LUẬT GIÁM ĐỊNH TƯ PHÁP SỬA ĐỔI 2020

LAW

AMENDMENTS AND SUPPLEMENTS TO CERTAIN ARTICLES OF LAW ON JUDICIAL EXPERTISE

Pursuant to the Constitution of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam;

The National Assembly promulgates the Law on Amendments and Supplements to certain Articles of the Law on Judicial Expertise No. 13/2012/QH13, already amended and supplemented by the Law No. 35/2018/QH14.

Article 1. Amendments and supplements to certain Articles of the Law on Judicial Expertise

1. Amending and supplementing Clause 1, 2 and 3 of Article 2 as follows:

“1. Judicial expertise means an activity in which a judicial expert uses his/her knowledge, means, scientific, technical and professional methods to draw professional conclusions about matters related to the initiation of legal proceedings, investigation, prosecution, adjudication and enforcement and execution of criminal judgments, settlement of civil cases and administrative cases as solicited for by an authority or person having procedural jurisdiction or requested by an expertise petitioner under the provisions of this Law.

2. Expertise solicitor includes authorities or persons having procedural jurisdiction.

3. Expertise petitioner means a person who, at his/her discretion, has the right to request an expertise service after having petitioned a jurisdictional procedural authority and person to solicit an expertise but failing to get approval. Persons having the right to request an expertise service on their own account comprise litigants in civil cases, administrative cases, civil plaintiffs, civil defendants, persons with related interests and obligations in criminal cases or their legal representatives, except where petitions for expertise service relate to the determination of criminal liability of the accused and defendant.”.

2. Amending and supplementing clause 1 of Article 3 as follows:

“1. Comply with the law and conform to professional standards regulations and expertise processes.”.

3. Amending and supplementing clause 3 of Article 6 as follows:

“3. Intentionally prolonging the performance of judicial expertise or exploiting judicial expertise solicitation or request to complicate and obstruct procedural activities.”.

4. Amending and supplementing several clauses of Article 8 as follows:

a) Amending and supplementing clause 1 as follows:

“1. The written request for appointment of a judicial expert made by a jurisdictional authority or organization stipulated in clause 2 of Article 9 herein, or the petition for appointment as a judicial expert submitted by an individual who used to be a judicial expert but is dismissed due to his/her retirement or resignation to establish his/her judicial expertise office.”;

b) Amending and supplementing clause 3 as follows:

“3. The resume and judicial record. If the candidate or applicant for being appointed as a judicial expert is a public official or employee, an officer of the army or people’s police force, or a professional serviceman or a defense worker, no judicial record will not be required.”.

5. Amending the article heading and several clauses of Article 9 as follows:

a) The article heading shall be reworded as follows:

“Article 9. Authority, processes and procedures for appointment as a judicial expert and grant of judicial expert’s identity cards”;

b) Amending and supplementing clause 2 as follows:

“2. The Ministry of National Defense and the Ministry of Public Security shall select persons satisfying the criteria specified in Clause 1, Article 7 of this Law, recommending them to the Minister of Health as forensic experts under their control.

The Ministry of National Defense and the Supreme People’s Procuracy shall select persons satisfying the criteria specified in Clause 1, Article 7 of this Law, and recommending them to the Minister of Public Security as criminal experts under their control.

Heads of ministry-controlled units or ministerial-level bodies assigned to manage judicial expertise activities shall select persons satisfying the criteria specified in Clause 1, Article 7 of this Law, and recommending them to ministers or heads of ministerial-level bodies as judicial experts having expertise in their area of expertise under their authority.

Heads of specialized affiliates of provincial People’s Committees in charge of the area of judicial expertise shall preside over, and cooperate with Directors of the Departments of Justice in, selecting persons satisfying criteria specified in Clause 1 of Article 7 herein, and receiving petition documentation from petitioners for appointment of judicial experts specified in Article 8 herein, and recommending them to Presidents of provincial-level People’s Committees as local experts.

Within 20 days after receipt of the submitted petition documentation, Ministers, Heads of ministerial-level bodies or Presidents of provincial-level People’s Committees shall issue their decision to appoint judicial experts. In case of rejection, the written notice of refusal clearly stating reasons must be sent to the petitioner.”;

c) Adding Clause 4 below Clause 3 as follows:

“4. A person appointed as a judicial expert shall be granted the judicial expert’s identity card.

Persons authorized to appoint judicial experts under clause 1 of this Article shall be accorded authority to issue or re-issue judicial expert’s identity cards.

