DECREE No DECREE No. 67/1999/ND-CP OF AUGUST 7, 1999 DETAILING AND GUIDING THE IMPLEMENTATION OF THE LAW ON COMPLAINTS AND DENUNCIATIONS THE GOVERNMENT Pursuant to the Law on Organization of the Government of September 30, 1992; Pursuant to the Law on Complaints and Denunciations of December 2, 1998; At the proposal of the State Inspector General, DECREES: Chapter I COMPLAINTS, SETTLEMENT OF COMPLAINTS ABOUT ADMINISTRATIVE DECISIONS, ADMINISTRATIVE ACTS Section 1. COMPLAINTS AND HANDLING OF LETTERS OF COMPLAINT Article 1.- A complaint shall be accepted and processed for settlement when it meets the following conditions: 1. The complainant must be the person whose legitimate rights and interests are directly affected by an administrative decision and/or an administrative act he/she complains about; 2. The complainant must be the person who has full capacity for his/her own acts according to the provisions of the Civil Code or who has yet the full capacity for his/her acts but is entitled to complain according to the provisions of law; in cases where he/she make complaint through his/her representative, the representative shall be subject to the provisions of Article 2 of this Decree; 3. The complainant must write a letter of complaint and file it to the right body competent to settle it within the statute of limitations and/or time limits prescribed by the Law on Complaints and Denunciations; 4. The complaint has yet come up with the final settlement decision; 5. The complaint has yet been accepted and processed for settlement by the court. Article 2.- 1. Citizens who are minors or suffer from metal or other diseases being unable to perceive and control their own acts shall exercise their right to complaints through their representatives at law; when exercising the right to complaints, the representatives must produce papers proving to the competent State bodies their lawful representation. Persons who are unable to make complaints by themselves due to their illness, old ages, physical handicaps or other objective reasons may authorize their representatives being their fathers, mothers, spouses, major offsprings or siblings to make the complaints; the authorization must be made in writing with certification by the commune-level People�s Committee of the locality where the authorizer or the authorized resides. 2. Agencies exercise their right to complaints through their representatives being the heads of such agencies. 3. Organizations exercise their right to complaints through their representatives being the heads of such organizations as defined in the decisions to establish such organizations or in their organization charter. Article 3.- Where a complainant fails to lodge his/her complaints according to the statute of limitations due to his/her illness, natural calamities, enemy sabotage, being sent away on working or study mission in a distant locality or due to other objective reasons, such duration of interruption shall not be calculated into the statute of limitations for lodging complaint; the complainant shall have to prove such objective obstacles to the competent State bodies. Article 4.- In the course of complaining, the complainant shall still have to abide by the administrative decision which he/she is complaining about except where such decision is suspended from execution under the provisions in Articles 35 and 42 of the Law on Complaints and Denunciations. Article 5.- Upon receipt of letters of complaint, the State bodies shall handle them as follows: 1. For letters of complaint which fall under their handling competence and satisfy conditions prescribed in Article 1 of this Decree, the receiving agencies shall have to accept, process and settle them; where a letter of complaint is signed by many persons, such agencies shall have to guide the complainants to write separate letters of complaint; 2. For letters of complaint which fall under their handling competence but fail to satisfy conditions for being accepted, processed and settled according to the provisions in Article 1 of this Decree, the receiving agencies shall have to reply the complainants in writing, clearly stating the reasons therefor. 3. For letters of complaint, which contain both the complaints and the denunciations, the agencies which receive them shall handle the complaints according to the provisions at Point 1, Point 2 and Point 5 of this Article and the denunciation contents according to the provisions in Article 43 of this Decree; 4. For letters of complaint which fall under the handling competence of the subordinate authorities, but past the prescribed time-limit they have not been settled yet, the immediate superior bodies directly receiving them shall have to process and settle them; 5. For letters of complaint which do not fall under their handling competence and letters of complaint about matters which have been settled by the final decisions, the complaint-receiving bodies shall not have to process them but shall give written notification and instruction to the complainants. For one complained matter, only one notification is made; where a complainant sent together with the letter of complaint the original documents or papers relating to the complained matters and case, the complaint-receiving body shall return such documents and papers to the complainant. Article 6.- The State agencies receiving letters of complaint conveyed by deputies of the National Assembly or the People�s Councils, the Vietnam Fatherland Front committees and the Front�s member organizations or press agencies shall have to process and settle complaints which fall under their respective handling competence and notify this to the agencies, organizations or individuals that have conveyed the letters of complaint; if the complaints do not fall under their handling competence, they shall return them to the complainants and notify such to the agencies, organizations or individuals that have conveyed such letters of complaint. Article 7.- The State inspectorate, when receiving letters of complaint which fall under the handling competence of the head of the State administrative agency of the same level, shall have to consider and report them to the head of the State administrative agency of the same level for deciding the processing and settlement of such complaints. Section 2. RESPONSIBILITIES OF THE HEADS OF THE STATE ADMINISTRATIVE BODIES IN SETTLING COMPLAINTS Article 8.