Regulation impact assessent of provincial government

d, the requirements for the assessment and the issues to be considered when conducting the impact assessment. These are contributions both in terms of theory, practice and solutions. This knowledge was acquired by the author in the process of understanding the status of impact assessment of legal documents, as well as solutions to improve this activity. In addition to the acquired knowledge presented above, there are still many issues related to the thesis topic which needs further study. Can be stated as follows: Firstly, the impact assessment activities before the legal documents of the provincial governments have been little studied. Studies have not focused on clarifying the status of this activity. Most of the research focused on RIA assessment, not on the organization of impact assessment of legal documents of local governments. Secondly, there are many theoretical issues on impact assessment of legal documents, but very few theoretical studies related to the organization of impact assessment of legal documents. In other words, the theoretical framework of activity assessment (organization) assessing the impact on legal documents of provincial governments has been mentioned and researched by some authors but still brings generality and not associated with local government. Accordingly, the dissertation needs further research so that it can provide the contents related to the theory of impact assessment activities before the legal documents of provincial governments. Thirdly, the issue of controlling the impact assessment activities is still a new issue and has not been studied by domestic researchers. Therefore, in this thesis, the author continues to study the issue of control in impact assessment activities before legal documents of provincial governments. Control of impact assessment of legal documents plays an important role in making assessment activities scientific, public, transparent and quality. However, at present in Vietnam, this important issue has not been adequately studied and researched. Fourth, another issue that is left out of research is the solution to improve impact assessment activities before legal documents. The 8 studies mentioned in the review focused on either improving the enactment of local legislative documents or improving RIA with little regard for the organization of the implementation of the activity itself. impact assessment of legal documents. Chapter 2. THEORETICAL BASIS OF THE IMPACT ASSESSMENT OF LEGAL LEGAL DOCUMENTS OF THE LOCAL GOVERNMENT OF THE PROVINCE 2.1. Legal documents of local governments 2.1.1. Local government concept Local governments in our country are an integral part of the unified State government of the people, including local state representative agencies directly elected by local people (People's Council). and other State agencies and organizations established on the basis of these State power representative agencies according to the provisions of law (People's Committee, specialized agencies under People's Committee, Standing Committee of People's Council, committees of People's Council), in order to manage the areas of local social life, on the basis of the principle of democratic centralism and the harmonious combination between the interests of the local people and the common interests of the whole country [34] 2.1.2. The legal status of local government In Vietnam the legal status of local government is recognized in the Constitution and is concretized by the Law on Organization of Local Government. However, this does not mean that local governments have more autonomy than local governments not recognized in the Constitution. Because, in Vietnam, due to the centralized mechanism of power, the issue of autonomy depends greatly on the level of decentralization to local governments from the Central. While this decentralization process is reviewed and regularly revised, local authorities have not been decentralized to achieve the desired autonomy. 2.1.3. About the provincial government of our country The functions, duties and organizational structure of provincial governments are stipulated in two important documents, the Constitution and the Law on Organization of Local Governments. In terms of organizational structure, according to Article 16 of the Law on Organization of Local Governments, provincial governments at the provincial level are local governments, including the provincial 9 People's Council and the provincial People's Committee. Tasks and powers of provincial governments, reflected in the duties and powers of provincial People's Councils and provincial People's Committees. 2.1.4. Legal documents of local governments 2.1.4.1. Concepts and characteristics of legal documents Approaching from a legal perspective, according to the Law on Promulgation of Legal Documents 2015, the legal document is a document containing legal documents, issued according to its authority, form, and order. , the procedure prescribed by Law '. Legislative documents of local governments are the ones that contain legislative documents promulgated by the People's Councils and the People's Committees of provinces according to their competence, form, order and procedures. by law. ' Legislative documents of provincial governments have both general characteristics of legal documents in general and specific characteristics. Some common features of legal documents. Firstly, legal documents are those promulgated by People's Councils and Provincial People's Committees according to the prescribed procedures and procedures. Secondly, legislative documents are documents containing general codes of conduct, applied to all actorss in society. Thirdly, legal documents are applied many times in life, applied in all cases when legal events occur. Fourth, there are many types of legislative documents, each of which is from the name, content, scope of regulation, legal value, procedures and procedures for promulgation are all prescribed