Card samples, processes and procedures for issuance and re-issuance of judicial expert’s identity card shall comply with regulations of the Minister of Justice.”.

6. Amending and supplementing Article 10 as follows:

“Article 10. Authority, processes and procedures for dismissal of judicial experts and withdrawal of judicial expert’s identity cards

1. Cases of dismissal of judicial experts:

a) Failing to meet the criteria stipulated in Clause 1 of Article 7 herein;

b) Falling into one of the cases prescribed in Clause 2 of Article 7 herein;

c) Subject to disciplinary action at least in the form of caution, or administrative penalty for intentional violation of legislation on judicial expertise;

d) Committing one of the acts prescribed in Article 6 herein;

dd) Obtaining a decision to retire or resign, except the case where the judicial expert submits a written document showing his/her desire to continue to take part in judicial expertise activities, and directly supervisory body or organization needs him/her in accordance with legislative regulations;

e) Changing his/her job position or transferring to another agency or organization to the extent that suitable conditions for continuation of his/her judicial expertise no longer exist;

g) Accepting his/her own request. If the judicial expert who is a public official or employee, an officer of the army or people’s police force, or a professional serviceman or a defense worker wish to leave his/her job position, he/she must seek consent from his/her directly supervisory body or organization;

h) Such dismissal will occur if a judicial expert is appointed as a prerequisite for setting up a his/her expertise office but, after 01 year from the date of appointment, failing to do so or, after 01 year of receipt of the decision to allow establishment of expertise office, failing to register the operation of his/her office.

2. Request documentation for dismissal of a judicial expert, including:

a) Written request for dismissal of a judicial expert, made by the judicial expert’s supervisory body or organization, or application form for dismissal of a judicial expert;

b) Written document or paper proving that the judicial expert falls into one of the cases prescribed in Clause 1 of this Article.

3. The Minister of Public Security and the Minister of National Defense shall consider requesting the Minister of Health to issue their decision to dismiss the forensic expert under their management.

The Minister of National Defense and the Chief Procurator of the Supreme People’s Procuracy shall consider requesting the Minister of Public Security to issue their decision to dismiss the criminal expert under their management.

Ministers and Heads of ministerial-level bodies can dismiss judicial experts operating at central authorities in the area of judicial expertise under their management at the request of Heads of units under the control of ministries or ministerial-level bodies assigned to manage judicial expertise activities.

Presidents of provincial People’s Committees can dismiss local judicial experts at the request of heads of specialized authorities affiliated to provincial People’s Committees in charge of the area of judicial expertise judicial expertise after obtaining unanimous opinions from the Director of the Department of Justice.

4. Within 10 days after receipt of the submitted request or petition documentation, Ministers, Heads of ministerial-level bodies or Presidents of provincial People’s Committees shall consider issuing their decision to dismiss judicial experts, withdrawing or revoking judicial expert’s identity cards and revising the list of judicial experts on the web portals of ministries, ministerial-level bodies or provincial People’s Committees as well as sending the revised list to help the Ministry of Justice to adjust the general list of judicial experts.”.

7. Amending and supplementing clause 2 of Article 11 as follows:

“2. Refuse to provide judicial expertise service in cases where the subject matters of the solicited or requested expertise is irrelevant to the judicial expert’s professional scope, or the judicial expert does not fully meet qualification requirements or conditions necessary for the provision of judicial expertise service; information about the subject of judicial expertise and related documents are not provided in full or are invalid to help give judicial expert conclusions or testimonies after the solicitor or petitioner’s failure to make any requested modification thereof; the time length needed to conduct a judicial expertise activity is not adequate; the independence and objectivity of a judicial expertise activity are not assured. In case of refusal to provide judicial expertise service, within 05 working days of receipt of the decision to solicit or petition for judicial expertise, it is obligatory to notify the solicitor or petitioner for judicial expertise in writing with clear reasons to be stated.”.

8. Amending and supplementing several clauses of Article 12 as follows:

a) Amending and supplementing Clause 4 and Clause 5 as follows:

“4. Public providers of criminal technical expertise service, including:

a) National Institute of Forensic Science controlled by the Ministry of Public Security;

b) Criminal Justice Technology Divisions controlled by provincial Departments of Public Security;

c) Bureau of Criminal Justice Technology and Expertise controlled by the Ministry of National Defense;

d) Bureau of Criminal Justice Technology and Expertise controlled by the Supreme People’s Procuracy.

