Decree No. 154/2020/ND-CP amendment to the Decree No. 34/2016/ND-CP

DECREE

Amending and supplementing a number of articles of the Government’s Decree No. 34/2016/ND-CP of May 14, 2016, detailing a number of articles of, and providing measures for implementing, the Law on Promulgation of Legal Documents^[1]

Pursuant to the June 19, 2015 Law on Organization of the Government; and the November 22, 2019 Law Amending and Supplementing a Number of Articles of the Law on Organization of the Government and the Law on Organization of Local Administration;

Pursuant to the June 22, 2015 Law on Promulgation of Legal Documents; and the June 18, 2020 Law Amending and Supplementing a Number of Articles of the Law on Promulgation of Legal Documents;

At the proposal of the Minister of Justice;

The Government promulgates the Decree amending and supplementing a number of articles of the Government’s Decree No. 34/2016/ND-CP of May 14, 2016, detailing a number of articles of, and providing measures for implementing, the Law on Promulgation of Legal Documents.

Article 1. To amend and supplement the Government’s Decree No. 34/2016/ND-CP of May 14, 2016, detailing a number of articles of, and providing measures for implementing, the Law on Promulgation of Legal Documents

1. To add the following Point g1 below Point g, Clause 3 of Article 3:

“g1/ Resolutions on programs, schemes, projects and plans;”.

2. To amend and supplement Clauses 3 and 4 of Article 4 as follows:

“3. The Government’s decrees specified in Clause 3, Article 19 of the Law.

4. Resolutions of provincial-level People’s Councils specified in Clause 4, Article 27 of the Law.”.

3. To amend and supplement a number of clauses of Article 6 as follows:

a/ To amend and supplement Clauses 2 and 3 as follows:

“2. Social impacts, which shall be assessed on the basis of analyzing and forecasting impacts on one matter or several matters concerning population, employment, property, health, the environment, healthcare, education, travel, poverty reduction, traditional cultural value, community connection, social affairs, ethnic policies (if any) and other issues related to social affairs.

3. Gender impacts (if any), which shall be assessed on the basis of analyzing and forecasting economic and social impacts related to the opportunities, conditions and capacity of exercising rights and enjoying benefits of each gender.”.

b/ To amend and supplement Clause 5 as follows:

“5. Impacts on the legal system, which shall be assessed on the basis of analyzing and forecasting impacts on the unification and consistency of the legal system; law enforcement and observance capacity of agencies, organizations and individuals; and Vietnam’s capacity for implementing and observing treaties to which the Socialist Republic of Vietnam is a contracting party.”.

4. To add the following Clause 3a below Clause 3 of Article 25:

“3a. To make written replies on social criticism of the Vietnam Fatherland Front in case the Vietnam Fatherland Front conducts social criticism on draft legal documents.”.

5. To amend and supplement Article 28 as follows:

“Article 28. Responsibility to propose and make lists of documents detailing laws and resolutions of the National Assembly, ordinances and resolutions of the National Assembly Standing Committee, and orders and decisions of the President

1. The ministry or ministerial-level agency in charge of drafting a law or resolution of the National Assembly, an ordinance or resolution of the National Assembly Standing Committee, or an order or a decision of the President which has contents to be detailed as assigned therein shall:

a/ Propose a list of documents detailing the law or resolutions of the National Assembly, ordinance or resolution of the National Assembly Standing Committee, or order or decision of the President, clearly stating the title of the document to be detailed; articles, clauses and points to be detailed as assigned; tentative titles of detailing documents, agencies in charge of, and agencies coordinating in, drafting detailing documents, and deadlines of submitting draft detailing documents for promulgation;

b/ Formulate a list of contents of the law or resolution of the National Assembly, the ordinance or resolution of the National Assembly Standing Committee, or the order or decisions of the President to be detailed by localities as assigned;

c/ Send to the Ministry of Justice the list of detailing documents specified at Point a of this Clause and the list of contents to be assigned for detailing specified at Point b of this Clause within 15 days after the law or resolution of the National Assembly is passed, the ordinance or resolution of the National Assembly Standing Committee is adopted; or within 7 days after the order or decision of the President is signed for promulgation.

2. The Ministry of Justice shall:

a/ Receive and summarize proposals so as to make the list of detailing documents specified at Point a, Clause 1 of this Article; and hold meetings with ministries and ministerial-level agencies to be assigned to draft such detailing documents and related agencies and organizations to reach agreement on the list of detailing documents before submitting it to the Prime Minister;

b/ Assume the prime responsibility for, and coordinate with the Government Office in, making and submitting to the Prime Minister for consideration and decision the list of documents detailing the law or resolution of the National Assembly, ordinance or resolution of the National Assembly Standing Committee, or order or decision of the President according to Clause 2, Article 82 of the Law;

c/ Notify in writing provincial-level People’s Councils and People’s Committees of the list of contents to be detailed by localities specified at Point b, Clause 1 of this Article.

