HÀ NỘI — The Central Steering Committee for Judicial Reforms convened its sixth meeting in Hà Nội on Saturday under the chair of President Trần Đại Quang.

Participants discussed a report on amendments and supplements to the committee’s working regulations for the 2016-21 term submitted by the Party Central Committee’s Commission for Internal Affairs, along with a report by the Central Military Commission on revisions to a plan to reform the organisation and activities of the army’s judicial agencies.

They also looked into a report by the Party Civil Affairs Committee of the Supreme People’s Court on reforming and increasing reconciliation and dialogue in the settlement of civil and administrative cases, and another on some problems about local judicial reforms.

They said the Politburo recently appointed the Chairman of the Party Central Committee’s Commission for Internal Affairs as permanent deputy head of the steering committee, and a vice chairman of the commission as a member of the steering committee.

Amending the committee’s working regulations aimed to create favourable conditions for the Commission for Internal Affairs and the new members of the committee to fulfill their tasks.

Reforming the organisation and activities of judicial agencies in the army was intended to ensure active and timely actions in the fight against crime and violations of law and military discipline, thus improving the army’s combat strength.

The reform and enhancement of reconciliation and dialogue in the settlement of civil and administrative cases had been piloted and resulted in initial positive outcomes, committee members said.

In his conclusion, President Quang asked the Commission for Internal Affairs and the drafting agencies to consider opinions from committee members to fine-tune their reports.

He noted that judicial reforms had been seriously implemented by all administrations and sectors, generating important outcomes. Relations among investigative agencies, procuracies, courts and other judicial and verdict enforcement bodies had improved. The President requested relevant agencies to boost the quality of investigating, prosecuting and judging criminal cases, especially big economic and corruption scandals, while accelerating the settlement of key and prolonged cases.

Authorised agencies should also pay attention to uncovering economic violations and corruption, as well as asset recovery measures, he noted.

The agencies must ensure absolute respect for the law, strictly and thoroughly deal with violations, not spare any violators or issue inaccurate verdicts, and not let their decisions be affected by external factors, the President added.

He also demanded centrally-run authorised agencies to direct their subordinate bodies to work on solutions to obstacles facing localities and press on with judicial reforms in line with the Party’s guidelines. — VNS