Circular No. 09/2013/TT-BTP detailing the implementation of Government Decree No. 16/2013/NĐ-CP dated February 6, 2013 on reviewing and systematizing regulatory legal documents.

CIRCULAR

Regulations detailing the implementation of Decree No. 16/2013/NĐ-CP dated February 6, 2013 of the Government on reviewing and systematizing regulatory legal documents.

regarding the review and systematization of regulatory legal documents

________________________

Pursuant to Decree No. 22/2013/NĐ-CP dated March 13, 2013 of the Government stipulating the functions, tasks, powers, and organizational structure of the Ministry of Justice;

Pursuant to Decree No. 16/2013/ND-CP dated February 6, 2013 of the Government on reviewing and systematizing legal normative documents;

At the proposal of the Director of the Department for Legal Document Inspection;

The Minister of Justice issues this Circular to detail the implementation of Decree No. 16/2013/NĐ-CP dated February 6, 2013 of the Government on reviewing and systematizing regulatory legal documents.

PART I

GENERAL PROVISIONS

Article 1. Scope of Regulation

This Circular details the implementation of Decree No. 16/2013/NĐ-CP dated February 6, 2013 of the Government on reviewing and systematizing regulatory legal documents (hereinafter referred to as Decree No. 16/2013/NĐ-CP).

Article 2. Regulatory legal documents subject to review and systematization by state agencies

1. Regulatory legal documents (hereinafter referred to as documents) subject to review and systematization by the Minister, Heads of Ministries, and Heads of Government Agencies as stipulated in Clause 1, Article 5 of Decree No. 16/2013/NĐ-CP include:

a) Laws, resolutions of the National Assembly;

d) Decrees of the Government; joint resolutions between the Government and the Central Steering Committee of the Vietnam Fatherland Front; decisions of the Prime Minister;

c) Orders and decisions of the President;

Point d) Decrees of the Government;

Point đ) Decisions of the Prime Minister;

e) Circulars of the Minister, Heads of Ministries;

g) Joint resolutions between the Standing Committee of the National Assembly or between the Government and central bodies of political-social organizations;

h) Joint circulars between the Minister, Heads of Ministries and the Procurator General of the Supreme People's Procuracy, the President of the Supreme People's Court; between Ministers, Heads of Ministries;

i) Other forms of regulatory legal documents issued before the Law on Legislative Documents came into effect on June 3, 2008.

2. Documents subject to review and systematization by the People's Committees as stipulated in Clause 2, Article 5 of Decree No. 16/2013/NĐ-CP include:

a) Resolutions of the People's Councils;

b) Decisions and directives of the People's Committees.

Chapter II

REVIEWING LEGAL DOCUMENTS

Article 3. Legal basis for reviewing documents

Documents serving as legal grounds for review as stipulated in Clause 1, Article 11 of Decree No. 16/2013/NĐ-CP must meet the following conditions:

1. Documents falling under any of the cases specified in Points a, b, and c of Clause 1, Article 11 of Decree No. 16/2013/NĐ-CP, specifically as follows:

a) The Constitution serves as legal grounds for reviewing documents within the system of regulatory legal documents as prescribed by the Law on Legislative Documents;

b) International treaties signed or acceded to by the State, the Government of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam serve as legal grounds for reviewing documents within the system of regulatory legal documents as prescribed by the Law on Legislative Documents, except for the Constitution;

c) Laws and resolutions of the National Assembly serve as legal grounds for reviewing documents of the National Assembly (excluding the Constitution), the Standing Committee of the National Assembly, the President, the Government, the Prime Minister, the Minister, Heads of Ministries, People's Councils, People's Committees;

đ) Ordinances and resolutions of the Standing Committee of the National Assembly, joint resolutions between the Standing Committee of the National Assembly and central bodies of political-social organizations serve as legal grounds for reviewing documents of the Standing Committee of the National Assembly, the President, the Government, the Prime Minister, the Minister, Heads of Ministries, People's Councils, People's Committees;

đ) Orders and decisions of the President serve as legal grounds for reviewing documents of the President, the Government, the Prime Minister, the Minister, Heads of Ministries, People's Councils, People's Committees;

e) Decrees of the Government and joint resolutions between the Government and central bodies of political-social organizations serve as legal grounds for reviewing documents of the Government, the Prime Minister, the Minister, Heads of Ministries, People's Councils, People's Committees.

