Notable documents of Vietnam in the previous week (from January 29 to February 4, 2024)

1. First-instance trial jurisdiction of Military Courts at all levels from February 15, 2024 in Vietnam 

On December 28, 2023, the Chief Justice of the Supreme People’s Court of Vietnam promulgated Circular No. 03/2023/TT-TANDTC guiding the jurisdiction of the Military Courts. 

According to the Circular, guidelines on the first-instance trial jurisdiction of Military Courts at all levels are as follows: 

- Regional Military Courts have first-instance trial jurisdiction over criminal cases of crimes prescribed in Clause 1 Article 268 of the Criminal Procedure Code 2015, where the suspects hold the military rank from Lieutenant Colonel to below or positions with the highest military rank from Lieutenant Colonel to below as per regulation when committing the crimes or being prosecuted.

- Military Courts of military zones and equivalences have first-instance trial jurisdiction over criminal cases of: 

+ Crimes outside of the jurisdiction of Regional Military Courts; 

+ Defendants, victims, or litigants live abroad, or property related to the case is overseas

+ Crimes where suspects hold the military rank from Colonel to above or positions with the highest military rank from Colonel to above as per regulation when committing the crimes or being prosecuted; 

+ Crimes subject to the jurisdiction of Regional Military Courts but have complicated circumstances, making it hard to access or reach unanimity regarding the properties of the case or related to various sectors and levels of authority; cases where the defendants are judges, procurators, investigators, primary governmental leaders in districts, or individuals having high prestige in ethnic minority communities.

- “Positions” guided by Clause 1 and Point c Clause 2 Article 6 of Circular No. 03/2023/TT-TANDTC shall be determined by the Law on Commissioned Officers of the Vietnam People’s Army 1999, relevant laws, and regulations of the Ministry of National Defense of Vietnam. 

- “Military rank” guided by Clause 1 and Point c Clause 2 Article 6 of Circular No. 03/2023/TT-TANDTC includes military ranks of commissioned officers, non-commissioned officers, soldiers, and professional servicemen.

See more details in Circular No. 03/2023/TT-TANDTC, effective as of February 15, 2024. 

2. Vietnam’s new Circular on indexation rate of monthly salary after social insurance contributions  

On December 29, 2023, the Minister of Labor – War Invalids and Social Affairs of Vietnam promulgated Circular No. 20/2023/TT-BLDTBXH on indexation rate of monthly salary and income after social insurance contributions. 

Specifically, in Circular 20/2023/TT-BLDTBXH, persons subject to the indexation rate of salary after social contributions according to Clause 1 and Clause 2 Article 10 of Decree No. 115/2015/ND-CP include: 

- Employees who are subject to the pay scheme under the State’s regulations, started participating in social insurance programs from January 1, 2016 and earlier, have already enjoyed the one-off social insurance benefit payments, or are dead after bequeathing their relatives the right of entitlement to one-off social insurance benefit payments already received within the period from January 1, 2024 to December 31, 2024.

- Employees who pay social insurance contributions according to the pay scheme decided by employers, receive retirement pensions or one-off allowances upon retirement, one-off social insurance benefit payments, or are dead after bequeathing their relatives the right of entitlement to one-off death insurance benefit payments received from January 1, 2024 to December 31, 2024.

See more details in Circular No. 20/2023/TT-BLDTBXH, effective as of February 15, 2024 and regulations prescribed in Circular No. 20/2023/TT-BLDTBXH shall be applied as of January 1, 2024. 

Circular No. 01/2023/TT-BLDTBXH shall expire as of February 15, 2024. 

3. New regulation on recruitment, use, and management of officials working in communes and commune-level towns of Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam 

This is a content of Decree No. 07/2024/ND-CP dated February 1, 2024 guiding the election, recruitment, use, and management of officials working in communes and commune-level towns and officials of wards of Ho Chi Minh City promulgated by the Government of Vietnam. 

According to the Decree, regulations on recruitment, use, and management of officials working in communes and commune-level towns of Ho Chi Minh City are as follows: 

- The recruitment, use, management, training, advanced training, assessment, commendation, and disciplinary actions applicable to officials working at People's Committees of communes and commune-level towns shall comply with the Law on Officials 2008 and regulations of the Government of Vietnam on recruitment, use, and management of officials. 

- Regarding the title of Commanding Officer of the Military Command of a commune or commune-level town, the recruitment and appointment shall comply with Point dd Clause 1 Article 23 of the Law on Militia and Self-Defense Forces 2019 and its guiding documents. Appointment decisions shall be considered official recruitment decisions if the persons subject to such decisions are not officials.

See more details in Decree No. 07/2024/ND-CP, effective as of February 1, 2024. 

4. General conditions for establishing high-tech zones from March 25, 2024 in Vietnam 

This is a content of Decree No. 10/2024/ND-CP dated February 1, 2024 on high-tech zones promulgated by the Government of Vietnam. 

Specifically, the general conditions for establishing a high-tech zone are as follows: 

- Being in conformity with the planning of the region or province approved by a competent authority; 

- Having appropriate area size and land use feasibility and suitable natural conditions; 

- Having infrastructure conditions and favorable traffic locations; 

- Being capable of linking with highly qualified research and training facilities; 

- Having a feasible scheme for personnel and professional managers for the high-tech zone; 

- Having a feasible scheme to mobilize resources for investment in the development of the system of technical and social infrastructures of the high-tech zone, ensuring the capacity for balancing the state budget (if any); 

- Having a feasible scheme to construct housing areas and public works adjacent to or surrounding the high-tech zone to serve the life of specialists and employees working in the high-tech zone according to their needs and construction progress of the high-tech zone; 

- Meeting the environmental protection conditions according to environment protection laws; 

- Ensuring national defense and security. 

See more details in Decree No. 10/2024/ND-CP, effective as of March 25, 2024. 

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