5. Bureau of Criminal Justice Technology and Expertise controlled by the Supreme People’s Procuracy shall conduct the judicial expertise on electronic audiovisual data.  Based on actual needs and conditions of specific localities, Criminal Justice Technology Divisions controlled by provincial Departments of Public Security shall assign forensic experts to provide forensic expertise service.”;

b) Amending and supplementing clause 7 as follows:

“7. The Government shall elaborate on the functions, tasks, organizational structure and working regime of a public judicial expertise service provider specified in Clauses 2 and 3, Points a, b and c of Clause 4 of this Article.

The Chief Procurator of the Supreme People’s Procuracy shall lay down regulations on the functions, tasks and organizational structure of the Bureau of Criminal Justice Technology and Expertise of the Supreme People’s Procuracy, and submitting these regulations to the National Assembly’s Standing Committee to seek their ratification and approval.”.

9. Amending and supplementing point a of clause 1 of Article 15 as follows:

“a) Having at least 3 years of experience working as a judicial expert and providing expertise service in the area the same as the one mentioned in the application for establishment of the  Expertise Service Office;”.

10. Amending and supplementing Article 20 as follows:

“Article 20. Recognition and publication of the list of judicial experts or subject-matter expertise service providers

1. Ministry of Construction, Ministry of Finance, Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism, Ministry of Information and Communications, Ministry of Planning and Investment, Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment, Ministry of Transport, Ministry of Science and Technology, Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, State Bank of Vietnam, other ministries, ministerial-level agencies, governmental bodies, and provincial People’s Committees, shall select individuals and organizations satisfying the criteria and conditions specified in Articles 18 and 19 of this Law to issue decisions to recognize subject-matter judicial experts and subject-matter judicial expertise service providers in the domains under their management to meet procedural expertise requirements.

The list, including information about the specialization of expertise, professional experience, qualification and skills of subject-matter judicial experts or subject-matter expertise service providers, shall be published, reviewed and updated on the web portals of ministries, ministerial-level agencies, governmental authorities, provincial People’s Committees, and at the same time being sent to the Ministry of Justice for the purpose of compilation of a general list.

2. The list of subject-matter judicial experts and subject-matter judicial expertise service providers which is prescribed in Clause 1 of this Article shall serve as a basis for authorities or persons having procedural jurisdiction to decide on soliciting the judicial expertise.

In special cases, the expert solicitor may solicit specialized individuals or organizations meeting the criteria and conditions specified in Articles 18 and 19 of this Law, but not on the list of subject-matter judicial experts and subject-matter judicial expertise service providers which has already been published, to carry out the judicial expertise provided that reasons must be clearly included in the solicitation decision.

At the request of authorities or persons having jurisdiction to initiate legal proceedings, ministries, ministerial-level agencies, governmental bodies, State Audit and specialized organs affiliated to provincial People’s Committees and central authorities located within provincial boundaries shall be responsible for introducing individuals and organizations satisfying the criteria and conditions specified in Articles 18 and 19 of this Law which are not on the published list to conduct the judicial expertise.”.

11. Amending and supplementing clause 2 of Article 21 as follows:

“2. The judicial expertise solicitor shall have the following obligations:

a) Clearly define the contents, fields or areas of specialization subject to the judicial expertise in the cases or matters under the resolution process; select individuals and organizations capable and qualified to conduct the judicial expertise in accordance with the nature and contents of the judicial expertise in order to issue the decision to solicit the judicial expertise;

b) Issue the written decision to solicit the judicial expertise;

c) Promptly and fully provide and take responsibility before law for information, documents and specimens related to subjects and contents of the judicial expertise at the request of individuals or organizations conducting the judicial expertise;

d) Make advance payments or payments of judicial expertise costs on time and in full;

dd) Take or request competent authorities to apply measures prescribed by laws to protect judicial experts or their relatives if there are grounds for determining that life, health, reputation, dignity or property of theirs or their relatives’ is in danger owing to their implementation of judicial expertise or involvement in cases or matters in the name of a judicial expert.”.

12. Amending and supplementing several points and clauses of Article 22 as follows:

a) Amending and supplementing clause 1 as follows:

“1. Expertise petitioners may request jurisdictional procedural authorities and persons in writing to solicit judicial expertise services. If jurisdictional procedural authorities and persons reject these petitions for solicitation of judicial expertise services within 7 days of receipt of such petitions, they must inform petitioners in writing. Upon expiration of the aforesaid time limit or upon receipt of the notice of rejection, petitioners for solicitation of judicial expertise services may petition for judicial expertise services in person.”;

b) Amending and supplementing point d of clause 2 as follows:

“d) Petition jurisdictional procedural authorities and persons to solicit for the judicial expertise activity to be repeated; solicit the supplementary expertise service in accordance with clause 1 of Article 29 herein.”.