3. Provincial-level Justice Departments shall:

a/ Assume the prime responsibility for, and coordinate with National Assembly delegations’ offices, provincial-level People’s Council Offices and related agencies and organizations in, making and submitting to provincial-level People’s Council Standing Bodies for decision a list of resolutions of provincial-level People’s Councils detailing the law or resolutions of the National Assembly, ordinance or resolution of the National Assembly Standing Committees, or order or decision of the President;

b/ Assume the prime responsibility for, and coordinate with provincial-level People’s Committee Offices and related agencies and organizations in, making and submitting to provincial-level People’s Committee chairpersons a list of decisions of provincial-level People’s Committees detailing the law or resolution of the National Assembly, ordinance or resolution of the National Assembly Standing Committees, or order or decision of the President.”.

6. To amend the title, and amend and supplement Clause 1 of Article 29 as follows:

a/ To amend the title of Article 29 as follows:

“Article 29. Responsibility to formulate, and monitor and urge the promulgation of, documents detailing laws and resolution of the National Assembly, ordinances and resolutions of the National Assembly Standing Committee, and orders and decisions of the President”

b/ To amend and supplement Clause 1 as follows:

“1. Agencies in charge of drafting documents detailing a law or resolution of the National Assembly, an ordinance or resolution of the National Assembly Standing Committee, or an order or decision of the President shall:

a/ Ensure the drafting quality and progress and comply with the deadlines for submission of detailing documents as prescribed in the decisions promulgating the lists of detailing documents issued by the Prime Minister, provincial-level People’s Committee chairpersons and provincial-level People’s Council Standing Bodies;

b/ By the 23^rd every month, update information electronically or send information on the formulation and promulgation of detailing documents to legal organizations of ministries or ministerial-level agencies or provincial-level Justice Departments for monitoring and summarization. By the 25^th every month, legal organizations of ministries or ministerial-level agencies or provincial-level Justice Departments shall update information electronically or send information to the Ministry of Justice.”.

7. To add the following Article 29a below Article 29:

“Article 29a. Responsibility to formulate, and monitor and urge the promulgation of, documents detailing decrees of the Government, decisions of the Prime Minister, and circulars of ministries and ministerial-level agencies

1. A ministry or ministerial-level agency that is in charge of drafting a decree of the Government specified in Clause 2 or 3, Article 19 of the Law, or a decision of the Prime Minister specified in Article 20 of the Law, shall:

a/ Notify in writing ministries, ministerial-level agencies and provincial-level People’s Councils and People’s Committees of contents of the decree of the Government or decision of the Prime Minister to be assigned to ministers, heads of ministerial-level agencies or provincial-level People’s Councils and People’s Committees for detailing within 5 days after the decree or decision is signed for promulgation;

b/ Monitor and urge the formulation and promulgation of documents detailing the decree of the Government or decision of the Prime Minister; and summarize and report to the Government and Prime Minister on the matters arising in the course of drafting detailing documents specified at Point b, Clause 3 of this Article.

2. A minister or the head of a ministerial-level agency who is in charge of promulgating a circular specified in Clause 2, Article 24 of the Law shall:

a/ Notify in writing provincial-level People’s Councils and People’s Committees of contents of the circular to be assigned to provincial-level People’s Councils and People’s Committees for detailing within 5 days after the circular is signed for promulgation;

b/ Monitor and urge the formulation and promulgation of documents detailing the circular; and timely handle the matters arising in the course of drafting detailing documents.

3. Agencies and persons competent to promulgate documents detailing a decree of the Government specified in Clause 2 or 3, Article 19 of the Law, a decision of the Prime Minister specified in Article 20 of the Law, or a circular of a minister or the head of a ministerial-level agency specified in Clause 2, Article 24 of the Law shall:

a/ Ensure the drafting quality and progress and comply with the deadlines for promulgation of detailing documents;

b/ Notify in writing the ministry or ministerial-level agency drafting the decree of the Government or decision of the Prime Minister or the minister or head of the ministerial-level agency promulgating the circular which they are assigned to detail some contents of the matters arising in the course of drafting detailing documents for handling according to their competence or summarizing and reporting to the Government and Prime Minister for consideration and decision.

4. The notices, follow-up documents and documents on handling of arising issues (if any) specified in Clauses 1, 2 and 3 of this Article shall be concurrently sent to the Ministry of Justice.”.

