Hanoi-Vietnam: New regualtions specified in Laws and Codes effective from January 01, 2018 (Final Part)

8. Permission to use public assets for business purposes

Law on Management and Use of Public Assets 2017 which shortly take effect informs many new regulations in the management and use of public assets in state agencies, organizations, and units.

Public service providers in Vietnam are permitted to use public assets for business and leasing purposes in cases where:

- The assets assigned, invested, or procured to perform state-assigned tasks are not fully utilized;

- The assets not invested by the state budget are procured under projects approved by competent authorities for business and leasing purposes.

Approval authority for the aforementioned schemes is as follows:

- For assets that serve career activities and other high-value assets: Ministers, Heads of central authorities, and Chairpersons of provincial-level People's Committees shall approve;

- For other assets, the management council or the head of the public service provider shall approve.

Details can be found in the Law on Management and Use of Public Assets 2017, effective January 1, 2018.

9. Raising of the position of the Law on Folk Belief and Religion

The Law on Folk Belief and Religion 2016, promulgated on November 18, 2016, will soon take effect, specifying many new and clearer regulations compared to the Ordinance on Folk Belief and Religion 2004. To be specific:

- Many concepts are defined in more detail;

- The right to freedom of Folk Belief and Religion is specified in a major chapter of the Law;

- Prohibited acts include coercion, bribery, or obstruction of others in their religious or non-religious activities, insulting beliefs or religions, exploiting religious activities for personal gain;

- Initial registration of religious activities with competent state agencies is required, but subsequent activities only need supplemental registration or notification if changes occur;

- Providing conditions for foreigners legally residing in Vietnam to conduct religious activities;

- Religious affiliates meeting regulatory conditions are recognized as non-commercial legal entities.

Details can be found in the Law on Folk Belief and Religion 2016, effective January 1, 2018.

10. Many new regulations in the Law on Legal Aid 2017

On June 20, 2017, the National Assembly passed the Law on Legal Aid 2017 to promptly meet the need and reality of the application. Some highlights of this new Law include:

- Funding for legal aid activities performed by voluntary organizations will be self-financed by those organizations;

- Additional subjects eligible for legal aid include persons accused from 16 to under 18 years of age; persons accused from near-poor households, and some financially disadvantaged individuals;

- Additional rights for legal aid recipients, such as receiving legal aid without payment or material or other benefits;

- Legal advisers must have a minimum of 2 years of legal counseling experience working at legal aid participating organizations.

The Law on Legal Aid 2017 comes into effect on January 1, 2018, replacing the Law on Legal Aid 2006.

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