Circular No. 26/2025/TT-BTP guiding the construction and issuance of regulatory legal documents

 

CIRCULAR

GUIDELINES FOR THE DEVELOPMENT AND ISSUANCE OF LEGAL REGULATORY DOCUMENTS

Pursuant to Law on Issuance of Legal Regulatory Documents No. 64/2025/QH15 amended and supplemented by Law No. 87/2025/QH15;

Pursuant to Decree No. 78/2025/NĐ-CP of the Government detailing certain provisions and measures for organizing and guiding the implementation of the Law on Issuance of Legal Regulatory Documents amended and supplemented by Decree No. 187/2025/NĐ-CP;

Pursuant to Decree No. 63/2010/NĐ-CP of the Government on administrative procedure control amended and supplemented by Decrees No. 48/2013/NĐ-CP, No. 150/2016/NĐ-CP, No. 92/2017/NĐ-CP, No. 78/2025/NĐ-CP, No. 118/2025/NĐ-CP;Pursuant to Decree No. 39/2025/NĐ-CP of the Government stipulating the functions, tasks, powers, and organizational structure of the Ministry of Justice; The Minister of Justice issues this Circular guiding the development and issuance of legal regulatory documents.

This Circular guides the establishment of a list of detailed regulatory documents and the content assigned to be regulated, registration for developing legal regulatory documents; the formulation of policy contents and impact assessment of policies; the impact assessment of administrative procedures and other related matters concerning the development and issuance of legal regulatory documents.

At the proposal of the Director of the Department of Legislative Drafting;

Article 2. Posting project draft laws, ordinances, resolutions submitted to the National Assembly, the Standing Committee of the National Assembly on the National Legal Portal

PART I

GENERAL PROVISIONS

Article 1. Scope of Regulation

The agency submitting the project draft laws, ordinances, resolutions to the National Assembly, the Standing Committee of the National Assembly shall post them on the National Legal Portal from the date of submission according to Clause 1, Article 37 of Law on Issuance of Legal Regulatory Documents No. 64/2025/QH15 amended and supplemented by Law No. 87/2025/QH15 (hereinafter referred to as the Law) until the project drafts are adopted. For project drafts submitted by the Government, the ministries and agencies at the ministerial level responsible for drafting shall be responsible for posting.

Article 3. Reviewing and perfecting language, format, and presentation techniques of draft laws, ordinances, resolutions of the National Assembly, the Standing Committee of the National Assembly

Ministries and agencies at the ministerial level responsible for drafting shall send representatives to fully participate in meetings reviewing and perfecting language, format, and presentation techniques of draft documents organized by the Ministry of Justice; provide information, materials, and clarify contents related to language, format, and presentation techniques of draft documents.

Article 4. Form of review of draft decisions of commune-level People's Councils

Draft decisions of commune-level People's Councils shall be reviewed through written consultation or by organizing a review meeting.

ESTABLISHING A LIST OF DETAILED REGULATORY DOCUMENTS AND CONTENTS ASSIGNED TO BE REGULATED AND REGISTERING THE DEVELOPMENT OF LEGAL REGULATORY DOCUMENTS

Article 5. Establishing a list of detailed regulatory documents and contents assigned to be regulated

Chapter II

1. When establishing a list of detailed regulatory documents as prescribed in Clause 1 and Clause 2, Article 23 of Decree No. 78/2025/NĐ-CP detailing certain provisions and measures for organizing and guiding the implementation of the Law on Issuance of Legal Regulatory Documents amended and supplemented by Decree No. 187/2025/NĐ-CP (hereinafter referred to as Decree No. 78/2025/NĐ-CP), ministries and agencies at the ministerial level shall establish a list of contents assigned in laws, resolutions of the National Assembly, ordinances, resolutions of the Standing Committee of the National Assembly, decrees of the President of the State according to Point a, Clause 1, Article 14, Clause 1, Article 15, and Clause 1, Article 18 of the Law.

2. The establishment of a list of detailed regulatory documents and contents assigned to be regulated within the issuing authority of local governments shall be carried out as follows:

a) Specialized agencies under provincial People's Committees, military and police agencies at the provincial level, within their scope of state management, based on legal regulatory documents of higher-level state agencies, shall propose a list of detailed regulatory documents and contents assigned to be regulated within the issuing authority of provincial-level local governments according to Model No. 01 in Appendix I attached hereto, submit to the Department of Justice for consolidation, and report to the provincial People's Committee according to Article 42 of Decree No. 78/2025/NĐ-CP;

b) Specialized departments under commune-level People's Committees, military and police agencies at the commune level, within their scope of state management, based on the provisions of laws and resolutions of the National Assembly, shall propose a list of contents assigned to be regulated within the issuing authority of the People's Councils and People's Committees at the commune level according to Model No. 01 in Appendix I attached hereto, submit to the Office of the People's Council and People's Committee at the commune level for consolidation, and report to the Standing Body of the People's Council for decision on the list of resolutions of the People's Council; report to the Chairman of the People's Committee at the commune level for decision on the list of decisions of the People's Committee.