8. To amend and supplement Clause 2 of Article 30 as follows:

“2. After the Government approves proposals for formulation of the decrees specified in Clause 3, Article 19 of the Law and the Prime Minister approves proposals for formulation of the decrees specified in Clause 2, Article 19 of the Law, the Government Office shall include such proposals into the Government’s working programs; and monitor and urge the drafting and submission of these decrees.”.

9. To amend and supplement Article 31 as follows:

“Article 31. Regulatory impact assessment for policies determined in draft legal documents

1. In the course of drafting, appraising, verifying, considering and giving opinions on a draft law or resolution of the National Assembly or a draft ordinance or resolution of the National Assembly Standing Committee, if proposing the establishment of new policies, the proposing agency shall make regulatory an impact assessment report for the new policies within 10 days after making the proposal.

For documents to be submitted by the Government, agencies in charge of drafting shall report to the Government on the contents of new policies (if any); for documents not to be submitted by the Government, the Ministry of Justice shall coordinate with verification agencies so as to timely report to the Government on the contents of new policies (if any).

2. When drafting a decree specified in Clause 1, Article 19 of the Law to stipulate in detail the policies specified in a law or resolution of the National Assembly, an ordinance or a resolution of the National Assembly Standing Committee, or an order or a decision of the President, the agency in charge of drafting shall make a regulatory impact assessment report for the policies referred to in such draft decree.

3. When drafting a decree specified in Clause 2, Article 19 of the Law, a decision of the Prime Minister specified in Article 20 of the Law, or a resolution of a provincial-level People’s Council specified in Clause 2 or 3, Article 27 of the Law, the agency in charge of drafting shall make a regulatory impact assessment report for the policies referred to in such draft document.

When drafting circulars of ministers and ministerial-level agencies specified in Clause 2, Article 24 of the Law, agencies in charge of drafting shall make regulatory impact assessment reports (if any).

4. The regulatory impact assessment reports specified in Clauses 1, 2 and 3 of this Article shall be made according to Articles 5, 6 and 7, Point a, Clause 1, Article 8, and Article 9, of this Decree, and be included in dossiers of draft laws or ordinances of the National Assembly, draft ordinances or resolutions of the National Assembly Standing Committees, or draft documents.”.

10. To amend and supplement Clause 1 of Article 37 as follows:

“1. The Prime Minister shall, at his/her own will or at the request of a minister or the head of a ministerial-level agency, decide according to his/her competence or propose a competent agency to decide to apply the simplified order and procedures as specified in Article 146 and Clause 3, Article 147 of the Law.

When necessary to promulgate a circular to solve practical problems as specified in Clause 1, Article 146 of the Law, the concerned minister or ministerial-level agency head shall consult in writing the Minister of Justice before submitting the circular to the Prime Minister for consideration and decision. The consultation paper must contain the contents specified in Clause 4 of this Article.

Within 3 working days after receiving the consultation paper, the Minister of Justice shall issue a written reply on the promulgation of the circular according to the simplified order and procedures, for the circulars specified in this Clause.”.

11. To amend and supplement Clause 1 of Article 43 as follows:

“1. The Minister of Justice shall establish an appraisal council in the cases specified in Clause 1, Article 58; Clause 1, Article 92; Clause 1, Article 98; and Clause 4, Article 109, of the Law.”.

12. To amend and supplement Clause 1 of Article 50 as follows:

“1. Provincial-level Justice Department Directors shall establish appraisal consultancy councils for draft resolutions and decisions which involve various fields or are drafted by provincial-level Justice Departments according to Clause 1, Article 121, and Clause 1, Article 130 of the Law. A council shall be composed of a leader of the provincial-level Justice Department as its chairperson, a representative of the provincial-level Justice Department as its secretary and representatives of specialized agencies under the provincial-level People’s Committee, other related agencies and organizations, specialists and scientists as its members.”.

13. To amend and supplement Clause 1 of Article 65 as follows:

“1. The Prime Minister, the Chief Justice of the Supreme People’s Court, and  provincial-, district-, or commune-level People’s Committee chairpersons shall, on behalf of the Government, the Judicial Council of the Supreme People’s Court, and provincial-, district-, or commune-level People’s Committees respectively, sign for promulgation decrees of the Government, resolutions of the Judicial Council of the Supreme People’s Court, and decisions of provincial-, district- or commune-level People’s Committees;  and the abbreviation “TM.” (on behalf of) must be inserted before the word “Chinh phu” (the Government) or the phrase “Hoi dong Tham phan” (the Judicial Council) or “Uy ban Nhan Dan (the People’s Committee)”.

