Law on Safeguarding State Secrets No. 29/2018/QH14

LAW

PROTECTION OF STATE SECRETS

On the basis of the Constitution of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam;

The National Assembly enacts the Law on Protection of State Secrets.

PART I

GENERAL PROVISIONS

Article 1. Scope of Regulation

This Law stipulates state secrets, activities for protecting state secrets, and the responsibilities of agencies, organizations, and individuals related thereto.

Article 2. Interpretation of Terms

In this Law, the following terms shall be understood as follows:

1. A state secret is information with significant content determined by the head of an agency or organization authorized under this Law, which has not been disclosed and whose disclosure or loss may harm national interests. Forms containing state secrets include documents, objects, locations, spoken words, activities, or other forms.

2. Protecting state secrets involves the use of forces, means, and measures by agencies, organizations, and individuals to prevent and combat violations of state secrets.

3. Disclosing state secrets refers to the situation where a person without responsibility knows state secrets.

4. Losing state secrets occurs when documents or objects containing state secrets are no longer under the management of responsible agencies, organizations, or individuals.

Article 3. Principles of Protecting State Secrets

1. Placed under the leadership of the Communist Party of Vietnam, unified management by the State; serving the tasks of building and defending the country, developing the economy and society, and international integration; protecting national interests, ethnic interests, and the legitimate rights and interests of agencies, organizations, and individuals.

2. Protecting state secrets is the responsibility of all agencies, organizations, and individuals.

3. Management and use of state secrets must comply with the purpose, authority, procedures, and formalities prescribed by law.

4. Proactively prevent; promptly detect, prevent, and strictly handle acts violating laws on protecting state secrets.

5. State secrets are protected according to the time limits prescribed by this Law, ensuring citizens' right to access information as provided by law.

Article 4. International Cooperation on Protecting State Secrets

1. International cooperation on protecting state secrets is carried out based on the principles of respecting independence, sovereignty, and territorial integrity, non-interference in internal affairs, equality, and mutual benefit.

2. Contents of international cooperation on protecting state secrets include:

a) Signing and implementing international treaties and agreements on protecting state secrets;

b) Implementing international cooperation programs and projects on protecting state secrets;

c) Training, researching, applying science and technology, and techniques to serve the work of protecting state secrets;

d) Preventing and combating violations of laws on protecting state secrets;

đ) Other international cooperative activities on protecting state secrets.

Article 5. Acts Strictly Prohibited in Protecting State Secrets

1. Revealing, appropriating, buying, selling state secrets; distorting, damaging, losing documents or objects containing state secrets.

2. Collecting, exchanging, providing, transferring state secrets illegally; making copies, photographing, retaining, transporting, delivering, recovering, destroying documents or objects containing state secrets illegally.

3. Taking documents or objects containing state secrets out of storage areas illegally.

4. Abusing the protection of state secrets, using state secrets to commit, conceal illegal acts, infringe upon legitimate rights and interests, or obstruct the activities of agencies, organizations, and individuals.

5. Drafting, retaining documents containing state secret content on computers or other devices connected or currently connected to the Internet, computer networks, telecommunications networks, except as provided by law on cryptographic matters.

6. Transmitting state secrets through communication and telecommunication means contrary to the provisions of law on cryptographic matters.

7. Changing the purpose of use of computers or other devices previously used for drafting, storing, or exchanging state secrets before removing state secrets.

8. Using equipment with signal receiving and transmitting, recording audio and video functions at meetings, seminars, or conferences containing state secrets in any form without permission from authorized persons.

9. Publishing or disseminating state secrets on mass media, the Internet, computer networks, and telecommunications networks.

Article 6. Funds and material resources for protecting state secrets

1. Funds and material resources for protecting state secrets shall be guaranteed by the state budget.

2. The management and use of funds and material resources for protecting state secrets shall be carried out in accordance with the provisions of the law.

