The draft law expands the scope of the information citizens are allowed to access, as well as the supply agencies and units responsible for providing information, and forms of information provision; and strengthens the application of information technology and digital transformation to create conditions for people to access information more quickly and conveniently, while saving time and reducing costs.
Process and procedures for information provision requests remain cumbersome
According to the Ministry of Justice, the Law on Access to Information 2016 has made an important contribution to ensuring citizens’ right to access information, while improving openness, transparency, and accountability in the operations of state agencies. However, besides achievements, the implementation of the Law on Access to Information reveals several limitations and difficulties, such as some regulations on identifying inaccessible information are still confusing to implement; and the process and procedures for providing information upon request are still complex and fail to meet the requirements of administrative reform.
Despite people’s increasing demand for accessing to information, information organisation and management remain largely manual and traditional, and limited application of information technology, and fail to promote the effectiveness of the internet environment and mass media. With the development of science and technology, the methods of providing information need to change towards greater diversity and convenience for people.
Furthermore, the law stipulates the responsibility of state agencies to compile, publish, and update lists of available information publicly, however, in practice, some agencies struggle with compiling these lists; updates are often manual, time-consuming, and irregularly or incomprehensively implemented.
Therefore, the building of an amended Law on Access to Information is necessary to address these limitations, difficulties, and obstacles. At the same time, regulations will be amended and supplemented to better ensure citizens' right to access information, in line with Viet Nam's current socio-economic situation and conditions, and to enhance openness, transparency, accountability, and responsibility in the operations of agencies, organisations, and units.
Expanding the scope of information citizens can access
The draft Law consists of four Chapters and 31 Articles, focusing on six main policy groups, specifically as follows:
Expanding the subjects responsible for providing information by expanding the scope of subjects responsible for providing information compared to current law, including public service units providing basic and essential public services, to ensure openness and transparency in the organisation and operation of public service units using state budget funds. In addition, adjusting the subjects responsible for providing information to align with the apparatus organisational restructuring of agencies in recent time.
Adjusting the scope of information that commune-level People's Committees are responsible for providing. Accordingly, commune-level People's Committees are responsible for providing information they create and are not obligated to provide information they receive, aim to ensure consistency with the characteristics and model of the two-tiered local governance and to promote decentralisation of state management, enhance the responsibility of information-creating agencies, and ensure the accuracy and appropriateness of the information provided in accordance with regulations of the law.
Expanding the scope of information that must be made public, thereby expanding the scope of information that must be made public to ensure consistency with specialised laws in line with the trend of state agencies of expanding the scope of information that must be openness and proactively disclosing information to the people, increasing the effectiveness of adjustment of the Law on Access to Information as a general law regulating the contents of access to information.
Adjusting the scope of information that citizens are not allowed to access and access with conditions: for information that is not allowed to be accessed, amendments and supplements should be made to determine whether information that, if accessed, would harm the interests of the state, negatively affect national defence, national security, international relations, social order and safety, social morality, or public health, in accordance with relevant legal documents. For information subject to conditional access, amendments and supplements are made in the direction that information constituting personal data shall be governed by the law on personal data protection, while information on historical archives shall be governed by the law on archives.
Diversify methods of information provision to facilitate access for people: supplement and expand methods of public disclosure and information provision suitable for the digital environment, including opening data portals, official social media channels, digital platforms, and administrative virtual assistants; strengthening the application of information technology and digital transformation throughout the entire information provision process, from receiving and processing to responding, ensuring openness, transparency, and online accessibility; and ensuring access to information for vulnerable groups, people in remote areas, and people with disabilities, through flexible, diverse, and appropriate methods.
Adjusting regulations on the cost of providing information upon request: the provisions of Articles 12 and 27 of the Law on Access to Information 2016 will continue to be applied, according to which the person requesting information provisions must pay the actual costs for printing, copying, photographing, and sending the information; the Minister of Finance will provide specific guidance (currently Circular 46/2018/TT-BTC).
It is expected that the amended Law on Access to Information will be submitted to the National Assembly for consideration and approval at the first session of the 16th National Assembly.
