Joint Circular No. 122/2011/TTLT-BTC-BTP on the preparation of budgets, management, use, and settlement of funds for ensuring inspection, handling, review, and systematization of regulatory legal documents.

JOINT CIRCULAR

Regulations on the preparation of budgets, management, use, and settlement of funds for ensuring work related to inspection, handling, review, and systematization of regulatory legal documents.

Inspection, handling, review, and systematization of regulatory legal documents.

___________________________________

Pursuant to Decree No. 60/2003/NĐ-CP dated June 6, 2003 of the Government detailing and guiding the implementation of the Law on State Budget;

Pursuant to the Decree No. 118/2008/NĐ-CP dated November 27, 2008 of the Government stipulating the functions, tasks, powers, and organizational structure of the Ministry of Finance;

Pursuant to Decree No. 93/2008/NĐ-CP dated August 22, 2008 of the Government stipulating the functions, tasks, powers, and organizational structure of the Ministry of Justice;

Pursuant to Decree No. 24/2009/ND-CP dated March 5, 2009 of the Government detailing and providing implementation measures for the Law on Enacting Regulatory Legal Documents;

Based on Decree No. 40/2010/NĐ-CP dated April 12, 2010 of the Government on inspection and handling of regulatory legal documents,

The Ministry of Finance and the Ministry of Justice jointly issue guidelines on the preparation of budgets, management, use, and settlement of state budget funds for ensuring work related to inspection, handling, review, and systematization of regulatory legal documents as follows:

Article 1. Scope and Objects Regulated

Article 1. This Circular stipulates the contents and levels of expenditure to ensure work related to inspection, handling, review, and systematization of regulatory legal documents; the procedures for preparing, managing, using, and settling state budget funds for ensuring inspection and handling work and review and systematization of regulatory legal documents.

Article 2. Legal institutions with functions and tasks to assist competent authorities in inspecting legal documents issued by other agencies and organizations as provided for in Articles 13 and 14 of Decree No. 40/2010/NĐ-CP dated April 12, 2010 of the Government on inspection and handling of legal documents (hereinafter referred to as Decree No. 40/2010/NĐ-CP), and implementing review and systematization of legal documents as provided for in Article 93 of the Law on Issuance of Regulatory Legal Documents and Article 10 of the Law on Issuance of Regulatory Legal Documents by People's Councils and People's Committees shall be allocated state budget funds to ensure inspection, review, and systematization of legal documents according to this Circular, including:

a) The Department of Legal Document Inspection under the Ministry of Justice.

b) Legal institutions of ministries, ministerial-level agencies, and government agencies.

c) Departments of Justice, legal institutions of specialized agencies under provincial and centrally-run city People's Committees.

d) Justice offices of districts, urban districts, towns, and cities under provinces.

e) Agencies and organizations assigned to perform inspection, review, and systematization of regulatory legal documents according to requirements and plans.

Article 2. Principles for the preparation of budgets, management, and use of funds for inspection, handling, review, and systematization of regulatory legal documents

Clause 1. Funds for self-inspection activities of legal documents as stipulated in Article 11 of Decree No. 40/2010/NĐ-CP shall be sourced from the operating expenses of the agency conducting self-inspection of legal documents.

Clause 2. Funds to ensure inspection, handling, review, and systematization of regulatory legal documents of agencies and organizations at each level shall be guaranteed by the state budget at that level and included in the annual budget estimates of the agency or unit.

Clause 3. The use of funds to ensure inspection, handling, review, and systematization of regulatory legal documents must comply with the purpose, content, and financial expenditure regulations currently in force and specific provisions set out in this Joint Circular.

Article 3. Contents of expenditures to ensure inspection, handling, review, and systematization of regulatory legal documents.

Clause 1. Expenditures for organizing meetings, seminars, and roundtable discussions to exchange inspection, handling, review, and systematization of regulatory legal documents; meetings to handle inspection results, review, and systematization of regulatory legal documents according to requirements and plans (including handling legal documents at the inspected agency); meetings to discuss inspection, handling, review, and systematization of regulatory legal documents at the inspection agency.