Chapter II

SCOPE, CLASSIFICATION, ISSUANCE OF THE LIST OF STATE SECRETS

Article 7. Scope of state secrets

The scope of state secrets is the limit of important information in the following fields that have not been made public, if disclosed or lost may cause harm to national interests and the people:

1. Information on politics:

a) Party and State policies on internal and external affairs;

b) Activities of the Central Committee, Politburo, Secretariat, and Party and State leadership;

c) Strategies, projects related to ethnicity, religion, and ethnic and religious work concerning national security protection and social order and safety;

d) Information having a negative impact on political, economic, and social situations.

2. Information on national defense, security, and cryptology:

a) Strategies, plans, proposals, activities for national defense and homeland protection, national security protection, and social order and safety maintenance; special programs, projects, and proposals;

b) Organization and activities of the People's Armed Forces and cryptologic forces;

c) National defense, security, and cryptologic facilities and objectives; types of weapons, equipment, and means decisive for homeland defense capability, national security protection, and social order and safety maintenance; cryptologic products.

3. Information on constitutional, legislative, and judicial matters:

a) Constitutional and legislative activities, supervision, and decision-making on important national issues;

b) Information on prosecution; investigative work, prosecution activities, judicial oversight, trial, and criminal enforcement.

4. Information on foreign relations:

a) Strategies, plans, proposals for developing relations with foreign countries, international organizations, or other subjects of international law; situation, proposals, plans, and foreign activities of Party and State agencies;

b) Information and agreements exchanged and signed between Vietnam and foreign countries, international organizations, or other subjects of international law;

c) Confidential information transferred from foreign countries, international organizations, or other subjects of international law according to international treaties to which the Socialist Republic of Vietnam is a member and relevant international agreements.

5. Information on economy:

a) Investment strategies, plans, and national reserves ensuring national defense and security; bidding for national security protection;

b) Financial, budgetary, banking information; plans for currency issuance, design, printing, minting technology, and production of valuable paper; quantities and storage locations of rare precious metals, gems, and other rare valuables of the State;

c) Information on industry, trade, agriculture, and rural development;

d) Important political, economic, social, national defense, and security transportation plans;

e) Information on the process of formulating national-level master plans, regional plans, provincial plans, special administrative-economic zones, urban plans, rural plans; information on the system of national reserve warehouses, national defense construction projects, military areas, ammunition depots, defense industries, and security.

6. Information on natural resources and environment including water resources, environment, geology, minerals, meteorology and hydrology, land, sea, islands, surveying, and maps.

7. Information on science and technology:

a) Inventions and new technologies serving national defense and security or having particular significance for economic and social development;

b) Information on atomic energy, radiation, and nuclear safety related to national defense and security;

c) Special scientific and technological tasks, national-level scientific and technological tasks related to national defense and security.

8. Information on education and training:

a) Examination questions, answers, and related information on organizing national examinations;

b) Information on personnel from the People's Army, Public Security, and Cryptologic Services sent for training within and outside the country.

9. Information on culture and sports:

a) Information on cultural heritage, artifacts, antiques, national treasures; methods and secrets of creating, preserving, and transmitting intangible cultural heritage;

b) Methods and secrets of selecting and training high-performance sport coaches and athletes; measures and secrets for athlete recovery after training and competition; tactics in high-performance sports competitions.

10. Information on information and communications:

a) Strategies, plans, proposals for developing journalism, publishing, printing, distribution, postal services, telecommunications, the Internet, radio frequency spectrum, information technology, the information technology industry, cybersecurity, electronics, broadcasting, electronic information, news agencies, foreign information, basic and infrastructure information and communication for national defense and security service;

b) Technical designs, diagrams, data on equipment of critical national security information systems, national critical information systems, and dedicated information networks serving Party and State agencies.

11. Information on health and population:

a) Information on protecting the health of senior Party and State leaders;

b) New strains and species of microorganisms related to human health and life; specimens, genetic sources, medicinal plant cultivation areas;

c) Production processes of rare medicinal herbs and biological drugs;

d) Population survey information, data, and materials.

