Notable documents of Vietnam in the previous week (from December 26 to December 31, 2022)

1. The time for judicial expertise by cases in social insurance and unemployment insurance sectors

On November 25, 2022, the Minister of Labor – War Invalids and Social Affairs of Vietnam promulgated Circular No. 23/2022/TT-BLDTBXH on judicial expertise by cases in social insurance and unemployment insurance sectors.

According to the Circular, the time for judicial expertise by cases in the social insurance and unemployment insurance sectors is as follows:

- The time for judicial expertise by cases starts from the date agencies and organizations of judicial expertise by cases receive decisions on judicial expertise solicitations and adequate applications, expertise subjects, information, documents, and items prescribed in judicial expertise solicitations.

- The time for judicial expertise by cases in the social insurance and unemployment insurance sectors shall comply with the time written in decisions on judicial expertise solicitations of solicitors.

- The maximum time for judicial expertise for cases not prescribed in Clause 2 Article 17 of Circular No. 23/2022/TT-BLDTBXH for each case of expertise is as follows:

+ Regarding judicial expertise of contents related to the collection of social insurance and unemployment insurance, the maximum time is 1 month;

+ Regarding judicial expertise of contents related to the settlement of social insurance benefits, the maximum time is 2 months;

+ Regarding judicial expertise of contents related to payments for social insurance and unemployment insurance benefits, the maximum time is 1 month;

+ Regarding judicial expertise of other contents related to the social insurance and unemployment insurance sectors under the jurisdiction of the Vietnam Social Security, the maximum time is 3 months;

+ Regarding cases of judicial expertise by cases with 2 or more different contents of judicial expertise in the social insurance and unemployment sectors prescribed in Article 3 of Circular No. 23/2022/TT-BLDTBXH or with complicated nature related to many organizations and individuals, the maximum time is 4 months.

- In necessary cases, judicial experts by cases and judicial expertise service providers by cases shall submit written requests to agencies soliciting judicial expertise for time extension according to their competence.

Circular No. 23/2022/TT-BLDTBXH comes into force as of January 10, 2023.

2. Amendments to regulations on debt purchase and sale in cases where debt purchasers have not provided full payment for debt sellers

This is the content promulgated by the State Bank of Vietnam in Circular No. 18/2022/TT-NHNN dated December 26, 2022 on amendments to Circular No. 09/2015/TT-NHNN on debt purchase and sale by credit institutions and foreign bank branches.

Specifically, regulations on debt purchase and sale in cases where debt purchasers have not provided full payment for debt sellers are as follows:

In cases where debt sellers and debt purchasers have agreements that debt purchasers may partially or fully pay for the debt purchase after debt purchasers have received the transfer of ownership of debts from debt sellers, involved parties shall ensure the following requirements:

- The time for debt purchasers to provide complete payment for debt purchase and sale for debt sellers is 60 days, starting from the date debt purchase and sale contracts take effect.

- Except for cases prescribed in Clause 4 Article 10a of Circular No. 09/2015/TT-NHNN (amended by Circular No. 18/2022/TT-NHNN), the amount that debt purchasers have not fully paid debt sellers according to debt purchase and sale contracts must be 100% secured regarding the payment ability by assets with high liquidity, including:

+ Deposits, deposit certificates, promissory notes, and bills in Vietnam Dong or foreign currencies issued by credit institutions or foreign bank branches;

+ Gold bars according to laws on gold business operations;

+ Government bonds and bonds secured by the Government;

+ Corporate bonds ranked AA- or higher (according to Standard & Poor’s or Fitch Ratings) or Aa3 or higher (according to Moody’s), listed on the stock market;

+ Stocks listed on the Ho Chi Minh Stock Exchange and the Hanoi Stock Exchange (except for stocks that are warned, controlled, suspended, stopped, or limited regarding transactions according to the law and regulations of the Vietnam Exchange at the time of concluding security contracts and stocks with trading volume below 300.000 stocks per day in the 10 consecutive trading days before concluding the security contract)

- Values of collateral for the security of the debt purchase amount that is paid later prescribed in Clause 2 Article 10a of Circular No. 09/2015/TT-NHNN (amended by Circular No. 18/2022/TT-NHNN) are determined according to the principle of determining the value of collateral to calculate the deductible when contributing to the risk provision at the time of concluding security contracts.

- In case credit institutions are under special control, commercial banks subject to mandatory transfer plans shall purchase debts following Point b and Point c Clause 12 Article 5 of Circular No. 09/2015/TT-NHNN and use the purchased debts as collateral for special loans at the State Bank of Vietnam;

The security of the debt purchase amount that debt purchasers may pay later after receiving the transfer of ownership of purchased or sold debts from debt sellers (if any) shall be agreed on by involved parties following the law.

Circular No. 18/2022/TT-NHNN comes into force as of February 9, 2023.

3. Sources of funding for salary reform in 2023 of local authorities

On December 26, 2022, the Minister of Finance of Vietnam promulgated Circular No. 78/2022/TT-BTC on the implementation of state budget estimates in 2023.

According to the Circular, from July 1, 2023, the base salary will be adjusted to 1,8 million per month.

At the same time, the sources of funding for salary reform in 2023 of local authorities are as follows:

- 70% of increase in local government budget revenue in 2022 compared to the estimate assigned by the Government of Vietnam;

(Excluding revenue from collecting fees for the use of lands, construction lottery; lump-sum land rent advanced by investors for compensation, site clearance, and revenue from handling public property at agencies, organizations, and units used by competent agencies for expenditures on investment following regulations; revenue from collecting fees for rice land protection and development;

Fees for visiting world monuments and heritage sites; fees for using infrastructure works, and works of public services and features in border gate areas; fees for environmental protection regarding mineral mining; fees for environmental protection regarding wastewater;  

Revenue from the public land fund, yield, and public property in communes and collection of rent, lease purchase, and sale of state-owned houses);

- Remainder of the 2022’s salary form funds (carried forward to 2023);

- 10% of regular expenditure savings (excluding salaries, allowances, and contributions according to salaries, amounts with salary nature, and expenditures on people according to regulations) of the 2023 estimates assigned by competent authorities; etc.

See more details in Circular No. 78/2022/TT-BTC, which comes into force as of February 9, 2023 and applies to the 2023 budget year.

4. The Supreme People's Court of Vietnam to answers 3 criminal problems in trial

This is the content of Official Dispatch No. 206/TANDTC-PC dated December 27, 2022 on notifications of the results of the online answering session regarding several problems in trial.

According to the Official Dispatch, 3 criminal problems in trial are answered by the Supreme People’s Court of Vietnam as follows:

- Problem 1: If a person who is 18 years old commits a crime but was previously convicted when he/she was less than 16 years old, is that person a “first-time offender”?

- Problem 2: In case the evidence is a part of an endangered, precious, and rare animal, how will the Court handle the case?

- Problem 3: In case a person vandalizes property belonging to historical-cultural sites or famous landscapes valued from 100 million VND to more, will that person be convicted for “offenses against regulations on protection and use of historic-cultural sites or famous landscapes that lead to serious consequences” according to Article 345 of the Criminal Code or “vandalism or deliberate destruction of property” according to Article 178 of the Criminal Code or both?

See more details of the answers in Official Dispatch No. 206/TANDTC-PC dated December 27, 2022.

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