The State Audit Office of Viet Nam (SAV) held a conference on May 10, 2023 to disseminate information about the Ordinance ('Ordinance") on Administrative Sanctions for Violations in the field of State Audit. Taking place at SAV headquarters located at 116 Nguyen Chanh, Ha Noi, the event was attended by officials, civil servants, and employees from executive units, public services units, Office of the Party and Association and Regional State Audit Offices.
Mr. Dang Van Hai, Deputy Director General of the Legal Affair Department introduced the Ordinance on Administrative Sanctions for Violations in the field of State Audit
As part of SAV legal information dissemination plan for 2023, the conference was carried out in both face-to-face and online formats, reaching 12 regional State Audit Offices.
At the event, Mr. Dang Van Hai, Deputy Director General of the Legal Affairs Department informed that the Ordinance came into effect on May 1, 2023 after being promulgated by the President on March 10, 2023.
In order to fully leverage the role of the Ordinance in society and improve the quality and effectiveness of SAV's operations, the Auditor General emphasize the importance of timely information dissemination and promotion of the Ordinance's provisions to alll officials, civil servants, and employees of SAV, as well as relevant agencies, organizations, and individuals. "The timely implementation of the Ordinance is of significant importance to effectively leverage SAV's role in social life and enhance the quality, validity, and effectiveness of SAV’s activities," said Mr. Hai.
Introducing the fundamental contents of the Ordinance, Deputy Director of the Legal Affairs Department Dang Van Hai, stated that the Ordinance comprises 5 chapters and 21 articles, which provide regulations in terms of Subjects and Administrative Violations; Forms and Levels of Penalties; Remedial Measures for Consequences; Jurisdiction, Procedures for Sanctions, and Enforcement. The Ordinance delineates the authority and procedures for imposing administrative penalties.
Based on the Administrative Violations Handling Ordinance, State Audit Ordinance, and other relevant legislative documents, individuals or entities who violate the obligations, responsibilities, or prohibitions stipulated in the State Audit Ordinance might be subject to administrative penalties under this Ordinance.
Clause 3 of Article 4 within the Ordinance aims to ensure consistency with provisions outlined in Clause 1 and 6 of Article 3 from Decree No.118/2021/ND-CP issued by the Government on December 23, 2021 regarding detailed regulations/measures for implementing the Ordinance on Handling Administrative Violations stipulates that officials/civil servants/public employees/members of the People's Army & People's Police along with individuals performing essential tasks who commit administrative violations related to their duties/tasks in the field of state audit will not be punished according to Ordinance on handling administrative violations. Instead, they shall be dealt with based on regulations outlined under Ordinances governing officials/civil servants along with other relevant legal frameworks.
Similarly, State agencies that commit violations while carrying out state management tasks will not face punishment as per aforementioned Ordinance but will instead be dealt with based on other relevant legal frameworks.
Article 5 of the Ordinance is noteworthy as it outlines that administrative violations in the field of state audit are determined based on the provisions within the Ordinance and other relevant legal documents related to state audit activities. These violations include violations of regulations on prohibited acts (as per Clause 2 and Clause 3 of Article 8), violations of obligations and responsibilities of audited units (as per Article 57 and Article 58), and violations of responsibilities held by relevant agencies, organizations, and individuals in state audit activities (as per Article 68 from the Ordinance).
The scene of the conference
Regarding the forms of administrative penalties, for each administrative violation in the field of state audit, individuals and organizations that commit violations are subject to either a warning or a fine.
The maximum fine for each administrative violation is 50 million VND for individuals and 100 million VND for organizations.
In addition, in order to address common administrative violations frequently encountered in practice, the Ordinance stipulates 7 articles, corresponding to 7 groups of these violations.
07 groups of these violations include the followings: Violating regulations on submitting regular reports; providing necessary information and documents for auditing purposes; Responding to and explaining matters related to the content of the audit; Failing to sign the audit record or comply with the audit decision; Engaging in bribery, corruption of audit team members, or obstructing the work of state audit audits; Concealing violations of Ordinances on public finance, state assets, unauthorized interference in auditing activities, or Concealing audit results; and other types of violations. For each type of violation, there are corresponding forms of penalties, fine amounts, and measures to remedy the consequences as stipulated by the Ordinance.