For the sake of cadres and troops’ raised awareness of observance of military discipline, Hau Giang Provincial Military Party Committee and Command have taken various measures for legal propagation, dissemination and education, contributing to building strong provincial armed forces comprehensively, accomplishing all assigned tasks.

Over the past years, carrying out the cause of reform and international integration, Hau Giang province has gained encouraging achievements in socio-economic development and defence and security. However, floods, droughts, salt intrusions, and landslides on the river bank have greatly impacted on the people’s life while the unemployment rate in both urban and rural areas have still been high. Security, social order and traffic accidents have also witnessed complex developments. Meanwhile, hostile forces have been stepping up their acts of sabotage against the Party’s guidelines and the State’s law and policies. Those have had negative effects on the province’s development, particularly military staff’s observance of the State’s law and the military discipline. To accomplish the assigned task, the Provincial Military Command (PMC) and its Party Committee have adopted various measures to lead, direct, and effectively implement the tasks, with legal propagation, dissemination and education as the main one.

First, importance has been attached to enhancing the education work to raise awareness, strengthening leadership and direction of party committees and commands, and promoting the role of the Councils for coordination in legal dissemination and education at all levels towards this work. Accordingly, in the beginning months of this year, the PMC and its Party Committee have directed its offices and units to thoroughly grasp legal normative documents under the direction of the Military Region 9 and province’s Councils for coordination in legal dissemination and education. They have also commanded party committees and commanders at all levels to study and grasp the Military Regulations and the observance of the law and discipline in the area and by their offices and units. As a result, party committees and commanders at all levels have raised the awareness of the role and position of legal propagation, dissemination and education among the armed forces, particularly key cadres. When implementing the local defence-military work, the PMC and its Party Committee have directed the party committees of offices and units to take legal propagation, dissemination and education as an important point in their leadership activities which must be concretized by resolutions and action plans of commissars and commanders. To do so, the role of organizations and forces should be promoted to ensure the targets and requirements of this work.

To achieve the unity in implementing the work of legal propagation, dissemination and education, the PMC and its Party Committee have brought into play the advisory role of the Councils for coordination in legal dissemination and education. On a yearly basis, the Councils have been consolidated both quantitatively and qualitatively. Due regard has been paid to conducting reviews to detect and multiply creative, effective approaches and models, rectify weaknesses and put this work in order. The quality of legal propagation, dissemination and education greatly depends on law lecturers’ capability and skills. Thus, the PMC has attached great significance to consolidating and improving the quality of this staff. On an annual basis, the PMC has actively cooperated with competent offices, such as Department of Justice, Public Security, and the Military Region 9’s Military Court and Criminal Investigation Office in holding professional training courses for the contingent of lecturers who wear two hats in units, while aligning on-the-spot training courses with training courses in schools and encouraging self-study. Up to now, the PMC has had 38 lecturers who have deep knowledge of law, great prestige, wide practical experience, and good teaching methods, meeting the requirements for legal propagation and education.

During the course of implementation, the PMC has directed its offices and units to classify groups of objects to employ proper methods in accordance with their assigned task. As for the regular forces, a part from the general program, units have focused on introducing special topics, such as the Law on the management and use of weapons, explosive materials, and supporting tools, the Law on the management and use of public properties, the Penal Code of 2015 and the Law amending and supplementing several articles of the Penal Code No. 100/2015/QH13, the Circular 157 by the Ministry of National Defence on the management and use of defence land for military purpose, etc. Those topics have equipped cadres and troops with knowledge of all fields and build their political zeal and responsibility for complying with the State’s law and the military discipline and maintaining the order for management, command and professional work. As for the militia and self-defence forces, units have concentrated on the Law on the Militia and Self-Defence Forces, the Land Law, the Law Complaints and Denunciations and other laws related to the forces’ tasks. As for reserve forces, units have studied the Ordinance on the Reserve Forces and the Law on Military Service. Moreover, the PMC has relied on cadres and troops’ observance of law and military discipline, security situation and social order in the area to supplement legal propagation and education with new proper points.

In addition, the PMC has actively renewed forms and methods of legal propagation, dissemination and education in accordance with cadres and troops’ daily life. Offices and units have developed plans and programs to combine legal propagation, dissemination and education with basic political education and other forms, such as talks about news, political briefings, legal knowledge contests, artistic shows. Units have maintained the order for “Legal Day” in an open manner via various forms, such discussion, dialogue, and legal consultancy to directly settle troops’ questions and translate the law into life. Besides, the PMC has worked with provincial and Central press agencies stationed in the area to conduct legal propagation, dissemination and education and spread news on the provincial armed forces’ observance of law and discipline as well as “good people did good deed” examples via programs, such as “Law and life”, “Things you may concern about”, and “Television letter box”. At the same time, it has directed offices and units to promote the role of their broadcasting system, press, and legal bookcase, and diversify documents for propagation, such as books, booklets, CDs, and DVDs to attract cadres and troops’ attention. Units have also promoted the role of the mass organizations, such as Youth Union, Women’s Union, and Soldiers’ Councils to carry out legal propagation deeply and widely. Notably, Women’s Unions have been active in propagating the Law on Marriage and Family, the Law on Gender Equality, the Law on Child Protection, Care and Education while organizing mediation teams to preserve troops’ family happiness.

To create a synchronous change in troops’ self-awareness of observance of law and discipline, offices and units have closely combined legal propagation, dissemination and education with discipline management, regularity building and the building of safe area and strong locality. Offices and units have strengthened measures for discipline management, maintained the daily and weakly order for troops’ study, work and manners. To grasp troops’ ideology, units have closely cooperated with families and localities in managing their troops; assigned cadres and party members to keep a close watch on and help comrades in difficulties and those with the signs of discipline violation. Legal education has been closely combined with the implementation of the Party’s Central Resolution 4 (12^th tenure) on the Party building and rectification, the 12^th Politburo’s Directive No.5 on studying and following Ho Chi Minh’s thought, morality and lifestyle, the Campaign “promoting tradition, devoting talent, deserving to be Uncle Ho’s Soldiers” and the Determined to Win emulation movements. Focuses of those emulation movements have been placed on strictly observing the State’s law and military discipline. Results of emulation have been considered an important criterion for a pure, strong party organization and a comprehensive strong unit.

Furthermore, the PMC and its Party Committee have always paid due attention to conducting legal propagation, dissemination and education among the people. The PMC has cooperated with local offices, committees, sectors and mass organizations in taking measures to carry out legal propagation, dissemination and education for the people under the general plan by the Provincial People’s Committee. Via defence and security education, mass mobilization and natural disaster mitigation, the provincial armed forces have stepped up the work of propagation to persuade locals to follow the Party’s guidelines and the State’s policy and law, such as the National Defence Law, the Law on Military Service, and the Law on Drug Prevention and Fight, thereby contributing to maintaining security and social order and safety in the area.

The successful implementation of legal propagation, dissemination and education has made a huge change in offices and units’ discipline management and regularity building. Since 2017, the provincial armed forces have committed no serious discipline violation while minor discipline violation rate has been below 0.2%. Those results have greatly contributed to the provincial armed forces’ successful fulfilment of military and defence tasks and their building of pure, strong party organizations and comprehensively strong units.

Sr. Col. Bui Thanh Ca, Deputy Commissar of the PMC

Vice Chairman of the Provincial Council for Coordination in Legal Dissemination and Education