Resolutions of the Government issued before the Law on Legislative Documents came into effect on June 3, 2008 also serve as legal grounds for reviewing documents of the Government, the Prime Minister, the Minister, Heads of Ministries, People's Councils, People's Committees;

g) Decisions of the Prime Minister serve as legal grounds for reviewing documents of the Prime Minister, the Minister, Heads of Ministries, People's Councils, People's Committees.

Directives of the Prime Minister issued before the Law on Legislative Documents came into effect on June 3, 2008 also serve as legal grounds for reviewing documents of the Prime Minister, the Minister, Heads of Ministries, People's Councils, People's Committees;

h) Circulars of the Minister, Heads of Ministries, joint circulars between Ministers, Heads of Ministries, and joint circulars between the Minister, Heads of Ministries and the President of the Supreme People's Court, the Procurator General of the Supreme People's Procuracy serve as legal grounds for reviewing documents issued by the Minister, Heads of Ministries themselves or jointly issued documents; documents of People's Councils, People's Committees.

Decisions and directives of the Minister, Heads of Ministries, and joint circulars between the Minister, Heads of Ministries and political-social organizations issued before the Law on Legislative Documents came into effect on June 3, 2008 also serve as legal grounds for reviewing documents issued by the Minister, Heads of Ministries themselves or jointly issued documents; documents of People's Councils, People's Committees.

Documents of the Minister, Heads of Ministries with authority over national management in specific sectors or fields serve as legal grounds for reviewing documents of other Ministers, Heads of Ministries related to those sectors or fields;

i) Resolutions of the People's Councils serve as legal grounds for reviewing documents of the same People's Council and the same-level People's Committee, and documents of lower-level People's Councils and People's Committees;

k) Decisions and directives of the People's Committees serve as legal grounds for reviewing documents of the same People's Committee, and documents of lower-level People's Councils and People's Committees.

2. Documents issued later that contain provisions related to the provisions of the reviewed documents include:

a) In cases where documents are issued to amend, supplement, replace, revoke, or abolish one or more documents, such documents serve as legal grounds for review; the documents being amended, supplemented, replaced, revoked, or abolished are the documents to be reviewed.

b) In case a document is issued to amend, supplement, replace, revoke, or abolish a document that serves as the basis for issuing one or more documents, and the content of such amendment, supplementation, replacement, revocation, or abolition relates to the provisions of documents that have used the amended, supplemented, replaced, revoked, or abolished document as their basis for issuance, then the document amending, supplementing, replacing, revoking, or abolishing is the legal basis for review; the document that has been amended, supplemented, replaced, revoked, or abolished is the document subject to review.

c) In case a document is issued to amend, supplement, replace, revoke, or abolish a document cited in the content of one or more documents, and the content of such amendment, supplementation, replacement, revocation, or abolition relates to the provisions of documents containing the cited content, then the document amending, supplementing, replacing, revoking, or abolishing is the legal basis for review; the document containing the cited content to the document that has been amended, supplemented, replaced, revoked, or abolished is the document subject to review.

d) In other cases where a document issued contains provisions related to the provisions of one or more previously issued documents, then the subsequently issued document is the legal basis for review; the previously issued documents with related provisions are the documents subject to review.

Article 4. The situation of economic and social development is the basis for reviewing documents.

The Minister, Head of a ministry-level agency, Head of an agency under the Government, People's Committees at all levels (hereinafter referred to as the reviewing agency) shall consider and determine the situation of economic and social development as the basis for reviewing documents based on the following information and documents:

1. Party and State documents such as: Charter, Resolutions, Circulars, Directives, and other formal documents of the Communist Party of Vietnam; formal documents of State agencies with jurisdiction related to the objects, scope of regulation, and specific contents of the reviewed document;

2. Results of surveys and investigations; information, indices, standards on economic and social development; statistical data, results, and reports; information and data about practical situations related to the objects, scope of regulation, and specific contents of the reviewed document collected or published by State agencies with jurisdiction (including the reviewing agency).

Article 5. Procedure for implementing document reviews

1. Assigning personnel to review documents.

2. Conducting document reviews

a) Carrying out document reviews;

b) Preparing a Document Review Form;

c) Preparing a Document Review File.

