Decree-Law No. 003/SLT On Freedom of Publishing

DECREE-LAW

No. 003/SLT dated June 18, 1957 on freedom of publication.

THE PRESIDENT OF THE DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF VIETNAM

Pursuant to the resolution of the National Assembly on January 24, 1957;

At the proposal of the Council of Ministers;

After the Standing Committee of the National Assembly voted in agreement,

THE DECREE-LAW IS ISSUED:

PART I

PRINCIPLES

Article 1

The people's right to freedom of publication shall be respected and guaranteed. All publications do not need to undergo pre-publication censorship except in emergency situations if deemed necessary by the Government.

Article 2

To ensure the people's right to freedom of publication and to prevent the abuse of this right to harm the cause of striving for peace, unity, independence, and democracy of the country, the following provisions are hereby applied:

PART II

NATURE AND DUTIES OF THE PUBLISHING INDUSTRY

Article 3

Any publishing activity, whether of a state agency, political party, people's organization, or private individual, is not merely a purely commercial activity but a cultural activity with significant influence on educating the people's thoughts, so publishing activities must serve the interests of the nation, the people, and contribute to building and defending the people's democratic regime.

Article 4

The publishing industry has the duty:

a) To disseminate among the people literary and artistic works, research projects, and political, economic, scientific, and technical propaganda to enhance the cultural level of the people, enrich their spiritual life, and contribute to the planned development of national culture, serving the construction of a peaceful, unified, independent, democratic, and prosperous Vietnam.

b) To combat all thoughts and actions that undermine the consolidation of the northern region, hinder the gradual progress towards socialism in the north, and strive to achieve national reunification.

CHAPTER III

CONDITIONS FOR THE OPERATIONS OF PUBLISHERS

Article 5

To ensure that publishers operate according to the nature and duties of the publishing industry as stipulated in Chapter II, each publisher must have the following conditions:

a) Publishers must have officially responsible persons: chief editor (or director), manager, and chief editor-in-chief. These individuals must be citizens with clean judicial records.

b) The objectives, purposes, and direction of the publisher's operations must be clear and consistent with the nature and duties specified in Chapter II.

c) Have an official headquarters.

Article 6

To establish a publisher, permission must be sought beforehand and all procedures prescribed by the Government must be completed. Only after obtaining a permit from the competent authority can the publisher commence operations.

A publisher that has been permitted to establish itself and subsequently changes its objectives, purposes, operational direction, name, or chief editor (or director) must seek permission again.

If only the headquarters, manager, or chief editor-in-chief changes, only immediate notification is required.

, Clause 1, Clause 2 Article 7a of this Regulation.

Publishers must comply with the regulations on depositing copies as prescribed by the Government.

Article 8

Publishers must clearly indicate on the publication the name of the publisher, author's name, printer's name, date of completion, and number of copies issued. In case of reprinting, the serial number of the reprint must be indicated.

Article 9

To publish or reprint documents of the government, political parties, or people's organizations, publishers must obtain permission from the relevant government, political party, or people's organization.

Regarding classic works and Marxist-Leninist theories and textbooks used in schools, the Ministry of Culture or the Ministry of Education will determine types of books whose publication requires permission from the Ministry of Culture or the Ministry of Education.

To reprint publications previously published during French, Japanese occupation, or in the former temporarily occupied areas, or currently in the South, permission from the Ministry of Culture must be obtained after examination.

Article 10

Publishers may not reprint publications that have been recalled or banned by the people's government.

Article 11

To ensure the proper use of the right to freedom of publication, publishers must comply with the following:

a) Not to propagate against the laws of the State. Not to incite the people not to comply with or oppose the laws and policies of the State. Not to publish books that oppose the people's democratic regime and the people's government, divide the people from the government, or the people from the military. Not to create harmful opinions or actions for social security and order.

b) Not to propagate to undermine the cause of consolidating peace, achieving reunification, completing independence, and democracy in Vietnam, reducing the spirit of solidarity and determination of the people and the military.

c) Not to propagate to divide ethnic groups, create enmity between peoples, harm friendly relations between our people and those of neighboring countries, not to propagate narrow-minded nationalism, not to propagate imperialism, not to propagate war.

d) Not to disclose state secrets such as: defense secrets, confidential meetings without official announcements by responsible agencies, ongoing investigations not yet adjudicated and judgments that courts do not allow to be publicized, economic financial data and bases that the State Planning Commission or competent authorities have not announced, etc...

