5 government laws

In civil and commercial agreements, the parties to the contract may choose Vietnamese or other foreign languages to be the language of contracts. An exception applies in cases where specialised law s may require the contract to be written (or to have a copy) in Vietnamese. In general, when foreign enterprises engage in a transaction with individuals and organisations in Việt Nam, they often use Vietnamese contracts or bilingual English-Vietnamese contracts following business practices in Việt Nam. The 2005 Law on Commerce, which is the principle legal reference for commercial transactions in Việt Nam, does not specify the contract language. The 2005 Civil Code, which has a broader scope of regulations on civil actions, only provides a definition for civil transactions made orally or in writing; this content is retained in the new 2015 Civil Code, which will take effect from January 1, 2017. However, the 2004 Civil Procedure Code specifies that the language and scripts to … [Read more...] about Foreign-language contract laws vary in VN

Legislators yesterday urged the Government to ensure the draft Law on Support for Small- and Medium-sized Enterprises (SMEs) doesn't clash with other laws. — Photo baocongthuong.vn HÀ NỘI — Legislators yesterday provided the Government with feedback on the draft Law on Support for Small- and Medium-sized Enterprises (SMEs), urging the drafter to ensure it was consistent with other relevant legislation. With six chapters and 47 articles, the bill aims to enhance the efficiency of support for SMEs in line with market principles, while ensuring that it does not violate the country’s international commitments. It is also designed to create a legal framework to rally public support for the effort, the law drafting board said. During their fourth working session in Hà Nội, the National Assembly Standing Committee focused discussion on the necessity of the law. NA Chairwoman Nguyễn Thị Kim Ngân was concerned about the compatibility between the bill and other laws, one of them … [Read more...] about Lawmakers assess draft law’s impact on SMEs

Vũ Quang Các, director general of the Department of Planning Management, under the Ministry of Planning and Investment, speaks to the Vietnam News Agency about some key new points in the latest draft of the Planning Law. Do you think that the draft Law on Planning will help eliminate the mechanism of “ask and give” in Việt Nam’s planning activities? Over the years, Việt Nam’s planning has revealed many weaknesses. As a result, it has weakened national economic development due to frequent changes in planning work and poor co-ordination among government agencies. At present our planning work is mainly based on the country’s master plan for socio-economic development, construction plan, land use plan, sector’s development plans and more. That approach has led to poor co-ordination between management agencies. It is high time for Việt Nam to renew its planning methods and planning contents based on an integrated, multi-disciplined approach. Of course, to have good planning, we … [Read more...] about No more “ask and give” in new law

Coal selection at the Cua Ong Coal Company in Quang Ninh Province. — VNA/VNS Photo Trọng Đạt Viet Nam News HÀ NỘI - Experts debated last week whether the Law on Mineral Resources (LoMR) should be amended, with some arguing that several of its articles are unrealistic. In a round-table organised by the Party Central Committee’s Commission for Economic Affairs (PCEA) on Friday, Lê Ái Thụ from the Việt Nam Mining Coalition pointed to two particular articles of the law, which he believed to be "very difficult to apply in real life". The first is the term "money to have a mineral resources exploitation licence granted", for which there is no clear definition."Many believe the money is actually a mineral resources tax calculated according to a scientifically baseless and unrealistic formula in the law," Thụ said. According to the Government’s Decree 203 of 2013, "money to have a mineral resources exploitation licence granted" will depend on the particular mineral … [Read more...] about Mineral law said ‘unrealistic’

Small- and medium-sized enterprises account for around 97 per cent of the firms in Việt Nam. — VNA/VNS Photo Viet Nam News HÀ NỘI — With 83.5 per cent of approval votes, the National Assembly on Monday passed the Law on Support for Small- and Medium-sized Enterprises (SMEs). The law, with four chapters and 35 articles, regulates principles, contents and resources to support SMEs, as well as responsibilities of agencies, organisations and individuals relating to the support for SMEs. Under the law, SMEs include micro-enterprises and small- and medium-sized enterprises with the average number of employees with social insurance being less than 200 per year. Also, these enterprises must meet one of the following two criteria, including the total investment capital not exceeding VNĐ100 billion (US$4.4 million) and the total revenue of the previous year not exceeding VNĐ300 billion; or the enterprises must be as defined in the fields of agriculture, forestry, fisheries, and … [Read more...] about NA passes law on supporting SMEs