The Prime Minister and the Chairperson of the Vietnam Fatherland Front Central Committee shall, on behalf of the Government and the Presidium of the Vietnam Fatherland Front Central Committee, respectively, sign for promulgation joint resolutions of the Government and the Presidium of the Vietnam Fatherland Front Central Committee; the abbreviation “TM.” must be inserted before the word “Chinh phu” and the phrase “Doan Chu tich Uy ban trung uong Mat tran To quoc Viet Nam” (the Presidium of the Vietnam Fatherland Front Central Committee)”.

The Prime Minister, ministers, ministerial-level agency heads, the Chief Justice of the Supreme People’s Court, the Procurator General of the Supreme People’s Procuracy, and the State Auditor General shall respectively sign for promulgation decisions of the Prime Minister, circulars of ministers, circulars of ministerial-level agency heads, circulars of the Chief Justice of the Supreme People’s Court, circulars of the Procurator General of the Supreme People’s Procuracy, and decisions of the State Auditor General.

The Chief Justice of the Supreme People’s Court, the Procurator General of the Supreme People’s Procuracy, the State Auditor General and the concerned minister(s) and/or ministerial-level agency head(s) shall jointly sign for promulgation the joint circulars specified in Clause 8a, Article 4 of the Law

Chairpersons of provincial-, district-, or commune-level People’s Councils shall respectively sign for certification resolutions of provincial-, district-, or commune-level People’s Council.

In case a deputy signs a document for his/her head, the abbreviation “KT.” (sign for) must be inserted before the position title of the person competent to sign the document for promulgation.”.

14. To amend and supplement Clause 6 of, and add Clause 7 to, Article 69 as follows:

a/ To amend and supplement Clause 6 as follows:

“6. Words indicating similar contents shall be used consistently in a document.”.

b/ To add the following Clause 7:

“7. Capital letters in documents shall be used in accordance with the Vietnamese spelling rules and the guidance specified in Appendix VI to this Decree.”.

15. To amend and supplement Article 72 as follows:

“Article 72. Presentation of amended, supplemented, replaced and annulled contents in the chapter or article on implementation provisions

1. In case a document amends, supplements, replaces or annuls a part, chapter, section, sub-section, article, clause, point, phrase or word of another document, such contents shall be presented in the chapter or article on implementation provisions.

These amendments, supplements, replacements or annulments may be structured in articles, clauses and points depending on their scope and levels.

2. Amendments, supplements, replacements or annulments must specify the to-be- amended, supplemented, replaced or annulled part, chapter, section, sub-section, article, clause or point of the document.”.

16. To amend and supplement Clause 1 of Article 75 as follows:

“1. When invoking a document for the first time , it is required to fully indicate the type name, serial number, code, and the date of passage or signing for promulgation, of the document; and the name of the agency or person competent to promulgate, and the title of, the document. For subsequent invocations, it is required to fully indicate the type name and the title of the document, for laws and ordinances; and the type name, serial number and code, for other documents.”.

17. To amend and supplement a number of points and clauses of Article 103 as follows:

a/ To amend and supplement Point b, Clause 1 as follows:

“b/ Joint circulars of ministers/heads of ministerial-level agencies and the Chief Justice of the Supreme People’s Court/Procurator General of the Supreme People’s Procuracy/State Auditor General;”.

b/ To amend and supplement Point a, Clause 2 as follows:

“a/ Unlawful documents, including documents promulgated ultra vires; documents with contents contrary to the Constitution or legal documents of higher legal effect; documents prescribing an effective date contrary to Clause 1, Article 151 of the Law; documents violating regulations on regulatory impact assessment, collection of opinions, appraisal and verification of drafts; circulars which are promulgated by ministers and heads of ministerial-level agencies in cases of emergency to solve practical problems according to the simplified order and procedures but fail to comply with Clause 3, Article 147 of the Law;”.

18. To amend and supplement Clause 2, Article 107 as follows:

“2. They are effective at the time of the examined document is promulgated or have not yet become effective at the time of the examined document is promulgated but have been passed or signed for promulgation and will be effective before or at the same time with the examined document.”.

19. To amend and supplement Clause 2, Article 110 as follows:

“2. A document examination dossier must comprise the document containing unlawful contents; a document examination slip made according to Form No. 01 provided in Appendix III to this Decree, document examination conclusion, document handling result slip, and other related documents (if any).”.