3. Soliciting opinions from the Legal Department of the Ministry, ministry-level agency, agency under the Government, unit entrusted with the task of organizing the review at the Ministry of Justice (hereinafter referred to as the Legal Department), Department of Justice of the People's Committee, Justice Office of the People's Committee (hereinafter referred to as the Justice Agency) regarding the results of document reviews.

4. Submitting the results of document reviews for consideration and handling or recommending handling by the Head of the reviewing agency.

Article 6. Assignment of personnel to review documents

Immediately after a document serving as the legal basis for review is issued or the situation of economic and social development related to the object and scope of regulation of the document changes to the extent that the content of the document is no longer appropriate, the Head of the agency or specialized department responsible shall assign personnel to review documents.

Article 7. Implementation of review of legal documents

The person reviewing the legal document shall be responsible for:

1. Conducting the review of legal documents according to the procedures and formalities stipulated in Articles 13 and 16 of Decree No. 16/2013/NĐ-CP, specifically as follows:

a) Review based on the legal basis document

- Identifying the document to be reviewed

The person reviewing the legal document shall identify the document to be reviewed and report to the Head of the agency or specialized unit for consideration and decision.

- Examining and evaluating the legal basis section of the document to be reviewed to determine and collect all legal basis documents for review as prescribed in Article 3 of this Circular.

- Examining and determining the validity of the document to be reviewed:

Based on the cases of expiration of validity of documents stipulated in Clause 1, Article 12 of Decree No. 16/2013/NĐ-CP, the person reviewing the legal document shall determine that part or all of the content of the document to be reviewed has expired validity, the reason for expiration, and the date of expiration. Documents determined to have expired validity in whole or in part shall be included in the list for publication as prescribed in Article 20 of Decree No. 16/2013/NĐ-CP and Article 11 of this Circular. Documents determined to still be valid (including those determined to have expired validity in part) shall continue to be reviewed regarding the authority to issue and the content of the document.

In the case where the document is determined to have expired validity in whole or in part due to no longer having regulated objects as prescribed in Point d, Clause 1, Article 12 of Decree No. 16/2013/NĐ-CP, the person reviewing the legal document shall clearly state the recommendation to abolish the entire or part of the document in the Legal Document Review Form.

In the case of reviewing a document where the legal basis document for review was issued according to the procedures and formalities prescribed in the Law on Issuing Legal Normative Documents dated November 12, 1996, and the Law Amending and Supplementing Certain Provisions of the Law on Issuing Legal Normative Documents dated December 16, 2002, the determination of the cases of expiration of validity of the document to be reviewed shall be carried out as prescribed in Article 78 of the Law on Issuing Legal Normative Documents dated November 12, 1996.

- Examining and evaluating the issuing authority of the document to be reviewed

The person reviewing the legal document shall examine the conformity of the issuing authority of the document to be reviewed (formal authority and substantive authority) with the provisions of the legal basis document for review. Formal authority is determined according to the provisions on the form (type name) of the document within the issuing authority of the agency or person with authority. Substantive authority is determined according to the provisions on division of responsibilities, specific functions, tasks, powers of management of each agency, level, and sector for each field.

- Examining and evaluating the content of the document to be reviewed

The person reviewing the legal document shall examine and determine the contents of the document to be reviewed that contradict, overlap, or conflict with the provisions of the legal basis document for review.

In the case where the legal basis documents for review have different provisions on the same issue, the provision of the document with higher legal validity shall be applied; if the legal basis documents for review issued by the same agency have different provisions on the same issue, the document issued later shall be applied; if the legal basis documents for review issued by Ministers or Heads of agencies at the ministerial level have different provisions on the same issue, the document of the Minister or Head of the agency at the ministerial level with authority over the industry or field shall be applied.

b) Review based on the development situation of the economy and society

- Identifying the document to be reviewed

The person reviewing the legal document shall identify the document with regulated objects and scope related to changes in the economic and social situation for review.

- Collecting legal basis documents to determine changes in the economic and social situation

Based on the regulated objects and scope of the document to be reviewed, the person reviewing the legal document shall collect information, materials, and other documents as legal basis to determine changes in the economic and social situation as prescribed in Article 4 of this Circular.