đ) Not to propagate obscenity, debauchery, and decadent customs.

Article 12

If a publication contains defamatory content against the honor of an organization or individual, the aggrieved party has the right to request the publisher to correct it in the press; additionally, the aggrieved party has the right to request the court to adjudicate.

Article 13

Publishers and authors are jointly liable for the content of published works.

If a publisher reprints a work without the author's consent, the publisher shall bear full responsibility.

Article 14

In the case where an author wishes to self-publish their own work, the author must also seek permission beforehand, provide a clear address, and assume responsibility for the publication, complying with the provisions of this decree-law except for Articles 5 and 6.

In the case where an individual publishes another person's work, such individual shall be deemed a publisher and must comply with the provisions of this Decree, except for Articles 5 and 6.

Article 15

Religious organizations publishing religious scriptures, books, and other publications mentioned in Article 4 of Decree No. 234-SL dated June 14, 1955 on ensuring freedom of belief must comply with the provisions of this Decree.

PART IV

IMPLEMENTING PROVISIONS

PART 1

PROVISIONS ON DISCIPLINARY MEASURES

Article 16

Any publisher or individual publisher violating Articles 5, 6, or 14 shall be subject to confiscation of publications, temporary or permanent revocation of permits, or prosecution at the discretion of the competent authority depending on the severity of the violation. The court may impose fines ranging from ten thousand dong (100,000đ) to fifty thousand dong (500,000đ) and imprisonment for responsible individuals for a term of one month to one year, or one of these penalties.

Any publisher or individual publisher violating Articles 7, 8, or 9 shall be subject to criticism and warning, confiscation of publications, or temporary or permanent revocation of permits at the discretion of the competent authority depending on the severity of the violation.

Any publisher or individual publisher violating Articles 10 or 11 shall be subject to confiscation of publications, temporary or permanent revocation of permits, or prosecution at the discretion of the competent authority depending on the severity of the violation. The court may impose fines ranging from ten thousand dong (100,000đ) to one million dong (1,000,000đ) and imprisonment for responsible individuals for a term of one month to one year, or one of these penalties. If the violator is found to have violated other laws, the court will impose additional penalties according to those laws.

Any publisher or individual publisher violating Article 12 shall be subject to warning, temporary revocation of permits, or prosecution at the discretion of the competent authority depending on the severity of the violation. The court may impose fines ranging from five thousand dong (50,000đ) to twenty thousand dong (200,000đ). Additionally, the court may require the violator to compensate according to current law.

Article 17

In cases of violations of Articles 5, 6, 7, 8, and 9, the director (or manager) of the publisher shall bear primary responsibility, and management shall also bear joint liability.

In cases of violation of Article 10, the publisher shall bear primary responsibility; if the author has consented to reprinting, the author shall also bear joint liability.

In cases of violation of Article 11, the director (or manager) of the publisher and the author shall bear primary responsibility, and the chief editor and management of the publisher shall also bear joint liability.

If printing or distributing publications that have been ordered by the people's authorities to be recalled or banned, or printing or distributing publications from publishers not yet licensed or from individuals not permitted to publish, the owner of the printing house and the distributor shall bear joint liability.

PART 2

GENERAL PROVISIONS

Article 18

Publications referred to in this Decree include books, pamphlets, notices, paintings, postcards, musical scores, records, maps, posters, leaflets, stickers, sold or distributed free of charge, circulated among the public or within specific sectors or organizations.

Article 19

All publishers established before the issuance of this Decree must reapply for permission. Publishers belonging to organizations under the Vietnam Fatherland Front and the State must report and complete the necessary procedures.

Article 20

Decree No. 159-SL dated August 20, 1946 regarding censorship of printed materials and other regulations previously issued concerning publication systems that conflict with the provisions of this Decree are hereby abolished.

Article 21

The Prime Minister shall stipulate the details for implementing this Decree./.