Clause 2. Travel expenses for inspection teams conducting thematic, regional, or sectoral inspections; inspections of the implementation of inspection, review, and systematization of regulatory legal documents.

Clause 3. Expenses for field investigations and surveys to support inspection, handling, review, and systematization of regulatory legal documents.

Clause 4. Expert consultation fees: In cases where the inspected or reviewed legal documents belong to complex specialized fields or have signs of violation of laws, the head of the agency or legal institution shall decide on seeking expert opinions.

Clause 5. Expenditures for reporting inspection, review, and systematization of regulatory legal documents by theme, region, sector, or industry (including inter-sectoral reports and reports of each ministry, sector, or locality); periodic or ad hoc reports to the Prime Minister on inspection, review, and systematization of regulatory legal documents; reports evaluating illegal legal documents.

Clause 6. Expenditures for publicizing the results of handling illegal legal documents, review, and systematization of legal documents through mass media.

Clause 7. Support for civil servants performing inspection duties when discovering illegal legal documents. If there is a special allowance for civil servants performing inspection duties, such support shall not be implemented according to this regulation.

Clause 8. Expenditures for organizing a team of inspection volunteers:

a) Expenditures for hiring inspection volunteers on a fixed-term basis; payment for inspection volunteers based on the number of legal documents they provide opinions on.

b) Travel expenses for volunteers participating in thematic, regional, or sectoral inspection teams.

Clause 9. Expenditures for building a database to serve inspection, review, and systematization of regulatory legal documents:

a) Expenditures for reviewing and identifying legal documents with higher legal validity currently in effect at the time of inspection to establish a database as a legal basis for inspection work; expenditures for reviewing and systematizing legal documents as stipulated in Point a, Clause 3, Article 62 of Decree No. 24/2009/NĐ-CP dated March 5, 2009 of the Government.

b) Expenditures for collecting, classifying, processing information, materials, data, and legal documents; purchasing books, newspapers, magazines.

c) Expenditures for establishing an information network to serve the construction and management of a database; maintaining, repairing, and improving the efficiency and performance of the information technology system (including expenditures for purchasing hardware, software, upgrading, and improving infrastructure, and other services); expenditures for applying and developing information technology in professional work (including digitizing the database).

Clause 10. Expenditures for printing, preparing documents, and collecting legal documents subject to inspection, review, and systematization.

Clause 11. Other expenditures related to inspection, handling, review, and systematization of regulatory legal documents.

Expenses for organizing scientific research on inspection, review, and systematization of documents; training; guiding and enhancing professional skills for inspection, review, and systematization of documents for cadres and civil servants engaged in inspection, review, and systematization of documents and cooperative teams; expenses for mid-term reviews, final summaries, competitions, and awards for inspection, review, and systematization of documents work; expenses for organizing industry-specific contests on inspection and handling of documents; overtime pay, office supplies, and other directly related expenses.

Article 4. Levels of expenditure for inspection, handling, review, and systematization of legal documents

1. The contents of expenditures for inspection, handling, review, and systematization of regulatory documents shall be implemented in accordance with current financial expenditure regulations, standards, and norms. Specifically as follows:

a) For expenses to organize meetings, conferences, seminars, roundtable discussions, mid-term reviews, and final summaries; travel expenses for those working domestically (including cooperative team members and participants in document inspection teams and inspection review teams) shall be carried out in accordance with Circular No. 97/2010/TT-BTC dated July 6, 2010, issued by the Ministry of Finance, stipulating the travel expense regime and the organization of conferences for state agencies and public service units.

b) For expenses to organize training and enhancement of professional knowledge and information technology for cadres and civil servants engaged in inspection, review, and systematization of documents and cooperative teams shall be carried out in accordance with Circular No. 139/2010/TT-BTC dated September 21, 2010, issued by the Ministry of Finance, stipulating the preparation of budgets, management, and utilization of state budget funds for training and enhancement of cadres and civil servants.