2. The establishment of the list of detailed regulatory documents and contents assigned to be prescribed within the authority to issue of local administrative authorities shall be carried out as follows:

a) Specialized agencies under the People's Committee, military and police agencies at the provincial level, within their respective fields of state management, based on normative legal documents from higher-level state agencies, propose the list of detailed regulatory documents and contents assigned to be prescribed within the authority to issue of the provincial-level administrative authorities according to Model No. 01 in Appendix I attached to this Circular, submit to the Department of Justice for consolidation, and report to the Provincial People's Committee in accordance with Article 42 of Decree No. 78/2025/NĐ-CP;

b) Specialized rooms under the People's Committee at the commune level, military and police agencies at the commune level, within their respective fields of state management, based on laws and resolutions of the National Assembly, propose the list of regulatory documents for contents assigned to be prescribed within the authority to issue of the Commune People's Council and Commune People's Committee according to Model No. 01 in Appendix I attached to this Circular, submit to the Office of the Commune People's Council and Commune People's Committee for consolidation, and report to the Standing Body of the Commune People's Council to decide on the list of resolutions of the Commune People's Council; report to the Chairman of the Commune People's Committee to decide on the list of decisions of the Commune People's Committee.

Article 6. Registration of construction of regulatory legal documents by People's Councils, People's Committees, and Chairpersons of provincial People's Committees

1. The registration of construction of regulatory legal documents by Chairpersons of provincial People's Committees shall be carried out in accordance with the Working Regulations of the provincial People's Committee or the directives of the Chairperson of the provincial People's Committee.

2. Documents for registering the construction of resolutions by People's Councils, decisions by People's Committees, and decisions by Chairpersons of provincial People's Committees shall be implemented according to Model No. 02 in Appendix I issued together with this Circular.

Article 7. Registration of construction of resolutions by People's Councils and decisions by commune-level People's Committees

1. Commune-level People's Committees shall base their actions on the Working Regulations of the People's Council, regulatory legal documents of higher-level state agencies, and local realities, either independently or upon the proposal of agencies, organizations, or representatives of the People's Council, to register the construction of resolutions of the People's Council as stipulated in points b and c, Clause 2, Article 22 of the Law, and submit them to the Standing Body of the commune-level People's Council for examination and decision.

2. Specialized departments under the commune-level People's Committee, military and police offices at the commune level shall base their actions on the Working Regulations of the People's Committee and regulatory legal documents of higher-level state agencies, either independently or upon the directives of the Chairperson of the commune-level People's Committee, to register the construction of decisions of the People's Committee as stipulated in points b and c, Clause 3, Article 22 of the Law.

3. Documents for registering the construction of resolutions by People's Councils and decisions by commune-level People's Committees shall be implemented according to Model No. 02 in Appendix I issued together with this Circular.

Article 8. Amendment, supplementation, or replacement of detailed regulations and assigned content

1. The amendment, supplementation, or replacement of decrees of the Government and decisions of the Prime Minister detailing and implementing assigned content shall be registered in the Work Program in accordance with the Working Regulations of the Government.

2. The amendment, supplementation, or replacement of detailed regulations and assigned content within the authority of Ministers and Heads of Ministries equivalent to Ministries shall be registered in accordance with the provisions of the Ministry or agency equivalent to a Ministry.

3. The amendment, supplementation, or replacement of detailed regulations and assigned content within the authority of local authorities shall be registered in accordance with Decree No. 78/2025/NĐ-CP and the provisions of Chapter II of this Circular.

4. The main drafting agency of the document for amending, supplementing, or replacing detailed regulations and assigned content must clearly state specific issues to resolve contradictions, overlaps, and inadequacies caused by laws; new issues, trends, and other necessary contents (if any) leading to the amendment, supplementation, or replacement of regulatory legal documents as stipulated in Clauses 1, 2, and 3 of this Article in the section "Practical Basis" of the Memorandum.

Chapter III

CONSTRUCTION AND IMPACT ASSESSMENT OF POLICIES

Article 9. Determination of Policy Name

Policies need to be named. The determination of policy names must be based on the objectives, solutions, and affected subjects of the policies. The policy name should reflect the solution to address one or more practical issues.

Example: Based on the solution and objective of universalizing secondary education and reducing financial burdens for students, the policy name could be"Exemption of tuition fees for preschool and secondary school students in public educational institutions."

