President Võ Văn Thưởng addresses the national conference launching next year's tasks for the court sector on December 24. VNA/VNS Photo

 HÀ NỘI President Võ Văn Thưởng, head of the Central Steering Committee for Judicial Reform, attended a national conference held in central Đà Nẵng city on December 24 to launch tasks for the court sector in 2024.

Officials reported that facing a continued increase of cases with higher complexity in 2023, courts at all levels have not only properly settled different types of cases but also carried out judicial reform tasks, including enforcing the Law on Mediation and Dialogue at Court and holding trials via videoconference.

Addressing the meeting, President Thưởng appreciated the court system’s activeness, creativity, and breakthrough solutions to improve its performance, thus helping curb crime growth, facilitate civil, business, and trade transactions, and protect people’s peaceful life.

In particular, courts at all levels have successfully brought to trial many major corruption cases and coordinated with related agencies to deal with obstacles to the settlement of large cases, he said, noting that results of those settled cases have won high support and evaluation from the public, and also reflected the stringency of law as well as the Party and State’s determination to fight corruption and other negative practices.

The State leader also applauded the enhanced application of information technology and the serious popularisation of courts’ verdicts and decisions, which have guaranteed people’s right to access to information, enabled people and people-elected bodies to supervise courts’ activities, and improved court officials and judges’ capacity and sense of responsibility towards their duties.

Pointing out certain shortcomings, he said amid the country’s intensive international integration and the fast expansion of the economy’s size, civil, business, trade, labour, and administrative disputes are also surging, thus mounting pressure on courts. Meanwhile, the building of a law-governed socialist State and judicial reform require higher effectiveness and quality of judicial activities.

Given this, President Thưởng asked Party committees and leaders of all-level courts to step up judicial reform and ensure the independence of the judiciary.

Besides, it is necessary to press on with improving the judging quality, minimise the verdicts that have to be cancelled or amended due to subjective causes, and better the quality, precision, and feasibility of courts’ decisions, especially the use of penalties, he went on.

He also ordered improving courts’ governance capacity on digital platforms and providing more convenient judicial services for people to help improve their activities and build the image of friendly courts that are truly a source of support for people in the protection of justice, human rights, and citizens’ rights.

In addition, the President also demanded promoting the Party’s leadership over courts’ activities, firmly adhere to the principle of democratic centralism, build a clean and strong court sector, and seriously implement the Politburo’s regulations on controlling power control and preventing corruption and negative practices in investigation, prosecution, judging, and judgement enforcement. VNA/VNS