Vietnam: Thematic session on legislation drafting in March 2024

Vietnam: Thematic session on legislation drafting in March 2024 (Internet image)

Regarding this matter, LawNet would like to answer as follows: 

On April 4, 2024, the Government of Vietnam issued Resolution 42/NQ-CP on the Thematic session on legislation drafting in March 2024.

Vietnam: Thematic session on legislation drafting in March 2024

At the Government's Thematic session on legislation drafting in March 2024, the Government discussed and solicited opinions on 03 draft laws and 01 proposal for legislation drafting, specifically:

(1) Project for making Law on Fire safety and Rescue;

To complete legislation drafting, the Ministry of Public Security is requested to study and incorporate the maximum opinions of Government members, ensuring the following requirements:

- Continue to strengthen decentralization, delegation of authority, have mechanisms for supervision and inspection; promote administrative procedure simplification; clearly define the responsibilities of relevant agencies, organizations, and investors; avoid conflicts with other laws, especially newly issued laws; have mechanisms for the transfer of ongoing projects and works; prioritize fire prevention and firefighting, ensuring fire safety; unsettled issues should be regulated by the Government to ensure flexibility and suitability to practical conditions. Have policies to encourage the transfer of production technology for fire safety and rescue equipment in Vietnam.

- Regarding the scope of regulation of the Law: unify the regulation of rescue operations for accidents and incidents that occur in daily life but do not reach the level of civil defense according to the Law on Civil Defense.

- Regarding the application of international standards, foreign standards: review and regulate to ensure compliance with Vietnam's conditions; encourage international standards and foreign standards with fire safety regulations detailed at a higher level than Vietnam.

- Regarding the requirement for fire safety design for renovation projects: continue to review and classify renovation projects to determine at what level fire safety design is required to ensure feasibility and avoid practical obstacles.

- Regarding jurisdiction, responsibility, procedures for examination, appraisal of fire prevention and firefighting design, and acceptance: the Ministry of Public Security, in coordination with the Ministry of Construction, will continue to review and unify these regulations in a consistent manner with construction laws; ensure human resources for implementation; simplify administrative procedures, and implement "single-window" to facilitate citizens and businesses. For military works, facilities, and vehicles, the Ministry of National Defense is responsible for management and has mechanisms for coordination with the Ministry of Public Security.

- Regarding exemption of procedures with representative agencies: study and consider regulations based on the principle of reciprocity.

- Regarding transfer regulations: the Ministry of Public Security, in coordination with the Ministry of Construction, will review and supplement regulations on the transfer of ongoing projects, works to avoid practical obstacles; pay attention to solutions for handling existing projects that do not meet fire safety requirements; and assign the Government to regulate them to be suitable to practical conditions so that ministries and localities have a basis for implementing technical solutions to overcome obstacles and avoid wasting resources.

The Ministry of Public Security, in coordination with the Ministry of Construction, the Ministry of Justice, the Government Office, and relevant agencies, will complete the draft law according to the Resolution of the Government's Thematic session today and in accordance with the provisions of the Law on the Promulgation of legislative documents. Assign the Minister of Public Security to be authorized by the Prime Minister, on behalf of the Government, to sign the Proposal to the National Assembly for this Law at the 7th session of the 15th National Assembly.

(2) Project for making the Law on Urban and Rural Planning;

The government has unified the basic content of legislation drafting. The Ministry of Construction conducts research and maximizes the opinions of government members to improve the draft Law, ensuring the following requirements:

- Clarify the political foundation, legal basis, and practical basis; evaluate the obstacles, shortcomings, and persuasive arguments for the necessity of legislation drafting; clarify the scope of regulation of this Law and its relationship with related laws.

- Comprehensively review the draft Law, ensure the institutionalization of the Party's viewpoints, principles, and directions on urban planning, construction, management, and sustainable development, overcoming limitations, shortcomings, and obstacles in practice and existing laws towards simplifying administrative procedures; strengthen decentralization, delegation of authority; ensure the consistency and uniformity of the legal system, especially laws on land, planning, construction, and related areas concerning urban and rural areas, avoiding overlap, duplication in management; meet the requirements of sustainable development, ensuring the harmonious development of the economy with cultural and social factors, environmental protection.