12. Information on labor and social affairs:

a) Strategies, plans, proposals on salary reform, social insurance, and those who have contributed to the revolution;

b) Complex situations regarding labor, children, social evils, gender equality.

13. Information on organization and cadres:

a) Strategies, plans, proposals on organizational and cadre work of Party and State agencies, political-social organizations;

b) Procedures for preparing and implementing organizational and cadre work;

c) Information on internal political security protection work;

d) Examination questions and answers for selecting leaders and managers, recruiting civil servants and public officials, and upgrading their ranks.

14. Information on inspection, examination, supervision, handling of violations, complaints resolution, denunciation handling, and anti-corruption:

a) Strategies, plans, projects on inspection, examination, supervision, complaints resolution, denunciation handling, and anti-corruption work;

b) Information on activities related to inspection, examination, supervision, handling of violations, complaints resolution, denunciation handling, and anti-corruption.

15. Information on state audit:

a) Strategies, plans, projects on state audit;

b) Audit information on public finance, public assets.

Article 8. Classification of State Secrets

Based on the nature of the content of the information and the degree of harm if disclosed or lost, state secrets are classified into three levels of confidentiality, including:

1. Top Secret State Secrets are state secrets related to politics, national defense, security, cryptography, foreign affairs, if disclosed or lost may cause particularly serious harm to the interests of the nation and the people;

2. Secret State Secrets are state secrets related to politics, national defense, security, cryptography, constitutionalism, legislation, judiciary, foreign affairs, economy, natural resources and environment, science and technology, education and training, culture, sports, information and communication, health, population, labor, society, organization, cadres, inspection, examination, supervision, handling of violations, complaints resolution, denunciation handling, and anti-corruption, state audit, if disclosed or lost may cause very serious harm to the interests of the nation and the people.

3. Confidential State Secrets are state secrets related to politics, national defense, security, cryptography, constitutionalism, legislation, judiciary, foreign affairs, economy, natural resources and environment, science and technology, education and training, culture, sports, information and communication, health, population, labor, society, organization, cadres, inspection, examination, supervision, handling of violations, complaints resolution, denunciation handling, and anti-corruption, state audit, if disclosed or lost may cause serious harm to the interests of the nation and the people.

Article 9. Issuance of the List of State Secrets

1. Based on the provisions of Articles 7 and 8 of this Law,

2. The persons responsible for establishing the list of state secrets include:

a) Ministers, Heads of ministerial-level agencies establish the list of state secrets of their respective sectors and fields of management;

b) Director of the Central Party Office establishes the list of state secrets of the Party;

c) Heads of central agencies of political-social organizations establish the list of state secrets of political-social organizations;

d) Secretary-General of the National Assembly - Chairman of the National Assembly's Office establishes the list of state secrets of the National Assembly, its agencies, agencies under the Standing Committee of the National Assembly, the Secretary-General of the National Assembly, the National Assembly's Office, and Delegations of National Assembly Members;

đ) Chairman of the Office

e) President of the Supreme People's Court, Prosecutor General of the Supreme People's Procuracy, Auditor General establish the list of state secrets of their respective sectors and fields of management.

3. The person establishing the list of state secrets as stipulated in Clause 2 of this Article shall be responsible for submitting the dossier to the Ministry of Public Security for review, except in cases provided for in Clause 5 of this Article. The dossier submitted to the Ministry of Public Security includes the submission document

4. After receiving the review document from the Ministry of Public Security, the person establishing the list of state secrets as stipulated in Clause 3 of this Article shall be responsible for submitting

5. Minister of Defense, Minister of Public Security submit

Chapter III

STATE SECRET PROTECTION ACTIVITIES

Article 10. Determining State Secrets and the Level of Confidentiality of State Secrets

1. The determination of State Secrets and their level of confidentiality must be based on the list of State Secrets and the provisions of this Law.