Article 10. Building the main content of policy

1. Identifying the issue and the cause of each issue to be addressed through policy:

a) The issue to be resolved must arise from practical requirements, obstacles, difficulties, constraints, new issues that need to be regulated by legal provisions;

Example: The issue to be resolved"There still exists a situation where some children of school age are not attending preschool and secondary school due to financial difficulties, leading to the goal of universalizing secondary education not being achieved."

b) Determining the cause of each issue as stipulated in point a of this clause must have causes stemming from legal provisions, such as: lack of legal regulations; conflicting or overlapping provisions within the same legal document or between different legal documents; unclear provisions in legal documents with multiple interpretations, unreasonable, unfeasible, causing difficulties in applying and implementing laws; legal provisions creating compliance cost burdens; provisions no longer suitable for reality.

2. The policy objectives are determined based on the expected results when implementing the policy.

Example: The policy objective"Waiving tuition fees for preschool and secondary school students in public educational institutions"is"Universalizing secondary education and reducing financial burdens for students."

3. Solutions to address the issue must be specific and can be codified into legal provisions. Each issue must propose at least two solutions, excluding the solution of maintaining the current regulation.

Example: The policy"Waiving tuition fees for preschool and secondary school students in public educational institutions"may include solutions: (i)"Waiving tuition fees for preschool and secondary school for all children of school age" or (ii) "Waiving tuition fees for preschool and secondary school for all children of school age who are financially disadvantaged".

These solutions can be codified into provisions:"Waiving all tuition fees for preschool and secondary school for all children of school age starting from the 2025-2026 academic year"for solution (i);"Waiving tuition fees for preschool and secondary school for all children of school age who are financially disadvantaged starting from the 2025-2026 academic year"for solution (ii).

4. The subjects directly affected by the policy must be listed specifically and comprehensively, including agencies, organizations, individuals whose rights, interests, obligations, and responsibilities are directly impacted when the policy is implemented.

5. The selected solution must be feasible, based on the results of evaluating the impact of the policy, comparing the advantages and disadvantages of various solutions, and aligning with the policy's objectives.

Article 11. Evaluating the Impact of Policy on the Legal System and Related International Treaties to which the Socialist Republic of Vietnam is a Party

The evaluation of the impact of policy on the legal system and related international treaties to which the Socialist Republic of Vietnam is a party shall be carried out as follows:

1. Reviewing the provisions of the Constitution, relevant international treaties to which the Socialist Republic of Vietnam is a party, and related legal documents concerning the policy. Relevant legal documents concerning the policy are reviewed and arranged according to the legal document system specified in Article 4 of the Law and in chronological order.

2. The content of the evaluation of the impact of policy on the legal system and related international treaties to which the Socialist Republic of Vietnam is a party includes the following issues:

a) The constitutionality of the policy is evaluated based on the comparison of the content of the policy with the relevant provisions of the Constitution to determine the conformity of the policy with constitutional provisions;

b) The legality and consistency of the policy are evaluated based on the comparison with the relevant provisions of existing legal documents issued by higher-level or same-level state agencies to determine the conformity, conflict, overlap, or duplication with existing provisions or the absence of legal regulation;

c) The compatibility of the policy with relevant international treaties to which the Socialist Republic of Vietnam is a party is evaluated based on the degree of compatibility or risk of conflict with those treaties.

3. Summarizing the results of the review, evaluation, identifying legal documents that need to be amended, supplemented, replaced, or abolished to implement the policy, assessing the positive and negative impacts of the policy on the legal system, the implementation of related international treaties to which the Socialist Republic of Vietnam is a party, and measures to mitigate the negative impacts of the policy (if any).

4. The content of the evaluation of the impact of policy on the legal system and related international treaties to which the Socialist Republic of Vietnam is a party is carried out in accordance with the guidance provided in Section I of Appendix II attached to this Circular.

Article 12. Economic and Social Impact Assessment of Policies

The economic and social impact assessment of policies shall be carried out as follows:

1. Identify specific contents related to the economy and society that are relevant to the policy for assessing the degree of influence, benefits, costs, and risks on the anticipated subjects affected by the policy.

2. Contents of the economic and social impact assessment

The economic and social impact of the policy must be comprehensively assessed regarding costs, benefits, positive and negative impacts on each group of affected subjects, including the State, agencies, organizations, businesses, and citizens. Depending on the content of the policy, the economic and social impact of the policy may be assessed according to the following contents:

a) The impact of the policy on production and business: investment conditions, market access, competitive ability, raw materials, fuel, human resources, capital, technical infrastructure, and other contents directly related to production and business;

b) The impact of the policy on employment: the ability to increase or decrease employment, labor market structure, working conditions, income, social welfare, and social insurance for workers, labor productivity, training, skill development, and other contents directly related to employment;

c) The impact of the policy on ethnic groups and religions: equal treatment among ethnic groups, freedom of belief and religion, preservation and promotion of traditional values of ethnic groups, development opportunities for ethnic minority regions, remote areas, and other contents directly related to the State's ethnic and religious policies;

d) The impact of the policy on culture and education: preservation and promotion of tangible and intangible cultural heritage, conditions for participating in creative and spiritual cultural life, moral standards, lifestyle, family and community culture; quality, goals, system, content, methods, educational programs, learning opportunities, and other contents directly related to culture and education;