13. Adding points d, dd and e under point c of clause 1 of Article 23 as follows:

“d) Petition the judicial expertise solicitor or the competent authority to take protective measures as prescribed by law if there is a sign that life, health, honor, dignity or property of the judicial expert himself/herself or his/her relatives is at risk due to his/her implementation of judicial expertise or participation in a case or matter in the name of a judicial expert;

dd) Refuse to carry out the judicial expertise activity in cases prescribed in Clause 2 of Article 11 herein;

e) Take an appropriate seat while participating in the court process.”.

14. Amending and supplementing Article 24 as follows:

“Article 24. Rights and obligations of organizations solicited or requested for judicial expertise

1. Organizations solicited or requested for judicial expertise shall assume the following rights:

a) Request the solicitor or petitioner for judicial expertise to promptly and fully provide information, documents and samples necessary for the judicial expertise;

b) Refuse to accept the judicial expertise solicitation or petition in cases where the subject matters of the contents of such solicitation or petition are irrelevant to the judicial expert’s professional scope, or the judicial expert does not fully meet qualification requirements or conditions necessary for the provision of judicial expertise service; information about the subject of judicial expertise and related documents are not provided in full or are invalid to help give judicial expert conclusions or testimonies after the solicitor or petitioner’s failure to make any requested modification thereof; the time length needed to conduct a judicial expertise activity is not adequate; the independence and objectivity of a judicial expertise activity are not assured;

c) Receive judicial expertise expenses paid in advance upon receipt of judicial expertise requests or solicitations; receive payments of judicial expertise costs and expenses on time and in full when notifying judicial expertise results.

2. Organizations solicited or requested for judicial expertise shall assume the following obligations:

a) Within 05 working days of receipt of the solicitation or request for judicial expertise, assign their staff members with professional qualifications and skills relevant to the contents of the solicitation or request for judicial expertise, take responsibility for his or her professional competence and notify solicitors or petitioners for judicial expertise, except if laws prescribe a shorter duration.

Heads of organizations solicited or requested for judicial expertise shall direct and push the implementation of judicial expertise and, if at least 2 staff members are needed to perform judicial expertise tasks, shall assign a person responsible for coordinating the implementation of judicial expertise;

b) Ensure the provision of enough time, equipment, facilities and other conditions necessary for conducting the judicial expertise.

During the process of judicial expertise, if new contents or other problems arise, individuals or organizations conducting judicial expertise must immediately notify the solicitor or petitioner for judicial expertise to agree on the settlement plan;

c) Compensate for any loss or damage in case the person carrying out judicial expertise activities  that they have assigned intentionally makes a false expert conclusion or testimony, causing damage to any individual or organization;

d) In case of refusal to accept a solicitation or petition for judicial expertise, within 05 working days of receipt of the decision to solicit or petition for judicial expertise, it is obligatory to notify the solicitor or petitioner for judicial expertise in writing with clear reasons to be stated, except if laws prescribe a shorter duration;

dd) Bear responsibility for any expert conclusion or testimony given on their own account.”.

15. Amending and supplementing Article 25 as follows:

“Article 25. Solicitation for judicial expertise

1. The solicitor for judicial expertise shall issue the written decision to solicit judicial expertise, and sending that decision, enclosing subjects of the judicial expertise, information, documents and objects (if any) relevant to individuals or organizations providing judicial expertise service.  If these subjects of the judicial expertise, relevant information, documents and objects are unlikely to be attached to the decision to solicit judicial expertise, the solicitor for judicial expertise shall be responsible for carrying out necessary procedures for transfer thereof to individuals or organizations providing judicial expertise service.

2. The decision to solicit judicial expertise must include the followings:

a) Name of the authority soliciting judicial expertise; full name of the person having jurisdiction to solicit judicial expertise;

b) Name or full name of the organization or person solicited to provide judicial expertise service;

c) Summary of main points of the case or matter;

d) Name and characteristics of the subject of judicial expertise;

dd) Name of related documents, objects or verification samples attached hereto (if any);

e) Specialized contents of issues subject to the judicial expertise;

g) Date (day, month and year) of the solicitation for the judicial expertise and time limit for notification of the judicial expert conclusion or testimony.

