The committee’s move to make its plans public so early was welcomed by deputies who said “these signs of democracy and transparency” should become permanent.

NA Vice Chairwoman Tong Thi Phong said the committee would be more active and responsible in co-operating with agencies to ensure draft laws are well prepared before being put forward for discussions.

Phong said that in 2010, priorities would be given to improving law-building capacity, the NA’s external relations, and logistic work for NA meetings.

Deputies spoke highly of the co-ordination role played by the committee. Deputy Le Thi Dung from southern An Giang Province said her voters recognised the NA standing committee’s efforts in mobilising people’s ideas and its strength in improving the capacity of its supporting bodies.

Deputy Hoang Van Toan of northern Vinh Phuc Province was straightforward about the Standing Committee’s shortcomings. For example, reports and draft laws were sent out only a short time before the documents were discussed and thus many deputies weren’t able to study them thoroughly.

“We need a bit more time to get other opinions from experts and insiders before discussing an important issue,” Toan said, calling for stricter rules to be applied to the law drafting board to ensure documents were delivered on time and were of good quality.

A majority of deputies asked the Standing Committee to make it easier for them to exercise their supervising role. This could be achieved by, for example, sparing more time for discussions on concerned issues and welcoming in-depth arguments from experts.

They also required the committee to employ more qualified staff to polish legal terminology to a uniform standard. They said this would help handle the present overlapping of legal documents.
NA Chairman Nguyen Phu Trong thanked deputies for their diverse and constructive ideas and pledged to make prompt adjustments.

The Standing Committee also reviewed all the work completed in 2009, especially its responsibilities in preparing for NA sessions, law building, and contributing ideas.

In addition, according to NA Vice Chairwoman Phong, the Standing Committee has participated in a wide range of international parliamentary events that have helped the National Assembly integrate with the world.

She added when Viet Nam became the chair of the ASEAN Inter-

Parliamentary Assembly in 2009-10, the NA Standing Committee would have a large workload and that this would need high efforts from every deputy and committee.

Earlier in the day, deputies agreed that the Law on Execution of Penal Verdicts, now in its drafting stage, should identify the rights and responsibilities of the agency that enforces court verdicts and the rights and responsibilities of defendants and other parties involved.

They also called for procedures to enforce verdicts and carry out suspended sentences. Many deputies said the Ministry of Public Security should be appointed as the agency in charge of the execution of penal verdicts.

VietNamNet/VNS