đ) The impact of the policy on health care: health services, community health care, disease prevention and control, health insurance, food safety, medical examination and treatment facilities, and other contents directly related to health care;

e) The impact of the policy on the environment: natural resources, environmental quality (air, soil, water, noise, radiation, light), biodiversity and ecosystems, climate change, and other contents directly related to the environment;

g) The impact of the policy on national defense and security: national sovereignty, defense and security potential; key defense and security projects, defense zones, border areas, islands, and strategic regions; political security, social order and safety, economic security, cultural security, traditional and non-traditional security, protection of state secrets, cybersecurity, and other contents directly related to national defense and security;

h) The impact of the policy on decentralization and delegation of authority: the initiative and responsibility of agencies and organizations in performing assigned tasks; the risk of overlap, duplication, or omission of tasks between agencies and levels of government; conditions for ensuring the implementation of delegated tasks; monitoring and supervision of the implementation of delegated tasks and other contents directly related to decentralization and delegation of authority;

i) The impact of the policy on science, technology, innovation, and digital transformation: development and application of science and technology, encouragement of technological innovation, development of the digital economy and society, digital transformation, and other contents directly related to science, technology, innovation, and digital transformation;

k) The impact of the policy on other aspects of the economy and society.

3. Summarize and assess the strengths and limitations of the policy on the economy and society and propose solutions to address the limitations (if any).

4. The content of the economic and social impact assessment and the summary of the assessment results shall be conducted in accordance with the guidelines set forth in Section II of Appendix II issued together with this Circular.

Article 13. Impact Assessment of Gender Policies

The impact assessment of gender policies is based on examining opportunities, conditions, capabilities to implement and enjoy rights and benefits of each gender in politics, economy, labor, education and training, science and technology, culture, information, physical education and sports, health, family, and other issues related to gender.

The content of the impact assessment of gender policies shall be carried out in accordance with the provisions of the Law on Gender Equality.

Article 14. Impact Assessment of Administrative Procedure Policies

1. The impact assessment of administrative procedure policies is determined based on reviewing the necessity of administrative procedures to implement policies.

2. Content of the assessment of the necessity of administrative procedures: administrative procedures shall only be prescribed to ensure the legitimate rights and interests of agencies, organizations, and individuals; meet the requirements of state management and perform tasks and powers delegated according to the Government Organization Law No. 63/2025/QH15, Local Administration Organization Law No. 72/2025/QH15, or implement measures for economic and social development, budget, national defense, security, including measures to pilot certain policies not regulated by laws within the authority of the Government or different from decrees, resolutions of the Government, or measures to pilot policies as stipulated by Law No. 72/2025/QH15.

3. Summarize the number of new administrative procedures expected to be issued, amended, supplemented, or abolished to implement policies.

Article 15. Report on the Impact Assessment of Policies

1. The results of the impact assessments of policies as specified in Articles 11, 12, 13, and 14 of this Circular shall be compiled into a Report on the Impact Assessment of Policies according to Model No. 03 Appendix IV promulgated together with Decree No. 78/2025/NĐ-CP.

In cases where the impact assessment of policies in draft decrees of the Government as provided for in point c, Clause 1, Article 14 of the Law, or draft resolutions of People's Councils as provided for in point d, Clause 1, Article 21 of the Law, they shall be implemented according to the provisions of Clause 2, Article 29 of the Law, Model No. 03 Appendix IV promulgated together with Decree No. 78/2025/NĐ-CP, and this Circular.

2. The checklist for assessing the impact of policies as guided in Appendix II attached to this Circular shall be included in Section III of the Report on the Impact Assessment of Policies.

Chapter IV

IMPACT ASSESSMENT OF ADMINISTRATIVE PROCEDURES DURING THE DRAFTING PROCESS

DRAFT LEGAL REGULATORY DOCUMENTS

Article 16. Draft Legal Regulatory Documents Subject to Impact Assessment of Administrative Procedures

1. The impact assessment of administrative procedures shall be conducted when the draft legal regulatory document fully or partially establishes administrative procedures or abolishes administrative procedures.

2. In cases where draft legal regulatory documents are developed and promulgated through simplified procedures and include administrative procedures, it is encouraged that the drafting agency conduct the impact assessment of administrative procedures in accordance with Article 17 of this Circular.

Article 17. Procedure for assessing the impact of administrative procedures

The drafting agency shall implement the assessment of the impact of administrative procedures according to the following steps:

1. The drafting agency evaluates the necessity, constitutionality, legality, rationality, and compliance costs of administrative procedures in accordance with Articles 18, 19, and 20 of this Circular.