2. The head of an agency or organization shall be responsible for determining State Secrets, their level of confidentiality, circulation scope, permission to copy or photograph documents containing State Secrets. In cases where State Secrets of other agencies or organizations are used, the corresponding level of confidentiality must be determined. If information within the same document or medium containing State Secrets belongs to different categories with varying levels of confidentiality, it shall be determined according to the highest level of confidentiality.

3. The level of confidentiality of State Secrets is indicated by a confidentiality mark, a document specifying the level of confidentiality, or another appropriate form consistent with the form of the medium containing State Secrets.

4. The Government shall provide detailed regulations on this matter.

Article 11. Copying and Photographing Documents and Media Containing State Secrets

1. Those authorized to permit copying and photographing of documents and media containing Top Secret State Secrets include:

a) The head of central Party agencies; the head of organizations under the Central Committee of the Party;

b) The head of National Assembly agencies, agencies under the Standing Committee of the National Assembly; the Secretary-General of the National Assembly - Chairman of the National Assembly Office;

c) The Chairman of the Office;

d) The Chief Justice of the Supreme People's Court, the Procurator-General of the Supreme People's Procuracy;

đ) The Auditor General;

g) The head of central agencies of political-social organizations;

h) Ministers, Heads of ministerial-level agencies;

i) The head of agencies under the Government;

k) Provincial Party Secretaries, Municipal Party Secretaries, and Delegation Leaders of the National Assembly, Chairmen of Provincial People's Councils, Chairmen of Provincial People's Committees directly under the Central Government;

l) Immediate superiors of those persons specified in points a, b, c, h, and i of this clause;

m) The head of the Office of the State Audit, units within the management system of the State Audit, specialized State Audit, regional State Audit;

n) The head of general bureaus, bureaus, departments, and equivalent units under the agencies specified in points a, b, c, d, đ, g, and h of this clause, except the head of public service units;

o) The head of representative agencies of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam abroad.

2. Those authorized to permit copying and photographing of documents and media containing Confidential State Secrets include:

a) Those persons specified in Clause 1 of this Article;

b) The head of bureaus, departments, and equivalent units under government agencies;

c) The head of public service units directly under the agencies specified in points a, b, c, d, đ, g, h, and i of Clause 1 of this Article; the head of bureaus, departments, and equivalent units under general bureaus and equivalent units;

d) The head of provincial-level departments, committees, and equivalent units;

e) County Party Secretaries, District Party Secretaries, City Party Secretaries, and Chairmen of County People's Councils, Chairmen of County People's Committees;

g) Chairmen of the Board of Directors, Chairmen of companies, General Managers or Directors of state-owned enterprises.

3. Those authorized to permit copying and photographing of documents and media containing Secret State Secrets include:

a) Those persons specified in Clause 2 of this Article;

b) The head of department-level units under general bureaus, bureaus, departments, and equivalent units under the agencies specified in points a, b, c, d, đ, e, g, h, and i of Clause 1 of this Article;

c) The head of department-level units under provincial-level departments, committees, and equivalent units; the head of committees of the People's Councils, the head of departments of the People's Committees at the county level and equivalent units.

4. The Minister of Defense and the Minister of Public Security shall specify the authority to permit copying and photographing of documents and media containing State Secrets for objects within their jurisdiction.

5. Those authorized to permit copying and photographing of documents and media containing State Secrets as specified in Clause 1 and Clause 2 of this Article may delegate such authority to deputy heads. Delegation of authority to permit copying and photographing of documents and media containing State Secrets can be carried out regularly or on a case-by-case basis and must be documented in writing, clearly defining the scope, content, and duration of the delegation. Deputy heads who are delegated such authority must bear responsibility for their decisions to permit copying and photographing before their superiors and the law. The person delegated authority may not further delegate that authority to others.

6. Persons assigned to carry out the copying and photographing of documents and media containing State Secrets must be officials, civil servants, employees, officers, non-commissioned officers, professional military personnel, workers, and employees working in the armed forces or personnel engaged in confidential work directly related to State Secrets or personnel involved in work related to State Secrets.

7. The Government shall stipulate the procedures for copying and photographing documents and media containing State Secrets.

