Circular No. 1793/1997/TT-BTP guiding the business operations of legal affairs organizations in ministries, ministerial-level agencies, and government agencies

CIRCULAR

Decision No. 1793/1997/TT-BTP dated December 30, 1997

Legal review of draft documents prepared by other units within the Ministries and sectors (Clause 2).

- People's Committees of provinces and centrally-administered cities

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To implement Decree No. 94/CP of the Government dated September 6, 1997 on the organization of legal affairs under Ministries and agencies at the level of Ministries and agencies under the Government (hereinafter referred to collectively as legal affairs organizations of Ministries), the Ministry of Justice guides certain issues regarding the business operations of legal affairs organizations of Ministries as follows:

I. IN LEGISLATIVE WORK

To implement Article 4 of Decree No. 94/CP, legal affairs organizations of Ministries shall perform the following tasks:

1. Drafting the Program for Legislative Development (Clause 1).

1.1. In accordance with the annual plan or the term of the National Assembly, legal affairs organizations of Ministries must request in writing from units (Directorates, Departments, Institutes, etc.) within their Ministries and sectors to propose the issuance of normative legal documents (Codes, Laws, Ordinances, documents of the Government, and documents of their Ministries and sectors) to regulate relationships within the scope of state management of their Ministries and sectors.

1.2. The proposal for issuing normative legal documents must clearly specify the following points:

- The necessity of issuing the proposed document;

- The form of the document;

- The subject, scope of regulation, and the proposed structure of the document to be issued;

- The proposed main drafting unit, participating drafting units, and coordination with relevant agencies in drafting the document;

- Timeframe, progress, and other necessary conditions to ensure the drafting of the document.

1.3. Legal affairs organizations of Ministries have the responsibility to propose the issuance of normative legal documents.

1.4. The time by which legal affairs organizations of Ministries request units to propose the issuance of documents and compile the Program for Legislative Development of their Ministries and sectors annually or during the term of the National Assembly shall not be later than the end of June of the previous year; if it is a program during the term of the National Assembly, then the time for proposing and compiling proposals shall not be later than the end of June of the year ending the term of the previous National Assembly session.

1.5. After receiving the list of documents proposed by units, legal affairs organizations of Ministries compile it into a draft Program for Legislative Development of their Ministries and sectors annually or during the term of the National Assembly.

1.6. Legal affairs organizations of Ministries organize meetings with units within their Ministries and sectors, inviting representatives of the Ministry of Justice to attend under the chairmanship of the leadership of their Ministries and sectors to review the draft Program for Legislative Development.

Based on the conclusions of the leadership of their Ministries and sectors, legal affairs organizations of Ministries prepare the draft Program for Legislative Development of their Ministries and sectors to submit for decision and signature by the Minister or Head of Sector and send to the Ministry of Justice and the Office of the Government within the deadline specified in Clause 3, Article 9 of Decree No. 101/CP of the Government dated September 23, 1997. In the draft Program for Legislative Development of Ministries and sectors, it is necessary to clearly specify the issues according to Point 1.2 of this section for each project.

1.7. When the Program for Legislative Development has been approved by the competent authority (National Assembly, Government, Ministry, sector), legal affairs organizations of Ministries propose in writing to the leadership of their Ministries and sectors to consider and decide on the implementation plan for the Program for Legislative Development, while also having the responsibility to monitor and urge units assigned by their Ministries and sectors to draft normative legal documents, ensuring progress and quality. Legal affairs organizations of Ministries assign personnel directly to participate in drafting normative legal documents.

1.8. Legal affairs organizations of Ministries have the responsibility to periodically report monthly, quarterly, semi-annually, annually, or at any time to the leadership of their Ministries and sectors on the implementation of legislative plans, difficulties and obstacles arising during the process, and promptly make specific written recommendations for the leadership of their Ministries and sectors to consider and resolve.

2.1. According to Clause 2, Article 4 of Decree No. 94/CP, legal affairs organizations of Ministries only conduct legal reviews of draft documents prepared by other units before submitting them to the leadership of their Ministries and sectors.

Legal review of draft documents is conducted based on the examination and evaluation of the following issues:

- The necessity of issuing the document;

- The appropriateness of the form of the document to the issue to be addressed;

- The target group and scope of regulation of the document;

- The structure of the document;

- The constitutionality, legality, and consistency of the document within the legal system;

- The feasibility of the document;

- Drafting techniques (language, wording, title of articles, style, etc.).

