence related to administrative procedures is complete, promptly and accurately Fourth, improve the effectiveness of the supervision mechanism for the exercise of the right of access to information in administrative procedures of the Administrative Court and the Procuracy Specifically: Administrative Court First, continue to strongly renovate the organization and operation of the Administrative Court, review and arrange the apparatus, assign staff and prepare necessary conditions for adjudication and settlement of administrative cases according to its authorities 19 Second, improve professional qualifications, professional ethics and attitude toward serving the People of officials and judges of the Administrative Court Third, strengthen the mechanism to support involved parties in accessing information of the Administrative Court for information held by state administrative agencies Fourth, establish the People’s confidence in the Administrative Court to ensure their rights People's Procuracy First, strengthen the responsibility to exercise the right to prosecute and supervise administrative procedures Second, establish a contingent of officials and procurators with bravery, professional responsibility, capacity and professional qualifications to ensure supervision of people’s access to information in administrative procedures Third, the Procuracy should actively seek measures to innovate the method of coordination, actively discuss with agencies about problems and inadequacies in accessing information on administrative complaints Judicial support organisations First, establish and maintain an information and coordination mechanism so that judicial agencies can access information as quickly as possible Second, train and develop professional skills for lawyers, assessors, notaries, and assistants in exercising the right of access to information Third, for the field of judicial assessment, it is also necessary to complete the judicial assessment mechanism in the direction of more specific provisions on the order and procedures in requesting assessment Fourth, for legal support organizations, it is necessary to strictly manage investment resources, ensure the fundings, facilities and resources for legal support organizations 4.2.4 Solutions to strengthen conditions to ensure the right of access to information in administrative procedures First, strengthen the application of information technology and software in administrative case settlement procedures and work management 20 and supervision; renovate administrative procedures and judicial procedures, ensuring publicity and transparency of the Court’s activities Second, build and complete the national database to serve the demand to seek information of the involved parties CONCLUSION Right of access to information in administrative procedures is a concept used to refer to the ability of involved parties to seek, receive and impart information, documents and evidence from competent agencies and organizations to protect their legitimate rights in the settlement of administrative cases Access to information in administrative procedures is carried out in direct and indirect ways in order to ensure the right to protect and exercise other rights recognized by law; At the same time, it stipulates the obligation of state agencies holding information to ensure that everyone has access to information sources, first of all, information held or managed by the state agencies themselves Access to information in administrative procedures plays a significant role in ensuring human rights, citizens’ legitimate rights and interests in building a socialist rule of law state; contribute to the performance of the State’s responsibilities to citizens; combat against bureaucracy, corruption and negativity in the operation of the state apparatus, officials and civil servants; improve the efficiency of state administrative management activities; is the most effective mechanism to ensure civil rights Exercising this right is a necessary condition for the involved parties to be able to effectively protect their other legitimate rights and interests, prevent and combat abuses of power, manipulate information, promote democracy in Vietnam In order to ensure the right of access to information of the involved parties, it necessitates to strengthen the conditions and mechanisms to ensure rights already expressed in the Vietnamese legal system Many documents regulating access to information and related contents still contains contradictions and overlaps, and there are not any measures to ensure implementation Most of the current legal documents are just the principled provisions on the right of access to information of the people and the responsibility to provide information of the state agencies There are no specific provisions on the mechanism to ensure the provision of information to the involved parties in administrative procedures, and no sanctions to handle the responsibility of 21 organizations and individuals that not strictly comply with the request for information provision, documentary evidence hand over in administrative cases Most agencies and organizations receiving state budget, etc (information holders) have not actively shared information and responded quickly, promptly, conveniently, and fully to people’s requests for information provision The lack of publicity and transparency in the law enforcement process on access to information in administrative procedures leads to inconsistent application of the law and is also one of the reasons for the increase in arbitrariness and corruption, negativity of a part of officials and civil servants; In some cases, it also leads to the abuse of privileged position in accessing information for profit, causing inequality in society and especially affecting the quality of administrative cases As for the subject of information request, very few people are aware that they have the right to request state agencies to provide information and documents related to economic and social development programs, legal and administrative provisions relevant to their lives Meanwhile, most of the people who are aware of their right to access information or have a need to access information find it difficult to exercise their rights because they not know where their needs can be met or they know but being denied of their rights, being provided with incomplete information and unpromptly, and there is also no mechanism to properly resolve it The problems and inadequacies in the practice of the right of access to information and the enforcement of the right of access in administrative procedures currently pose an urgent task of completing the legal basis and strengthening the conditions and mechanisms to ensure the exercise of the involved parties’ rights to access information, so that these involved parties and related pasrties are eligible to exercise their political and civil rights, contributing to the construction of the State “of the people, by the people, and for the people”./ 22 LIST OF WORKS PUBLISHED BY PhD STUDENT Nguyen Minh Thuyet, Vu Cong Giao, Nguyen Trung Thanh (2016), "Right of access to information - theory and practice", Publishing House of Vietnam National University, Hanoi Phan Trung Ly, Nguyen Trung Thanh (2020), “Ensuring accountability associated with the right of access to information in Vietnam”, Communist Review No 950 (9/2020), pp.39-43 Nguyen Trung Thanh (2020), "Publicity and transparency in the organization and operation of state administrative agencies in Vietnam Content, methods and issues to be raised", Internal Affairs Magazine No 80, August 2020, pp.32-35 Phan Trung Ly, Nguyen Trung Thanh (2020), "Vietnam's socialist rule-of-law state and issues to be raised to be in compliant implementation with publicity, transparency and accountability", Legislative Studies Journal No 15 (415) of August 2020, pp.3-7; 16 Nguyen Trung Thanh (2020), “The role of the Press in promoting publicity, transparency and accountability in Vietnam”, Inspection Magazine No 9-2020, pp.8-10 Nguyen Trung Thanh (2020), "Accountability - theoretical and practical issues in Vietnam", Humanitarian Scientific Bulletin №5 pp 313-322 Phan Trung Ly, Nguyen Trung Thanh (2021), Publicity, transparency and accountability in organization and operation of state administrative agencies, National Political Publishing House, Hanoi ... process of seeking information, the court is responsible for supporting and conducting collection and verification of evidence; or requesting agencies, organizations and individuals to provide documents... process of participating in administrative procedures, the competent People’s Court has shown its role in supporting and guiding the involved parties in searching and collecting relevant documents... restricted Third, supplementing the order and procedures of evidence collection for the evidence collection measures taken by the involved parties Fourth, supplementing and completing provisions on information