Law Amending the Law on Treaties 2025, No. 137/2025/QH15

LAW

Amending and Supplementing a Number of Articles of the Law on Treaties¹

Pursuant to the Constitution of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam, which has a number of articles amended and supplemented under Resolution No. 203/2025/QH15;

The National Assembly promulgates the Law Amending and Supplementing a Number of Articles of Law No. 108/2016/QH13 on Treaties.

Article 1. To amend and supplement a number of articles of the Law on Treaties

1. To amend and supplement Clause 1, Article 8 as follows:

“1. The Supreme People’s Court, the Supreme People’s Procuracy, the State Audit Office of Vietnam, a ministry, ministerial-level agency or government-attached agency (below referred to as proposing agency) shall, based on its tasks and powers and international cooperation requirements, propose the negotiation of a treaty in the name of the State to the Prime Minister for further submission to the President, or propose the negotiation of a treaty in the name of the Government to the Prime Minister.”.

2. To amend and supplement Clause 2, Article 9 as follows:

“2. The consulted agencies and organisations specified in Point c, Clause 1 of this Article shall give a written reply within 10 days after receiving a complete dossier for consultation.”.

3. To add Clause 1a below Clause 1, and amend and supplement Clause 2, Article 11 as follows:

“1a. In case a competent agency of the Party, the President or the Prime Minister has issued a written approval of policy on negotiation of a treaty, the to-be-submitted dossier on the negotiation of such treaty shall only be required to comprise a report recommending the authorisation for the negotiation.

2. In case the proposing agency recommends the completion of the negotiation of a treaty, the dossier submitted must comprise a draft of the treaty showing the negotiation completion plan.”.

4. To amend and supplement a number of clauses of Article 13 as follows:

a/ To amend and supplement Clause 1 as follows:

“1. Based on its tasks and powers and international cooperation requirements, an agency specified in Article 8 of this Law shall propose the signing of a treaty in the name of the State to the Prime Minister for further submission to the President for decision, or propose the signing of a treaty in the name of the Government to the Government for decision.”;

b/ To amend and supplement Clause 4 as follows:

“4. The consulted agencies and organisations specified in Clause 2 of this Article shall give a written reply within 10 days after receiving a complete dossier or within the time limit specified in Clause 1, Article 18, and Clause 1, Article 20, of this Law.”.

5. To amend and supplement Clause 1, Article 18 as follows:

“1. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs shall examine a treaty within 10 days after receiving a complete dossier specified in Article 21 of this Law or within 20 days in case an examination council is established under Clause 3 of this Article.”.

6. To amend and supplement Clause 1, Article 20 as follows:

“1. The Ministry of Justice shall appraise a treaty within 10 days after receiving a complete dossier specified in Article 21 of this Law or within 20 days in case an appraisal council is established under Clause 3 of this Article.”.

7. To amend and supplement Article 21 as follows:

“Article 21. Dossiers of request for examination or appraisal of treaties

1. A dossier of request for examination or appraisal of a treaty must comprise:

a/ A written request for examination or appraisal of the treaty, with the contents specified in Clause 2, Article 18 or Clause 2, Article 20 of this Law;

b/ A draft dossier on the proposal for signing of the treaty as specified in Article 17 of this Law, except the Ministry of Foreign Affairs’ examination opinions and the Ministry of Justice’s appraisal opinions.

2. A dossier of request for examination or appraisal of a treaty shall be sent in electronic form and 1 hard copy. The electronic version must meet the standards specified by law; the proposing agency shall take responsibility for the accuracy of the paper and electronic versions.

3. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Ministry of Justice shall receive and examine dossiers of request for examination and appraisal. In case a dossier does not conform to Clause 1 of this Article, within 3 working days after receiving the dossier, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Ministry of Justice shall request the proposing agency to supplement and complete the dossier.”.

8. To amend and supplement Clause 3, Article 22 as follows:

“3. The head of the delegation to an international conference shall be authorised in writing by the Prime Minister, except international conferences which do not involve the negotiation or adoption of treaties or the amendment or supplementation of treaties to which the Socialist Republic of Vietnam is a contracting party; in these cases, the authorisation of delegation shall be decided by heads of proposing agencies.

When it is necessary to authorise members of the Vietnamese delegation to attend an international conference in accordance with regulations of the conference, the proposing agency shall submit the authorisation of such members to the Prime Minister for decision, or the head of the proposing agency shall decide on the authorisation under this Clause.”.