2. After assessing the impact of administrative procedures, the drafting agency compiles the results of the assessment into the Administrative Procedure Assessment Report, including matters related to decentralization, application, promotion of scientific and technological development, innovation, digital transformation, gender equality, and implementation of ethnic policies in the project or draft regulation, in accordance with Model No. 06 of Appendix IV issued together with Decree No. 78/2025/NĐ-CP, or compile it into the proposal for the draft regulatory document of the commune-level authority.

Article 18. Impact Assessment of Proposed New Administrative Procedures in Draft Regulatory Documents

The drafting agency shall assess the impact of administrative procedures according to the following contents:

1. The necessity of administrative procedures:

a) Ensuring the rights, obligations, and legitimate interests of agencies, organizations, and individuals;

b) Meeting state management requirements;

c) Implementing measures to develop the economy and society, budget, national defense, security, including measures to pilot certain policies not regulated by laws within the Government's jurisdiction or different from decrees and resolutions of the Government, or other special measures suitable to the economic and social development conditions of localities, or measures to pilot policies as prescribed by Law No. 72/2025/QH15;

d) Being the optimal solution among possible solutions to ensure the requirements set out in points a, b, and c of this Clause.

2. Constitutionality and legality of provisions on administrative procedures:

a) Compliance of provisions on administrative procedures with the Constitution;

b) Consistency and uniformity of administrative procedures within the same document and other regulatory documents; compatibility with relevant international treaties to which the Socialist Republic of Vietnam is a party.

3. Rationality of administrative procedures

a) The name of the administrative procedure must be concise, consisting of terms or phrases indicating the actions of state agencies or individuals, combined with the name of the outcome of the administrative procedure and specific objects or fields (if applicable), or combined with phrases indicating the objects or events that state agencies wish to manage or that individuals and organizations aim to achieve;

b) The subjects implementing administrative procedures must be clearly defined, ensuring the rights and legitimate interests of the subjects; ensuring fairness between individuals, between organizations, between individuals and organizations, between sectors and fields, between regions, and between domestic and foreign entities, and anticipating the subjects complying with the administrative procedures;

c) The agency handling administrative procedures must be appropriately determined in accordance with the state management authority stipulated by law; facilitating individuals and organizations in implementing administrative procedures; ensuring maximum decentralization and delegation in handling administrative procedures;

d) The procedure for implementing administrative procedures must be specifically defined in terms of steps in chronological order, clearly dividing responsibilities and tasks of agencies, organizations, and individuals; ensuring connectivity between related administrative procedures;

đ) Methods of implementing administrative procedures must be diverse regarding methods of submitting applications and receiving results; prioritizing electronic processing of administrative procedures;

e) The dossier must be specifically defined in terms of the name, form, and quantity of components;

The components of the dossier and the number of dossiers must truly be necessary for resolving administrative procedures, meeting the standards and conditions prescribed by law, ensuring the objectives of state management; the components of the dossier must not overlap with those of another administrative procedure whose result is a component of the proposed administrative procedure or a component resulting from the managing agency; no requirement should be made for agencies, organizations, and individuals to provide components already available in the National Public Service Portal, the Central and Provincial Information System for Administrative Procedures, the National Database, or specialized databases managed by state agencies and shared according to the law; the form of the components must be diverse and easy to implement.

For administrative procedures conducted electronically, the regulations on electronic dossiers must comply with the legal provisions on conducting administrative procedures electronically and electronic transactions.

For administrative procedures carried out under the One-Stop National Portal, ASEAN One-Stop Portal, and specialized inspection of imported and exported goods, the regulations on dossiers must comply with the legal provisions on conducting administrative procedures under the One-Stop National Portal, ASEAN One-Stop Portal, and specialized inspection of imported and exported goods.

g) The time limit for resolving administrative procedures must be clearly specified, including the time required for each step from receipt of the dossier to issuance of the resolution. The provision of the time limit for resolving administrative procedures must save time for individuals and organizations and be appropriate to the capacity of the handling agency. In cases where an administrative procedure is handled by multiple agencies with authority or in collaboration, the time limits for each agency and the method and time limit for transferring dossiers between agencies must be fully specified.

The time limit for resolving administrative procedures is working days as stipulated in Clause 2 of Article 64 of Decree No. 78/2025/NĐ-CP. In cases where the time limit for resolving administrative procedures is 30 working days or more, it must be specified in days or months.

h) Fees, charges, and other costs (if any) shall be prescribed to ensure basic compensation for expenses and service provision when state agencies handle administrative procedures for individuals and organizations; minimize unnecessary costs for individuals and organizations; take into account the characteristics of each region, each implementing entity, each field, and international practices;

i) Application forms and declarations

Where an administrative procedure requires application forms or declarations, such forms and declarations must be standardized and digitized in accordance with regulations. The forms and declarations must be clear, concise, truly necessary for handling the administrative procedure, enhancing individual and organizational responsibility for the contents thereof; additional conditions, documents, or papers not stipulated in the regulatory legal document shall not be required.

