DECISION

PROMULGATING THE REGULATION ON EVALUATION OF BILLS AND DRAFT LEGAL DOCUMENTS

THE PRIME MINISTER

Pursuant to the December 25, 2001 Law on Organization of the Government;
Pursuant to the November 12, 1996 Law On Promulgation of Legal Documents and the December 16, 2002 Law Amending and Supplementing a Number of Articles of the Law on Promulgation of Legal Documents;
Pursuant to the Government's Decree No. 161/2005/ND-CP of December 27, 2005, detailing and guiding the implementation of a number of articles of the Law on Promulgation of Legal Documents and the Law Amending and Supplementing a Number of Articles of the Law on Promulgation of Legal Documents;
At the proposal of the Justice Minister,

DECIDES:

Article 1.- To promulgate together with this Decision the Regulation on Evaluation of Bills and Draft Legal Documents.

Article 2.- This Decision takes effect 15 days after its publication in "CONG BAO."

Article 3.- Ministers, heads of ministerial-level agencies, heads of government-attached agencies and presidents of provincial/municipal People's Committees shall implement this Decision.

...

...

...

PRIME MINISTER




Nguyen Tan Dung

REGULATION

ON EVALUATING OF BILLS AND DRAFT LEGAL DOCUMENTS
(Promulgated together with the Prime Minister's Decision No. 05/2007/QD-TTg of January 10, 2007)

Chapter I

GENERAL PROVISIONS

Article 1.- Evaluation of bills, draft legal documents

Evaluation of bills and draft legal documents (hereinafter collectively referred to as bills, drafts) means activities of examining and evaluating the contents and forms of bills and drafts in order to ensure the constitutionality, legality, uniformity and consistency of bills and drafts in the legal system.

...

...

...

1. This Regulation provides for the order and procedures of evaluating bills and drafts by the Justice Ministry and the Evaluating Councils (hereinafter collectively referred to as the evaluating bodies).

2. Bills, drafts subject to evaluation include:

a/ Bills, draft ordinances, draft resolutions submitted by the Government to the National Assembly, the National Assembly Standing Committee;

b/ Draft resolutions, decrees of the Government;

c/ Draft decisions, directives of the Prime Minister.

3. This Regulation does not apply to bills, draft ordinances and draft resolutions submitted by other agencies, organizations, National Assembly deputies to the National Assembly or the National Assembly Standing Committee, on which the Government shall give its comments.

Article 3.- Evaluation principles

The evaluation of bills and drafts must ensure the following principles:

1. Ensuring objectivity and scientificity;

...

...

...

3. Ensuring coordination among relevant agencies.

Article 4.- Evaluation contents

The bill and draft evaluation covers the following contents:

1. The necessity to promulgate the documents;

2. The subjects and scope of regulation of bills, drafts;

3. The conformity of the contents of bills or drafts with the Party's lines, undertakings and policies;

4. The constitutionality, legality and consistency of bills, drafts with the legal system; the conformity of the contents of bills, drafts with treaties to which the Socialist Republic of Vietnam is a contracting party;

5. The feasibility of bills, drafts;

6. The compliance with the drafting order and procedures;

...

...

...

Article 5.- Evaluation responsibilities of state agencies

1. Agencies assigned to assume the prime responsibility for making bills or drafts have the responsibilities:

a/ To send all evaluation dossiers prescribed in Clause 1, Article 6 of this Regulation to the evaluating bodies;

b/ To supply necessary information and documents related to the to be- evaluated bills or drafts at request of the evaluating bodies;

c/ To explain bills, drafts at request of the evaluating bodies;

d/ To study comments and adjust bills, drafts on the basis of the evaluation opinions for submission to the Government, the Prime Minister; at the same time, to explain in writing the acceptance or non-acceptance of evaluation opinions and report thereon to the Government, the Prime Minister for consideration and decision. Such written explanations must be addressed to the Justice Ministry and the Government Office;

e/ To invite representatives of the Justice Ministry to participate in activities of the drafting committees, the bill- or draft-editing teams in order to ensure the close coordination between the drafting agencies and the evaluating bodies; ensure the quality of bills, drafts and the quality of evaluation reports, the agencies assuming the prime responsibility for drafting.