by law. Fifth, legal documents are guaranteed by the state by measures such as propaganda, persuasive education; measures on administrative and economic organization. Sixthly, legal documents must be issued in the order prescribed by the Law on promulgation of legal documents. All documents not issued in the correct order and procedures will have to be handled according to regulations. In addition to the above general characteristics, legal documents of provincial governments have some specific characteristics. Firstly, the legislative documents of provincial governments reflect local socio- economic characteristics, based on general regulations of the central government. Secondly, the legislative documents of a provincial-level local government take effect within the territorial scope of a provincial- level administrative unit and have no legal value to another provincial- level administrative unit. 10 2.1.4.2. The system of legal documents Currently according to the Law on Promulgation of Legal Documents 2015, the system of legal documents in our country is divided into 15 categories, as shown in the Table below: - Constitution - Code, law (collectively referred to as law), resolutions of the National Assembly; - Ordinances and Resolutions of Standing Committee of the National Assembly; joint resolutions between the Standing Committee of the National Assembly and the Presidium of the Central Committee of the Vietnam Fatherland Front; - Orders and decisions of the President; - Decrees of the Government; joint resolutions between the Government and the Presidium of the Central Committee of the Vietnam Fatherland Front; - Decision of the Prime Minister - Resolutions of Judges Council of the Supreme People's Court - Circulars of Chief Justice of the Supreme People's Court; circular of the Chairman of the Supreme People's Procuracy; circulars of ministers and heads of ministerial-level agencies; joint circular between the Chief Justice of the Supreme People's Court and the Head of the Supreme People's Procuracy; joint circulars between ministers, heads of ministerial-level agencies, and presidents of the Supreme People's Court and the chairman of the Supreme People's Procuracy; decisions of the State Auditor General; - Resolutions of People's Councils of provinces and cities under central authority (hereinafter referred collectively to as provincial level); - Decisions of provincial People's Committees; - Legal documents of local governments in special administrative - economic units; - Resolutions of People's Councils of rural districts, urban districts, towns, provincial cities and centrally run cities (hereinafter referred collectively to as district level); - Decisions of the district people's committee; - Resolutions of People's Councils of communes, wards and townships (hereinafter referred collectively to as communal level); - Decision of the People's Committee of the commune 2.2. Impact and impact assessment before legal documents of provincial governments 11 2.2.1. Impact assessment and impact before legal documents of local governments at provincial level 2.2.1.1. The concept of impact assessment and impact assessment of legal documents The impact assessment of legislative documents of provincial governments is a summary of the steps organized by provincial governments in a process to serve the expected impact results. policy options and provide appropriate explanations or recommendations for the enactment of a local legal document, making an important contribution to improving the quality of the promulgated legal normative documents 2.2.1.2. The role and significance of impact assessment of legislative documents Impact assessment of prescribed legal documents is a mandatory step right from the stage of proposing law formulation. Impact assessment helps to anticipate the necessary measures to minimize negative impacts. In this respect, the legal impact assessment contributes to the dissemination of policies and laws of the state. Assessing the legal impact of attracting the participation of the parties, the parties feel their role in that policy and law. As a result, mobilizing their participation in the implementation of state policies and laws will become easier and more effective. Thanks to the policy impact assessment activities in the promulgation of legal documents, the inflation situation of legal documents has been improved because it was only issued after having considered relatively enough social and economic impacts and see the benefits of implementation outweigh the costs. 2.2.2. The content of impact assessment of legal documents According to Nguyen Van Cuong, the content of interest in policy impact assessment includes the following basic contents: Economic impact assessment; Social impact of the policy; Gender impact of policy; Impact of administrative procedures (if any); Impact on the legal system. 2.2.3. Process of evaluating legal documents According to author Nguyen Van Cuong, it is possible to offer a text impact assessment process (what the author calls the policy impact assessment process) has five steps from planing, implementing, alternative choice, consultation and completing the final RIA. 2.2.4. Actorss assessing the impact of legal documents 12 In a different approach, the impact assessment actorss are those that carry out the impact assessment of policies. The author identifies four main target groups involved in the impact assessment. These actorss may include: civil servants working in the field related to the policy being implemented; experts in the related field or field; organize independent assessments; and policy implementation organization. 2.2.5. Method of policy impact assessment The assessment method is approached according to two contents: the method of information collection and the method of conducting policy impact assessment activities. Methods to carry out policy impact assessment activities include: qualitative evaluation methods and quantitative evaluation methods. 