ELECTION FOR GRASSROOTS CONCILIATORS MUST OBTAIN THE CONSENT OF MORE THAN 50% OFHOUSEHOLDS’ REPRESENTATIVES
On June 20, 2013, The XIII National Assembly officially passed Law on Grassroots Conciliation No. 35/2013/QH13 on stipulating the principles and the State’s policies on grassroots conciliation, conciliators and conciliation teams (Excluding conciliation activities of courts and arbitrations, commercial conciliation, labor conciliation and conciliation at People’s Committees of communes, wards or townships).
In this Law, grassroots conciliation means the process whereby conciliators guide and assist the involved parties in reaching agreement on voluntary settlement between themselves of conflicts, disputes or law violations in villages, hamlets, street residential groups, street quarters and other residential communities… Persons elected to be conciliators must be Vietnamese citizens residing at the grassroots, voluntarily participate in grassroots conciliation activities and meet the following criteria: Having good moral quality; having prestige in the residential communities; having capability to persuade and agitate people; having legal knowledge and being elected and recognized as conciliator.
The election of conciliators in hamlet and street quarters must be conducted in following ways: Public voting or secret ballots at meetings of household representatives; Distributing opinion cards to households.
Persons proposed for recognition as conciliators must obtain the consent of more than 50% of the household representatives in the village or street residential group.
The Law also clearly states that conciliators have the rights to conduct grassroots activities, to request parties to provide documents and information relating to cases or matters to be conciliated, to be trained in legal knowledge and conciliation skills, to enjoy remunerations according to conciliated cases and matters. Simultaneously, conciliators are also obliged to follow principles on basis of objectiveness, fairness, promptness, sensibility; to keep confidential information of parties, to promptly notify serious conflicts or disputes which may lead to acts of violence affecting the health or lives of parties or causing public disorder to conciliation team leaders who shall report them to commune-level People’s Committee chairpersons for application of preventive measures. The conciliators must also refuse conciliation if having interests and obligations related to to-be-conciliated cases or matters or for other reasons which cannot ensure impartial and fair conciliation…
This Law takes effect on January 1, 2014.