2. Ministries, ministerial-level agencies, government-attached agencies and provincial-level People's Committees shall, within the ambit of their respective functions, tasks and powers, have the responsibilities:

a/ To appoint professionally qualified officials to join in the evaluating Councils at the request of the Justice Ministry, for bills and drafts elaborated primarily by the Justice Ministry;

...

...

...

Article 6.- Evaluation dossiers

1. Dossiers of bills, drafts elaborated primarily by ministries, ministerial-level agencies, government-attached agencies or provincial-level People's Committees to be sent to the Justice Ministry for evaluation (hereinafter referred to as evaluation dossiers) each comprises:

a/ An official letter requesting the evaluation;

b/ A draft report to be submitted to the Government on the bill, draft ordinance, draft resolution of the National Assembly, the National Assembly Standing Committee, draft decree or resolution of the Government, a draft report to be submitted to the Prime Minister on the draft decision or directive of the Prime Minister;

c/ The bill or draft;

d/ The summary of opinions of the concerned ministries, branches, agencies and organizations on the bill or draft and the copy of opinions of each ministry, branch, agency or organization; the summary of opinions of subjects directly affected by the document, the people's opinions on the bill, draft (if any); the written explanation on acceptance or non-acceptance of comments on the bill, draft.

The quantity of documents prescribed at Points b, c and d, Clause 1 of this Article is 10 sets.

2. The dossiers on evaluation of bills, drafts elaborated primarily by the Justice Ministry to be sent to members of the Evaluating Council each comprises:

a/ An official letter requesting the Evaluating Council chairman to hold an evaluation meeting;

...

...

...

c/ The bill, draft;

d/ The summary of opinions of the concerned ministries, branches and agencies on the bill, draft and the copy of opinions of each ministry, branch or agency; the summary of opinions of subjects directly affected by the document, the people's comments on the bill, draft (if any); the written explanation on acceptance or non-acceptance of comments on the bill, draft.

Article 7.- Archive of evaluation dossiers

The Justice Minister shall organize the archive and preservation of evaluation dossiers, minutes of meetings of the Evaluating Councils, the evaluated documents and other relevant documents according to the provisions of law on archive.

Chapter II

ORGANIZATION OF EVALUATION OF BILLS, DRAFTS

Section 1. EVALUATION OF BILLS, DRAFTS BY THE JUSTICE MINISTRY

Article 8.- Assignment of evaluation study

1. The Justice Minister is responsible before the Government for the contents of evaluation of bills, drafts.

...

...

...

For bills and drafts involving many complicated matters related to mechanisms and policies not yet provided for by law and other important issues, the Vice-Ministers must report them to the Minister and ask for his/her directing opinions on the evaluation contents.

3. Units of the Justice Ministry shall assist the Minister and Vice-Ministers in studying the evaluation of bills, drafts related to branches or domains assigned to them for management.

4. If a bill, draft needs the coordinated evaluation by many units, a unit is assigned to take the prime responsibility for evaluation while other units shall coordinate in the evaluation under the provisions of Article 12 of this Regulation.

Article 9.- Receipt of evaluation dossiers

1. The Justice Ministry shall receive and check the evaluation dossiers prescribed in Clause 1, Article 6 of this Regulation.

If the evaluation dossiers lack one of the documents specified at Points a, b, c and d, Clause 1, Article 6 of this Regulation, the Justice Ministry may request the prime drafting agencies to supplement the dossiers within two working days after the receipt of the dossiers.

2. The prime drafting agencies shall supplement the evaluation dossiers within three working days after receiving the Justice Ministry's request for supplementation of the dossiers.

The evaluation time is counted from the date the evaluating bodies fully receive the evaluation dossiers.

3. Right after the full receipt of evaluation dossiers, the dossier-receiving sections shall transfer the evaluation dossiers to the units assigned to conduct the evaluation.

...

...

...

Article 10.- The Justice Ministry's competence in evaluation

In the course of evaluating bills, drafts, the Justice Ministry has the powers:

1. To request the agencies taking prime responsibility for drafting laws, ordinances or resolutions of the National Assembly, the National Assembly Standing Committee; drafting the government decrees or resolutions with complicated contents related to various branches, various domains to explain the bills or drafts before the evaluation;

2. To request the prime drafting agencies to supply information and documents related to the to be-examined bills, drafts;

3. When necessary, to organize meetings with the participation of the prime drafting agencies and representatives of the concerned agencies and organizations, experts, scientists and managers to discuss and exchange ideas on the to be-evaluated contents; organize or join the prime drafting agencies in organizing field surveys of matters in the contents of the bills or drafts;

4. To invite managers, scientists and experts knowledgeable about professional matters in the contents of the bills or drafts to participate in the evaluation.