- Clarify the policy content on the urban and rural planning system, classify urban and rural planning; the relationship between different types of urban and rural planning in the national planning system and between the overall planning of the city and specialized technical planning (these are essential planning to develop the overall city); ensure uniformity, consistency, compliance with hierarchy, maximum simplification of planning types, avoiding content duplication between plans; the establishment of urban and rural planning systems should be based on economic and social conditions, natural conditions, population scale forecasts, roles, characteristics of each urban and rural area, land use needs, resources...; the deadline for planning should be appropriate to the planning period and vision as prescribed by the Planning Law on Planning; have mechanisms and policies to mobilize legal resources to support urban and rural planning activities, without burdening the budget; at the same time, study mechanisms to control the implementation of resources, ensure transparency, efficiency, and quality of planning.

- Improve regulations on planning, appraisal, approval, adjustment, and management of planning, ensuring uniformity, feasibility, and effectiveness; regulate planning content that is appropriate to the criteria and classification standards of urban areas; supplement principles and requirements for planning linked to arrangements for administrative units suitable for development space, specific conditions of each locality; harmonious development between urban and rural areas; preserve the value and promote the unique characteristics of urban and rural areas.

- Study the reduction of intermediate planning levels, update them into overall planning, detailed planning of urban areas; issue standards and regulations to simplify procedures, facilitate the organization of space, and mobilize resources for development; clearly define environmental protection content when planning, appraisal, approval, and management of planning; expand the scope of underground space planning to maximize the efficient use of space, connect the construction space above and below the ground, and meet the requirements of economic and social development.

- Strengthen decentralization, delegation of authority in the formulation, approval, adjustment, and management of urban and rural planning to enhance the role, proactiveness, and responsibility of local authorities in state management and organization of urban and rural planning at the local level; continue to review and fully decentralize certain tasks of urban planning, appraisal, approval, and ensuring feasibility, suitability to the capacity and resources for implementation. The decentralization of local authorities to approve the partial adjustment of planning under the approval authority of the Prime Minister needs to clearly define criteria, conditions, procedures for formulation, appraisal, approval, control mechanisms, ensuring compliance with regulations, not affecting the living environment, not affecting or not breaking the overall planning that has been approved; reduce administrative procedures, meet the requirements of improving the investment and business environment, avoid the mechanism of requesting - giving and create conditions for people and businesses; enhance the implementation capacity of agencies, organizations, individuals in carrying out tasks of urban and rural planning, appraisal, approval, adjustment, and management; strengthen inspection and supervision of activities related to urban and rural planning.

- Carefully review specific regulations and transitional provisions in the draft law; strictly and accurately define and fully cover the cases of transitional application of laws; avoid creating legal gaps; and ensure feasibility when the Law takes effect.

The Ministry of Construction is responsible for leading and coordinating with the Ministry of Justice, the Government Office, and other relevant ministries and agencies to fully incorporate the opinions of Government Members to complete the projects for making laws, ensuring quality and progress, and reporting to the Prime Minister before submitting to the National Assembly in the 7th session of the 15th term.

(3)  Project for making the Law on Geology and Minerals

The government has unified the basic content of legislation drafting. The Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment conducts research and maximizes the opinions of Government Members to improve the draft Law's content, ensuring the following requirements:

- Comprehensively review the draft Law, study and improve the coordination mechanism between agencies, ministries, sectors, and localities to overcome limitations, shortcomings, and difficulties in practice, enhance the effectiveness of state management, ensure effective exploitation of mineral resources, in line with market mechanisms, tightly controlled by the state, avoiding loss, corruption, wastefulness, negatives; protect national interests, protecting the environment; address the limitations and shortcomings of existing laws towards simplifying administrative procedures, facilitating organizations and individuals participating in mineral exploitation activities; ensure the unity, consistency, transparency, feasibility of the legal system.

- Strengthen decentralization for local authorities connected to the implementation resources; while having mechanisms of early and remote control from central agencies for projects under their jurisdiction; improving the licensing and registration process, ensuring transparency, simplifying procedures; and clarifying the responsibilities of relevant agencies, organizations, and individuals.

- Review specific provisions in the draft Law related to other legal regulations to avoid conflicts, contradictions, ensuring the unity of the legal system, especially provisions related to planning, investment, auctions, bidding, use of the state budget, environmental protection, water resources, forestry, cultural heritage, etc.

- During the process of revising and improving the draft Law, the drafting agency continues to consult with experts, scientists, and stakeholders affected by the Law, closely coordinating with relevant ministries, agencies, and parliamentary bodies to improve the draft Law.

The Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment is responsible for leading and coordinating with the Ministry of Justice, the Government Office, and other relevant ministries and agencies to fully incorporate the opinions of Government Members in order to complete the projects for making laws, ensuring quality and progress, and reporting to the Prime Minister before submitting to the National Assembly in the 7th session of the 15th term.

(4) Proposal on drafting Law on State Capital Management and Investment in Enterprises.

The Government agrees on the necessity of legislation drafting and the objectives of the 06 policies in the proposed legislation drafting; assigns the Ministry of Finance to study and maximize the  incorporation of opinions of Government members, complete the dossier on the proposed legislation drafting, ensuring the following requirements:

- Fully institutionalize the Party's principles and guidelines and the Government's directives on continuing innovation, promoting the role and enhancing the efficiency of state-owned enterprises; closely follow the process of summarizing Resolution 12-NQ/TW dated June 3, 2017 of the 5th Central Executive Committee of the 12th Party Congress on continuing restructuring, innovation, and improving the efficiency of state-owned enterprises to timely update and improve policy content during the legislation drafting process.

- Strengthen the assignment, decentralization, enhance the role, responsibility, and proactiveness of the agencies and representatives of state capital owners in enterprises; clearly define the functions of state management with the functions of state capital owners; improve the supervision, inspection, and examination mechanisms of the agencies and representatives of state capital owners in enterprises regarding the results and effectiveness of production and business activities of enterprises.

- Clearly explain in the dossier of the proposed legislation drafting the compatibility of policy content with relevant international conventions of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam as a member.

- Carefully review the names and scope of regulation of the Law to clearly explain the non-inclusion of the content "use of state capital" in the names and scope of regulation, ensuring no legal loopholes during the enforcement of the Law.

- Assess the impacts thoroughly regarding the expansion of the scope of application, including "enterprises with other state capital investments", ensuring feasibility and compliance with Resolution 12-NQ-TW on defining "state-owned enterprises", "state capital".

- Regarding the scope of state capital investment in enterprises: clearly explain the reasons for proposing to supplement the scope of capital investment in certain new industries and sectors, ensuring specific and appropriate institutionalization, in line with the Party's guidelines on "... focusing on key and essential areas; important areas in terms of national defense, security; areas that other economic components do not invest in".

- Regarding the sequence and procedures for proposing competent authorities to approve investment policies: study and specify the process of approving investment projects by state capital owners for enterprises in the direction of strengthening decentralization, delegation, simplification of administrative procedures; separate the process of approving investment projects according to this Law from the state management process on investment according to the provisions of investment laws, ensuring equality among enterprises of all economic components and the uniformity of the legal system.

- Regarding the authority to decide on issues related to personnel work, approve the business strategy, approve the list of state capital transfers in enterprises: study, strongly decentralize, enhance the proactiveness and responsibility of the representative agencies of the capital owners, attach to close inspection and supervision mechanisms; study to have principles, criteria for determining cases under the authority of the Prime Minister to decide.

- Regarding the rate of allocation to the Development Investment Fund: study the increase of the maximum allocation rate to the Development Investment Fund to ensure the proactiveness of enterprises in reinvesting from annual profits, thereby improving the investment efficiency from the state's capital.

- Clearly explain the reasons for proposing regulations for the Prime Minister to approve investment policies for cases with investment value from VND 5,000 billion to below VND 15,000 billion; the National Assembly approves investment policies for cases with investment value from VND 15,000 billion and above.

- Study and supplement specific and clear solutions to address some difficulties and obstacles arising in practice such as: merging subsidiary companies into parent companies; approving and implementing investment projects to fulfill the political tasks of enterprises; divestment of state-owned enterprises' investments in other enterprises that do not meet the conditions as prescribed by the Securities Law 2019; evaluation and classification mechanism for enterprises that perform assigned tasks not for profit purposes...

The Ministry of Finance shall preside over and coordinate with relevant ministries and agencies to study and incorporate the opinions of Government members; revise and complete the dossier of the proposed legislation drafting on State Capital Management and Investment in Enterprises in accordance with the provisions of the Law on Promulgation of Legal Normative Documents; report to the Prime Minister before submitting to the Standing Committee of the National Assembly for consideration, decision to add to the legislation drafting program, the law in 2024 to submit to the National Assembly for consideration and opinions at the 8th session in October 2024.

Nguyen Ngoc Que Anh.

>> CLICK HERE TO READ THIS ARTICLE IN VIETNAMESE