Article 12. Statistics, storage, preservation of state secrets documents and carriers

1. State secrets documents and carriers upon receipt and issuance must be recorded according to chronological order and level of secrecy.

2. State secrets contained in devices with storage functions, copying, photographing capabilities must be protected by appropriate measures to ensure safety.

3. State secrets documents and carriers must be stored and preserved in safe places and have protection plans.

Article 13. Transport, delivery, receipt of state secrets documents and carriers

1. Transport, delivery, receipt of state secrets documents and carriers within the country shall be carried out by persons involved in state secrets work, liaison personnel, or clerical staff of agencies and organizations.

2. Transport, delivery, receipt of state secrets documents and carriers between domestic agencies and organizations and Vietnamese agencies and organizations abroad or among Vietnamese agencies and organizations abroad shall be conducted by diplomatic liaisons or persons assigned to perform such tasks.

3. Transport, delivery, receipt of state secrets documents and carriers must be implemented under the principle of confidentiality and sealing.

4. During the transport of state secrets documents and carriers, protective measures must be taken to ensure safety; in necessary cases, security forces must be present.

5. Transport of state secrets documents and carriers through postal services shall be carried out in accordance with the regulations on postal services.

6. The sending and receiving locations for state secrets documents and carriers must check and compare to promptly detect errors and take corrective actions; the delivery and receipt must be fully recorded in separate tracking logs, and the recipient must sign for receipt.

7. The Government shall provide detailed regulations on the delivery and receipt of state secrets documents and carriers.

Article 14. Removal of state secrets documents and carriers from storage locations

1. The removal of state secrets documents and carriers from storage locations for domestic work purposes must be approved by the head or deputy head authorized by the head of the agency or organization directly managing state secrets.

2. The removal of state secrets documents and carriers from storage locations for overseas work purposes must be approved by the Minister of National Defense, the Minister of Public Security, or the person with authority specified at points a, b, c, d, đ, g, h, i, k, and l of Clause 1, Article 11 of this Law, or their authorized deputies, and must report to the Head of the Mission.

3. During the removal of state secrets documents and carriers from storage locations, protective measures must be taken to ensure safety.

4. During the period of removing state secrets documents and carriers from storage locations, if state secrets are discovered to be exposed or lost, the person carrying the documents and carriers must immediately report to the head of the agency or organization directly managing state secrets, the Head of the Mission, to take measures to address and mitigate consequences.

5. The Government shall provide detailed regulations on the removal of state secrets documents and carriers from storage locations.

Article 15. Provision and transfer of state secrets to agencies, organizations, and Vietnamese individuals assigned to carry out tasks directly related to state secrets

1. Persons with authority specified in Clauses 1, 2, and 3 of Article 11 of this Law shall decide on the provision and transfer of state secrets.

2. The Minister of National Defense, the Minister of Public Security shall specify the authority to provide and transfer state secrets within their respective jurisdictions.

3. Agencies, organizations, and Vietnamese individuals assigned to carry out tasks directly related to state secrets may request the provision and transfer of state secrets.

4. Agencies and organizations requesting the provision and transfer of state secrets must submit a written request to the person with authority to decide on the provision and transfer of state secrets. The request must clearly state the name of the agency or organization, the representative of the agency or organization, the state secrets requested to be provided or transferred, the purpose of use, and the commitment to protect state secrets.

5. Individuals requesting the provision and transfer of state secrets must submit a written request to the person with authority to decide on the provision and transfer of state secrets. The request must clearly state the full name, Citizen Identity Card number, National Identity Card number, Passport number, People's Police Identity Card number, or Military Identity Card number, contact address, job position, state secrets requested to be provided or transferred, the purpose of use, and the commitment to protect state secrets.

6. In cases where the supply and transfer of state secrets are refused, the person authorized to decide on the supply and transfer of state secrets must respond in writing and provide clear reasons.