HÀ NỘI – The National Assembly’s Committee for Judicial Affairs yesterday continued its sixth plenary session to discuss amendments to Law on Judicial Records. According to a Government statement, since the law’s implementation, judicial record card issuance has basically met public expectations and solidified judicial record cards’ role in State and social management. However, regulations on the database of judicial records have limitations. In particular, the issuance of judicial record card No. 2, issued at the request of individuals who want to know their judicial records, has been abused. The draft law on judicial records proposes removing regulations related to judicial record card No. 2 issuance to protect the rights, benefits and secrets of individuals. Nguyễn Công Hồng, deputy head of NA’s Judicial Affairs Committee said that the draft law does assess the impacts of judicial record card removal. In fact, demand for the cards is increasing for visa requests, … [Read more...] about Committee mulls Judicial Records Law

The National Assembly Standing Committee opened their 14 th session yesterday, with discussion centred on the draft Law on Special Administrative-Economic Units, which will be submitted to the National Assembly (NA) in October. — VNA/VNS Photo Trọng Đức HÀ NỘI — The National Assembly Standing Committee opened their 14 th session yesterday, with discussion centred on the draft Law on Special Administrative-Economic Units, which will be submitted to the National Assembly (NA) in October. NA Vice Chairman Uông Chu Lưu stressed that the law will cover all three of the country’s special administrative-economic zones– Vân Đồn (Quảng Ninh Province), Bắc Vân Phong (Khánh Hoà Province) and Phú Quốc (Kiên Giang Province). The Minister of Planning and Investment Nguyễn Chí Dũng said the goal of the draft is to create a legal framework for the establishment, development and management of the zones. The governments of these three zones, according to the draft, will be established … [Read more...] about NA Standing Committee gave directions on the draft Law on Special Economic Zone

If the Law on Planning is not passed during the next session of the National Assembly (NA), many opportunities would be missed, as the law relates to the establishment of a planning strategy for the next five years, NA Chairwoman Nguyễn Thị Kim Ngân said at a meeting yesterday. — VNA/VNS Photo Nguyễn Dân HÀ NỘI – If the Law on Planning is not passed during the next session of the National Assembly (NA), many opportunities would be missed, as the law relates to the establishment of a planning strategy for the next five years, NA Chairwoman Nguyễn Thị Kim Ngân said at a meeting yesterday. The NA Standing Committee (NASC) yesterday continued its session discussing the draft Law on Planning, which faces many differing opinions. The draft law, which has been reviewed by the NA in previous sessions, in principle met the demands of developing a legal framework regulating planning activities, said the NA Economic Committee Chairman Vũ Hồng Thanh. However, it needed to be revised … [Read more...] about NASC urges passing planning law

Việt Nam lacks necessary mechanisms to enforce provisions on bribery of foreign public officials and officials of international public organisations under the 2015 Penal Code, according to research conducted by Hà Nội Law University with support of United Nations Development Programme (UNDP). — Photo vietnamnet.vn HÀ NỘI – Việt Nam lacks necessary mechanisms to enforce provisions on bribery of foreign public officials and officials of international public organisations under the 2015 Penal Code, according to research conducted by Hà Nội Law University with support of United Nations Development Programme (UNDP). The research provides case studies of laws and law enforcement efforts to curb bribery of foreign public officials in five countries – the US , the UK , South Korea , Japan and China - and applications for Việt Nam . These five selected countries criminalize bribery of foreign public officials. Sharing the research outcomes at a discussion in Hà … [Read more...] about VN must bolster anti-bribery laws

A residence registration and administration office in the urban district Đống Đa in Hà Nội City. — VNA/VNS Photo Doãn Tuấn Viet Nam News HÀ NỘI — Administrative reform must be transparent and concrete, and “ambiguous language” that bureaucrats can ‘exploit’ must be absolutely avoided. The order was made by the Minister, Chairman of the Government Office Mai Tiến Dũng during a meeting yesterday for the advisory council for administrative reform to outline tasks for 2018, with the participation of representatives of State agencies and the business community. As the President of the council, citing the Government’s Resolution No 1 on major socio-economic goals for the year 2018, Chairman Dũng asked the council members “to join hands” to achieve reform tasks, including cutting 50 per cent of commodities subject to special inspections. Chairman Dũng stressed that State agencies must not be duplicitous, “[You] cannot just combine three administrative procedures into one and … [Read more...] about Administrative reform must be transparent: Government Office