- Examining and comparing the content of the document to be reviewed with the information, materials, and documents as legal basis to determine changes in the economic and social situation to determine the content of the document to be reviewed that is no longer appropriate according to Article 15 of Decree No. 16/2013/NĐ-CP.

2. Prepare the Legal Document Review Form according to the model issued together with this Circular (Form No. 01).

The Legal Document Review Form must include evaluations by the reviewer on: The status of validity of the document, the issuing authority of the document to be reviewed, the contents of the document to be reviewed that contradict, overlap, or conflict with the provisions of the legal basis document for review or are no longer appropriate with the development of the economic and social situation; recommendations for handling the document according to the forms prescribed in Article 19 of Decree No. 16/2013/NĐ-CP (if applicable).

In the case where the results of the review of the document contain complex content, the person reviewing the legal document shall propose to the Head of the agency or specialized unit to consider organizing exchanges, discussions, or seeking opinions from relevant agencies and units to perfect the results of the review of the document.

The Legal Document Review Form shall also be prepared in the case where the document to be reviewed does not contain contradictory, conflicting, or overlapping provisions with the legal basis document for review.

3. Prepare the Legal Document Review File

The person reviewing the legal document shall prepare the Legal Document Review File for submission to the Head of the agency or unit for consideration and handling of the results of the review of the document. The Legal Document Review File includes:

a) The document to be reviewed;

b) The legal basis document for review; The document as legal basis to determine changes in the economic and social situation;

c) The Legal Document Review Form;

d) The report on the results of the review of the document by the specialized agency for submission to the Head of the reviewing agency, detailing the evaluation of the validity, issuing authority, contradictory, overlapping, or conflicting provisions of the document to be reviewed with the legal basis document for review or being no longer appropriate with the development of the economic and social situation and recommendations for handling;

đ) The document of the Ministry or agency at the ministerial level seeking opinions from the co-signing agency of the document to be reviewed on the handling of the review results.

e) Documents from the supervisory agency requesting the competent authority to handle the documents;

g) Other related documents.

Article 8. Soliciting opinions from legal organizations and judicial agencies on the results of reviewing documents

1. The head of the specialized unit under the Ministry, ministry-level agency, or agency under the Government shall direct the submission of the review document dossier for soliciting opinions from legal organizations. The head of the specialized agency under the People's Committee shall direct the submission of the review document dossier for soliciting opinions from judicial agencies at the same level. Opinions from legal organizations and judicial agencies must be expressed in writing, clearly stating the content with which they agree, the content with which they disagree, or other opinions.

2. The head of the agency or specialized unit shall direct the study, explanation, and adoption of opinions from legal organizations and judicial agencies regarding the review results; complete the review document dossier, sign the report on the review results of the document.

Article 9. Submitting to the head of the supervisory agency for consideration and handling or recommending handling of the review results of the document

1. The head of the agency or specialized unit shall submit the review document dossier for the head of the supervisory agency to consider and decide on the handling or recommending handling of the review results.

The report on the review results of the document within the review document dossier shall also be submitted to legal organizations and judicial agencies for monitoring and summarizing.

2. Legal organizations and judicial agencies shall establish a "Monitoring Register for Reviewed Documents" to monitor the review process and the handling results of reviewed documents of Ministries, ministry-level agencies, agencies under the Government, People's Councils, and People's Committees according to the model issued together with this Circular (Model No. 02).

Article 10. Drafting documents to suspend implementation, abolish, replace, amend, or supplement reviewed documents or issue new documents or issuing new documents

1. Based on the directives of the agency or authorized person regarding the review results of the document, the head of the agency or unit assigned to draft documents to abolish, replace, amend, or supplement reviewed documents or issue new documents shall be responsible for drafting the document draft to be submitted to the competent authority for examination and issuance in accordance with the laws on promulgating legal documents.

2. In cases where a document suspending implementation or a document solely abolishing all or part of the reviewed document is issued, the agency or unit assigned to draft the administrative decision document (according to Model 1.1, Model 1.2 Appendix V of Circular No. 01/2011/TT-BNV dated January 19, 2011 of the Ministry of Home Affairs guiding the format and technical presentation of administrative documents) shall submit it to the competent authority for examination and issuance.

