Continue to simplify the system of legal documents.

Việt Nam•12/02/2025

On the morning of February 12th, at the 9th Extraordinary Session, the National Assembly heard the presentation of the Submission and the Verification Report on the draft Law on the Promulgation of Legal Normative Documents (amended).

Clearly define the legislative and regulatory powers.

Authorized by the Prime Minister to present a summary of the Proposal, Minister of Justice Nguyen Hai Ninh stated that the drafting and promulgation of the Law is necessary to further improve the legal framework for the construction and operation of the system. legal documents Unified, synchronized, transparent, feasible, accessible, effective, and efficient, contributing to removing bottlenecks, unleashing all potential and resources, and creating new momentum for the rapid and sustainable development of the country.

Minister of Justice Nguyen Hai Ninh. (Photo: DUY LINH)

Building upon the current law, the draft law provides a more general framework and supplements the content and responsibilities for implementation, in addition to the provisions on drafting legal documents. At the same time, it retains the current law's provision that it does not include provisions on drafting or amending the Constitution.

To institutionalize the policy of reforming the thinking on lawmaking, the draft Law is structured into 8 chapters and 72 articles (a reduction of 9 chapters, or 53%, and 101 articles, or 58.4%, compared to the 2015 Law).

According to the Minister of Justice, the draft Law on the Promulgation of Legal Normative Documents (amended) focuses on seven important and groundbreaking innovations in the law-making process, as follows:

Continue to simplify the system of legal documents; strengthen control over power; clearly define the legislative and regulatory powers.

Add a provision for the Government to issue normative resolutions in Article 14.

Innovate the process of developing the National Assembly's legislative program by establishing legislative guidelines for each term and annual legislative programs with a high degree of flexibility.

Innovate the process of drafting and promulgating legal documents.

The regulations stipulate that the submitting agency is responsible for leading and coordinating with the reviewing agency and other relevant agencies in researching and incorporating the opinions of the Standing Committee of the National Assembly and the National Assembly to revise the draft law.

A view of the meeting. (Photo: DUY LINH)

The regulations are supplemented to strengthen the leadership of Party committees at all levels and the responsibility of heads of agencies in the process of drafting and promulgating legal documents.

Supplementing regulations on the cases, principles, criteria, and authority for guiding the application of legal normative documents.

I agree with the regulations on policy consultation.

In reviewing the draft Law, the Legal Committee agreed with the submitting agency on reducing the number of legal normative documents of the People's Council and People's Committee at the commune level; adding resolutions of the Government as legal normative documents; and changing the form of legal normative documents of the State Auditor General from decisions to circulars.

Regarding social critique and policy consultation (Articles 3, 6, 30, and 68), the Legal Committee agrees with the provision that the Vietnam Fatherland Front and socio-political organizations conduct social critique of draft legal documents to ensure the promotion of the role of the Vietnam Fatherland Front and socio-political organizations.

Regarding policy consultation, the Legal Committee generally agrees with the provisions of the draft Law and believes that this provision helps agencies coordinate more closely and effectively, contributing to improving the quality and accelerating the progress of drafting and promulgating legal documents. In addition, it is suggested that the entity organizing the policy consultation conference be clearly defined as the agency proposing the policy; and that the scope of those eligible for policy consultation be expanded to improve the quality and effectiveness of the consultation.

Chairman of the Legal Committee Hoang Thanh Tung presents the verification report. (Photo: DUY LINH)

Regarding the adoption and adjustment of the annual legislative program (Articles 25 and 26), the Legal Committee generally agrees with the provisions of the draft Law on the process of adopting the annual legislative program. In addition, some opinions suggest that to ensure the professionalism and rigor of the process, the provision for "examination" should be used instead of "review and proposal" for draft laws, ordinances, and resolutions. Furthermore, it is proposed to continue inheriting the current Law, adding provisions on the responsibility of the National Assembly Standing Committee in implementing the legislative program; and adding provisions for projects submitted by the National Assembly Standing Committee to establish a temporary committee or assign a National Assembly agency to preside over the examination.

Regarding the process for the National Assembly to review and approve draft laws and resolutions, the reviewing body generally agrees with the direction that draft laws and resolutions will, in principle, be reviewed and approved within a single session to expedite the promulgation process while still ensuring the quality of the documents.

Furthermore, to ensure the quality of laws and resolutions, it is proposed to study and supplement regulations to further enhance the role and responsibility of National Assembly deputies in the process of reviewing, commenting on, and approving draft laws and resolutions. Examples include soliciting opinions from National Assembly deputies and delegations during policy development and drafting; organizing specialized National Assembly deputy conferences to discuss and comment on draft laws and resolutions before the submitting agency officially presents them; and increasing the time allocated for group discussions on draft laws and resolutions during sessions to allow National Assembly deputies to thoroughly discuss and comment, and for the submitting agency to incorporate feedback and provide explanations before the National Assembly discusses them in the plenary session.

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