Article 16. Supplying and transferring state secrets to foreign agencies, organizations, and individuals

1. The authority to decide on supplying and transferring state secrets to foreign agencies, organizations, and individuals shall be as follows:

a) The Prime Minister decides on supplying and transferring state secrets classified as Top Secret;

b) The Minister of National Defense, the Minister of Public Security, and persons with authority prescribed at points a, b, c, d, đ, g, h, i, and k of Clause 1, Article 11 of this Law shall decide on supplying and transferring state secrets classified as Top Secret and Confidential within their respective areas of management.

2. State secrets may only be supplied and transferred to foreign agencies, organizations, and individuals participating in international cooperation programs or performing duties related to state secrets.

3. Foreign agencies and organizations requesting the supply and transfer of state secrets must submit a written request to the leading Vietnamese agency or organization for international cooperation programs or the execution of official duties related to state secrets. The request must clearly specify the name of the agency or organization, the representative's name, nationality, passport number, position, the requested state secrets, the purpose of use, commitment to protect state secrets, and not to supply or transfer them to third parties without the consent of the supplier or transferrer.

4. Foreign individuals requesting the supply and transfer of state secrets must submit a written request to the leading Vietnamese agency or organization for international cooperation programs or the execution of official duties related to state secrets. The request must clearly specify the full name, passport number, contact address, the requested state secrets, the purpose of use, commitment to protect state secrets, and not to supply or transfer them to third parties without the consent of the supplier or transferrer.

5. Leading Vietnamese agencies or organizations for international cooperation programs or the execution of official duties related to state secrets have the responsibility to forward the requests from foreign agencies, organizations, and individuals as stipulated in Clause 3 and Clause 4 of this Article to the person authorized to decide on the supply and transfer of state secrets.

6. In cases where the supply and transfer of state secrets are refused, the person authorized to decide on the supply and transfer of state secrets must respond in writing and provide clear reasons.

Article 17. Conferences, seminars, meetings with state secrets organized by Vietnamese agencies and organizations

1. Organizing conferences, seminars, and meetings with state secrets by Vietnamese agencies and organizations must ensure the following requirements:

a) Approval by the person with authority prescribed in Clause 1 and Clause 2 of Article 15 of this Law regarding the use of state secrets;

b) Participants are representatives of agencies or organizations or persons assigned to perform tasks related to state secrets;

c) The venue must ensure safety and prevent the leakage or loss of state secrets;

d) Use means and equipment that meet the requirements for protecting state secrets;

đ) Have a security plan for the conference, seminar, or meeting;

e) Documents and carriers containing state secrets must be collected after the conference, seminar, or meeting.

2. The head of the agency or organization deciding to organize a conference, seminar, or meeting with state secrets has the responsibility to ensure the requirements prescribed in Clause 1 of this Article.

3. Participants in conferences, seminars, and meetings with state secrets have the responsibility to protect and use state secrets according to the provisions of this Law and the requirements of the conference, seminar, or meeting chairperson.

4. The Government shall provide detailed regulations on points c, d, and đ of Clause 1 of this Article.

Article 18. Conferences, seminars, and meetings with foreign elements held in Vietnam involving state secrets

1. Organizing conferences, seminars, and meetings with foreign elements in Vietnam involving state secrets must ensure the following requirements:

a) Organized by Vietnamese agencies or organizations;

b) Written approval by the person with authority prescribed in Clause 1 of Article 16 of this Law regarding the use of state secrets;

c) Participants as prescribed in point b of Clause 1 of Article 17 of this Law; representatives of foreign agencies or organizations participating in international cooperation programs or the execution of official duties related to state secrets;

d) Ensuring the requirements prescribed in points c, d, đ, and e of Clause 1 of Article 17 of this Law.

2. The head of the agency or organization deciding to organize a conference, seminar, or meeting with state secrets has the responsibility to ensure the requirements prescribed in Clause 1 of this Article.

3. Participants in conferences, seminars, and meetings with state secrets have the responsibility to protect and use state secrets according to the provisions of this Law and the requirements of the conference, seminar, or meeting chairperson; they may not supply or transfer them to third parties.