Expenses for organizing industry-specific, regional, and nationwide contests on inspection, handling, review, and systematization of documents: Shall be carried out in accordance with Joint Circular No. 73/2010/TTLT-BTC-BTP dated May 14, 2010, issued by the Ministry of Finance and the Ministry of Justice, guiding the preparation, management, utilization, and settlement of funds for legal education and dissemination activities.

For expenses for field investigations and surveys serving inspection, handling, review, and systematization of documents shall be carried out in accordance with Circular No. 58/2011/TT-BTC dated May 11, 2011, issued by the Ministry of Finance, stipulating the management, utilization, and settlement of funds for statistical surveys.

For expenses for purchasing equipment and establishing electronic databases to serve document inspection work shall be carried out in accordance with the Ministry of Finance's guidelines on the cost of creating electronic data under information technology and current regulations on information technology, database construction, and management.

Expenses for rewarding outstanding collectives and individuals in inspection, review, and systematization of documents work shall be carried out in accordance with current reward expenditure regulations.

Expenses for time-limited contracts with document inspection cooperative teams shall be carried out in accordance with labor laws.

2. Agencies and units responsible for implementing inspection, handling, review, and systematization of regulatory documents tasks shall use funds in accordance with the above provisions and current financial expenditure regulations. Additionally, this joint circular provides guidance on certain special-purpose expenditures in inspection, handling, review, and systematization of regulatory documents. (See Appendix attached).

Article 5. Establishing the budget estimate, managing, using, and settling accounts for funds to ensure inspection, handling, review, and codification of normative legal documents work

Clause 1. Annually, based on the requirements of the inspection, handling, review, and codification of normative legal documents work and based on the content and expenditure levels specified in Articles 3 and 4 of this Joint Circular, agencies and units shall establish the budget estimate for funds to ensure the inspection, handling, review, and codification of normative legal documents work, consolidating it into the annual regular budget estimate and submitting it to the competent authority in accordance with the State Budget Law and guiding documents.

Clause 2. For legal institutions that are not budgetary units, annually, the legal institution must base its budget estimate for the inspection, handling, review, and codification of normative legal documents work, as stipulated in this Joint Circular, and the approved inspection, review, and codification plan, on the content of the funds ensuring these activities. The budget estimate should be submitted to the financial department of their agency for consolidation into the agency's budget estimate in accordance with regulations.

Clause 3. Management, use, and settlement: The management, use, and settlement of funds to ensure the inspection, handling, review, and codification of normative legal documents work shall be carried out in accordance with the State Budget Law, Accounting Law, and guiding documents.

Article 6. Implementation Provisions

Clause 1. This Joint Circular takes effect from October 15, 2011, and replaces Joint Circular No. 158/2007/TTLT-BTC-BTP dated December 28, 2007, issued by the Ministry of Finance and the Ministry of Justice regarding guidelines for managing and using funds to support the inspection of normative legal documents work. For the year 2011, agencies and organizations shall proactively arrange within the 2011 budget estimate already assigned by the competent authority to implement.

Clause 2. Based on the budget capacity, local circumstances, and the nature of each inspection, handling, review, and codification activity, the People's Committee of provinces and centrally-administered cities shall submit specific expenditure levels to ensure the inspection, handling, and review, codification of normative legal documents work at the local level to the People's Councils of the same level for approval; the Ministers, Heads of ministerial-level agencies, and government-affiliated agencies shall specify the expenditure levels for subordinate agencies and units based on the allocated budget estimates but shall not exceed the maximum expenditure levels or the expenditure range specified in this Joint Circular.

Clause 3. In cases where ministries, sectors, and localities have not issued specific expenditure level regulations, agencies and units may apply the provisions of this Joint Circular.

Clause 4. During implementation, if there are difficulties or obstacles, agencies and units are requested to report to the Ministry of Finance and the Ministry of Justice for research and resolution./.