2.3. Controlling and assessing the impact of legal documents of provincial governments 2.3.1. Objectives and concepts of controlling and evaluating the impact of legal documents of provincial governments Impact assessment of legislative documents is the scientific process of examining and correctness of the impact of legal document impact assessment. The objective of controlling and evaluating the impact of legislative documents includes 04 goals. First of all, the control and evaluation of legislative documents by provincial-level governments to ensure the science and accuracy of the impact assessment of legal documents. Second, control and evaluation of legal documents by provincial governments to control the cost of implementing this activity. Thirdly, to control and evaluate legislative documents of provincial governments to ensure the evaluation of legal documents of provincial governments to ensure evaluation information, assessment content. be public, transparent, get the public's approval. Fourth, the purpose is to increase the accountability, and accountability of the agency conducting the impact assessment of legislative documents on impact assessment results. 2.3.2. The content of controlling and evaluating the impact of legal documents of provincial governments 2.3.2.1. Transparency in policy evaluation consultations There are many ways to ensure the transparency of the assessment such as publicizing the impact assessment to the public as soon as possible compared with the time of considering the approval of the competent 13 authority; Clearly and scientifically presenting the opinions of the parties to the impact assessment report; Inform stakeholders, interested parties about the plan, draft impact assessment; Define a specific time for the consultation process and have clear, detailed documentation to help the consulting parties effectively participate in the consultation. 2.3.2.2. Accountability and quality control of evaluation reports Accountability is understood as the obligation to provide information, explanation and willingness to face the consequences that may occur during the evaluation process. In terms of policy impact assessments, accountability needs to be clearly defined: The agencies conducting the assessment are responsible for the quality of the policy process they develop and the evaluation documents that they create; Impact Control agencies are responsible for the quality of the audit control and the relevant functions they perform; Agencies issuing legal documents are responsible for the quality of legal documents they issue. 2.4. Criteria frame for assessing the status of activities of assessing the impact of legal documents of local governments The first criterion is the criteria for the impact assessment. The second criterion is about impact assessment method. The third criterion is the impact assessment process. The fourth criterion relates to the actors of impact assessment. The fifth criterion is related to control issues in impact assessment. 2.5. Impact assessment of legal documents in some countries and reference values The author studies experiences from 03 countries, Australia, New Zealand and Poland, and draws some lessons learned. The Government has clear and detailed instructions on how to carry out the impact assessment of legislative documents. The process of assessing the impact of legislative documents is detailed in the instruction manual. Experience from both New Zealand and Australia shows that they value training for the public officials conducting policy impact assessments. Another lesson to be learned is that it is necessary to consider and do well the control of the evaluation of legal documents. The important and very interesting point is that in Australia there is a legal document control department called RGU. The effectiveness, effectiveness, and reasonableness of the cost of conducting legal impact assessments are also studied, investigated, evaluated and reported annually to all Australian states. The evaluation, comparison of effectiveness and quality of policy impact assessment in Australia shows an important 14 lesson that it is necessary to control this process in localities to ensure that the assessment has efficiency and quality. Chapter 3. CURRENT SITUATION OF ASSESSMENT OF THE LEGAL IMPLEMENTATION OF LEGAL REGULATIONS OF LOCAL GOVERNMENT OF THE PROVINCE 3.1. Current practice of assessing the impact of legal documents of provincial governments in Vietnam at present 3.1.1. Regarding the content of impact assessment of legal documents of provincial governments Table 3.1: Contents of previous evaluation of legal documents Criteria No Yes Number % Number % Economic impact assessment (Costs and benefits) 208 80,6 50 19,4 Social impact 182 70,5 76 29,4 Gender impact 193 74,8 65 25,2 Impact of administrative procedures (if any) 95 37,8 163 63,2 Constitutional and legal 146 56,59 112 43.41 Suitabilit 75 29,07 183 70.93 Consistency 193 74,81 65 25.19 Compatibility with international commitments to which Vietnam is a member. 246 95,35 12 4.65 (Source: Survey) 3.1.2. Regarding the method of evaluating the impact of legal documents of provincial-level local governments Regarding the method of collecting information, the survey results are shown in Table 3.2 as follows: Table 3 2. Methods of collecting information Methods of collecting information Số trả lời không Số trả lời có Interview on the spot 228 88.37% 38 11.63% Send questions 234 98.78% 24 9.3% Organize meetings 81 31.40% 177 68.60% 15 Survey 159 61.63% 99 38.37% Others 243 94.19% 15 5.81% (Source: Survey) 3.1.3. Regarding the process of assessing the impact of legislative documents of provincial governments The process of assessing the impact of legislative documents is shown in the following diagram: Figure 3 1. Process of impact assessment of legislative documents of local governments before promulgation (Source: Ministry of Justice 2010) 3.1.4. On the actors of impact assessment of