Amendments and additions to certain regulations on authentication.

(Chinhphu.vn) - Several new regulations on authentication have been issued in Government Decree No. 280/2025/ND-CP dated October 27, 2025.

Decree No. 280/2025/ND-CP amends and supplements a number of regulations on authentication.

The Government issued Decree No. 280/2025/ND-CP dated October 27, 2025, amending and supplementing a number of articles of Decree No. 23/2015/ND-CP. Regarding issuing copies from original records, certifying copies from original documents, and authentication. Signatures and authentication of contracts and transactions, as amended. Supplemented by Decree No. 07/2025/ND-CP.

According to the new regulations in Decree No. 280/2025/ND-CP, certifying a copy from the original means that an agency, organization, or person with authority as stipulated in this Decree, based on the original document, certifies that the copy is true to the original.

Signature authentication is the process by which an agency, organization, or authorized person, as stipulated in this Decree, certifies that the signature on a document or paper is the signature of the person requesting authentication.

Transaction authentication is the act of an authorized person, as stipulated in this Decree, certifying the time and place of conclusion of a civil transaction, the legal capacity, voluntary will, signature, or fingerprint of the parties participating in the civil transaction.

Expanding the scope of entities authorized to perform authentication.

In particular, Decree No. 280/2025/ND-CP amended and supplemented Clause 9 of Article 2 of Decree 23/2015/ND-CP, expanding the scope of entities authorized to perform authentication.

Specifically, the persons authorized to perform authentication are the Chairman of the People's Committee of the commune, ward, or special administrative region (People's Committee at the commune level); persons authorized or assigned to perform authentication duties as prescribed; notaries of notary offices or notary firms (notary practice organizations); diplomatic and consular officers of diplomatic missions, consular missions, and other agencies authorized to perform consular functions of Vietnam abroad (representative agencies).

Thus, compared to the old regulations, Decree No. 280/2025/ND-CP expands the scope of those authorized to perform authentication to include individuals who are authorized or assigned to perform authentication tasks as prescribed.

Amend regulations on the authority and responsibility for authentication.

Decree No. 280/2025/ND-CP also amends and supplements regulations on the authority and responsibility for authentication, clearly defining the responsibilities of each category of individuals performing authentication. Specifically:

1. The Chairman of the People's Committee at the commune level has the authority and responsibility to:

a) Authenticating copies from original documents and papers issued or certified by competent agencies and organizations of Vietnam; competent agencies and organizations of foreign countries; or competent agencies and organizations of Vietnam in collaboration with competent agencies and organizations of foreign countries;

b) Authenticating signatures on documents and papers;

c) Authenticating the translator's signature on documents and texts translated from a foreign language into Vietnamese, and from Vietnamese into a foreign language;

d) Authenticating transactions involving movable property;

d) Authenticating transactions related to land use rights as prescribed by land law;

e) Authenticating housing transactions in accordance with the law on housing;

g) Authenticating a will;

h) Authenticating a document rejecting an inheritance;

i) Authenticating documents dividing inherited property as stipulated in points d, e, and f above.

2. The Chairman of the People's Committee at the commune level directs and organizes the implementation of authentication activities in the area.

The delegation and assignment of tasks related to authentication as stipulated in Clause 1, and the signing and use of seals when performing authentication, shall be carried out in accordance with the laws on the organization of local government, the laws on the organization of specialized agencies under the People's Committee at the commune level, and other relevant laws.

3. The representative agency has the authority and responsibility to certify the matters stipulated in points a, b, and c of clause 1. Diplomatic and consular officials sign the certification and affix the seal of the representative agency.

4. Notaries have the authority and responsibility to certify the matters stipulated in points a, b, and c of clause 1, to sign the certification, and to affix the seal of the notary practice organization.

5. Authentication is not dependent on the place of residence of the person requesting authentication in the following cases:

a) Authenticating copies from original documents, authenticating signatures;

b) Authenticating transactions involving movable property;

c) Authenticating wills, authenticating documents rejecting inheritance;

d) Authenticating power of attorney documents related to the exercise of land and housing user rights;

d) Authenticating the amendment, supplementation, or cancellation of transactions as stipulated in points b, c, and d of this section.

6. The authentication of transactions related to land use rights is carried out at the People's Committee of the commune where the land is located, and the authentication of housing transactions is carried out at the People's Committee of the commune where the house is located, except for the cases specified in 5.