In cases where application forms or declarations require confirmation from agencies or authorized persons, the regulations shall clearly specify the agency or authorized person responsible for confirmation and the content of the confirmation;

k) Requirements and conditions for entities implementing administrative procedures shall be specified, concrete, and necessary for state management, commensurate with the capacity of individuals and organizations to meet them; ensure fairness among individuals, among organizations, between individuals and organizations, among sectors and fields, among regions, and between domestic and foreign entities; clearly define the responsibility for proving requirements and conditions; in requirements and conditions, no additional contents generating extra documents or papers that individuals and organizations must submit beyond those components of the dossier already stipulated in Point e Clause 3 of this Article shall be prescribed;

l) The results of implementing administrative procedures shall be specifically defined regarding form (paper or electronic version), time limit, scope, and conditions for effectiveness (if any); ensure convenience and compliance with state management requirements, rights, obligations, and legitimate interests of organizations and individuals, and practical needs;

4. Administrative procedures must be fully and specifically provided with all constituent parts as stipulated in Clause 3 of this Article. When drafting regulatory legal documents to prescribe only one or some constituent parts of an administrative procedure and delegate subordinate agencies to prescribe the remaining parts, the drafting agency shall be responsible for assessing the necessity of the administrative procedure and its constitutionality, legality, and rationality in terms of the constituent parts of the administrative procedure to be prescribed in the document according to Clauses 1, 2, and 3 of this Article;

When drafting regulatory legal documents to prescribe the constituent parts of administrative procedures delegated by higher-level state agencies' regulatory legal documents, the drafting agency must assess the constitutionality, legality, and rationality of the constituent parts of those administrative procedures according to Clauses 2 and 3 of this Article;

5. Compliance costs for administrative procedures

a) Calculating compliance costs for administrative procedures involves quantifying the costs that individuals and organizations will incur when implementing new administrative procedures to be issued or amended, or administrative procedures to perform tasks and powers delegated, or cost reductions when administrative procedures are abolished;

b) Principles for calculating compliance costs for administrative procedures:

Select data at a low average level if there are multiple sources of data with discrepancies; do not include opportunity costs;

For new administrative procedures that have not yet been fully prescribed with all constituent parts and delegated to lower levels for detailed prescription, the calculation of compliance costs will be carried out during the impact assessment process of the detailed administrative procedures;

6. The impact assessment of new administrative procedures prescribed in Clauses 1, 2, 3, and 4 of this Article shall be conducted in accordance with the guidance provided in Form 01/ĐGTĐ-BHM in Appendix III attached hereto; the calculation of compliance costs for administrative procedures prescribed in Clause 5 of this Article shall be conducted in accordance with the guidance provided in Form 04/ĐGTĐ-SCM in Appendix III attached hereto.

Article 19. Impact Assessment of Administrative Procedures Amended, Supplemented, or Abolished

1. The assessment of the constitutionality, legality, and rationality of administrative procedures that have been amended or supplemented shall be carried out in accordance with the provisions of Clause 2, 3, and 4 of Article 18 of this Circular and the guidance provided in Form 02/DTTD-SDBS in Appendix III issued together with this Circular.

In addition to impact assessment, the drafting agency must clearly explain the simplicity and advantages of the amended or supplemented administrative procedures, as well as the cost benefits.

2. The calculation of compliance costs for administrative procedures that have been amended or supplemented shall be conducted in accordance with the provisions of Clause 5 of Article 18 of this Circular and the following regulations:

a) The drafting agency calculates the compliance costs for the current administrative procedure and the compliance costs for the amended or supplemented administrative procedure. The compliance costs for the amended or supplemented administrative procedure are determined based on the current costs after adjusting the contents that have been amended or supplemented.

b) The cost benefit of amending or supplementing is the difference between the compliance costs of the current administrative procedure and the compliance costs of the amended or supplemented administrative procedure.

c) The calculation of compliance costs for administrative procedures shall be carried out according to the guidance provided in Form 04/DTTD-SCM in Appendix III issued together with this Circular.

3. For administrative procedures that have been abolished, the compliance costs for the administrative procedure are calculated as zero. The drafting agency must clearly state the reasons why it is not necessary to stipulate the administrative procedure as required by Clause 1 of Article 18 of this Circular and incorporate these contents into the Administrative Procedure Impact Assessment Report, the delegation and decentralization of authority, the application and promotion of scientific and technological development, innovation, digital transformation, gender equality, and the implementation of ethnic policies in the project or draft proposal according to Form 06 in Appendix IV issued together with Decree No. 78/2025/NĐ-CP or incorporate them into the report on the draft regulatory legal document of the commune-level government.

Article 20. Impact Assessment of Administrative Procedures for Implementing Delegated Tasks and Authorities

Where it is necessary to change the sequence, procedures, and authority currently prescribed in the regulatory legal documents of higher-level state agencies to implement delegated tasks and authorities as stipulated by Law No. 63/2025/QH15 and Law No. 72/2025/QH15, the drafting agency shall conduct an assessment of the necessity, legality, rationality, and compliance costs of the changed administrative procedures compared to the currently applied procedures as follows:

1. The drafting agency assesses the necessity to change the currently applied administrative procedures to implement delegated tasks and authorities.