3. In case of soliciting the additional or repeated judicial expertise, the decision to solicit a judicial expertise activity must clearly state whether to solicit an additional or repeated judicial expertise activity and the reasons for that additional or repeated judicial expertise.

4. Where necessary, before issuing a decision to solicit a decision to solicit a judicial expertise activity, competent procedural authorities and persons shall confer with persons or organizations expected to be solicited for judicial expertise and other relevant agencies about the contents of solicitation, time limit for judicial expertise, information, documents and specimens needed for the judicial expertise and other relevant matters (if any).

5. In case where the contents of judicial expertise relate to many fields and fall within the remit of multiple organizations, the solicitor for judicial expertise must separate contents to solicit appropriate specialized organizations to carry out the judicial expertise.

Where the contents of judicial expertise are related to multiple specializations which are closely related to each other, are under the responsibility of various organizations, but the separation of contents makes it difficult for the implementation of judicial expertise, affecting the accuracy of the expert results or prolonging the expertise time length, the solicitor for judicial expertise must determine the main contents of judicial expertise in order to identify the presiding and cooperating body involved in providing the judicial expertise service.

The presiding body shall be responsible for acting as the focal point in taking charge of the general judicial expertise and undertaking the contents of the judicial expertise falling within their specialization.

Within 05 working days of receipt of the decision to solicit the judicial expertise, the organization solicited for judicial expertise must send a letter seconding a judicial expert to the person soliciting judicial expertise; as for the organization cooperating in conducting judicial expertise, they must send a letter seconding a judicial expert to the organization presiding over the implementation of judicial expertise. The presiding organization must implement the judicial expertise immediately after receipt of the letter seconding the judicial expert from the organization cooperating in the implementation of judicial expertise.   In this case, the judicial expertise shall be carried out in the form of a judicial expertise on collectives falling within various professional domains specified in Clause 3 of Article 28 herein.

In case problems arise from the solicitation or cooperation in carrying out the judicial expertise, jurisdictional procedural authorities and persons shall preside over and cooperate with the organization solicited to conduct the judicial expertise in taking action.”.

16. Adding Article 26a under Article 26 as follows:

“Article 26a.   Time limit for providing judicial expertise service in case of soliciting for judicial expertise  

1. The time limit for judicial expertise shall start from the date on which the individual or organization solicited for judicial expertise receives the decision to solicit expertise service, enclosing all documents and information about the subjects of judicial expertise, other information, documents, objects or specimens needed for judicial expertise.

In the course of implementation of judicial expertise, if it is necessary to provide additional documents and records that serve as a basis for the judicial expertise, the person or organization solicited to provide judicial expertise service shall request the person soliciting the judicial expertise in writing to provide additional documents and records. The period from the date on which an individual or organization solicited for judicial expertise makes a written request to the date of receipt of additional documents and records shall not be part of the time limit for judicial expertise.

2. The time limit for judicial expertise for cases in which the solicitation of judicial expertise is required shall comply with criminal procedure law.

3. The maximum time limit for judicial expertise for the case not prescribed in clause 2 of this Article shall be 3 months. If a matter subject to judicial expertise has complicated property or large workload, the maximum time limit for that judicial expertise shall be 04 months.

Ministries and ministerial-level authorities specialized in managing judicial expertise shall, based on the maximum time limit and the nature of each area of expertise, regulate the time limit for judicial expertise on each particular case or matter. The time limit for judicial expertise may be extended under the decision of the authority soliciting the judicial expertise, but not more than half of the maximum time limit for judicial expertise on such case or matter.

4. The person who solicits judicial expertise may negotiate on the time limit with the individual or organization solicited for judicial expertise prior to the solicitation of judicial expertise, but must not exceed the time limit specified in Clause 2 and 3 of this Article.

5. In case problems arise or there are grounds for believing that a case of matter of judicial expertise cannot be completed on time, the individual or organization carrying out the judicial expertise must promptly send a notification, clearly stating the reasons for such failure to meet the deadline, to the solicitor for judicial expertise, and clarifying the expected time of completion or conclusion of the judicial expertise.”.

17. Amending and supplementing Article 31 as follows:

“Article 31. Written record of the judicial expertise process

1. Persons carrying out the judicial expertise must promptly, fully and honestly record in writing the whole process of performance of the judicial expertise.