3. Legal organizations under Ministries, ministry-level agencies, or agencies under the Government, and judicial agencies under People's Committees shall be responsible for summarizing, urging, and monitoring the handling of documents.

Article 11. Announcing the list of documents that have become invalid in whole or in part as stipulated in Article 20 of Decree No. 16/2013/NĐ-CP

1. Documents that have become invalid in whole or in part as stipulated in Points a, b, c, d Clause 1 Article 12 and Point c Clause 2 Article 19 of Decree No. 16/2013/NĐ-CP must be announced no later than January 30 each year.

2. Documents that have become invalid in whole or in part and are included in the annual announcement list are those whose date of becoming invalid in whole or in part falls within a calendar year (from January 1 to December 31).

If a document that has become invalid in whole or in part belongs to the previous announcement period but was not announced, the supervisory agency shall include such document in the list of documents to be announced.

3. Documents that have become invalid in whole or in part and are included in the announcement list must clearly state the reasons for becoming invalid and the date of becoming invalid.

Documents that have become partially invalid and are included in the announcement list must clearly state the name of the article, clause, point, or the content that has become invalid.

4. The list of documents that have become invalid in whole or in part shall be established according to the model issued together with this Circular (Model No. 03).

Chapter III

COMPREHENSIVE REVIEW OF THE SYSTEM OF DOCUMENTS,

REVIEWING DOCUMENTS BY SPECIALIZED TOPICS, SECTORS, OR REGIONS

Article 12. Scope and purpose of the comprehensive review of the system of legal documents

The comprehensive review of the system of legal documents shall be carried out based on the decision of the Prime Minister to examine and re-evaluate the entire system of legal documents (excluding the Constitution) issued by all agencies and entities authorized to issue legal documents within a specific period of time.

Article 13. Scope and purpose of the specialized topic, field, and territorial review of legal documents

1. The review of legal documents according to specialized topics and fields shall be carried out based on the decisions of the Prime Minister, the Minister, the head of an agency at the ministerial level, the head of an agency under the Government, or the Chairman of the People's Committee at all levels to examine and re-evaluate legal documents regulating one or more groups of social relations within a specific period of time.

Determining the content of specialized topics and fields for reviewing legal documents shall be considered based on the scope and objects regulated by legal documents under the management of the Government, the Prime Minister, Ministries, agencies at the ministerial level, agencies under the Government, and People's Committees at all levels.

2. The review of legal documents according to territory shall be carried out based on the decisions of the Prime Minister, the Minister, the head of an agency at the ministerial level, the head of an agency under the Government, or the Chairman of the People's Committee at all levels to examine and re-evaluate legal documents issued with a specific scope and objects regulated in a particular territory according to the requirements of state administration or when there is an adjustment of administrative boundaries.

Determining the territory for review shall be based on regions, provincial, district, commune-level territories, or inter-provincial, inter-district, inter-commune territories.

Article 14. Drafting plans for the comprehensive review of the system of legal documents, plans for the specialized topic, field, and territorial review of legal documents

1. Plans for the comprehensive review of the system of legal documents; plans for the specialized topic, field, and territorial review of legal documents (hereinafter referred to as review plans) shall be drafted in accordance with Clause 4, Article 10 of Decree No. 16/2013/ND-CP and the provisions of this Circular.

2. Based on the authority to decide on the comprehensive review of the system of legal documents, the specialized topic, field, and territorial review of legal documents as stipulated in Article 10 of Decree No. 16/2013/ND-CP, the Director of the Legal Department under the Ministry, the head of an agency at the ministerial level, the head of the unit assigned the task to organize the review and systematization of legal documents under the Ministry of Justice, the Director of the Department of Justice, the Head of the Justice Office, and the Justice-Civil Registry Officer at the commune level shall assist the Minister, the head of an agency at the ministerial level, and the Chairman of the People's Committee at the same level in advising, drafting, and implementing the review plan.

In case the head of an agency under the Government decides to conduct a review according to specialized topics and fields, the head of the legal department of the agency under the Government shall assist the head of the agency under the Government in drafting the review plan and organizing its implementation.

