Decree 30/2020/ND-CP on records management in Vietnam takes effect from March 5, 2020. To assist Customers and Members in understanding and grasping the new regulations on the stucture and presentation techniques of documents applicable from March 5, 2020, Lawnet would like to inform notable new regulations specified in this Decree in the article below.
Article table of contents
Hanoi-Vietnam: Newest regulations applicable from March 05, 2020 under Decree 30 (Illustrative image)
1. Definition of administrative documents and some other documents in Vietnam
According to Clause 2, Clause 3, Article 3 of Decree 30/2020/ND-CP:
- "Specialized document" means a document formed when an activity in an industry or sector defined by the head of the entity having authority over that industry or sector is performed.
- “Administrative document” means a document formed when an entity performs its management, governance and other core business functions.
Previously, in Clause 2, Clause 3, Article 4 of Decree 110/2004/ND-CP amended by Clause 2 Article 1 of Decree 09/2010/ND-CP, there was no specific definition for these two types of documents, only a list of administrative documents which includes some documents such as Resolutions (for specific purposes), decisions (for specific purposes), directives, rules, regulations, announcements, notices, instructions, programs, plans, proposals, schemes, projects, reports, minutes, statements, contracts, official letters, official telegrams, memos, commitments, agreements, certifications, powers of attorney, invitation letters, letters of recommendation, leave of absence, travel papers, document receipts, mailing notes, dispatch notes, social letters.
Thus, from March 5, 2020, there have been official definitions of specialized and administrative documents.
In addition, Decree 30/2020/ND-CP also provides specific definitions for some other concepts such as Electronic documents, Original documents, Certified true copies, Incoming documents, Outgoing documents, etc.
2. Regarding the number of administrative documents
According to Decree 30/2020/ND-CP, from March 5, 2020, there will be a total of 29 types of administrative documents, specifically including Resolutions (for specific purposes), decisions (for specific purposes), directives, rules, regulations, announcements, notices, instructions, programs, plans, proposals, schemes, projects, reports, minutes, statements, contracts, official letters, official telegrams, memos, agreements, powers of attorney, invitation letters, letters of recommendation, leave of absence, mailing notes, dispatch notes, notifications, social letters.
Thus, compared to the previous regulations in Decree 110/2004/ND-CP and Decree 09/2010/ND-CP, Decree 30/2020/ND-CP has added one more type of document which is the notification, and removed four types of documents which are commitment Travel paper; Certification; Document receipt.
3. Regarding the structure and presentation techniques of administrative documents
According to Decree 30/2020/ND-CP, the structure of an administrative document comprises the following main components:
+ Country’s official name and motto. (Previously, Circular 01/2011/TT-BNV did not stipulate the motto)
+ The issuing entity’s name.
+ Document’s numbers or codes.
+ Name of place and date of issue.
+ Document type and abstract or summary of document content.
+ Document contents.
+ Title, full name and signature of the competent person.
+ Seal, signature of the entity. (Previously, Circular 01/2011/TT-BNV did not stipulate the digital signature of the agency, organization)
+ Recipient.
In addition, the document may include additional components such as: Appendices; "Classified” or “Urgent” marks and directions for circulation; Marks indicating the document maker and number of copies to be issued; Entity’s address; email address; web address; telephone number; fax number. (previously also included Telex number).
Overall, the structure and presentation techniques of documents in Decree 30/2020/ND-CP remain basically implemented according to the drafting regulations of administrative documents in Decree 110/2004/ND-CP; Decree 09/2010/ND-CP; Decision 28/2018/QD-TTg and the regulations at guiding Circulars.
The digital signature of the authorized person and the digital signature of the agency, or organization on electronic documents fundamentally follow Circular 01/2019/TT-BNV:
- The image, position of the digital signature of the authorized person is an image of the signature of the authorized person on a paper document, blue in color, in Portable Network Graphics (.png) format with a transparent background; centered under the title of the signer and the name of the signer;
- The image, position of the digital signature of the agency, organization is an image of the seal of the issuing agency, organization on the document, red in color, actual size of the seal, format (.png) with a transparent background, overlapping about one-third of the digital signature image of the authorized person on the left side.
Information: the name of the issuing agency; signing date (year, month, day; hour, minute, second; Vietnam time zone according to ISO 8601 standard) is presented in Times New Roman font, regular, upright, size 10, black color.