Article 19. Duration of Protection of State Secrets

1. The duration of protection of state secrets is the period from the date of determining the level of confidentiality of state secrets to the end of the following time limit:

a) 30 years for state secrets at the Top Secret level;

b) 20 years for state secrets at the Confidential level;

c) 10 years for state secrets at the Secret level.

2. The duration of protection of state secrets concerning activities may be shorter than the time limit prescribed in Clause 1 of this Article and must be specifically determined in the document or object containing the state secret when determining its level of confidentiality.

3. The duration of protection of state secrets concerning locations ends when the competent authority ceases to use such location to store state secrets.

Article 20. Extension of the Duration of Protection of State Secrets

1. The protection period for state secrets may be extended if declassification would harm national interests.

2. Not later than 60 days before the expiration of the duration of protection of state secrets, the head of the agency or organization that determines state secrets shall decide on extending the duration of protection of state secrets. Each extension shall not exceed the time limit prescribed in Clause 1 of Article 19 of this Law.

3. State secrets after being extended must be stamped, have a document or other form specifying the extension.

4. Not later than 15 days from the date of extension, the agency or organization that has extended must notify in writing to relevant agencies, organizations, and individuals. Relevant agencies, organizations, and individuals upon receiving notification of the extension shall be responsible for stamping, having a document or other form specifying the extension for state secrets within their management scope.

Article 21. Adjustment of the Level of Confidentiality

1. Adjusting classification levels involves increasing or decreasing the classification level already determined for state secrets.

2. Adjusting the level of confidentiality must be based on the list of state secrets.

3. The head of the agency or organization that determines the level of confidentiality of state secrets has the authority to decide on adjusting the level of confidentiality of state secrets.

4. State secrets after adjustment of the level of confidentiality must be stamped, have a document or other form specifying the increase or decrease in the level of confidentiality.

5. Not later than 15 days from the date of adjustment of the level of confidentiality, the agency or organization that has adjusted the level of confidentiality must notify in writing to relevant agencies, organizations, and individuals. Relevant agencies, organizations, and individuals upon receiving notification of the adjustment of the level of confidentiality shall be responsible for stamping, having a document or other form specifying the corresponding adjustment of the level of confidentiality for state secrets within their management scope.

Article 22. Declassification

1. Declassification is the removal of the classification level from state secrets.

2. State secrets are declassified entirely or partially in the following cases:

a) Upon expiration of the duration of protection of state secrets as prescribed in Article 19 of this Law and the extension period as prescribed in Article 20 of this Law;

b) In response to practical needs for protecting national interests; developing the economy and society; international integration and cooperation;

c) No longer included in the list of state secrets.

3. In the case prescribed in point a and point c of Clause 2 of this Article, declassification occurs automatically. In the case prescribed in point c of Clause 2 of this Article, the agency or organization that determines state secrets must stamp, have a document or other form specifying the declassification and immediately notify in writing to relevant agencies, organizations, and individuals.

4. The process of declassifying state secrets in the case prescribed in point b of Clause 2 of this Article is as follows:

a) The head of the agency or organization that determines state secrets establishes a Declassification Board;

b) The Declassification Board includes representatives of the leadership of the agency or organization that determines state secrets as Chairperson and representatives of related agencies and organizations;

c) The Declassification Board is responsible for examining the declassification, reporting to the head of the agency or organization that determines state secrets for decision;

d) State secrets after declassification must be stamped, have a document or other form specifying the declassification; if declassified partially, the declassification decision must fully reflect the content of the declassified information;

đ) The declassification file must be stored including the decision to establish the Declassification Board; the state secrets proposed for declassification; the minutes of the Declassification Board meeting; the declassification decision and related documents.

5. For state secrets stored by Historical Archives, if the agency that determines state secrets cannot be identified, Historical Archives decides on declassification according to the laws on archives.