Article 11.- Organizing bill or draft studies in service of evaluation

1. The Justice Ministry's units assigned to evaluate bills or drafts shall organize their own study groups specialized in branches or domains assigned to the units for management and monitoring.

2. Under the assignment by the Justice Ministry's leadership, the unit heads appoint representatives of the unit leadership and experts to coordinate with the agencies assuming the prime responsibility for making bills or drafts in the drafting thereof.

...

...

...

4. The evaluation at each unit of the Justice Ministry is directly led by a leading official of the unit and participated by a reasonable number of experts, ensuring the exchange of ideas and collective discussions in activities of evaluating bills and drafts.

Article 12.- Evaluation by units of the Justice Ministry

1. The heads of units assigned to assume the prime responsibility for evaluation shall organize evaluation meetings at their respective units; assign representatives of the units' leadership and experts who have directly participated in the drafting to assume the prime responsibility for preparing the evaluation documents.

2. When deeming it necessary, the heads of the units assigned to assume the prime responsibility for evaluation request in writing the relevant units to coordinate in the evaluation or organize meetings for evaluation of bills or drafts.

3. The heads of the units assigned or requested to coordinate in evaluation shall organize the study of bills or drafts in their respective units and send their written comments to the prime evaluating bodies within 7 days after receiving the evaluation dossiers or appoint representatives to participate in evaluation meetings.

Article 13.- Evaluation of bills, drafts with complicated contents related to various branches or domains

1. For bills, draft ordinances and resolutions of the National Assembly, the National Assembly Standing Committee, draft decrees and resolutions of the Government, which have complicated contents related to various branches or domains, at the proposal of the units assuming the prime responsibility for evaluation, the Justice Minister or vice-minister in charge of the to be-evaluated domains shall decide to organize meetings to discuss contents of the bills or drafts.

2. Participants to the meetings include representatives of the Justice Ministry's units assigned to assume the prime responsibility for evaluation, representatives of the prime drafting agencies, managers, scientists and experts knowledgeable about the professional matters in the contents of the bills or drafts.

3. The meetings are chaired by the Justice Ministry and conducted in the following order:

...

...

...

b/ Participants in the meetings discuss and state their opinions, focusing on matters defined in Article 4 of this Regulation;

c/ The Justice Minister's leading official makes conclusions.

Comments of participants in the meetings and conclusions of the Justice Ministry's leading official must be stated in the minutes of the meetings.

Article 14.- Preparation of draft evaluation documents

1. Based on the evaluation contents specified in Article 4 of this Regulation, comments of units coordinating in evaluation in case of coordinated evaluation, and on the minutes of evaluation meetings (if any), the assigned experts shall prepare draft evaluation documents.

2. While preparing draft evaluation documents, the leadership of the units assuming the prime responsibility for evaluation shall promptly report on problems, if any, to the Justice Minister or vice- minister in charge of the evaluation for directing opinions.

3. The evaluation documents of units coordinating in the evaluation and the minutes of the meetings must be included in the dossiers to be submitted to the Justice Minister or vice-minister for signing the evaluation documents.

Article 15.- Evaluation duration and sending of evaluation documents

1. Within 30 days for bills and drafts specified at Points a and b, Clause 2, Article 2 of this Regulation or 20 days for the drafts specified at Point c, Clause 2, Article 2 of this Regulation, counting from the date of full receipt of the evaluation dossiers, the Justice Ministry shall evaluate the documents and send the evaluation documents to the prime drafting agencies.

...

...

...

3. Within 3 days after the receipt of the draft evaluation documents from the prime evaluating bodies, the Justice Minister or vice-minister in charge of the evaluation shall consider and sign the evaluation documents.

4. For bills, drafts which, under the Prime Minister's direction, should be submitted to competent agencies for timely promulgation in order to meet the requirements of the state management, protect the interests of organizations and individuals, the evaluation time limits specified in Clauses 1, 2 and 3 of this Article shall not apply, but the prime drafting agencies shall promptly send the evaluation dossiers to ensure that the evaluating bodies have at least 5 working days to evaluate the documents.