9. To amend and supplement Article 30 as follows:

“Article 30. Proposal for ratification of treaties

1. The proposing agency shall submit the ratification of a treaty to the Prime Minister for further submission to the President after having obtained written opinions from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Ministry of Justice. Depending on the nature and contents of the treaty, the proposing agency shall decide on the collection of opinions from related agencies and organisations.

2. The Prime Minister shall submit the ratification of a treaty subject to ratification by the National Assembly to the President for further submission to the National Assembly.

3. The consulted agency or organisation specified in Clause 1 of this Article shall give a written reply within 10 days after receiving a written request for consultation.”.

10. To amend and supplement Article 39 as follows:

“Article 39. Proposal for approval of treaties

1. The proposing agency shall submit the approval of a treaty to the Government for decision after having obtained written opinions from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Ministry of Justice. Depending on the nature and contents of the treaty, the proposing agency shall decide on the collection of opinions from related agencies and organisations.

2. The consulted agencies and organisations specified in Clause 1 of this Article shall give a written reply within 10 days after receiving a written request for consultation.”.

11. To amend and supplement a number of clauses of Article 41 as follows:

a/ To amend and supplement Clause 1 as follows:

“1. The agencies specified in Article 8 of this Law shall, based on their tasks and powers and international cooperation requirements, propose the accession to treaties to the Government for decision, propose the accession to treaties to the Prime Minister for further submission to the President for decision, or submit the accession to treaties to the President for further submission to the National Assembly for decision, according to their competence specified in Clauses 1, 2 and 3, Article 43 of this Law.”;

b/ To amend and supplement Clause 3 as follows:

“3. The consulted agencies and organisations specified in Clause 2 of this Article shall give a written reply within 10 days after receiving a complete dossier for consultation.”.

12. To amend and supplement Clause 2, Article 48 as follows:

“2. In case the foreign contracting party to a treaty makes a reservation to the treaty after the proposing agency submits the conclusion, ratification or approval of, or accession to, the treaty to the competent agency, right after receiving information thereon, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs shall notify such information to the proposing agency. The proposing agency shall additionally submit a proposal for acceptance of or objection to such reservation after obtaining written opinions from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Ministry of Justice and related agencies and organisations.”.

13. To amend and supplement Article 54 as follows:

“Article 54. Amendment, supplementation or extension of treaties

1. A treaty may be amended, supplemented or extended as provided therein or as agreed upon between the Vietnamese party and the foreign contracting party.

2. The decision on the amendment, supplementation or extension of a treaty must contain:

a/ Title, time and place of signing, and the date of entry into force of the treaty to be amended, supplemented or extended;

b/ Amendment or supplementation contents or the extended duration of the treaty;

c/ Responsibilities of the proposing agency, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and related agencies and organisations.

3. The order and procedures for deciding on the amendment, supplementation or extension of a treaty are as follows:

a/ The proposing agency shall collect the Ministry of Foreign Affairs’ examination opinions, the Ministry of Justice’s appraisal opinions, and concurrently seek opinions from related agencies and organisations before submitting the amendment, supplementation or extension of the treaty to the Government or the Prime Minister. The dossier of request for examination and appraisal of the treaty is not required to contain opinions of related agencies or organisations. The consulted agencies shall give their written replies within 10 days after receiving a complete dossier for consultation;

b/ The Government shall decide to amend, supplement or extend treaties whose approval, accession or conclusion is decided by the Government without approval or ratification; the Prime Minister shall submit to the President for decision the amendment, supplementation or extension of treaties whose ratification, accession or conclusion is decided by the President without ratification;

c/ The President shall decide to amend, supplement or extend treaties whose ratification, accession or conclusion is decided by the President without ratification; and submit to the National Assembly for decision the amendment, supplementation or extension of treaties whose ratification or accession is decided by the National Assembly;

d/ The National Assembly shall decide to amend, supplement or extend treaties whose approval or accession is decided by the National Assembly according to the order and procedures similar to those specified in Articles 32 thru 36 of this Law.

4. The dossier on amendment, supplementation or extension of a treaty must comprise:

a/ The proposing agency’s report, clearly stating the purpose, requirements, legal bases and legal consequences of the amendment, supplementation or extension of the treaty;

b/ The Ministry of Foreign Affairs’ examination opinions, the Ministry of Justice’s appraisal opinions, and opinions of related agencies and organisations; a report on responses to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs’ examination opinions, the Ministry of Justice’s appraisal opinions and opinions of related agencies and organisations, and proposed solutions;

c/ The text of the treaty;

d/ Requests of the foreign contracting party or related Vietnamese state agency concerning the amendment, supplementation or extension of the treaty.