- 1. The presidents of the commune-level People�s Committees shall have to settle complaints falling under their competence according to the order and procedures prescribed in the Law on Complaints and Denunciations. If realizing that the matters and cases complained about are clearly presented with enough grounds for settlement, the commune-level People�s Committee presidents shall issue decisions to settle them immediately. If realizing that the matters and cases complained about are unclear and without adequate grounds for settlement, the commune-level People�s Committee presidents shall have to examine and verify them, meeting the complainants, the complained as well as people with involved rights and interests to make clear the matters complained about and the requests of the complainants before issuing decisions to settle the complaints. Basing themselves on the examination and verification results and the provisions of law, the commune-level People�s Committee presidents shall issue decisions to settle the complaints within the time-limits prescribed in the Law on Complaints and Denunciations. 2. The commune-level People�s Committee presidents shall have to send the complaint-settling decisions to the complainants, the complained, the person with involved rights and interests as well as the district-level People�s Committees; and make public the complaint-settling decisions, when necessary. 3. The commune-level People�s Committee presidents shall have to enforce and organize the enforcement of the legally effective decisions on settlement of complaints within their respective responsibilities. Article 9.- Heads of the agencies under the district-level People�s Committees, heads of the agencies under the provincial/municipal Departments, and heads of the agencies under the ministries, the ministerial-level bodies as well as the agencies attached to the Government shall have to settle complaints falling under their respective jurisdiction. The complaints shall be settled according to the order and procedures prescribed in the Law on Complaints and Denunciations and to the provisions in Article 8 of this Decree. Article 10.- 1. The district-level People�s Committee presidents shall have to settle complaints falling under their jurisdiction according to the order and procedures prescribed in the Law on Complaints and Denunciations. a) With regard to complaints about their administrative decisions and/or administrative acts, the district-level People�s Committee presidents shall assign them to the heads of functional bodies under the district-level People�s Committees or the district-level chief inspectors to consider, make conclusions and propose the solution thereof; b) With regard to complaints which have already been settled by the commune-level People�s Committee presidents or heads of the functional bureaus or bodies under the district-level People�s Committees, but further lodged, they shall be assigned to the district-level chief inspectors to make verification and conclusions thereon and propose solution thereof; c) Basing themselves on the verification reports, conclusions and proposed solutions, the district-level People�s Committee presidents shall issue decisions to settle or authorize the chief inspectors of the same level to issue decisions to settle them according to the provisions in Clause 1, Article 20, this Decree and within the time-limits prescribed in the Law on Complaints and Denunciations. 2. The district-level People�s Committee presidents or chief inspectors authorized to issue the settling decisions shall have to send the complaint- settling decisions to the complainants, the complained, the persons with involved rights and interests and the provincial-level People�s Committees; and make public the complaint-settling decisions, when necessary. 3. The district-level People�s Committee presidents shall have to enforce and organize the enforcement of legally effective decisions on settlement of complaints within the ambit of their responsibilities; to inspect and urge the enforcement of the legally effective complaint-settling decisions by their subordinate bodies and units. Article 11.- 1. The directors of the Departments of equivalent levels under the provincial-level People�s Committees (referred collectively to as the provincial/ municipal Department directors) shall have to settle complaints falling under their jurisdiction according to the order and procedures prescribed in the Law on Complaints and Denunciations. a) With regard to complaints about the administrative decisions and/or administrative acts of their own and/or of officials and employees under their direct management, the provincial/municipal Department directors shall assign them to the heads of functional bureaus and bodies under the Departments or the Department chief inspectors to consider, make conclusions and propose solution thereof; b) With regard to the complaints which have been settled by the heads of bodies under the Department but further lodged, they shall be assigned to the Department chief inspector to make verification and conclusions thereon, and propose solutions thereof; c) Basing themselves on the verification results, conclusions and proposed solution of the complaints, the provincial/municipal Department directors shall issue decisions to settle them within the time-limits prescribed in the Law on Complaints and Denunciations. 2. The provincial/municipal Department directors shall have to send the complaint-settling decisions to the complainants, the complained, the persons with involved rights and interests and the persons competent to continue the settlement; and, when necessary, make public the complaint-settling decisions. 3. The provincial/municipal Department directors shall have to enforce and organize the enforcement of legally effective decisions on settlement of complaints; to inspect and urge the enforcement of the legally effective complaint-settling decisions by their subordinate bodies and units. Article 12.- 1. The provincial-level People�s Committee presidents shall have to settle complaints falling under their jurisdiction according to the order and procedures prescribed in the Law on Complaints and Denunciations; a) With regard to complaints about their own administrative decisions and/or acts, the provincial-level People�s Committee presidents shall assign them to the heads of the specialized agencies under the provincial-level People�s Committees or chief inspectors to consider, make conclusions and propose solutions thereof; b) With regard to the complaints which have already settled by the district-level People�s Committee presidents or by the provincial-level Department directors but further lodged and which fall under their jurisdiction, the provincial-level People�s Committee presidents shall assign them to the provincial-level chief inspectors to make verifications and conclusions thereon and propose the solution thereof; c) Basing themselves on the verification reports, conclusions and proposed solutions, the provincial-level People�s Committee presidents shall issue decisions or authorize the provincial-level chief inspectors to issue decisions to settle them according to the provisions in Clause 2, Article 20, this Decree, and within the time-limits prescribed in the Law on Complaints and Denunciations. The decisions on the settlement of complaints mentioned at Point a, Clause 1, this Article, shall be the first decisions on the settlement of complaints; the decisions on the settlement of complaints mentioned at Point b, Clause 1, this Article, shall be the final decisions on the settlement of such complaints. 