New Points of 10 Laws Effective from January 01, 2019 (Part 1)

1. Prohibition of Organizations and Individuals Posting Certain Information on Social Networks

Cybersecurity Law passed by the National Assembly on June 12, 2018, and officially took effect from January 1, 2019.

The law strictly prohibits the provision, posting, and transmission of the following information on electronic information pages, information portals, or specialized pages on social networks of agencies, organizations, and individuals:

- Information propagating against the State of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam such as distorting the people's government; causing division between ethnic groups and religions; insulting the nation, national flag, national emblem, national anthem, great figures, leaders, etc.;- Information inciting riots, disrupting security, and disturbing public order;- Information defaming, slandering, seriously affecting the honor, reputation, and dignity of organizations and individuals;- Information fabricating false details about products, goods, money, bonds, etc., or in the fields of finance, banking, e-commerce, etc.;- Information fabricating false details causing public panic, damaging socio-economic activities, creating difficulties for government agencies or public officials, and infringing on the legitimate rights and interests of other agencies, organizations, and individuals.

And other information content infringing upon national security.

1. No Acceptance, Processing of Anonymous Complaints

According to Clause 1 Article 25 of the Law on Complaints (effective from January 1, 2019), it is prescribed not to handle or resolve anonymous complaints, specifically:

- Upon receiving information with content of complaints but not clear on the name, address of the complainant, or through inspection, it is impossible to identify the complainant, or the complainant uses someone else's name to complain or the information containing the complaint is not presented in the prescribed format, the competent bodies, organizations, and individuals will not process it as per the provisions of this Law on Complaints;- However, if the complaint contains clear content about the individual committing illegal acts, along with specific documents and evidence of those acts, and has a basis for verification, the receiving agency, organization, or individual will conduct the inspection, examine according to their authority or transfer it to authorities with jurisdiction for inspection and management purposes.

1. Special Measures Applied During Martial Law

The 2018 National Defense Law passed by the XIV National Assembly, 5th session on June 8, 2018, stipulates the special measures to be used during the execution of martial law, including:

- Prohibiting or restricting people and vehicles from traveling; suspending or restricting activities at public places;- Prohibiting demonstrations, strikes, work stoppages, school shutdowns, large gatherings;- Arresting or coercively relocating individuals or organizations violating national defense and security or restraining them from leaving their residence or a specific area;- Mobilizing people and means of agencies, organizations, and individuals;- Specially managing weapons, explosives, supportive tools, inflammable substances, toxic materials, radioactive materials; strictly controlling IT infrastructure, media, journalistic activities, publishing, printing facilities, copying, information collection, and usage.

The 2018 National Defense Law took effect from January 1, 2019, replacing the 2005 National Defense Law.

1. Conditions for Licensing Surveying and Mapping Activities under New Law

On June 14, 2018, the National Assembly officially passed the 2018 Law on Surveying and Mapping (which took effect from January 1, 2019) that outlines the conditions for licensing surveying and mapping activities for organizations as follows:

- Be an enterprise or public service provider with the function and task of surveying and mapping activities;- The technical manager in surveying and mapping must meet the following requirements:- Hold at least a university degree in surveying and mapping;- Have at least 5 years of practical experience relevant to at least one content of surveying and mapping activities of the organization applying for the license or possess a Class I professional certification in surveying and mapping;- Not concurrently serve as a technical manager in surveying and mapping for another organization.- Have a number of technically trained staff in surveying and mapping sufficient to meet the requirements of the contents applying for the license;- Have suitable means, equipment, and surveying and mapping technology as prescribed in the economic-technical norms for surveying and mapping to carry out a surveying and mapping product covered by the license application.

1. Additional Evaluation Criteria for Public Physical Training and Sports Movement

The 2018 Law on Physical Training and Sports Amendment, officially applied from January 1, 2019, amends and supplements several provisions related to physical training and sports activities.

For instance, the public physical training and sports movement is evaluated using the following criteria:

- Number of people regularly practicing physical training and sports;- Number of sports families;- Number of physical training and sports collaborators;- Number of sports clubs;- Number of sports facilities;- Number of annual sports competitions.

Previously, the public physical training and sports movement was only evaluated by two indicators: the number of people regularly practicing and sports families.

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