Perfecting legislative techniques in the Law on Insurance Business

Discussing at Group 7 (including the National Assembly Delegation of Nghe An and Lam Dong provinces) on the morning of November 3, on the draft Law amending and supplementing a number of articles of the Law on Insurance Business, National Assembly Delegate Tran Nhat Minh (Nghe An) suggested that the drafting agency carefully study a number of inadequate regulations to ensure consistency, clarity and feasibility in practical application.

Clarifying regulations on civil capacity

National Assembly Deputy Tran Nhat Minh expressed his strong agreement with the necessity of amending and supplementing the Law on Insurance Business and with the Review Report of the Economic and Financial Committee. According to the delegate, the draft Law has inherited and completed many important contents to remove difficulties, reduce and simplify investment and business conditions for enterprises in the spirit of Resolution 198 of the 15th National Assembly.

National Assembly Deputy Tran Nhat Minh ( Nghe An ) speaks. Photo: Pham Thang

Regarding the specific content, the delegate mentioned the provisions in Clause 1, Article 1 of the draft - adding Article 3a after Article 3 of the current Law, regulating the principles of organizations and individuals participating in contributing capital to establish, manage and control insurance business activities. According to the delegate, the goal of the amendment is to increase transparency, avoid overlap between legal regulations but still ensure convenience for organizations and individuals in the application process.

However, through studying the draft, delegates pointed out a number of unreasonable points. Specifically, Clause 2, Article 3 stipulates that "Individuals operating as insurance agents and providing insurance auxiliary services in Vietnam must be individuals with full civil act capacity according to the Civil Code." This provision is necessary, but inconsistent as Clause 1 does not mention the same principle for individuals participating in contributing capital, establishing, managing, and controlling insurance enterprises. This may lead to the understanding that individuals in the group specified in Clause 1 do not need to have full civil act capacity.

The delegate said that the drafting agency needs to consider whether it is really necessary to regulate the civil capacity of individuals in insurance business activities. If this principle continues to be maintained, it is necessary to separate the content on civil capacity of individuals into a separate clause, clearly stating: "Individuals participating in contributing capital, establishing, managing, controlling insurance business enterprises or participating in insurance agency activities, providing insurance auxiliary services in Vietnam must be people with full civil capacity."

In other cases, if the objective of the draft is to avoid duplication with current laws, it is not advisable to re-regulate the content of civil capacity. Because this principle has been specifically stipulated in the 2015 Civil Code, at Point a, Clause 1, Article 117 on the conditions for the validity of civil transactions. Reiterating it in the draft Law on Insurance Business is unnecessary and may even cause overlap between legal documents.

Review the location of terms to ensure systematicity

In addition to the content on civil capacity, delegate Tran Nhat Minh also noted the legislative technique in Clause 13, Article 1 of the draft, related to amending and supplementing Article 138 on capital, finance, accounting regime and financial reporting of insurance brokerage enterprises. The draft has added Clause 3a, stipulating the investment principles of insurance brokerage enterprises: "Investment of insurance brokerage enterprises must ensure the principles of safety, liquidity, efficiency, and compliance with the provisions of law. Enterprises are solely responsible for investment activities. Insurance brokerage enterprises are not allowed to invest in any form for shareholders, capital contributors or persons related to shareholders and capital contributors".

Overview of the discussion session. Photo: HP

According to the delegate, this provision is necessary, but in terms of legal structure, the placement of the provision is not appropriate. The content of Clause 3a is essentially a group of regulations on the operating principles of insurance brokerage enterprises, which has been stipulated in Article 132 of the current Law. Article 132 has Clause 3 stipulating: "Insurance brokerage enterprises must have a written agreement with customers when providing insurance brokerage services".

Therefore, to ensure systematicity and convenience in searching, Clause 3a should be moved to Article 132 instead of being in Article 138. Such arrangement is both consistent with legislative logic and helps regulations related to insurance brokerage enterprises to be concentrated in a unified section, easy to apply in practice.

Delegate Tran Nhat Minh affirmed that the amendment and supplementation of the Law on Insurance Business is necessary and timely to meet the requirements of state management, create favorable conditions for enterprises, and at the same time ensure consistency in the legal system. However, the completion process needs to pay more attention to legislative techniques, clarity and rationality in the structure of provisions so that the Law, when promulgated, can be put into practice effectively, transparently and feasiblely.

Source: https://daibieunhandan.vn/hoan-thien-ky-thuat-lap-phap-trong-luat-kinh-doanh-bao-hiem-10394133.html