Amending and supplementing a number of regulations on authentication

(Chinhphu.vn) - A number of new regulations on authentication were issued in Decree No. 280/2025/ND-CP dated October 27, 2025 of the Government.

Decree No. 280/2025/ND-CP amending and supplementing 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 on issuing copies from originals, certifying copies from originals, and certifying signature and authentication of contracts, 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 the competent authority, organization or person as prescribed in this Decree, based on the original, certifies that the copy is true to the original.

Signature certification is the act of an agency, organization or competent person as prescribed in this Decree certifying that the signature in a document or paper is the signature of the person requesting certification.

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

Expanding the scope of certification

In particular, Decree No. 280/2025/ND-CP amended and supplemented Clause 9 of Article 2 of Decree 23/2015/ND-CP in the direction of expanding the subjects of certification.

Specifically, the person performing the certification is the Chairman of the People's Committee of the commune, ward, or special zone (Commune-level People's Committee); the person authorized or assigned to perform the certification task according to regulations; the notary of the Notary Office, Notary Office (notary practice organization); the diplomatic officer, consular officer of the diplomatic representative agency, consular representative agency, and other agencies authorized to perform consular functions of Vietnam abroad (Representative agency).

Thus, compared with the old regulations, Decree No. 280/2025/ND-CP expands the subjects of certification to include authorized or assigned persons to perform certification tasks according to regulations.

Amendments to regulations on certification authority and responsibility

Decree No. 280/2025/ND-CP also amends and supplements regulations on the authority and responsibility of certification in the direction of clearly defining the responsibilities of each subject performing certification. Specifically:

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

a) Certify copies from originals of documents and papers issued or certified by competent agencies and organizations of Vietnam; competent agencies and organizations of foreign countries; competent agencies and organizations of Vietnam in association with competent agencies and organizations of foreign countries;

b) Authentication of signatures in documents and papers;

c) Certify the signature of the translator in documents and papers from foreign languages ​​to Vietnamese, and from Vietnamese to foreign languages;

d) Certification of transactions related to movable assets;

d) Certifying transactions related to land user rights according to the provisions of the law on land;

e) Certify housing transactions according to the provisions of the law on housing;

g) Probate;

h) Certification of documents refusing to receive inheritance;

i) Certify documents on division of inheritance as assets specified in points d, dd and e above.

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

The authorization and assignment of the performance of certifications specified in Clause 1 and the signing and use of seals when performing certifications shall be carried out in accordance with the provisions of law on the organization of local authorities, the law on the organization of specialized agencies under the People's Committees at the commune level and relevant laws.

3. The representative agency has the authority and responsibility to authenticate the matters specified in points a, b and c, clause 1. The diplomatic officer or consular officer shall sign and certify and affix the seal of the representative agency.

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

5. Certification does not depend on the place of residence of the person requesting certification in the following cases:

a) Certified copies from originals, certified signatures;

b) Certification of transactions related to movable assets;

c) Certifying wills and documents refusing to receive inheritance;

d) Certifying authorization documents related to the implementation of land and housing users' rights;

d) Certify the amendment, addition, and cancellation of transactions specified in points b, c, and d of this section.

6. The certification of transactions related to land use rights is carried out at the People's Committee of the commune where the land is located, the certification 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.

The person requesting authentication must not be required to present originals or copies of documents integrated on VNeID.

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

Decree No. 280/2025/ND-CP further stipulates: the person performing the authentication does not require the person requesting the authentication to submit or present the original or a copy of the documents and papers that have been integrated on VNeID when the person requesting the authentication has presented the corresponding information from VNeID.

In case the person requesting certification requests and the person performing certification can exploit information and documents from the National Population Database or other databases as prescribed by law, the person performing certification is responsible for exploiting information and documents from these databases, and does not require the person requesting certification to present the original, a copy from the original book or a certified copy of the exploited information and documents.

Amending regulations on responsibilities of People's Committees at all levels in state management of authentication

In addition, Decree No. 280/2025/ND-CP also amends and supplements Article 43 of Decree No. 23/2015/ND-CP regulating the responsibilities of People's Committees at all levels in state management of authentication to meet the requirements when operating the organization and operation of the 2-level 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 prescribed as follows:

1- The People's Committee at the provincial level performs state management of certification at the local level, with the following duties and powers:

a) Organize the implementation of legal documents on certification at the local level;

b) Provide guidance and training on certification skills for officials and civil servants working in certification at the People's Committees at the commune level and notaries of notary practice organizations;

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

d) Applying information technology in performing certification and state management of certification within the local scope, meeting the requirements for information provision and exchange;

d) Inspect and examine the certification activities of the People's Committees at the commune level and notary public organizations in the area;

e) Compile and post the list of certifying signatories of the People's Committees at the commune level in the locality on the Electronic Information Portal or the Electronic Information Page of the Department of Justice and update this list when there are changes;

g) Resolve complaints, denunciations, recommendations, and reflections from individuals and organizations and handle administrative violations related to certification within authority;

h) Consider transferring all or part of the work of certifying copies from originals and certifying signatures to notary organizations in commune-level localities where there is at least one notary organization operating stably and effectively at the time of deciding on the transfer. Notary organizations are distributed reasonably and conveniently for individuals and organizations with certification needs in the locality;

i) Synthesize the situation and statistics on local certification, report to the Ministry of Justice as prescribed. The Department of Justice assists the Provincial People's Committee in performing the tasks specified in Points a, b, c, d, e, g, h and i and inspects the certification activities of the Commune People's Committee and notary public organizations in the area.

2. The People's Committee at the commune level performs state management of certification within the commune-level area, with the following duties and powers:

a) Manage the implementation of certification tasks as prescribed in this Decree;

b) Propagating, disseminating and mobilizing people to comply with legal regulations on certification;

c) Issue certified copies of the original certified transaction;

d) Resolve complaints, denunciations, recommendations, and reflections from individuals and organizations and handle administrative violations related to certification within authority;

d) Synthesize the situation and compile statistics on certified reports to the Department of Justice according to regulations.

The Office of the People's Council and People's Committee coordinates with the Public Administration Service Center to assist the People's Committee at the commune level in performing the tasks specified in points a, b, and c. The Chairman of the People's Committee at the commune level, the person authorized or assigned to perform the certification task according to regulations must notify the Department of Justice of the signature sample used when signing the certification.

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

For transactions certified at the Department of Justice and the People's Committee at the commune level before July 1, 2025, the amendment, supplementation, cancellation of transactions, correction of errors in the 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.

Certified copies from originals, signature/address certification books, translator signature certification books, and transaction certification books 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