20. To amend and supplement a number of points and clauses of Article 111 as follows:

a/ To amend and supplement Points a and b, Clause 2 as follows:

“a/ Heads of legal organizations of ministries and ministerial-level agencies shall act as the focal point, assisting ministers and heads of ministerial-level agencies in examining circulars of ministers and heads of ministerial-level agencies and joint circulars of ministers or heads of ministerial-level agencies and the Chief Justice of the Supreme People’s Court or the Procurator General of the Supreme People’s Procuracy, the State Auditor General;

b/ The director of the Ministry of Justice’s Department of Examination of Legal Documents shall act as the focal point, assisting the Minister of Justice in conducting self-examination of circulars of the Minister of Justice and joint circulars of the Minister of Justice and the Chief Justice of the Supreme People’s Court, the Procurator General of the Supreme People’s Procuracy or the State Auditor General;”.

b/ To amend and supplement Clause 3 as follows:

“3. The director of the Ministry of Justice’s Department of Examination of Legal Documents, heads of legal organizations of ministries or ministerial-level agencies shall coordinate with related agencies and units of the Supreme People’s Court, the Supreme People’s Procuracy, and the State Audit Office in conducting self-examination of joint circulars of ministers or heads of ministerial-level agencies and the Chief Justice of the Supreme People’s Court, the Procurator General of the Supreme People’s Procuracy or the State Auditor General.”.

21. To amend and supplement Clause 1, Article 112 as follows:

“1. When detecting a document with unlawful signs, an agency or a unit conducting self-examination specified in Clause 2 or 3, Article 111 of this Decree shall make a document examination dossier and promptly report on the document examination result to the agency or person having promulgated that document for consideration and handling according to Article 130 of this Decree.”.

22. To amend and supplement Point a, Clause 2 and Clause 4 of Article 113 as follows:

a/ To amend and supplement Point a, Clause 2 as follows:

“a/ The Minister of Justice shall exercise the document examination power in accordance with Clause 1 of this Article and assist the Prime Minister in examining circulars of ministers and heads of ministerial-level agencies; provisions involving fields of state management of ministries and ministerial-level agencies of joint circulars of ministers/heads of ministerial-level agencies and the Chief Justice of the Supreme People’s Court/the Procurator General of the Supreme People’s Procuracy/the State Auditor General; resolutions of provincial-level People’s Councils, decisions of provincial-level People’s Committees; and legal documents of local administrations of special administrative-economic units involving various sectors or fields of state management;”.

b/ To amend and supplement Clause 4 as follows:

“4. The Minister-Chairperson of the Government Office shall exercise the examination power according to Clause 1 of this Article and assist the Prime Minister in examining circulars of the Minister of Justice; provisions involving fields of state management of the Ministry of Justice of joint circulars of the Minister of Justice and the Chief Justice of the Supreme People’s Court/the Procurator General of the Supreme People’s Procuracy/ the State Auditor General.”.

23. To amend and supplement Clause 5, Article 115 as follows:

“5. Conclusion on document examination:

Heads of document-examining agencies shall consider and conclude according to their competence or propose a competent agency or person to consider and conclude on unlawful contents of these documents. Document-examining agencies may make recommendations on the transparency, feasibility and effectiveness of documents.”.

24. To amend and supplement Point a, Clause 2, Article 118 as follows:

“a/ Unlawful contents on the fields of state management of ministries or ministerial-level agencies of joint circulars of ministers/heads of ministerial-level agencies and the Chief Justice of the Supreme People’s Court/the Procurator General of the Supreme People’s Procuracy/the State Auditor General; and at the same, propose the Prime Minister to request ministers or heads of ministerial-level agencies to reach agreement with the Chief Justice of the Supreme People’s Court, the Procurator General of the Supreme People’s Procuracy or the State Auditor General to jointly handle these documents;”.

25. To amend and supplement Clause 1, Article 121 as follows:

“1. Documents of ministers, heads of ministerial-level agencies, provincial-level People’s Councils and People’s Committees, and local administrations of special administrative-economic units shall be sent to the Department of Examination of Legal Documents of the Ministry of Justice or legal organizations of ministries and ministerial-level agencies competent to examine the documents based on sectors or fields.

Joint circulars of ministers/heads of ministerial-level agencies and the Chief Justice of the Supreme People’s Court/the Procurator General of the Supreme People’s Procuracy/the State Auditor General shall be sent to the Department of Examination of Legal Documents of the Ministry of Justice.”.

26. To amend and supplement Point a, Clause 2 and Clause 4, Article 122 as follows:

a/ To amend and supplement Point a, Clause 2 as follows:

“a/ When examining and detecting unlawful documents, the Director of the  Department of Examination of Legal Documents of the Ministry of Justice shall make and send examination conclusions to the agencies or persons having promulgated such documents for consideration and handling. For contents falling under the fields of state management of the Supreme People’s Court, the Supreme People’s Procuracy or the State Audit Office of joint circulars of ministers/heads of ministerial-level agencies and the Chief Justice of the Supreme People’s Court/Procurator General of the Supreme People’s Procuracy/State Auditor General, agencies having promulgated these joint circulars shall, after receiving examination conclusions, consider and handle these documents according to regulations;”.

b/ To amend and supplement Clause 4 as follows:

“4. If detecting unlawful contents in joint circulars which fall under the fields of state management of the Supreme People’s Court, Supreme People’s Procuracy or State Audit Office, the Minister of Justice or the Minister-Chairperson of the Government Office (for joint circulars of the Ministry of Justice) shall propose the Chief Justice of the Supreme People’s Court, the Procurator General of the Supreme People’s Procuracy or the State Auditor General to consider and handle them in accordance with law.”.