3. Basis for advising, drafting, and submitting the review plan to the competent authority for decision-making on the comprehensive review of the system of legal documents, the specialized topic, field, and territorial review of legal documents:

a) Functions, tasks, and powers of the Prime Minister, Ministers, heads of agencies at the ministerial level, and heads of agencies under the Government, and Chairmen of People's Committees;

b) When there is an adjustment of administrative boundaries as stipulated in Clause 3, Article 5 of Decree No. 16/2013/ND-CP;

c) Results of monitoring, evaluating, and summarizing the implementation of laws;

d) Requirements for building and perfecting laws;

đ) Recommendations for reviewing legal documents from agencies, organizations, and citizens as stipulated in Article 6 of Decree No. 16/2013/ND-CP;

e) Other management requirements decided by the legal document review agency itself.

Article 15. Results of the comprehensive review of the system of legal documents, results of specialized topic, field, and locality reviews

1. The results of the comprehensive review of the system of legal documents, results of specialized topic, field, and locality reviews include evaluations on the current status of the reviewed legal document system compared to the requirements and purposes of the comprehensive review, specialized topic, field, and locality reviews. Based on these evaluations, the agency conducting the comprehensive review of the legal document system, specialized topic, field, and locality reviews proposes recommendations and suggestions for handling legal documents to improve the reviewed legal document system.

2. The results of the comprehensive review of the system of legal documents, results of specialized topic, field, and locality reviews are reflected through Reports and legal document lists as follows:

a) Report on the results of the comprehensive review of the system of legal documents, results of specialized topic, field, and locality reviews detailing the implementation process; achievements through the comprehensive review, specialized topic, field, and locality reviews; evaluations on the current status of the reviewed legal document system and recommendations and suggestions for handling legal documents;

b) Comprehensive list of legal documents within the scope of the comprehensive review of legal documents; specialized topic, field, and locality reviews;

c) List of legal documents that have been fully or partially invalidated;

d) List of valid legal documents (including partially invalidated legal documents);

đ) List of legal documents requiring amendment, supplementation, replacement, abolition, or issuance anew.

3. The legal document lists are established according to the model issued together with this Circular.

Chapter IV

LEGAL DOCUMENT SYSTEMATIZATION

Article 16. Collecting Legal Documents and Review Results for Systematization Purposes

1. Legal documents and review results for systematization purposes must be collected comprehensively to serve as the basis for determining legal documents within the scope of legal document systematization as stipulated in Clause 1, Article 25 of Decree No. 16/2013/NĐ-CP and legal documents within the categories specified in Clause 3, Article 25 of Decree No. 16/2013/NĐ-CP.

2. Legal documents for periodic systematization purposes include those in the previous period's Systematization Collection and those issued during the current period's systematization (including those issued during the current period but not yet effective).

Article 17. Collecting, Rechecking Review Results, and Supplemental Reviews of Legal Documents Within the Scope of Systematization

1. After collecting all legal documents and review results for systematization purposes as prescribed in Article 16 of this Circular, based on the regular review results, the person responsible for systematization identifies and collects all legal documents within the scope of systematization as stipulated in Clause 1, Article 25 of Decree No. 16/2013/NĐ-CP.

Legal documents within the scope of systematization include those in the previous period's Systematization Collection that were reviewed and determined to still be valid, those issued during the current period's systematization that were reviewed and determined to still be valid, and those issued during the current period's systematization but not yet effective at the time of systematization.

2. The review results of legal documents within the scope of systematization collected under Clause 1 of this Article must be rechecked. In cases where the review results reflect outdated legal statuses of the documents or unreviewed documents are discovered, the person responsible for systematization must conduct supplemental reviews in accordance with Decree No. 16/2013/NĐ-CP and the provisions of this Circular.

Article 18. Establishing Lists of Documents

1. After the results of reviewing documents within the scope of systematization have been rechecked, the person conducting the systematization shall establish the lists of documents as stipulated in Clause 3, Article 25 of Decree No. 16/2013/NĐ-CP as follows:

a) A consolidated list of documents within the scope of systematization including documents determined under Clause 1, Article 17 of this Circular;

b) A list of documents that have become entirely or partially invalid;

c) A list of valid documents (including partially invalid documents and documents not yet effective as determined under Clause 1, Article 17 of this Circular);

d) A list of documents requiring amendment, supplementation, replacement, abolition, or issuance anew.

