Deputies examined reports from the Chief Justice of the Supreme People’s Court and the Prosecutor General of the Supreme People’s Procuracy, plus the Government’s accounts on crime and law violation trends, judgment enforcement, anti-corruption work and the settlement of voter petitions, citizens’ complaints and denunciations.

A September appraisal report by the NA Committee on Legal and Judicial Affairs acknowledged the Government’s effective measures against crime and legal violations. While overall crime and legal violations dropped by 21% year-on-year, several types of offences, including fraud, asset appropriation and public order disturbances, kept rising, while early detection and forecasting, especially for hi-tech crimes, remained weak.

Authorities uncovered new tactics in economic crimes, fraud and smuggling. Asset recovery in corruption cases during the investigation stage surged 181%, and more cases of wasteful public investment and construction causing serious state budget losses faced trials. Drug trafficking stayed severe and complex, while food safety violations continued to threaten public health.

On corruption combat, lawmakers noted progress in institutional reform, preventive solutions and intensified scrutiny of long-stalled projects. Inspections and audits exposed more wrongdoings, and major cases, including those involving senior officials overseen by the Party Central Committee’s Politburo and Secretariat, were brought to light in strict accordance with the law, with higher asset recovery rates.

The Government was urged to tighten 2026 anti-corruption and anti-wastefulness regulations, shift emphasis to early prevention and risk forecasting, expand inspections in high-risk sectors, raise investigation quality in major cases, crack down harder on petty corruption and bureaucratic harassment, and address officials’ tendency to shirk responsibility out of fear of mistakes.

In the afternoon, deputies are due to review a Government proposal, along with its appraisal report, on reallocating part of the 2025 economic-service budget originally earmarked for the Ministry of Construction for provinces and centrally-run cities for repairing roads damaged by recent natural disasters.

They will then debate the draft Law on amendments and supplements to several articles of the Law on Value-Added Tax and the proposed budget reallocation for disaster-related road restoration, before examining a Government plan to realise the Politburo’s conclusions on resolving the long-troubled Phuong Nam pulp mill project.

Lawmakers pass four laws on judicial affairs

The 15th National Assembly (NA) on November 26 adopted four laws – the Law on Extradition, the Law on the Transfer of Persons Serving Prison Sentences, the Law on Mutual Judicial Assistance in Civil Matters, and the Law on Mutual Judicial Assistance in Criminal Matters.