2. The written record of the process of conducting judicial expertise must clearly state the condition of the subject sent for judicial expertise and enclosed relevant information and documents as a basis for performance of judicial expertise, time, place, volume of work, schedule and method of implementation of judicial expertise, results of such implementation, and must be signed by the in-charge judicial expert.

The written record of the judicial expertise process must be filed in the judicial expertise file.”.

18. Amending and supplementing Article 32 as follows:

“Article 32. Judicial expert conclusion

1. Judicial expert conclusions must be documented, including the followings:

a) Full name of the person carrying out judicial expertise; the organization providing judicial expertise service;

b) Name and full name of the jurisdictional procedural authority or the competent procedural person who solicits the judicial expertise; number of the written document on solicitation of the judicial expertise, or full name of the petitioner for the judicial expertise;

c) Information identifying the subject of judicial expertise;

d) Time of receipt of the written solicitation or request for judicial expertise;

dd) Subject matters of the petition for judicial expertise;

e) Judicial expertise approach;

g) Explicit and specific conclusions about the professional contents of the subjects of judicial expertise according to the judicial expertise solicitation or petition;

h) Time and location of rendering and completion of the judicial expertise.

2. In case of soliciting or petitioning individuals to conduct judicial expertise, the judicial expert conclusion report must bear the signature and clearly state the full name of the judicial expert. In case of submission of the petition to the organization seconding the judicial expert, the judicial expertise conclusion report must have the full signature, full name of the judicial expert and must be attested by the signature of the organization seconding the judicial expert.

In case of soliciting or petitioning an organization to conduct a judicial expertise, in addition to the signature and full name of the judicial expert, the organization’s head must sign and affix a seal on the judicial expert conclusion report and the organization solicited or petitioned for judicial expertise must take responsibility for the judicial expert conclusion.

If an expert council specified in Clause 1 of Article 30 of this Law conducts an expertise activity, the person competent to decide on the establishment of the council must sign and affix a seal on the judicial expert conclusion and take responsibility for the legal status of the expert council.

3. In cases where the judicial expertise is conducted before the decision to institute criminal cases is issued, in accordance with the order and procedures prescribed by this Law, the competent procedural authority may use the conclusion drawn after completion of that expertise service as a judicial examination conclusion.”.

19. Amending and supplementing Clause 2, 3 and 4 of Article 33 as follows:

“2. Judicial expertise file must be made by using a uniform form.

Ministers and heads of ministerial-level authorities shall be responsible for elaborating on the samples and classification of the file by each expertise work and the regime of archiving of judicial expertise files in the domains under their respective management.

3. The organization solicited to conduct judicial expertise shall be responsible for preservation and archiving of documentation on the judicial expertise performed by their judicial expert in accordance with the law on archival and regulations of their host ministry, sectoral administration or authority.

The person conducting judicial expertise shall be responsible for transfer of documentation on the judicial expertise to their directly supervisory authority in accordance with the law on archival and regulations of their host ministry, sectoral administration or authority.

4. Files or documentation on judicial expertise shall be presented upon the request of jurisdictional procedural authorities or persons during the legal proceedings against criminal, administrative cases or civil matters.”.

20. Amending and supplementing Article 36 as follows:

“Article 36. Judicial expertise costs and expenses

1. The person soliciting or petitioning judicial expertise shall pay judicial expertise costs or expenses to individuals or organizations conducting the judicial expertise according to the law on judicial expertise costs and expenses.

2. Funding for payment of judicial expertise costs and expenses for which competent procedural authorities are liable shall be provided from the state budget according to their annual estimates of budget for the performance of judicial expertise tasks.”.

21. Insert Clause 1a after Clause 1 of Article 37 as follows:

“1a. The judicial expertise carried out by civil servants, officers, military officers, people’s police officers, professional servicemen and defense workers shall be deemed as an official duty. Directly supervisory authorities and organizations shall be responsible for ensuring the provision of enough time, equipment, facilities and other conditions necessary for conducting the judicial expertise. Persons carrying out the judicial expertise activity shall be entitled to allowances and benefits under laws.

Judicial experts who are not paid salaries, or wages by the state budget or organizations conducting subject-matter judicial expertise that are not funded by the State shall handle and carry out the judicial expertise under the agreement with the person soliciting or petitioning the judicial expertise.”.

22. Amending and supplementing clause 2 of Article 38 as follows:

“2. If persons or organizations conducting the judicial expertise, and organizations conducting the subject-matter judicial expertise, make active contributions to judicial expertise activities, they shall be honored, praised and awarded.”.