Section 2. EVALUATION OF BILLS AND DRAFTS BY EVALUATING COUNCILS

Article 16.- Establishment of Evaluating Councils

1. For bills, draft ordinances or resolutions of the National Assembly, the National Assembly Standing Committee, the Government's draft decrees and resolutions for which the Justice Ministry assumes the prime drafting responsibility, the Justice Minister shall set up Evaluating Councils for evaluation.

2. An Evaluating Council is composed of a head, a secretary and other members being representatives of the Government Office, the Justice Ministry and concerned agencies as well as organizations. The head and secretary of the Evaluating Council are appointed by the Justice Minister.

Depending on the nature and contents of bills or drafts, the Justice Minister may invite experts and scientists to join the Evaluating Councils.

The total number of members of an Evaluating Council must be at least 9 and odd, of which the representatives of the Justice Ministry represent not more than 1/3 (one-third), and not include the representative of the prime drafting body.

3. The Justice Minister shall send official letters to the concerned agencies and organizations, requesting them to appoint representatives to join the Evaluating Councils.

...

...

...

Article 17.- Principles for organization and operation of Evaluating Councils

1. Evaluating Councils operate on the principles of collectivity and voting by majority.

2. Evaluating Councils terminate their operation and dissolve after the documents are evaluated and sent to competent bodies or persons.

Article 18.- Evaluation meetings of Evaluating Councils

1. Within 15 days counting from the date the Justice Ministry sends evaluation dossiers, the heads of Evaluating Councils shall organize evaluation meetings.

2. The meetings on evaluation of bills or drafts are convened and chaired by heads of Evaluating Councils. An evaluation meeting shall be carried out only when it is participated by at least 2/3 (two-thirds) of the total number of Evaluating Council's members.

If being unable to participate in evaluation meetings, members of Evaluating Councils must send their written evaluation opinions to the heads of the Evaluating Councils.

3. An evaluation meeting is conducted in the following order:

a/ The representative of the prime drafting agency presents the basic contents of the bill or draft; supplies information related to the bill or draft and states the matters in the bill or draft on which divergent opinions still exist;

...

...

...

c/ When members of the Evaluating Council are absent, the secretary of the Council reads out their written evaluation opinions;

d/ The Evaluating Council votes on matters on which divergent opinions still exist. If the votes for and the votes against are equal, the decision shall be made based on the opinion of the head of the Evaluating Council.

4. The secretary of the Evaluating Council shall record the minutes of the Council's meeting. The minutes must be recorded fully with the statements of participants to the meeting; the matters on which the Evaluating Council has not yet been unanimous must also be recorded in the minutes.

Minutes of meetings must be signed by heads and secretaries of Evaluating Councils.

Article 19.- Preparation of evaluation documents of Evaluating Councils

Within 3 working days after meetings of Evaluating Councils conclude, based on the minutes of the meetings of the Evaluating Councils and the evaluation contents specified in Article 4 of this Regulation, the secretaries of the Evaluating Councils shall prepare the draft evaluation documents and submit them to the heads of the Evaluating Councils for consideration and signing. The evaluation documents shall be stamped with the seal of the Justice Ministry.

Article 20.- Time limit for sending evaluation documents of Evaluating Councils

Within 5 working days after the conclusion of meetings of Evaluating Councils, the minutes of the meetings and the evaluation documents must be sent to the Justice Minister and members of the Evaluating Councils.

Chapter III

...

...

...

Article 21.- Assurance of material and technical conditions for evaluation activities

The Justice Minister shall ensure material and technical conditions for evaluation activities.

Article 22.- Assurance of funding for evaluation activities

1. The funding for evaluation of bills, drafts is provided by the state budget to cover the following activities:

a/ Organizing surveys in the course of evaluation;

b/ Organizing the collection of information and materials in service of evaluation activities;

c/ Organizing evaluation meetings.

2. The Finance Minister shall ensure funding for evaluation activities.

The Finance Minister shall reach agreement with the Justice Minister on guiding the implementation of evaluation funding specified in Clause 1 of this Article.

...

...

...

Agencies having officials working as Evaluating Council members shall create conditions on time and arrange jobs suitable for those officials to fulfill the tasks of the Evaluating Council members.

Article 24.- Organization of implementation

Difficulties or problems arising in the course of implementing this Regulation shall be reported in time by ministries and agencies to the Prime Minister for directing opinions.