27. To amend and supplement Point a, Clause 3, Article 128 as follows:

“a/ Documents promulgated by heads of provincial- and special administrative-economic unit-level agencies and units of ministries, ministerial-level agencies and government-attached agencies shall be examined and handled in accordance with Points a and b, Clause 1 of this Article. In case the person having promulgated a document fails to examine and handle it himself/herself, a person competent to examine such document shall report and propose the concerned minister, head of ministerial-level agency or head of government-attached agency to handle it according to competence;”.

28. To amend and supplement Clause 1, Article 129 as follows:

“1. An agency competent to examine a document shall send the examination conclusion to a minister, the head of a ministerial-level agency, or the chairperson of a People’s Council or People’s Committee having the examined document for the latter to direct and organize the handling of the document according to regulations. The examination conclusions shall be concurrently sent to the agency or person having promulgated the unlawful document and the legal organization of the ministry or ministerial-level agency or the provincial-level Justice Department, the district-level Justice Division, the agency assigned by the People’s Committee of the special administrative-economic unit to act as the focal point or the commune-level judiciary-civil status officer of the locality which has the examined document.

The examination conclusions of ministers, heads of ministerial-level agencies shall be concurrently sent to the Ministry of Justice.”.

29. To amend and supplement Point a, Clause 2, Article 130 as follows:

“a/ Part or the whole of the document which has been promulgated unlawfully as specified at Point a, Clause 2, Article 103 of this Decree;”.

30. To amend and supplement a number of points and clauses of Article 139 as follows:

a/ To amend and supplement Point a, Clause 1 as follows:

“a/ A minister or the head of a ministerial-level agency shall review and systematize documents he/she has promulgated, jointly promulgated or has taken charge of drafting; and the National Assembly’s or National Assembly Standing Committee’s legal documents submitted by an agency or organization or a National Assembly deputy which regulate matters in the fields under the state management of his/her ministry or agency;”.

b/ To add the following Clause 2a below Clause 2:

“2a. State agencies that have taken charge of drafting legal documents of the National Assembly or the National Assembly Standing Committees and do not fall into the cases specified in Clauses 1 and 2 of this Article shall review and systematize such documents”.”

c/ To amend and supplement Clause 5 as follows:

 “5. In case of a transfer of functions and tasks between agencies and units, the agency or unit receiving the functions and tasks shall review and systematize documents related to the transferred functions and tasks.

In case of dissolution, merger, division, or adjustment of the administrative boundaries, of administrative units, the People’s Committees of the new administrative units shall review and systematize documents promulgated by the People’s Councils and People’s Committees of the old administrative units.”.

31. To amend and supplement Article 141 as follows:

“Article 141. Documents used for review and systematization

Documents used for review and systematization are in the following order of priority:

1. Primary source documents, original documents;

2. Documents published on the print or electronic versions of the Cong Bao;

3. True copies, certified copies made by competent agencies or persons;

4. Documents in the national law database;

5. Documents in the collection of systematized legal documents publicized by a competent state agency.”.

32. To amend and supplement Clause 4, Article 149 as follows:

“4. The document-reviewing person shall consider and determine the effect of the reviewed document. A document identified as ceasing to be effective or having its effect suspended in part or in whole shall be included in a list for publicization under Article 157 of this Decree. A document identified as remaining effective shall be further reviewed in terms of competence and content as specified in Clauses 5 and 6 of this Article.”.

33. To amend and supplement Article 155 as follows:

“Article 155. Review of documents and processing of review results at the Supreme People’s Court, the Supreme People’s Procuracy, the State Audit Office of Vietnam and other state agencies

1. The review of documents and processing of review results at the Supreme People’s Court, the Supreme People’s Procuracy and the State Audit Office of Vietnam must comply with the order prescribed by the Chief Justice of the Supreme People’s Court, the Procurator General of the Supreme People’s Procuracy or the State Auditor General.

2. The review of documents and processing of review results at other state agencies specified in Clause 2a, Article 139 of this Decree must comply with regulations of such agencies.”.