2. The drafting agency assesses the legality of the administrative procedures based on the following contents:

a) The administrative procedures must be promulgated in accordance with the authority specified in Law No. 63/2025/QH15 and Law No. 72/2025/QH15.

b) The content stipulating the administrative procedures must be consistent within the same document; they must not conflict with the regulatory legal documents of higher-level state agencies and must be compatible with relevant international treaties to which the Socialist Republic of Vietnam is a party.

3. The drafting agency assesses the rationality of the parts of the administrative procedures in accordance with the provisions of Clause 3 of Article 18 of this Circular.

Changing the sequence, procedures, and authority currently prescribed in the regulatory legal documents of higher-level state agencies to implement delegated tasks and authorities must ensure requirements for administrative reform aimed at reducing administrative procedures, promoting the application of information technology and digital transformation in handling administrative procedures, without adding new components to the dossier, increasing requirements, conditions, or processing time for the currently applied procedures as stipulated in Clause 6 of Article 8 of Law No. 63/2025/QH15 and Clause 7 of Article 13 of Law No. 72/2025/QH15.

4. The calculation of compliance costs for administrative procedures to implement delegated tasks and authorities shall be carried out in the same manner as calculating compliance costs for amended or supplemented administrative procedures as stipulated in Clause 2 of Article 19 of this Circular.

5. The impact assessment of administrative procedures to implement delegated tasks and authorities as stipulated in this Article shall be conducted according to the guidance provided in Form 03/DTTD-PC and Form 04/DTTD-SCM in Appendix III issued together with this Circular.

Chapter V

DRAFTING CERTAIN LEGAL DOCUMENTS, ARTICLES, CLAUSES OR CONTENTS IN LEGAL DOCUMENTS

LEGAL REGULATIONS

Article 21. Drafting the content of delegating detailed regulations and the content of promulgating normative legal documents within the scope of authority

1. The content of delegating detailed regulations shall be drafted in one of the following ways:

a) At the article, clause, or point where detailed regulations need to be delegated: after the name of the agency or person with the authority to delegate, the phrase "delegating detailed regulations" shall be recorded along with the article, clause, point, or content that needs to be detailed.

Example:"The Government delegates detailed regulations for point a, Clause 1, Article of this Law"or"The Government delegates detailed regulations on policy assessment of laws, resolutions of the National Assembly, ordinances of the Standing Committee of the National Assembly submitted by the Government".

Example:"The People's Council of Hanoi City delegates detailed regulations on the scope of tasks and powers delegated to civil servants under the People's Committees at the commune level, delegated to public service units, and heads of public service units."

b) At the article on the effective date: after the name of the agency or person with the authority to delegate, the phrase "delegating detailed regulations" shall be recorded along with a list of articles, clauses, points, or content that need to be detailed.

Example:"The Government delegates detailed regulations for Article 7, Article 31, Clause 1, Article 32, Article 34, Clause 1, Article 36, Clause 3, Article 59, Article 63, Article 64, Article 69, Clause 4 and Clause 5, Article 70 of this Law".

2. The content of promulgating normative legal documents within the scope of authority shall be drafted as follows: after the content of delegation, the phrase "implement according to the provisions of" and the name of the agency or person with the authority to promulgate normative legal documents shall be recorded.

Example:"The time for calculating late payment interest on taxes shall be implemented according to the provisions of the Government".

Article 22. Drafting transitional provisions

1. When amending, supplementing, replacing, or abolishing normative legal documents with other normative legal documents, the drafting agency must review and draft transitional provisions to address specific cases affected by the amendment, supplementation, replacement, or abolition of such normative legal documents.

2. The content of transitional provisions includes:

a) Specific cases that need to be stipulated in transitional provisions;

b) Handling solutions for cases stipulated in Clause 1 of this Article.

Example: transitional provision stipulates the application of normative legal documents"Draft laws and resolutions already included in the legislative program for 2025 before this Law is passed shall be prepared, submitted, reviewed, commented upon, and passed according to the provisions of Law No. 80/2015/QH13 on Legislative Documents, which has been amended and supplemented by Law No. 63/2020/QH14".

Example: transitional provision stipulates handling solutions"In cases requiring the complete abolition of joint circulars, the Minister or Head of an equivalent ministry who was responsible for drafting the joint circular shall issue a circular abolishing the joint circular after obtaining written agreement from all ministries and equivalent agencies that jointly issued the circular".

Article 23. Drafting documents to correct normative legal documents

1. The format and technical presentation of administrative resolutions or decisions to correct normative legal documents shall be carried out in accordance with the law on archival work and the provisions of Clauses 2, 3, and 4 of this Article.