23. Amending and supplementing Article 41 as follows:

“Article 41. Duties and authority of Ministries, Ministry-level agencies and Governmental bodies

1. Ministries and ministerial-level authorities in charge of the specialized management of the area of expertise shall have the following duties and authority:

a) Promulgate or request competent state agencies to adopt legal documents on judicial expertise in the area of expertise under their management, and provide guidance on the implementation of those documents;

b) Issue the process for carrying out the judicial expertise; adopt or provide instructions about the application of professional regulations to judicial expertise practice; based on the requirements and specific nature of the domains under their management, set the particular time limit for each type of judicial expertise work;

c) Preside over and cooperate with the Ministry of Justice in deciding to establish, improve and consolidate public judicial expertise service providers under their jurisdiction according to the provisions of this Law; assign units put under the control of Ministries and ministerial-level authorities to act as the general management of judicial expertise work;

d) Appoint, dismiss, issue, withdraw or revoke identity cards of judicial experts within their competence; recognize the list of subject-matter judicial experts and subject-matter judicial expertise service providers; post and update the list of judicial experts and judicial expertise service providers on the web portals of their respective ministries or sectoral administrations, and at the same time send that list to the Ministry of Justice;

dd) Take responsibility before the Government and the Prime Minister for ensuring the quantity and quality of activities of judicial experts and judicial expertise service providers; ensure sufficient funding, equipment, facilities and other material conditions necessary for judicial experts and judicial expertise service providers under their authority;

e) Annually, evaluate the quality of activities of judicial experts and judicial expertise service providers under their respective management; promptly honor and reward those with outstanding achievements in judicial expertise activities;

g) Provide for condition of facilities, equipment and means of judicial expertise offices and subject-matter judicial expertise service providers in the domains under their respective management;

h) Provide professional training courses and other educational courses in legal knowledge for judicial experts under their authority;

i) Examine, inspect and settle complaints and denunciations about judicial expertise activities in the domains under their respective management; cooperate with the Ministry of Justice in examining and inspecting the organization and implementation of judicial expertise activities according to the provisions of Clause 6 of Article 40 herein;

k) Enter into international cooperation in judicial expertise in the domains under their management;

l) Before December 31 every year, summarize the judicial assessment organization and activities in the fields under its management and send reports to the Ministry of Justice for its consolidation and reporting to the Government.

2. Governmental bodies shall have the following rights and responsibilities:

a) Develop a judicial expertise process to request ministries and ministerial-level authorities in charge of the specialized management in the area of judicial expertise to promulgate such process according to its competence;

b) Recognize the list of subject-matter judicial experts and subject-matter judicial expertise service providers; post and update the list of judicial experts and judicial expertise service providers on their own web portals, and at the same time send that list to the Ministry of Justice; on an annual basis, prepare a general report for submission to the Ministry of Justice on their own judicial expertise activities;

c) Have other duties and authority prescribed in point dd, e and h of clause 1 of this Article.”.

24. Amending and supplementing several clauses of Article 42 as follows:

a) Amending and supplementing point dd of clause 2 as follows:

“dd) Issue statistical indicators, make the annual statistics of solicitations and petitions for judicial expertise activities, evaluate the implementation of judicial expertise and the use of judicial expert conclusions and needs of investigation agencies under their management;”;

b) Amending and supplementing point h and adding point i under point h of clause 2 as follows:

“h) Annually, review and send reports on the situation of solicitation of judicial expertise to the Ministry of Justice, at the same time send them to relevant ministries and agencies, evaluate the judicial expertise activities and the use of judicial expert conclusions and needs for judicial expertise within the system of investigation agencies under their management; direct provincial-level Police forces to send reports on the situation of solicitation of judicial expertise to the Departments of Justice, concurrently send them to relevant departments and sectoral administrations, evaluate the judicial assessment and the use of judicial expert conclusions and needs for local expertise services;

i) Estimate and request competent authorities to provide funding to cover the costs and expenses of judicial expertise; In case the allocated funding is insufficient, they shall make an estimate of additional funding to ensure timely and full payment of judicial expertise costs and expenses in accordance with the law on state budget.”;

c) Amending and supplementing clause 3 as follows:

“3. The Ministry of National Defense shall have the tasks and powers specified at Points dd, e, g and i of Clause 2 of this Article; annually review and send reports to the Ministry of Justice, and at the same time send reports to relevant ministries and sectoral administrations on the situation of solicitation of judicial expertise, and evaluate judicial expertise activities and the use judicial expert conclusions and needs for judicial expertise within the system of investigation agencies under their jurisdiction.”.

