HÀ NỘI — The National Assembly Standing Committee convened a conference of full-time NA deputies yesterday to discuss fighting corruption.

On the agenda were the draft adjustments to the Law on Higher Education.
NA Chairwoman Nguyễn Thị Kim Ngân said discussing the bills before actually submitting them helps deal with complicated matters and technical issues.

The majority voiced their support for the People’s Court to handle assets of unclear origins. 

"Giving the court the authority over assets of unclear origins will ensure transparency and fairness for all parties involved,” said Lê Thị Nga, chairwoman of the NA’s Legal Committee.

“This is also a model employed by many countries around the world."

Nga also said it won’t introduce complications to the current legal framework of the country’s anti-corruption laws.

Deputies also reviewed a number of other alternatives in which income tax may be imposed on assets of unclear origin until the State’s anti-corruption agencies can determine whether they were illegally amassed.

This topic has been discussed twice already and should be approved by the sixth session.

Opinions of the full-time deputies at this conference will help the law drafting board to fine-tune the bill, especially the contents related to the declaration of assets and incomes and the expansion of the law’s scope to non-state sectors.
Meanwhile, the draft law on adjusting and supplementing a number of articles of the Law on Higher Education will be discussed at this conference because of public interest.
NA Chairwoman Ngân said the draft should clarify the State’s responsibility in investment and management of various types of higher education establishments, the organisational structure and administration of higher education institutions, as well as issues related to tuition fee, tax and standards of lecturers.
She asked the conference to focus attention on contentious issues and seek feasible solutions so that the draft laws will receive high consensus at the upcoming NA plenary session. — VNA