3 positions added to the list of security guards

Continuing the working program, on the afternoon of June 28, with 463/464 delegates participating in the vote in favor (accounting for 95.27% of the total number of National Assembly delegates), the Law amending and supplementing a number of articles of the Law on Security Guards was passed by the National Assembly.

The current Law on Guards stipulates that the subjects of guarding include: General Secretary; President; Chairman of the National Assembly; Prime Minister; former General Secretary, former President, former Chairman of the National Assembly, former Prime Minister; Politburo member, Secretary of the Party Central Committee; Chairman of the Central Committee of the Vietnam Fatherland Front, Vice President, Vice Chairman of the National Assembly, Deputy Prime Minister. The Law amending and supplementing a number of articles of the Law on Guards has added 3 more positions to the list of subjects of guarding: Standing member of the Secretariat, Chief Justice of the Supreme People's Court, and Chief Prosecutor of the Supreme People's Procuracy.

Presenting the report explaining, accepting and revising the draft law, Chairman of the National Assembly's Defense and Security Committee Le Tan Toi said that some opinions suggested considering adding the Standing Member of the Secretariat as a guard, because there is already a guard who is a member of the Politburo.

Some opinions say that, according to the Secretariat's Working Regulations, the Secretariat Standing Committee includes the General Secretary and the Secretariat Standing Committee. In addition, there are opinions suggesting adding a separate security regime and measures for the Secretariat Standing Committee.

The Standing Committee of the National Assembly finds that Clause 1, Article 10 of the Law on Guards (amended and supplemented at Point b, Clause 3, Article 1 of this draft law) stipulates that the subjects of guarding are those holding key leadership positions and titles, senior leaders of the Communist Party of Vietnam, the State of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam, and the Central Committee of the Vietnam Fatherland Front in the direction of listing specific subjects of guarding is consistent with the content of Conclusion No. 35-KL/TW dated May 5, 2022 of the Politburo. The current Law on Guards stipulates that if a person enjoys many different guarding regimes, that person will enjoy the highest level of guarding regime.

In response to delegates' opinions, the National Assembly Standing Committee directed the review and regulation of "Person holding the position and title of Standing Secretary of the Secretariat" in Clause 4 and Clause 5, Article 1 of the draft Law (Clause 3, Article 11 and Clause 3, Article 11a).

Regarding the protection regime and measures, the draft Law stipulates that the subjects have the same regime and measures according to the groups of positions and titles according to Conclusion No. 35-KL/TW. Accordingly, the positions and titles of the Standing Secretariat and Politburo members are stipulated to have the same protection regime and measures, which is appropriate and has been implemented stably in the past, without arising any problems. Therefore, the Standing Committee of the National Assembly proposes that the National Assembly not supplement the provisions on separate protection regime and measures for this protection subject.

Regarding the application of security measures to cases not covered by the Law on Security, Chairman of the National Assembly's Committee on National Defense and Security Le Tan Toi said that according to the law, the Minister of Public Security has the authority to decide to apply professional measures, including security measures, to protect national security and ensure social order and safety.

Therefore, the draft Law supplements the provision that the Minister of Public Security decides to apply security measures to cases that are not subject to security, which is consistent with the authority of the Minister of Public Security. Because the decision to apply security measures is related to the restriction of human rights and civil rights, it is necessary to stipulate in the Law that the Minister of Public Security decides to apply security measures, not to issue documents detailing this content.

The draft Law has generally stipulated the cases and criteria for application as follows: "In case of necessity, to protect national security, ensure social order and safety, ensure foreign affairs" to ensure flexibility to resolve unexpected situations requiring security work. Regarding the proposals of specific agencies and individuals in the process and procedures for deciding on the application of security measures, to ensure flexibility, there are no specific regulations in this draft Law.