However, Decree 30/2020/ND-CP also has some new regulations about the structure and presentation techniques of the digital signature of the agency, and organization on electronic documents attached to the original document:
- Documents attached to the original document (appendix) in the same file with electronic document content, the agency's clerk only signs the document digitally and does not apply digital signatures to the attached document;
- Documents (appendix) not in the same file as the original document, the agency's clerk implements the agency's digital signature on the attached document.
+ Position: Upper right corner, first page of the attached document;
+ Image of the agency's digital signature: Not displayed;
+ Information: document number and symbol; signing date (year, month, day; hour, minute, second; Vietnam time zone according to ISO 8601 standard) is presented in Times New Roman font, regular, upright, size 10, black color.
Thus, according to Decree 30/2020/ND-CP, the image of the agency's digital signature on the attached document which is not in the same file with the original document and on digitized documents will not display the agency's seal at the signing position.
For documents with a preamble, the preamble is italicized; the page number is placed in the center of the top margin from the second page onwards.
Additionally, Decree 30/2020/ND-CP also has changes in the abbreviation convention for some types of documents, specifically:
| Abbreviation according to Circular 01 | Abbreviation according to Decree 30 | |
| Memos | GN | BGN |
| Agreement | TTh | BTT |
| powers of attorney | UQ | GUQ |
| letters of recommendation | GT | GGT |
| leave of absence | NP | GNP |
| Notification | PB |
Regarding capitalization rules, Decree 30/2020/ND-CP also has some new points compared to previous regulations, specifically:
+ Capitalization due to sentence formation: Capitalize the first letter of the first syllable of a complete sentence: After the period (.); after the question mark (?); after the exclamation mark (!) and when starting a new line. (Previously, Circular 01/2011/TT-BNV also stipulated capitalization of the first letter of the first syllable of a complete sentence after the ellipsis (...); after the colon (:); after the colon in quotation marks (:"..."); capitalization of the first letter of the first syllable of the clause after the semicolon (;) and when starting a new line after the comma (,)).
+ Special capitalization case: the Capital Hanoi, Ho Chi Minh City. (Previously, according to Circular 01/2011/TT-BNV it only included the Capital Hanoi)
+ Special nouns: People, State. (Previously Circular 01/2011/TT-BNV did not stipulate capitalization for this case).
+ Names of holidays: Capitalize the first letter of the first syllable forming the name. For example: the Lunar New Year, Duanwu Festival, and Mid-Autumn Festival. Capitalize the word "Tet" when it replaces "Lunar New Year". (Previously, Circular 01/2011/TT-BNV also stipulated capitalization for the names of weather festivals such as Spring Equinox; Major Cold Festival).
+ Removed the rule for capitalizing the names of religions, sects; the names of religious holidays.
4. Duplication of documents
Previously, Decree 110/2004/ND-CP and Circular 01/2011/TT-BNV only mentioned the forms of copies including authenticated copies, excerpt copies, and certified copies without detailed regulations or clear distinctions between these forms. Addressing this gap, Decree 30/2020/ND-CP provides specific and clear regulations for different types of administrative document copies as follows:
| Form of Copy | True copy | Exemplified copy | Extract |
| Definition | “Certified true copy” means a copy with the complete and exact content of an original or primary document which is presented using the prescribed structure and technique.. |
“Exemplified copy” means a duplicate with the complete and exact content of a certified true copy of a document that is presented using the prescribed structure and technique. |
“Extract” means an exact duplicate of the needed part of content of an original document or a primary document that is presented using the prescribed structure and technique. presentation techniques. |
| Form | True copies, including: True paper copies of paper documents; true paper copies of electronic documents; true electronic copies of paper documents. | Exemplified copies, including: Exemplified paper copies of paper documents; exemplified electronic copies of paper documents; exemplified paper copies of electronic documents |
Extracts, including: Paper extracts from paper documents; electronic extracts from paper documents; electronic extracts from electronic documents; paper extracts from electronic documents. |
| Method |
- True paper copies of paper documents are made by photocopying original paper documents or primary paper documents. - True paper copies of electronic documents are made by printing original electronic documents. - True electronic copies of paper documents are made by digitalizing paper documents and digitally signing by entities. |
Exemplified copies are made by printing or photocopying true copies | Extracts are taken from documents by completely reproducing their formatting structures and contents. |
Note: For legal value, certified true copies, exemplified copies and extracts have the same legal value as the original.
Furthermore, Decree 30/2020/ND-CP also specifies the authority to copy documents. Specifically, the entity’s head shall be accorded authority to decide the duplication of documents that it issues, and documents that other entity sends it, and regulate the authority to sign copies of documents. (This was not previously regulated).
Nguyen Trinh