34. To amend and supplement Clauses and 2, Article 157 as follows:

“1. Annually, by January 31 at the latest, ministers, heads of ministerial-level agencies, the Chief Justice of the Supreme People’s Court, the Procurator General of the Supreme People’s Procuracy, the State Auditor General, other state agencies specified in Clause 2a, Article 139 of this Decree, and chairpersons of People’s Committees at all levels that promulgate administrative documents shall publicize lists of documents under their management that cease to be effective or have their effect suspended.

2. Lists of central- or provincial-level documents that cease to be effective or have their effect suspended shall be published in Cong Bao and on portals or websites (if any) of the document-reviewing agencies. Lists district- or commune-level documents that cease to be effective or have their effect suspended shall be published at the places specified at Article 98 of this Decree and on portals or websites of the document-reviewing agencies (if any).”.

35. To amend and supplement Clause 1, Article 160 as follows:

“1. The Prime Minister, ministers, heads of ministerial-level agencies, the Chief Justice of the Supreme People’s Court, the Procurator General of the Supreme People’s Procuracy, the State Auditor General, other state agencies specified in Clause 2a, Article 139 of this Decree, and chairpersons of People’s Committees at all levels shall decide to conduct reviews of documents by topic or sector in order to consider and re-assess documents regulating one or more than one group of social relations in a specific period of time.”.

36. To amend and supplement Clause 2, Article 162 as follows:

“2. Results of an overall review of the system of documents or a review of documents by topic, sector or geographical area shall be expressed in a report.

Based on objectives and requirements of the overall review of documents or review of documents by topic, sector or geographical area, the competent agency or person shall decide to make lists of documents enclosed with the report, including a list of documents that cease to be effective or have their effect suspended in whole; a list of documents that cease to be effective or have their effect suspended in part; a list of documents that remain effective, including also documents that cease to be effective in part; and a list of documents that need to be suspended from implementation, have their effect suspended, or be amended, supplemented, replaced, annulled or promulgated.

The above lists of documents shall be made according to forms No. 03, 04, 05 and 06 provided in Appendix IV to this Decree.

In case the competent agency or person promulgates other lists of documents, such list may be made according to the forms specified in this Clause.”.

37. To add the following Clause 3 to Article 163:

“3. Documents publicizing results of overall review of the system of documents or review of documents by topic, sector or geographical area shall be issued in the form of administrative document.”.

38. To amend and supplement Article 164 as follows:

“Article 164. Periodical systematization of documents

Legal documents shall be periodically systematized and systematization results shall be publicized once every 5 years. The point of time for identifying documents subject to systematization for publicization (below referred to as the time of systematization) is December 31 of the fifth year counting from the time of the previous systematization.”.

39. To amend and supplement Article 167 as follows:

“Article 167. Process of systematization of documents

1. Collecting documents subject to periodical systematization which include documents in the Collection of systematized documents in the previous period of systematization and documents promulgated in the current period of systematization, including also those that have not yet taken effect.

2. Collecting documents review results subject to previous systematization.

3. Re-checking document review results and conducting additional reviews:

a/ Document review results subject to systematization shall be re-checked to ensure the accuracy of the effect of documents by the time of systematization;

b/ If the document review results do not update the legal status of a document or it is detected that a document has not yet been reviewed under regulations, the agency or person competent to review the document shall immediately review the document according to this Decree.

4. Making the following lists of documents:

a/ List of legal documents that cease to be effective or have their effect suspended in whole; list of legal documents that cease to be effective or have their effect suspended in part; list of legal documents that remain effective, including also legal documents that cease to be effective in part and documents that have not yet taken effect by the time of systematization; and a list of legal documents that need to be suspended from implementation, have their effect suspended, or be amended, supplemented, replaced, annulled or promulgated;

b/ The above lists of documents shall be made according to Forms No. 03, 04, 05 and 06 provided in Appendix IV to this Decree.

5. Arrangement of documents that remain effective into a collection of systematized documents:

Based on the list of documents that remain effective, the document-systematizing person shall arrange them into a collection of systematized effective documents.

6. Publicization of systematization results:

a/ Ministers, heads of ministerial-level agencies, the Chief Justice of the Supreme People’s Court, the Procurator General of the Supreme People’s Procuracy, the State Auditor General, other state agencies specified in Clause 2a, Article 139 of this Decree, and chairpersons of People’s Committees shall publicize document systematization results;

b/ Document systematization results include the lists of documents and the Collection of systematized documents specified in Clauses 4 and 5 of this Article;

c/ Documents publicizing document systematization results shall be issued in the form of administrative document;

d/ Document systematization results shall be publicized no later than February 1, for documents promulgated by central agencies, or no later than March 1, for documents promulgated by People’s Councils and People’s Committees at all levels, of the year following the last year of the systematization period.