legislative documents of provincial governments Table 3 3. Impact assessment actorss of legal documents Agency in charge Department of Justice Outsource Respondents % Respondents % Respondents % 65 25 185 71 8 4 (Source: Survey) With the desire to clarify the role of the Department of Justice in document impact assessment, the thesis asks the next question, "The role of the Department of Justice in evaluating legal documents is shown. how?". This question has four options for answering: playing a leading role, organizing implementation; plays the role of consultancy, technical and content support; plays the role of critic and commenter; act as the final reviewer. Bảng 3 1. Roles of Department Justice Roles Number Tỷ lệ % Leading and organizing implementation 168 65.1% Serving as a consultant, technical and content support 53 17% Play the role of criticism and comments 151 58.5% Acting as the final reviewer 19 7.4% (Source: Survey) Independent assesment of administrative procedure and RIA of issuing organisations Organisations of RIA control Participants provide comments Stakeholders Step 2 Organisati ons of RIA control implement their independe Collect comments about administrative procedure control from legal document drafting organisations Send legal document to issuing organisations Organisations of RIA control Collect opininions from relavant organisations and policy target population. Organisations of RIA control Consulation of legal document issuing organisations Organisations of Cost estimation of administrative procedure legal document drafting organisations 16 In order to further clarify the role of non-governmental organizations in the evaluation of legal documents, the dissertation raises the question: “Could you please let the NGOs participate? impact assessment activities legislative documents of provincial governments or not? ”. The results are shown in Table 3.5 below. Table 3 5. Participation of NGOs in impact assessment Participation No participation Number % Number % 226 87.94 31 12.06 (Source: Survey) 3.1.5. Regarding the control and evaluation of legislative impact of provincial-level local governments 3.1.5.1. Transparency in consultation process Regarding the publication of the text impact assessment results, the survey results show that: Table 3. 6: Publication of results of impact assessment of legal documents Not public There are public Number % Number % 184 71.32 74 28.68 (Source: Survey) Of the 74 Yes answers (28.68%), the thesis continues to ask more deeply, "If the answer is" yes ", please tell me, the results of the impact assessment are public. Where is dad? " This question has four options for answers: within agency leadership; for everyone in the agency; on the mass media; on the agency's website. The survey results show that the publication of the analysis results of the text impact assessment through the 4 listed channels is not guaranteed. The survey results are shown in Table 3.7 below. Table 3 7: Location of impact assessment legal documents Location of Publicity NO Yes Number % Number % Inside leadership 227 89.98 31 12.02 Inside the agency 220 85.27 38 14.73 Mass media 235 91.09 23 8.91 Agency website 227 89.98 31 12.02 17 (Source: Survey) Another content related to transparency in the consultation process is to provide clear and scientific guidance to the parties involved in the impact assessment of legal documents so that these actorss understand. regulations, processes, procedures that participate, interact more effectively in the impact assessment process of legal documents. The basis for evaluating this aspect is the issuance of documentation. Survey results in Table 3.8 below. Table 3 8. Guidelines for stakeholders Yes No Number % Number % 24 9.3 234 90.7 (Source: Survey) 3.1.5.1. Accountability and quality control In order to find out about the accountability of the actors who carries out the impact assessment of legislative documents, the law raises the question, ”Could you please tell us the impact assessment agency is willing to answer the question? questions about related parties' reports on the impact of legal documents? ”. Table 3 9. Willingness to answer questions Yes No Number % Number % 18 6.98 240 93.02 (Source: Survey) For further consideration of the accountability of the legal impact assessment actors, the dissertation continues to ask questions, ”Could you please tell us that the impact assessment organization organizes inquiries on related parties' questions about the impact of legal normative reports? Table 3.10. Organizing the interviewing session Yes No Number % Number % 18 25 9.69 233 90.31 (Source: Survey) 3.2 General assessment of the impact assessment of legal documents of provincial governments in our country today 3.2.1. Positive results Department of Justice has shown its important role in impact assessment of legal documents. The issue of assessing the impact of legal documents of local governments at provincial level has been more and more concerned by the authorities than before. Provisions on impact assessment of legislative documents of provincial governments in particular and legal documents in general were initially codified in the Law on Promulgation of Legal Documents 2015. The participation of individuals, scientific and technological organizations and non- governmental organizations is increasing more and more than before. 3.2.2. Negative results Firstly, the participation of entities outside the Department of Justice and specialized cadres and civil servants has been expanded, but still accounts for a low proportion. Second, more notably, the agency that plays the role of the actors assessing the impact of legislative documents does not pay much attention to guiding other entities to participate in the impact of normative documents. laws of provincial governments. Few agencies have issued handbooks to guide stakeholders involved in the impact assessment of legislative documents of provincial governments. Thirdly, the issue of publicizing