2. In cases where, after rechecking the results of reviewing documents within the scope of systematization, the review results ensure the accuracy of the validity of the documents at the time of systematization and all reviewed documents comply with the regulations, the consolidated list of documents within the scope of systematization shall simultaneously be the list of valid documents.

3. Documents in the lists of documents shall be arranged according to the criteria for arranging documents stipulated in Article 19 of this Circular.

4. The lists of documents shall be established according to the models prescribed in this Circular (Model Nos. 04, 05, 06, 07).

Article 19. Criteria for Arranging Documents in the Set of Systematized Valid Documents and Lists of Documents

Documents in the set of systematized valid documents and lists of documents must be arranged according to the following criteria simultaneously:

1. According to the field of state administration of the Ministry, agency equivalent to a ministry, government agency, or according to the field decided by the reviewing agency;

2. According to the hierarchy of validity of the documents, starting from documents with higher legal force to those with lower legal force;

3. According to the chronological order of issuance of the documents, starting from documents issued earlier to those issued later;

4. Other criteria suitable for state management requirements.

Article 20. Coordination Relationship Between Agencies and Units in Document Systematization

1. Legal institutions under the Ministry, agency equivalent to a ministry, government agency, units entrusted with the task of organizing the review and systematization of documents under the Ministry of Justice, judicial agencies under the People's Committee shall assist the Minister, head of the agency equivalent to a ministry, head of the government agency, People's Committee in drafting plans for document systematization and organizing the implementation of such plans.

2. Specialized units under the Ministry, agency equivalent to a ministry, government agency shall carry out the systematization of documents regulating matters within their functions and tasks of state administration according to the procedures and formalities for document systematization and submit the results of systematization to the legal institution under the Ministry, agency equivalent to a ministry, government agency for consolidation.

Specialized agencies under the People's Committee shall carry out the systematization of documents regulating matters within their functions and tasks of state administration according to the procedures and formalities for document systematization and submit the results of systematization to the judicial agency at the same level for consolidation.

Supplementary reviews of documents shall be carried out according to the content, procedures, and formalities for reviewing documents prescribed in Decree No. 16/2013/NĐ-CP and this Circular. The supplementary review dossier shall be established according to Clause 3, Article 7 of this Circular and submitted to the legal institution, judicial agency (for comments) along with the results of systematization.

3. After receiving the results of document systematization from specialized units and agencies, the legal institution, judicial agency shall recheck the results of document systematization, consolidate them, and report to the Minister, head of the agency equivalent to a ministry, head of the government agency, Chairman of the People's Committee for consideration and announcement.

The dossier for submitting document systematization to the Minister, head of the agency equivalent to a ministry, government agency, Chairman of the People's Committee includes: Report on the results of document systematization; Set of systematized documents; Lists of documents; Supplementary review dossier (if any); Other related documents.

4. Within the latest period of 20 (twenty) working days from the date of announcing the results of systematization as prescribed in Point c, Clause 5, Article 25 of Decree No. 16/2013/NĐ-CP, the Ministry, agency equivalent to a ministry, government agency, provincial People's Committee shall send the Report on the results of document systematization to the Ministry of Justice for monitoring and consolidating the general report to the Government.

Chapter V

BUILDING DATABASES, REPORTING REGIMES, AND FORMS

Article 21. Database for review and systematization of legal texts

1. The database for review and systematization of legal texts includes the following contents:

a) Legal texts for review including reviewed legal texts; legal texts serving as the basis for review; documents, information serving as the basis to determine socio-economic development situations for review purposes;

b) Legal texts for systematization as stipulated in Clause 2, Article 16 of this Circular;

c) Information on the validity status of legal texts including still valid, fully or partially expired; reasons for expiration; content that has expired; expiration date;

d) Review files of legal texts as prescribed in Article 18 of Decree No. 16/2013/NĐ-CP and Clause 3, Article 7 of this Circular;

đ) Results of processing reviewed legal texts;

e) Results of systematizing legal texts as prescribed in Clause 5, Article 25 of Decree No. 16/2013/NĐ-CP;

g) Other related documents.

2. Ministries, ministerial-level agencies, provincial People's Committees, district People's Committees have the responsibility to update the contents specified in Clause 1 of this Article into the database system for inspection and handling of legal texts as prescribed in Decree No. 40/2010/NĐ-CP dated April 12, 2010 of the Government on inspection and handling of legal normative documents.

