A majority of deputies voted to pass the revised Law on State Audit at the ongoing ninth session of the 13th legislature in Ha Noi yesterday.
The law has nine chapters and 73 articles stipulating the functions, tasks and authority of the State Audit Office, as well as powers and responsibilities of relevant agencies, organisations and individuals.
This law will help minimise losses for the national financial sector and preventing corruption in the use and management of public financial assets.
Under the discussion, some said the law drafters should review the compulsory auditing report, noting that it would become legally binding after the NA Standing Committee approved it.
Under the Constitution, the State Audit Office was established by the National Assembly and is an independent body. So reports by the office are independent from the Government and the office alone is responsible for its auditing conclusions.
If any reports found that auditing conclusions were incorrect or caused damage to audited agencies without proper cause, the audited agencies had the right to appeal the conclusions in accordance with Article 69 of the revised law.
Some suggested State-run companies holding 50 per cent or less charter capital could be audited by any independent auditing company, but that if needed the State Audit Office would examine the independent companies'conclusions.
The NA Standing Committee said that the State finances or assets of any State-run companies needed to be audited as stipulated in Clause 2 of the law's Article 118.
During the day, lawmakers also discussed the draft Law on Information Security, focusing on its name, the scope of regulation, online personal information protection, the management of civil passwords and State responsibility in the field.
Many delegates proposed changing its name to the Law on Cyber Information Security.
Deputy Pham Trong Nhan from the southern province of Binh Duong said cyber attacks posed risks for State administrative agencies, but security measures had yet to be drawn out.
Viet Nam has the largest number of internet users in Southeast Asia, with 90 per cent of the users regularly receiving spam messages and about 6,500 websites attacked, participants said, stressing the importance of protecting personal information online.
Hydrometeorology
In the afternoon session, NA deputies discussed the draft Law on Hydrometeorology, which comprises 11 chapters and 61 articles and provides a legal foundation for the organis-ations and activities of hydro-meteorological services, especially in preventing and fighting natural disasters.
Truong Hoa Binh, chief judge of the Supreme People's Court, submitted a proposal to appoint 15 new judges for the court. Of these, four were female judges.
Deputies also listened to a report by Nguyen Van Hien, head of the NA's Committee on Judicial Affairs, on the appointment of Supreme People's Court judges.