Before conducting the review, legal affairs organizations of Ministries request in writing the main drafting units to provide the following materials:

- The draft Memorandum or Explanation of the draft document;

- The final draft prepared by the main drafting unit;

- Proposals for abolishing, amending, supplementing, issuing anew, or maintaining the validity of related provisions or documents;

- A compilation of comments from other units sent;

- Reference materials (if any).

2.2. During the review process, if there are unclear issues, legal affairs organizations of Ministries will discuss with the drafting units or seek opinions from relevant units of the Ministry of Justice such as the Department of Civil and Commercial Law; the Department of Criminal and Administrative Law, the Department of International Cooperation, etc., to clarify. In cases where there are differing opinions on related issues, legal affairs organizations of Ministries have the right to reserve their own opinions and report to the leadership of their Ministries and sectors for consideration and decision.

2.3. Within the time limit set by the leadership of their Ministries and sectors, legal affairs organizations of Ministries must submit the review document to the leadership of their Ministries and sectors for consideration and decision, and simultaneously send the review document to the main drafting unit.

3. Drafting or participating in the drafting of normative legal documents (Clause 3).

3.1. When directly tasked with drafting normative legal documents, legal affairs organizations of Ministries must proactively develop plans and schedules, propose the establishment of a drafting board or editing team for the leadership of their Ministries and sectors to consider and decide, and prepare the necessary conditions to fulfill the task.

Legal affairs organizations of Ministries proactively coordinate with relevant units within their Ministries and sectors, with relevant units of the Ministry of Justice, and with relevant agencies to organize research, surveys, summaries, evaluations of the implementation of related documents, and preparation of drafts of normative legal documents.

When the draft document has been completed, the Legal Department of the Ministry shall submit it to the leadership of the Ministry for review and decision. The Legal Department of the Ministry shall be responsible before the leadership of the Ministry for both the content and the legal aspects of the draft document.

3.2. When other units within the Ministry are assigned by the leadership of the Ministry to take the lead in drafting regulatory legal documents, the Legal Department of the Ministry shall be responsible for assigning staff to participate from the beginning. During the drafting process, the Legal Department of the Ministry not only assists the unit in technical matters related to the construction of the document but also participates with comments on the content of the document within its capacity; if there are differing opinions regarding the content of the document, the Legal Department of the Ministry may propose to the leadership of the Ministry to organize exchanges involving the Ministry of Justice and relevant agencies to clarify the issues.

4. Serve as the focal point to assist the Minister, Head of the Sector in providing comments on regulatory legal documents sent for comments by other Ministries, sectors, or localities (Clause 4).

4.1. In accordance with the division of responsibilities by the leadership of the Ministry, when a document requiring comments is sent by another Ministry, sector, or locality and concerns a specific unit within the Ministry, that unit shall be responsible for studying and providing written comments.

4.2. The role of the Legal Department of the Ministry as the focal point in providing comments on draft regulatory legal documents sent for comments by other Ministries, sectors, or localities is reflected in the following points:

- The specialized unit assigned by the leadership of the Ministry to take the lead in researching and providing comments must send a copy of the draft document to the Legal Department of the Ministry for study and monitoring of the progress of the comments, ensuring compliance with the deadlines set by the Ministry.

- In cases where the content of the document for comments involves different units within the Ministry or other agencies, the Legal Department of the Ministry shall proactively request to participate in the comments or propose to the leadership of the Ministry to organize meetings involving the Ministry of Justice and relevant agencies to discuss the related issues.

- After completing the draft document for comments, the leading unit must send it to the Legal Department of the Ministry for finalization of the draft document to be submitted to the leadership of the Ministry for approval. If the comments of the Legal Department of the Ministry differ from those of the leading unit, the Legal Department of the Ministry must re-discuss with the leading unit before submitting to the leadership of the Ministry; if differences persist, the Legal Department of the Ministry shall report in writing (including the draft document for comments) to the leadership of the Ministry for consideration and decision.

II. IN THE WORK OF REVIEWING AND SYSTEMATIZING DOCUMENTS

LEGAL REGULATIONS

To implement Article 5 of Decree No. 94/CP, the Legal Department of the Ministry shall perform the following tasks:

1. Organize the implementation of reviewing and systematizing regulatory legal documents, including regulatory legal documents of the National Assembly, Standing Committee of the National Assembly, President of the State, Government, Prime Minister, Ministries, agencies at the level of ministries, agencies under the Government, and joint documents which the Ministries, sectors must implement or organize the implementation according to the provisions of the Decree on the functions, tasks, and powers of those Ministries, sectors, specifically:

