DECREE

DEFINING THE FUNCTIONS, TASKS, POWERS AND ORGANIZATIONAL STRUCTURE OF THE MINISTRY OF JUSTICE

THE GOVERNMENT

Pursuant to the December 25, 2001 Law on Organization of the Government;
Pursuant to Resolution No. 02/2002/QH11 of August 5, 2002 of the first session of the XIth National Assembly of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam, prescribing the list of the Government’s ministries and ministerial-level agencies;
Pursuant to the Government’s Decree No. 86/2002/ND-CP of November 5, 2002 defining the functions, tasks, powers and organizational structures of the ministries and ministerial-level agencies;
At the proposals of the Minister of Justice and the Minister of the Interior,

DECREES:

Article 1.- Position and functions

The Ministry of Justice is a governmental agency which performs the function of State management over the legislative work, examination of legal documents, law dissemination and education, execution of civil judgments, judicial administration, legal support as well as other judicial work throughout the country; performs the State management over public services under the Ministry’s management according to law provisions.

Article 2.- Tasks and powers

The Ministry of Justice shall have to perform the tasks and exercise the powers prescribed in the Government’s Decree No. 86/2002/ND-CP of November 5, 2002 defining the functions, tasks, powers and organizational structures of the ministries and ministerial-level agencies as well as the following specific tasks and powers:

1. To submit to the Government and/or the Prime Minister strategies, development plannings as well as long-term, five-year and annual plans regarding the domains under the Ministry’s State management;

2. To direct, guide, inspect and take responsibility for the implementation of legal documents, strategies, plannings and plans after they are approved as well as other legal documents under the Ministry’s management;

3. Regarding the legislative work:

a/ To envisage programs on elaboration of laws and ordinances on matters falling under the Government’s competence and monitor the implementation of such programs after they are decided;

b/ To submit to the Government and/or the Prime Minister bills, draft ordinances and other draft legal documents on the domains under the Ministry’s State management as well as projects and draft legal documents under the Government’s or the Prime Minister’s assignment;

c/ To issue decisions, directives and circulars regarding the domains under the Ministry’s State management;

d/ To directly participate in elaborating bills and draft ordinances which are compiled mainly by ministries, ministerial-level agencies and agencies attached to the Government;

e/ To evaluate projects, draft legal documents, draft international treaties according to law provisions;

f/ To guide and inspect the review and systemization of legal documents; to review and systemize legal documents and international treaties within the domains under the Ministry’s management;

4. Regarding the examination of legal documents:

a/ To uniformly manage the examination of legal documents; to submit to the Government and/or the Prime Minister the regulations on the competence, order and procedures for examining legal documents; to elaborate, and organize the implementation of, the plans on examination of legal documents; to guide and inspect the work of examination of legal documents;

b/ To examine legal documents, which are promulgated by the ministries and ministerial-level agencies as well as the People’s Councils and the People’s Committees of the provinces and centrally-run cities, regarding the contents related to the domains under the Ministry’s State management;

c/ To assist the Prime Minister in examining legal documents of the ministries, the ministerial-level agencies, the People’s Councils and the People’s Committees of the provinces and centrally-run cities according to law provisions; to propose the handling of, handle according to its own competence or handle under the Prime Minister’s authorization, documents contrary to law;

5. Regarding law dissemination and education:

a/ To uniformly manage the work of law dissemination and education;

b/ To provide law information, compile, publish and distribute documents in service of the work of law dissemination and education;

c/ To propagate, disseminate and educate law and information on the domains under the Ministry’s State management;

d/ To direct, guide and inspect the establishment, management and exploitation of law bookcases in communes, wards, townships, agencies, enterprises and schools;

6. Regarding the execution of civil judgments:

a/ To uniformly manage the work of execution of civil judgments;

b/ To uniformly manage the organizational system and operation of the civil judgment-executing agencies from the central to local level according to law provisions;

c/ To direct the implementation of, and directly implement, courts’ judgments and decisions according to law provisions;

7. To uniformly manage the notarization, authentication, civil status, child adoption involving foreign elements, nationality and judicial record, and perform a number of specific tasks and powers in these domains according to law provisions;