7. Document systematization results shall be published on e-portals or websites (if any) of document-systematizing agencies. When necessary, these agencies shall issue the collection of systematized effective documents in paper form.

The lists of documents promulgated by central and provincial-level agencies which cease to be effective or have their effect suspended shall be published in Cong Bao. The lists of documents promulgated by district- and commune-level agencies which cease to be effective or have their effect suspended shall be displayed at places specified in Article 98 of this Decree.

After being publicized, if the lists of documents and the collection of systematized effective documents are found to contain errors, such documents shall be re-reviewed and errors shall be corrected.”.

40. To amend and supplement Clause 4, Article 170 as follows:

“4. The Chief Justice of the Supreme People’s Court, the Procurator General of the Supreme People’s Procuracy, the State Auditor General and other state agencies specified in Clause 2a, Article 139 of this Decree shall provide information on the situation and results of review and systematization of documents under Point dd, Clause 1, Article 186 of this Decree.”.

41. To amend and supplement Clause 1 and Point c, Clause 2, Article 175 as follows:

a/ To amend and supplement Clause 1 as follows:

“1. In the process of making legal document formulation proposals and drafting, appraising, verifying, examining, reviewing and systematizing legal documents, heads of agencies, organizations or units may hire experts who have capabilities relevant to each task.”.

b/ To amend and supplement Point c, Clause 2 as follows:

“c/ An expert who has participated in formulating policies, conducting regulatory impact assessment or drafting a legal document shall not participate in appraisal or verification of the proposal for formulation of such legal document or draft legal document.”.

42. To amend and supplement Clause 1, Article 186 as follows:

“1. Responsibilities of ministers, head of ministerial-level agencies, the Chief Justice of the Supreme People’s Court, the Procurator General of the Supreme People’s Procuracy, the State Auditor General and other state agencies specified in Clause 2a, Article 139 of this Decree:

a/ To urge and inspect the review and systematization of legal documents according to their competence;

b/ To provide guidance and training to improve legal document review and systematization skills; to organize and manage document review and systematization collaborators;

c/ To organize information networks, and update and manage the database serving the review and systematization of legal documents;

d/ To organize preliminary and final reviews of the review and systematization of legal documents;

dd/ The Chief Justice of the Supreme People’s Court, the Procurator General of the Supreme People’s Procuracy, the State Auditor General, and other state agencies specified in Clause 2a, Article 139 of this Decree shall provide information on and results of review and systematization of documents to the Ministry of Justice for the latter to assist the Government in summarizing such information and reports for submission to the National Assembly or the National Assembly Standing Committee.”.

43. To amend and supplement Clause 1, Article 188 as follows:

“1. Legal documents which are promulgated before January 1, 2021, remain effective and have not yet been examined, reviewed or systematized, shall be examined, reviewed and systematized in accordance with the Law and this Decree.”.

Article 2. To add, replace and annul a number of regulations of the Government’s Decree No. 34/2016/ND-CP of May, 14, 2016, detailing a number of articles of, and providing measures for implementing, the Law on Promulgation of Legal Documents

1. To add, replace and abolish a number of words and phrases specified in the following articles, clauses and points:

a/ To add the phrase “to which the Socialist Republic of Vietnam is a contracting party” below the word “treaties” in Clause 3, Article 11;

b/ To replace the phrase “the explanatory report on acceptance of opinions” in Clause 6, Article 10 by the phrase “the summarization, explanation and acceptance of opinions”; 

c/ To replace the word “resolutions” in Clause 2, Article 34 by the phrase “draft resolutions”;

d/ To replace the word “title” in Clause 3 and Points a, b, c and d, Clause 5, Article 62 by the word “name”;

dd/ To abolish the phrase “,identified as remaining effective” in Clause 6, Article 2;

e/ To abolish the phrase “National Assembly delegations’ offices” in Clause 2, Article 8;

g/ To abolish the phrase “as specified in Clause 2, Article 134, and Clause 3, Article 139, of the Law” in Clause 3, Article 54.

2. To add and replace a number of appendices as follows:

a/ To add the title of Appendix II: “Layout of legal document components”;

b/ To add the title of Appendix III: “Forms used in examination of legal documents”;

c/ To add the title of Appendix IV: “Forms used in review and systematization of legal documents”;

d/ To add Appendix VI below Appendix V;

dd/ To replace Appendices I and V.

3. To annul Article 36, Point c, Clause 1 and Clause 6 of Article 143.

Article 3. Effect

This Decree takes effect on January 1, 2021.-

On behalf of the Government
Prime Minister
NGUYEN XUAN PHUC