14. To add Clause 3 below Clause 2, Article 58 as follows:

“3. The dossier of proposal for conclusion of the treaty and the text of the treaty shall be archived in accordance with the law on archives.”.

15. To amend and supplement Clauses 1 and 2, Article 60 as follows:

“1. A treaty that has entered into force for the Socialist Republic of Vietnam must be published in the e-Cong Bao (Vietnamese-language Official Gazette) and the portal of the proposing agency, unless otherwise agreed upon between the Vietnamese party and the foreign contracting party or otherwise decided by a competent state agency.

In case a treaty is requested not to be published, the proposing agency shall submit such request to the Prime Minister for decision, after having obtained written opinions from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Ministry of Justice and related agencies and organisations. The proposing agency shall notify tasks to be performed to agencies, organisations and individuals that directly implement relevant provisions of the treaty.

2. Within 15 days after receiving a copy of the text of an effective treaty sent by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Cong Bao office shall publish the text of the treaty in the e-Cong Bao. The text published in the e-Cong Bao is legally valid as the copy of the treaty as specified in Article 61 of this Law.”.

16. To amend and supplement Clause 4, Article 63 as follows:

“4. The proposing agency shall promptly submit to the Prime Minister for decision the replacement of the person authorised to sign a treaty on behalf of the Government; submit to the Prime Minister for further submission to the President for decision in case of replacement of the person authorised to sign a treaty on behalf of the State.

In case of replacement of the authorised person, the proposing agency shall promptly submit the replacement to the competent agency for decision.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs shall complete external procedures for issuing powers of attorney or credentials under Clauses 1, 2 and 3 of this Article, upon receiving the competent agency’s decision.”.

17. To amend and supplement Clause 1, Article 64 as follows:

“1. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs shall notify the foreign contracting party or the depository, for multilateral treaties, of the ratification or approval of, or accession to, the treaty within 10 days after receiving the document of ratification or approval of, or decision on the accession to, the treaty from the National Assembly, the President or the Government, except cases specified in Clause 2, Article 71a of this Law.”.

18. To amend and supplement Clause 3, Article 70 as follows:

“3. The order, procedures and dossiers for negotiation, signing, approval, amendment, supplementation, extension, invalidation and implementation of treaties on official development assistance and foreign concessional loans must comply with the law on public debt management.”.

19. To amend and supplement Article 71 as follows:

“Article 71. Proposal for concurrent negotiation and signing of a treaty

In case the proposing agency has identified contents and collected all necessary documents to be included in the dossier of proposal for signing of a treaty as specified in Article 17 of this Law, it may concurrently propose the negotiation and signing of the treaty. The order, procedures and dossier for proposing concurrent negotiation and signing of a treaty must comply with Section 2, Chapter II of this Law.”.

20. To add Article 71a below Article 71 as follows:

“Article 71a. Proposal for concurrent signing and approval or ratification of a treaty

1. In case the proposing agency determines that a treaty falling under the President’s competence may be ratified immediately after signing and is sufficiently clear and detailed for implementation and the dossier of proposal for approval of the treaty comprises all necessary documents as specified in Article 31 of this Law, it may concurrently propose the signing and ratification of the treaty. The to-be-submitted dossier must comply with Articles 17 and 31 of this Law.

2. In case the proposing agency determines that a treaty may be approved immediately after signing and is sufficiently clear and detailed for implementation and the dossier of proposal for approval of the treaty comprises all necessary documents as specified in Article 40 of this Law, it may concurrently propose the signing and approval of the treaty. The to-be-submitted dossier must comply with Articles 17 and 40 of this Law.

3. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs shall carry out procedures for external notification of the approval or ratification of the treaty within 10 days after receiving the original text of the treaty as specified in Clause 1, Article 26 of this Law.

4. In case there are changes that make the concurrent signing and approval or the ratification of a treaty become no longer appropriate, the proposing agency shall, in coordination with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, report such to the Government and the President for consideration and decision.”.

21. To amend and supplement Article 72 as follows:

“Article 72. Negotiation and signing of treaties according to fast-track order and procedures

1. The fast-track order and procedures shall be applied to the negotiation and signing of a treaty in the following cases:

a/ The treaty is made according to a form specified in a treaty between the Socialist Republic of Vietnam and the same foreign contracting party or according to the form approved by a competent agency under Clause 2 of this Article;

b/ The Prime Minister or a competent agency decides to apply the fast-track order and procedures once or for multiple times at the proposal of the proposing agency.

2. After consulting the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Ministry of Justice, the proposing agency shall submit the form of treaties concluded in the name of the Government to the Prime Minister for decision, submit the form of treaties concluded in the name of the State to the Prime Minister for further submission to the President for decision.