Article 22. Annual Reporting System

1. The annual reporting system on the work of reviewing and systematizing legal texts by ministries, ministerial-level agencies, government agencies, people's committees at all levels shall be implemented in accordance with the provisions of Clause 4, Article 28 and Clause 4, Article 30 of Decree No. 16/2013/NĐ-CP and this Circular, specifically as follows:

a) Units assigned to organize the implementation of reviewing and systematizing legal texts at the Ministry of Justice; legal departments under ministries, ministerial-level agencies, government agencies; Departments of Justice, Justice Offices, Justice Civil Servants - Registry Officers are responsible for preparing annual reports on the work of reviewing and systematizing legal texts to submit to the Minister, Heads of ministerial-level agencies, Heads of government agencies, Chairpersons of people's committees.

b) Annual reports on the work of reviewing and systematizing legal texts by ministries, ministerial-level agencies, government agencies, provincial people's committees shall be sent to the Ministry of Justice for consolidation and reporting to the Government.

Annual reports on the work of reviewing and systematizing legal texts by district people's committees shall be sent to provincial people's committees, Departments of Justice, and the Departments of Justice shall consolidate them into the reports of provincial people's committees.

Annual reports on the work of reviewing and systematizing legal texts by commune people's committees shall be sent to district people's committees, Justice Offices, and the Justice Offices shall consolidate them into the reports of district people's committees.

c) The deadline for submitting reports and the time point for collecting data for annual reports on the work of reviewing and systematizing legal texts shall be carried out in accordance with current regulations on statistical and reporting work in the Justice sector.

2. Annually, based on the reports on the situation of reviewing and systematizing legal texts by ministries, ministerial-level agencies, government agencies, provincial people's committees as stipulated in Clause 1 of this Article, units assigned to organize the implementation of reviewing and systematizing legal texts at the Ministry of Justice are responsible for consolidating the reports, submitting them to the Minister of Justice for consideration and reporting to the Government.

3. Annual reports on the work of reviewing and systematizing legal texts need to include the following contents:

a) The situation of implementing the work of reviewing and systematizing legal texts during the reporting period, including comprehensive statistics on the number of legal texts required to be reviewed, the number of legal texts already reviewed, results of reviewing legal texts, situation of handling reviewed legal texts; results of reviewing based on socio-economic development situations; results of systematizing legal texts; results of reviewing legal texts by topics, fields, areas;

b) General assessment of the quality of work in drafting and promulgating legal texts within the scope of review and systematization responsibilities;

c) Situation of building the database for reviewing and systematizing legal texts;

d) Situation of institutional arrangements serving the work of reviewing and systematizing legal texts; staffing and budget allocation for the work of reviewing and systematizing legal texts;

đ) Coordination activities in implementing the work of reviewing and systematizing legal texts; training, guidance, and professional development activities for reviewing and systematizing legal texts and other conditions ensuring the work of reviewing and systematizing legal texts;

e) Difficulties, obstacles, and recommendations;

g) Other related issues.

Article 23. Forms accompanying this Circular

The forms issued together with this Circular include:

1. Text review form (Form No. 01);

2. Record of reviewed texts (Form No. 02);

3. List of texts that have been fully or partially invalidated (for annual publication) (Form No. 03);

4. Comprehensive list of texts subject to systematization (Form No. 04);

5. List of texts that have been fully or partially invalidated (Form No. 05);

6. List of valid texts (Form No. 06);

7. List of texts requiring amendment, supplementation, replacement, abolition, or issuance of new texts (Form No. 07).

Chapter VI

IMPLEMENTING PROVISIONS

Article 24. Effective Date

This Circular takes effect from August 1, 2013.

Article 25. Responsibilities for Implementation

1. Units assigned to organize and implement the review and systematization of texts at the Ministry of Justice, legal institutions under ministries, agencies equivalent to ministries, agencies under the Government, Departments of Justice, Judicial Offices, Notary-Public Officers are responsible for assisting the Minister, Heads of agencies equivalent to ministries, Heads of agencies under the Government, Chairpersons of People's Committees at all levels in organizing and implementing this Circular.

2. During the implementation process, if there are any difficulties, they should be promptly reported to the Ministry of Justice for research and resolution./.