1.1. Guide the business of reviewing, urging, and inspecting the review work of units under the Ministry, sector;

1.2. Regularly update regulatory legal documents related to the activities of the Ministry, sector;

1.3. Propose to the leadership of the Ministry, sector to determine the areas of regulatory legal documents that need to be reviewed based on the tasks and powers of each unit under the Ministry, sector;

1.4. Directly review the range of regulatory legal documents related to the activities of the Ministry, sector, as assigned by the leadership of the Ministry, sector;

1.5. Organize meetings, scientific seminars with the participation of subordinate units of the Ministry, sector related to the matter; if necessary, invite the Ministry of Justice (Departments of Law Drafting or other relevant units) and relevant agencies to participate to propose solutions to handle the results of reviewing regulatory legal documents. Handling should be based on the provisions of the Constitution, Codes, laws, ordinances currently in force as a basis for comparison and verification to ensure constitutionality, legality, and consistency of the system of documents;

1.6. Summarize and submit to the Minister, Head of the Sector the solutions to handle the results of the review as stipulated in Clause 2, Article 5 of Decree No. 94/CP.

2. Prepare and submit to the Minister, Head of the Sector comments to complete the sets of systematized regulatory legal documents related to other Ministries, sectors, and provincial People's Committees directly under the Central Government.

3. Maintain regular contact and be subject to guidance from the Ministry of Justice on the business of reviewing and systematizing regulatory legal documents; cooperate with the Ministry of Justice in building Comprehensive Sets and Collections of Regulatory Legal Documents.

III. IN THE WORK OF SPREADING AND EDUCATING ON LAW,

INSPECTING THE IMPLEMENTATION OF LAWS

To implement Article 6 of Decree No. 94/CP, the Legal Department of the Ministry shall perform the following tasks:

1. Spreading and educating on law (Clause 1)

1.1. Based on the requirement to enhance legal awareness to serve the work of cadres and civil servants in the entire sector, propose annual and long-term plans for spreading and educating on law to the leadership of the Ministry, sector for consideration and decision.

For the dissemination of regulatory legal documents drafted by the Ministry, sector with a wide audience of citizens as well as regulatory legal documents drafted by other agencies with guidelines for disseminating such documents issued by the Ministry of Justice, the Legal Department of the Ministry shall coordinate with the Ministry of Justice (Department of Spreading and Educating on Law) to develop programs for disseminating and educating on such documents for cadres and civil servants in the sector and various strata of the people.

1.2. Directly or coordinate with units under the Ministry, sector and the Ministry of Justice (Department of Spreading and Educating on Law) to organize the implementation of legal information activities, spreading and educating on law for cadres and civil servants in units under the Ministry, sector, specifically:

- Compiling legal dissemination materials;

- Training on regulatory legal texts for civil servants within the entire sector;

- Disseminating laws related to the field managed by the Ministry or sector through various mass media outlets, primarily those directly managed by the Ministry or sector;

- Incorporating legal knowledge training programs into professional training programs for management staff within the sector;

- Integrating legal content into collective activities of political-social organizations, clubs, and other mass organizations;

2. Inspection of law enforcement (Clauses 2, 3, and 4);

The Legal Department shall coordinate with the Inspectorate of the Ministry or sector and relevant units under the Ministry or sector to assist the leadership of the Ministry or sector in performing the following tasks:

2.1. Developing plans for regular or spot inspections of law enforcement by civil servants managed by the Ministry or sector;

2.2. Monitoring and urging law enforcement within the Ministry or sector; regularly surveying, summarizing, and evaluating the current state of legal knowledge and compliance awareness among civil servants in the sector to propose measures to the leadership of the Ministry or sector;

2.3. Maintaining regular contact with relevant units under the Ministry of Justice to exchange opinions on the application of laws and participate in discussions on handling violations of laws within the sector;

2.4. Proposing preventive and corrective measures for law violations within the sector and improvements to the legal system and mechanisms for implementing laws, including regulations and implementation mechanisms managed by the Ministry or sector;

IV. REGARDING REPORTING AND REWARD WORK

1. To strengthen working relationships and assist the Ministry of Justice in effectively fulfilling its role in guiding professional activities of the Legal Departments according to Article 2 of Decree No. 94/CP, Legal Departments shall submit reports periodically every six months, annually, or at any time deemed necessary to their respective Ministry or sector leadership, while also sending copies to the Ministry of Justice and the Government Office regarding their organizational structure and professional activities;

2. The Ministry of Justice shall implement rewards for Legal Departments and their staff based on recommendations from the managing Ministries or sectors and the opinions of the Ministry of Justice's Competition Council;

In professional legal activities, if there are any difficulties or suggestions, they should be promptly reported to the Ministry of Justice for guidance and resolution.