Applicants for authentication are not permitted to request original or photocopies of documents already integrated into VNeID.

At the same time, Decree No. 280/2025/ND-CP also supplements regulations on the obligations and rights of those performing authentication.

Decree No. 280/2025/ND-CP further stipulates that the person performing the authentication shall not require the person requesting authentication to submit or present the original or copies of documents already integrated into VNeID when the person requesting authentication has already presented the corresponding information from VNeID.

In cases where the person requesting authentication and the person performing the authentication can access information and documents from the National Population Database or other databases as prescribed by law, the person performing the authentication is responsible for accessing the information and documents from these databases and does not require the person requesting authentication to present the original, a copy from the original register, or a certified copy of the information and documents that have been accessed.

Amend regulations on the responsibilities of People's Committees at all levels in state management of authentication.

Furthermore, Decree No. 280/2025/ND-CP also amends and supplements Article 43 of Decree No. 23/2015/ND-CP, which stipulates the responsibilities of People's Committees at all levels in state management of authentication, in order to meet the requirements when operating the organizational structure and activities of the two-tiered local government model.

According to Decree No. 280/2025/ND-CP, the responsibilities of People's Committees at all levels in state management of authentication are stipulated as follows:

1. The People's Committee at the provincial level exercises state management over authentication at the local level, with the following duties and powers:

a) Organize and implement legal regulations on authentication at the local level;

b) Providing guidance and professional training in notarization for officials and civil servants working in notarization at commune-level People's Committees and notaries of notarization organizations;

c) Organize the dissemination and popularization of legal regulations on authentication; take measures to rectify the situation of abusing the requirement for certified copies of documents when carrying out administrative procedures in the area;

d) Applying information technology in the implementation of authentication and state management of authentication at the local level, meeting the requirements for providing and exchanging information;

d) Inspect and supervise the authentication activities of commune-level People's Committees and notary offices in the area;

e) Compile and publish the list of signatories of the People's Committees at the commune level in the locality on the electronic portal or website of the Department of Justice and update this list when there are changes;

g) Resolving complaints, denunciations, petitions, and feedback from individuals and organizations, and handling administrative violations related to certification within its jurisdiction;

h) Consider transferring all or part of the work of certifying copies from original documents and certifying signatures to notary offices in communes where at least one notary office is operating stably and effectively at the time of the transfer decision, and where the notary office is reasonably and conveniently located for individuals and organizations needing certification services in the locality;

i) Compile information and statistics on authentication at the local level and report to the Ministry of Justice as required. The Department of Justice assists the Provincial People's Committee in carrying out the tasks stipulated in points a, b, c, d, e, g, h, and i, and inspects the authentication activities of the Commune People's Committees and notary offices in the province.

2. The People's Committee at the commune level exercises state management over authentication within the commune's geographical area, and has the following duties and powers:

a) Managing the implementation of authentication tasks as prescribed in this Decree;

b) To disseminate information, promote awareness, and encourage the public to comply with legal regulations on authentication;

c) Issuing certified copies from the original authenticated transaction;

d) Resolving complaints, denunciations, petitions, and feedback from individuals and organizations, and handling administrative violations related to authentication within its jurisdiction;

d) Compile information and statistics on the certification process and report to the Department of Justice as required.

The Office of the People's Council and the People's Committee, in coordination with the Public Administrative Service Center, assists the People's Committee at the commune level in performing the tasks stipulated in points a, b, and c. The Chairman of the People's Committee at the commune level, or the person authorized or assigned to perform the authentication task as prescribed, must notify the Department of Justice of the sample signature used when signing authentication documents.

Decree No. 280/2025/ND-CP also supplements the transitional provisions in Article 47 of Decree No. 23/2015/ND-CP as follows:

For transactions certified at the Department of Justice or the People's Committee at the commune level before July 1, 2025, the amendment, supplementation, cancellation of transactions, correction of errors in certified transactions, and issuance of certified copies from the original certified transactions shall be carried out at the People's Committee at the commune level that stores the transaction certification records.

The registers for certifying copies from originals, registers for certifying signatures/fingerprints, registers for certifying translator's signatures, and registers for certifying transactions that were established before the effective date of this Decree (November 1, 2025) shall continue to be used until December 31, 2025.

Phuong Nhi

Source: https://baochinhphu.vn/sua-doi-bo-sung-mot-so-quy-dinh-ve-chung-thuc-102251028110756076.htm