25. Amending and supplementing several points and clauses of Article 43 as follows:

a) Amending and supplementing point a, b, c, d and dd of clause 1 as follows:

“a) Establish public judicial expertise service providers; decide to allow the establishment of Judicial Expertise Offices;

b) Appoint, dismiss, issue, withdraw or revoke identity cards of judicial experts within their competence; recognize the list of subject-matter judicial experts and subject-matter judicial expertise service providers at localities; post and update the list of judicial experts and judicial expertise service providers on the web portals of provincial People’s Committees, and at the same time send that list to the Ministry of Justice;

c) Provide sufficient funds, equipment and means of judicial expertise and other necessary material conditions for judicial experts and judicial expertise service providers under their management;

d) Provide training courses in legal knowledge for appointed judicial experts at localities;

dd) Annually, evaluate the quality of activities of judicial experts and judicial expertise service providers under the Government’s regulations, and promptly honor and reward those with outstanding achievements in judicial expertise activities, and report on results of these activities to the Ministry of Justice;”;

b) Amending and supplementing clause 2 as follows:

“2. The Departments of Justice shall be responsible for assisting the People’s Committees of the provinces to perform the state management of judicial expertise at localities; preside over and cooperate with other specialized agencies in assisting provincial People’s Committees in managing the operations of Judicial Expertise Offices.

Specialized agencies affiliated to the People’s Committees of provinces in charge of judicial expertise shall be responsible to the People’s Committees of provinces for the organization and implementation of judicial expertise activities under their management; cooperate with the Departments of Justice to assist the provincial People’s Committees in the state management of judicial expertise at localities; assign units to act as focal points to assist specialized agencies in the management of judicial expertise in the fields under their management.”.

26. Amending and supplementing several clauses of Article 44 as follows:

a) Amending and supplementing clause 2 as follows:

“h) Issue statistical indicators, carry out the statistics of solicitation and evaluate the implementation of judicial expertise and the use of judicial expert conclusions and needs for judicial expertise within the system of the People’s Courts, the People’s Procuracies, and report to the National Assembly on annual performance and send reports to Ministry of Justice, other relevant ministries and sectoral administrations; direct provincial-level the People’s Courts and the People’s Procuracies in provinces to report on the situation of solicitation of judicial expertise to Departments of Justice, concurrently send them to relevant departments and sectoral administrations, evaluate judicial assessment activities and the use of judicial expert conclusions and needs for local expertise services.”;

b) Amending and supplementing clause 4, and inserting clause 5 and clause 6 after clause 4 as follows:

“4. Estimate and request competent authorities to provide funding to cover the costs and expenses of judicial expertise, participation in court sessions of judicial experts within the system of the People’s Courts and the People’s Procuracies; In case the allocated funding is insufficient, they shall make an estimate of additional funding to ensure timely and full payment of costs and expenses of judicial expertise activities and participation in court sessions for judicial experts in accordance with the law on state budget.

5. The Chief Justice of the Supreme People’s Court shall regulate the seat of a judicial expert in a court session.

6. The Supreme People’s Procuracy shall preside over and cooperate with the Ministry of Justice in establishing, consolidating and improving the organization of the Bureau of Criminal Justice Technology and Expertise under the control of the Supreme People’s Procuracy; post and update the list of judicial experts on the web portal of the Supreme People’s Procuracy, and at the same time send such list to the Ministry of Justice; examine, inspect and settle complaints and denunciations concerning the organization and implementation of judicial expert activities of the Bureau of Criminal Justice Technology and Expertise under their management; annually, evaluate the quality of judicial expertise activities under its management; promptly honor and reward judicial experts and judicial expertise service providers who have made outstanding achievements in their judicial assessment activities under their respective management; before December 31 each year, conduct the review of  the organization and implementation of judicial expertise activities under their management and send reports to the Ministry of Justice for the final report submitted to the Government.”.

27. Repealing clause 3 of Article 45.

28. Replacing the phrase “specialized authorities of provincial People’s Committees” with “specialized agencies controlled by provincial People’s Committees” in Clause 3 of Article 16, Clause 3 of Article 17 and Clause 3 of Article 19.

Article 2. Entry into force

This Law shall take effect on January 1, 2021.

This Law is passed in the 9^th plenary session of the XIV^th National Assembly of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam held on June 10, 2020.