2. The summary of the content of documents to correct normative legal documents shall begin with the phrase "Regarding the correction" or "Correction," followed by the normative legal document being corrected according to the method prescribed in Article 68 of Decree No. 78/2025/NĐ-CP.

3. The content of documents to correct must clearly state:

a) The content needing correction;

b) Reasons for correction;

c) Content after correction.

4. The section for recipients of documents to correct normative legal documents must include agencies, units, organizations, and individuals as in the section for recipients in the normative legal document being corrected.

Article 24. Drafting documents to suspend the effectiveness of regulatory legal documents

The content of the document suspending the effectiveness must clearly state: the type, number, code, name, and duration of suspension of the effectiveness of the regulatory legal document being suspended in full or the clause, article, point of the regulatory legal document being suspended partially.

Article 25. Drafting documents guiding the implementation of regulatory legal documents

1. Documents guiding the implementation of regulatory legal documents shall be issued in the form of resolutions or administrative decisions. The format and presentation techniques for documents guiding the implementation of regulatory legal documents shall be carried out in accordance with the provisions of the law on archival work and the provisions of Clauses 2, 3, and 4 of this Article.

2. The summary of the content of the document guiding the implementation of regulatory legal documents shall begin with the phrase "Regarding the guidance on the implementation of" or "Guidance on the implementation of," followed by the regulatory legal document being guided according to the method prescribed in Article 68 of Decree No. 78/2025/NĐ-CP.

Example:“Regarding the guidance on the implementation of Clause 1, Article 42 of Decree No. 78/2025/NĐ-CP detailing certain provisions and measures to organize and guide the enforcement of the Law on Enacting Regulatory Legal Documents amended and supplemented by Decree No. 187/2025/NĐ-CP”.

3. The basis for issuing documents guiding the implementation of regulatory legal documents shall be implemented in accordance with the provisions of the law on archival work, including the basis of Article 61 of the Law.

4. The section for receipt of the document guiding the implementation of regulatory legal documents must include agencies, units, organizations, and individuals as in the section for receipt in the regulatory legal document being guided.

Article 26. Drafting documents announcing the continued effectiveness of regulatory legal documents

1. The format and presentation techniques for administrative resolutions or administrative decisions announcing the continued effectiveness of regulatory legal documents shall be carried out in accordance with the provisions of the law on archival work and the provisions of Clauses 2, 3, 4, and 5 of this Article.

2. The summary of the content of the document announcing the continued effectiveness of regulatory legal documents shall be carried out as follows:

a) In the case of announcing the continued effectiveness of one regulatory legal document, the summary of the content of the document begins with the phrase "Regarding the continued effectiveness of," followed by the regulatory legal document continuing to be effective according to the method prescribed in Article 68 of Decree No. 78/2025/NĐ-CP.

Example:“Regarding the continued effectiveness of Decree No. 78/2025/NĐ-CP detailing and providing measures for organizing the enforcement of the Law on Enacting Regulatory Legal Documents amended and supplemented by Decree No. 187/2025/NĐ-CP”.

b) In the case of announcing the continued effectiveness of multiple regulatory legal documents, the summary begins with the phrase "Regarding the continued effectiveness of the detailed regulations and specific measures for organizing and guiding the enforcement of," followed by the regulatory legal document detailing specific measures for organizing and guiding the enforcement according to the method prescribed in Article 68 of Decree No. 78/2025/NĐ-CP.

Example:“Regarding the continued effectiveness of the detailed regulations and specific measures for organizing and guiding the enforcement of the Law on Enacting Regulatory Legal Documents No. 64/2025/QH15 amended and supplemented by Law No. 87/2025/QH15”.

3. The basis for issuing documents announcing the continued effectiveness of regulatory legal documents shall be implemented in accordance with the provisions of the law on archival work, including the basis of Clause 2, Article 57 of the Law.

4. The content of the announcement document must clearly state the regulatory legal document continuing to be effective or the part, chapter, section, article, clause, point of the regulatory legal document continuing to be effective.

5. The section for receipt of the document announcing the continued effectiveness of regulatory legal documents must include agencies, units, organizations, and individuals as in the section for receipt in the regulatory legal document detailing specific regulations and measures for organizing and guiding the enforcement.

Chapter VI

IMPLEMENTING PROVISIONS

Article 27. Effective Date

1. This Circular takes effect from December 15, 2025.

2. Circular No. 03/2022/TT-BTP dated February 10, 2022, of the Minister of Justice guiding the impact assessment of administrative procedures in drafting proposals for the establishment of regulatory legal documents and drafting projects and drafts of regulatory legal documents shall cease to be effective from the date this Circular takes effect.

Article 28. Transitional Provisions

This Circular shall not apply to policy files, projects, and draft regulatory legal documents that have been submitted for review or have been submitted to competent authorities before the date this Circular takes effect./.