Notable new policies of Vietnam effective as of the middle of June 2024

1. Vietnam’s guidelines on criminal prosecution for offences against fire safety regulations in specific cases 

On April 24, 2024, the Judicial Council of the Supreme People’s Court of Vietnam approved Resolution No. 02/2024/NQ-HDTP on April 24, 2024 guiding the application of Article 313 of the Criminal Code, effective as of June 18, 2024. 

According to Resolution No. 02/2024/NQ-HDTP, guidelines on criminal prosecution for offences against fire safety regulations in specific cases are as follows: 

- Where the criminals are in charge of work that must comply with regulations on occupational safety and hygiene and safety in crowded places but violate such regulations during the performance of such work, causing fire and damage, they shall be criminally prosecuted under Article 313 of the Criminal Code 2015 (amended in 2017) and not under Article 295 of the Criminal Code 2015 (amended in 2017).

Example: A is hired by B to weld the roofs of karaoke rooms.  While doing so, A does not prepare any barrier to prevent splashes of molten metal and does not monitor the welding process safely, which results in hot metal particles splashing out to the surroundings, forming large fires that cause damage to property of 1.000.000.000 VND.   A’s behaviors have violated Section 2.2.12 of the National Technical Regulation QCVN 03:2011/BLDTBXH dated July 29, 2011 of the Ministry of Labor – War Invalids and Social Affairs of Vietnam on occupational safety for electric welding and welding jobs.  In this case, A shall be criminally prosecuted under Article 313 of the Criminal Code 2015 (amended in 2017). 

- Where criminals repeatedly commit offences, if each of the offences has all the elements to constitute a crime but all of them are not liable to criminal prosecution and the prescriptive period for criminal prosecution is unexpired, aside from the application of the sanctioning bracket corresponding to the total damage caused by each offence, Point g Clause 1 Article 52 of the Criminal Code 2015 shall also be applied. 

2. Methods of carrying out periodic transfer of working positions in financial agencies, organizations, and units at local authorities in Vietnam 

This is a content of Circular No. 27/2024/TT-BTC dated May 3, 2024 on the list and the period of periodic work transfer for officials and public employees who are not leaders or managers directly in charge of financial work at local authorities promulgated by the Minister of Finance of Vietnam, effective as of June 17, 2024. 

According to the Circular, methods of carrying out periodic transfer of working positions in financial agencies, organizations, and units at local authorities are as follows: 

- Work position transfer is a content of the work concerning officials under the leadership of the CPV and management of governing bodies that are CPV committees and organizations, ensuring principles of democratic centralism and upholding the responsibility of collectives of leaders and heads of agencies. 

- Annually, CPV committees and heads of agencies shall promulgate and disclose periodic work position transfer plans; such plans shall specify the purposes, requirements, specific cases subject to work position transfer, transfer time, rights and obligations of persons subject to work position transfer, and implementation methods. 

The review and development of periodic work position transfer plans shall be carried out in the first quarter of every year. 

- Transfer of work positions shall be in the same specialty from one department to another in the same agency; between fields and areas assigned to monitor, take charge, and manage, or between agencies under the management of local authorities.

- Where an agency only has one position in the list of work positions subject to periodic transfer and such a position requires professional qualifications different from other positions of the agency, the head of the superior agency shall directly formulate the general transfer plan. 

3. Vietnam’s regulations on codes of inspector cards from June 15, 2024 

On April 26, 2024, the Inspector-General of the Inspectorate of the Government of Vietnam promulgated Circular No. 05/2024/TT-TTCP on forms of inspector cards and issuance, management, and use thereof from June 15, 2024. 

According to the Circular, codes of inspector cards are stipulated as follows: 

- When being appointed to the pay grades for inspectors, each inspector shall be issued with an inspector card code, including: 

+ Capital letters and two numbers to determine whether the agency uses inspectors of provinces, Ministries, Vietnam Social Security, or the Cipher Department of the Government of Vietnam.  Codes of inspector cards shall comply with the regulations of the Ministry of Home Affairs of Vietnam on the list of codes of state agencies. 

+ The serial number of an inspector shall have 4 digits, starting from 0001. 

Example: Where the card code is A29 - 0026, A29 is the code of the inspectorate agency of the Government of Vietnam, and 0026 is the serial number of the card issuance of the inspector. 

- Codes of inspector cards may only be changed (new issuance) in cases where inspectors transfer to other agencies with different codes from their previous ones. 

4. Emulation forms of People’s Courts in Vietnam from June 11, 2024 

This is a content of Circular No. 01/2024/TT-TANDTC dated April 11, 2024 on emulation and commendation work of People’s Courts promulgated by the Chief Justice of the Supreme People’s Court of Vietnam, effective as of June 11, 2024. 

According to the Circular, emulation forms of People’s Courts are as follows: 

- Regular emulation refers to the emulation form based on assigned functions and tasks of individuals and collectives to be launched to successfully carry out daily, monthly, quarterly, and annual work of agencies and units. 

Regular emulation subjects are individuals in a collective; collectives in an agency or unit; agencies and units with similar or identical functions, tasks, and work characteristics. 

The organization of periodic emulations shall specify the purposes, requirements, targets, and objectives and be implemented at agencies, units, or emulation clusters to develop plans, launch, conclude agreements, and implement emulation movements.  At the end of the working year, heads of agencies, units, and emulation clusters shall summarize emulation movements and award or request award of emulation titles and commendation forms. 

- Thematic emulation refers to the emulation form aimed to successfully carry out focal tasks determined in a specific period or strive to complete irregular and urgent tasks of agencies and units. 

Agencies and units shall only launch thematic emulations after they specify the purposes, requirements, objectives, contents, solutions, and implementation time.  When organizing thematic emulation movements within the premises of agencies and units, heads of such agencies and units shall provide guidelines on commendation assessment within their jurisdiction.  Regarding thematic emulation movements within the premises of People’s Courts with an implementation time of at least 3 years, People’s Courts shall send plans to launch emulation movements to the Ministry of Home Affairs of Vietnam (through the Central Emulation-Commendation Committee) for summary and guidelines on commendation assessment. 

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