3. The fast-track order and procedures for negotiation and conclusion of a treaty are as follows:

a/ The to-be-submitted dossier on the negotiation specified in Article 11 of this Law only needs to recommend the authorisation for negotiation;

b/ The consulted agencies and organisations specified in Clause 2, Article 13 of this Law, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Ministry of Justice shall give their written replies within 5 days after receiving a complete dossier for consultation or a complete dossier of request for examination or appraisal;

c/ The dossier of request for examination or appraisal of the treaty must comprise a written request for examination or appraisal of the treaty, the draft report proposing the signing of the treaty to the Government, opinions of related agencies and organisations, and the text of the treaty;

d/ The to-be-submitted dossier on the signing of the treaty must comprise the documents specified in Clauses 1, 2 and 6, Article 17 of this Law;

dd/ The report on the signing of a treaty must contain assessments of political impacts, impacts on national defence and security, and socio-economic and other impacts of the treaty, and assessments of the compatibility between the treaty proposed for signing and other treaties in the same field to which the Socialist Republic of Vietnam is a contracting party, and of the conformity between the treaty and Vietnam’s law.”.

22. To add Article 72a below Article 72 as follows:

“Article 72a. Authorisation in special cases

When it is necessary to address practical requirements or there is an urgent requirement in terms of foreign affairs, after consulting the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Ministry of Justice and related agencies and organisations, the proposing agency shall propose the Prime Minister to report to the President for authorising the Prime Minister to decide on the negotiation, signing, amendment and supplementation of, in the name of the State, a number of treaties falling under the President’s competence for a specified period of time. This provision does not apply to the treaties specified in Points a, b, c and d, Clause 1, Article 4 of this Law.”.

23. To amend and supplement the title and a number of clauses of Article 73 as follows:

a/ To amend and supplement the title of Article 73 as follows:

“Article 73. Amendment, supplementation or extension of treaties according to fast-track order and procedures”;

b/ To amend and supplement Clause 1 as follows:

“1. In case the amendment, supplement or extension of an existing treaty is merely technical or does not change Vietnam’s fundamental rights and obligations, the proposing agency is not required to collect opinions from related agencies and organisations specified in Point a, Clause 3, Article 54 of this Law, before submitting it to the Government and the Prime Minister. In case of opinion collection, the consulted agency shall give its written replies within 5 working days after receiving a complete dossier for opinion collection.”;

c/ To amend and supplement Clause 4 as follows:

“4. The to-be-submitted dossier on the amendment, supplementation or extension of a treaty according to the fast-track order and procedures must comprise the documents specified in Clause 4, Article 54 of this Law, except opinions of related agencies and organisations.”.

24. To add Clause 8 below Clause 7, Article 79 as follows:

“8. To assume the prime responsibility for, and coordinate with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Ministry of Justice and related agencies and organisations in, reporting to the Prime Minister on the performance of procedures concerning the accession by a foreign contracting party to a treaty to which the Socialist Republic of Vietnam is a contracting party under such treaty or as agreed upon with members of such treaty, and to propose appropriate order and procedures.”.

25. To replace the following phrases:

a/ To replace the phrase “The National Assembly’s External Relations Committee” in Article 33 with the phrase “The National Assembly’s Committee on National Defence, Security and External Relations;

b/ To replace the word “day” in Articles 60 and 63 with the phrase “working day”.

26. To annul Articles 19 and 74.

Article 2. Implementation provisions

1. This Law takes effect on January 1, 2026.

2. To amend and supplement a number of clauses and points of Law No. 63/2025/QH15 on Organisation of the Government as follows:

a/ To amend and supplement Clause 3, Article 10 as follows:

“3. To decide on amnesty in accordance with law;”;

b/ To amend and supplement Point a, Clause 3, Article 13 as follows:

“a/ Awarding orders, medals, state prizes and state honorary titles; deciding on naturalisation in Vietnam, renunciation, restoration or deprivation of Vietnamese nationality; submitting the ratification of, accession to, or invalidation of, treaties falling under the President’s competence to the President for decision;”

Article 3. Transitional provisions

Dossiers of proposal for the negotiation, conclusion, amendment, supplementation or extension of treaties or other dossiers relating to treaties that have been submitted to competent agencies before the effective date of this Law but yet to be processed by competent agencies must continue to comply with Law No. 108/2016/QH13 on Treaties.

This Law was passed on December 10, 2025, by the 15 National Assembly of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam at its 10 session.-

Chairman of the National Assembly
TRAN THANH MAN