8. To uniformly manage the organization and operation of domestic lawyers and foreign lawyers in Vietnam; the organization and operation of legal consultancy, judicial expertise activities, asset auction and commercial arbitration according to law provisions;

9. To uniformly manage and provide free-of-charge legal assistance to the poor, policy beneficiaries and other subjects according to law provisions; to manage and use the Central Legal Assistance Fund and guide the use of local legal assistance aid sources;

10. To uniformly manage the registration of security transactions; to register and supply information on security transactions, financial-leasing assets as well as other transactions and assets according to law provisions;

11. To guide and inspect the organization and operation of grassroots conciliation;

12. To uniformly manage activities of legal cooperation with foreign countries; to enter into international cooperation in the domains under the Ministry’s State management according to law provisions.

To provide legal opinions to projects according to law provisions; to participate in settling the legal aspects of international disputes involving Vietnam under the Government’s or the Prime Minister’s assignment;

13. To conduct jurisprudential research; to develop and apply jurisprudential research results in the domains under the Ministry’s State management;

14. To establish and develop national databases on legal documents, security transactions, notarization, civil status, judicial record and other databases according to law provisions;

15. To decide on specific undertakings and measures and direct the implementation of mechanism of operation of public-service organizations under the Ministry’s management according to law provisions; to manage and direct the operation of non-business organizations under the Ministry;

16. To perform the State management over the operation of associations and non-governmental organizations within the domains under the Ministry’s State management according to law provisions;

17. To inspect, examine, settle complaints and denunciations, combat corruption and negative phenomena, and handle law violations in the domains under the Ministry’s management;

18. Regarding administrative reform:

a/ To submit to the Government and/or the Prime Minister solutions on renovation and raising of the efficiency of State administrative institutional reform;

b/ To decide on, and direct the implementation of, the Ministry’s administrative reform program according to the objectives and contents of the State’s administrative reform program already approved by the Prime Minister;

19. To manage its organizational apparatus and payroll, direct the implementation of wage regime as well as preferential treatment, commendation and discipline regimes and policies for State officials and public employees under the Ministry’s management; to elaborate professional criteria of public employees’ specialized ranks of the judicial sector and appoint or relieve from duty judicial titles under the Ministry’s management; to train legal officials as well as provide professional training and fostering of judicial titles according to law provisions;

20. To manage the assigned finance and assets, and organize the implementation of the allocated budget according to law provisions.

Article 3.- Organizational structure of the Ministry

a/ Organizations assisting the Minister in performing the State management function:

1. The Department for Penal and Administrative Legislation;

2. The Department for Civil and Economic Legislation;

3. The Department for International Law;

4. The Department for Law Dissemination and Education;

5. The Department for Management of Notarization, Civil Status, Nationality and Judicial Record (referred to as the Judicial Administrative Department);

6. The Department for Management of Lawyers, Legal Consultancy, Judicial Expertise, Asset Auction and Commercial Arbitration (referred to as the Judicial Support Department);

7. The Planning-Finance Department;

8. The Department for International Cooperation;

9. The Department for Organization and Personnel;

10. The Department for Execution of Civil Judgments;

11. The Department for Examination of Legal Documents;

12. The National Registry of Security Transactions;

13. The Legal Assistance Department;

14. The Department for International Child Adoption;

15. The Inspectorate;

16. The Office.

b/ Non-business organizations under the Ministry:

1. The Institute of Jurisprudence;

2. Hanoi Law University;

3. The School for Training of Judicial Titles;

4. The Law newspaper;

5. The Democracy and Law journal;

6. The Informatics Center.

Article 4.- Implementation effect

This Decree takes implementation effect 15 days after its publication in the Official Gazette and replaces the Government’s Decree No. 38-CP of June 4, 1993 on the functions, tasks, powers and organizational apparatus of the Ministry of Justice.

Article 5.- Implementation responsibilities

The Minister of Justice, the ministers, the heads of the ministerial-level agencies, the heads of the agencies attached to the Government and the presidents of the People’s Committees of the provinces and centrally-run cities shall have to implement this Decree.