2. The provincial-level People�s Committee presidents or chief inspectors authorized to issue settling decisions shall have to send the complaint-settling decisions to the complainants, the complained, the persons with involved rights and interests; if they are the final decisions they shall also be sent to the State Inspector General; if they are the first decisions on complaint settlement, they shall be addressed to the ministers, the heads of the ministerial-level agencies or the heads of the agencies attached to the Government, who are competent to continue the settlement of such complaints; and, when necessary, make public the complaint-settling decisions. 3. The provincial-level People�s Committee presidents shall have to enforce and organize the enforcement of legally effective complaint-settling decisions within the ambit of their responsibility; to inspect and urge the enforcement thereof by their subordinate agencies and units. Article 13.- 1. The ministers, the heads of the ministerial-level agencies and the heads of the agencies attached to the Government shall have to settle complaints falling under their jurisdiction according to the order and procedures prescribed in the Law on Complaints and Denunciations. a) With regard to complaints about administrative decisions and/or acts of their own, their officials and employees, the ministers, the heads of the ministerial-level agencies and the heads of the agencies attached to the Government shall assign them to the heads of Departments or functional agencies or the chief inspectors of the same level to consider, make conclusions and propose solution thereof; b) With regard to complaints which have already been settled by heads of the agencies under the ministries, the ministerial-level agencies or the agencies attached to the Government, district-level People�s Committee presidents or provincial/municipal Department directors, but still further lodged, and which fall under their settling jurisdiction, they shall be assigned to the chief inspectors of the same level to make verification and conclusions thereon and propose the solution thereof; c) Basing themselves on the verification reports, conclusions and proposed solutions, the concerned ministers, heads of the ministerial-level agencies or heads of the agencies attached to the Government shall issue decisions to settle the complaints within the time-limits prescribed in the Law on Complaints and Denunciations. The decisions settling complaints mentioned at Point a, Clause 1, this Article, shall be the first decisions; the decisions settling complaints mentioned at Point b, Clause 1, this Article, of the ministers or heads of the ministerial-level agencies shall be the final ones. 2. The ministers, the heads of the ministerial-level agencies and the heads of the agencies attached to the Government shall have to send the complaint-settling decisions to the complainants, the complained, the persons with involved rights and interests and the State Inspector General; and, when necessary, make public the complaint-settling decisions. 3. The ministers, the heads of the ministerial-level agencies and the heads of the agencies attached to the Government shall have to enforce and organize the enforcement of the legally effective complaint-settling decisions within the ambit of their responsibilities; to inspect and urge the enforcement thereof by agencies and units under their respective management. Article 14.- 1. The State Inspector General shall have to settle complaints falling under their jurisdiction according to the order and procedures prescribed in the Law on Complaints and Denunciations. 2. The State Inspector General may be authorized to settle complaints falling under the Prime Minister�s settling jurisdiction; in case of divergence of opinions between the State Inspector General and ministers or heads of the ministerial-level agencies on the settlement, the State Inspector General shall report such to the Prime Minister for directing the settlement or propose the Prime Minister to issue the settling decisions. Article 15.- 1. Persons who have issued the final decisions on complaint settlement, when detecting that such decisions had violated laws, causing damage to the interests of the State and/or the legitimate rights and interests of citizens, agencies and/or organizations, shall have to review such decisions so as to ensure that the settlement of complaints comply with the provisions of law. 2. The ministers, the heads of the ministerial-level agencies and the heads of the agencies attached to the Government, in the course of performing their State management functions, if detecting that the provincial-level People�s Committee presidents� final decisions violated laws, thus causing damage to the State�s interests and/or the legitimate rights and interests of citizens, agencies and/or organizations, shall request the persons who have made such decisions to reconsider them; within 15 days, if such request is not met, they may apply measures according to their respective competence to have such request met or report it to the Prime Minister for consideration and decision. 3. The State Inspector General, in the course of inspecting and checking the observance of the legislation on complaints and denunciations, if detecting that the final decisions on settlement of complaints have violated laws causing damage to the State�s interests and/or the legitimate rights and interests of citizens, agencies and/or organizations, shall request the persons who have made such decisions to reconsider them; within 15 days, if the request is not met, he/she may apply measures according to his/her competence to have such request satisfied or propose them to the Prime Minister for consideration and decision. 4. The statute of limitations

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