6. Not later than 15 days from the date of the declassification decision, the agency or organization that decides on declassification must notify in writing to relevant agencies, organizations, and individuals. Relevant agencies, organizations, and individuals upon receiving notification of declassification shall be responsible for stamping, having a document or other form specifying the declassification for state secrets within their management scope.

Article 23. Destruction of state secrets documents and carriers

1. Destruction of State Secrets documents and carriers shall be carried out in the following cases:

a) When it is not necessary to retain them and the destruction does not cause harm to national interests;

b) If immediate destruction is required to prevent harm to national interests.

2. The destruction of State Secrets documents and carriers must meet the following requirements:

a) Ensuring that State Secrets are not exposed or lost;

b) The destruction process must affect the state secrets documents and carriers to alter their form, function, and effect;

c) After destruction, State Secrets documents and carriers cannot be restored to their original form, function, utility, or content.

3. Authority for the destruction of State Secrets documents and carriers is defined as follows:

a) The person authorized under Clause 1 and Clause 2 of Article 11 of this Law has the authority to decide on the destruction of state secrets documents and carriers;

b) The Minister of National Defense and the Minister of Public Security shall specify the authority for the destruction of state secrets documents and carriers within their respective jurisdictions;

c) The person currently managing state secrets documents and carriers may decide to destroy them in cases specified in point b of Clause 1 of this Article and immediately report in writing about the destruction to the head of the agency or organization;

4. The destruction of State Secrets documents and carriers in the case specified in point a, Clause 1 of this Article is regulated as follows:

a) The person authorized under point a or point b of Clause 3 of this Article decides to establish a Committee for the destruction of state secrets documents and carriers;

b) The Committee for the destruction of state secrets documents and carriers includes representatives from the leadership of agencies and organizations directly storing state secrets documents and carriers as the Chairman of the Committee; the persons directly storing state secrets documents and carriers and representatives from related agencies and organizations;

c) The Committee for the destruction of state secrets documents and carriers is responsible for reviewing the state secrets documents and carriers proposed for destruction and reporting to the person authorized under point a or point b of Clause 3 of this Article to make a decision;

d) The destruction file must be stored, including the decision to establish the Committee for destruction; list of state secrets documents and carriers proposed for destruction; minutes of the Committee for destruction meeting; decision on destruction, minutes of destruction, and other relevant documents;

5. The destruction of state secrets documents and carriers in the field of cryptographic communications shall be carried out in accordance with the provisions of the law on cryptographic communications; the destruction of state secrets documents and carriers stored by the Historical Archives shall be carried out in accordance with the provisions of the law on archives;

Chapter IV

RESPONSIBILITIES FOR PROTECTING STATE SECRETS

Article 24. Responsibilities of agencies and organizations for protecting state secrets

1. The Government shall uniformly manage the protection of state secrets.

2. The Ministry of Public Security shall be responsible before the Government for implementing national management of the protection of state secrets and shall have the following tasks and powers:

a) Building and proposing policies, plans, and solutions for protecting state secrets;

b) Leading the development and submission to competent authorities for issuance, or issuing according to its authority, normative legal documents on protecting state secrets; guiding the implementation of state secret protection work;

c) Organizing training in state secret protection business and knowledge;

d) Preventing and combating violations of laws on protecting state secrets;

d) Inspecting, auditing, handling complaints and denunciations, and dealing with violations of laws on protecting state secrets;

e) Implementing international cooperation on protecting state secrets as assigned by the Government;

g) Specifying models of confidentiality marks, documents determining confidentiality levels, other forms indicating confidentiality levels, and model papers on protecting state secrets;

3. The Central Party Office and party bodies, party groups, party mass organizations, and central party committees; central agencies of political-social organizations and social organizations; the National Assembly's Ethnic Council, Committees of the National Assembly, agencies under the Standing Committee of the National Assembly, and the National Assembly's Office;

a) Implementing state secret protection work;

b) Leading the development and submission to competent authorities for issuance, or issuing according to its authority, specialized documents related to state secret protection within its jurisdiction in compliance with this Law;

c) Issuing and implementing regulations on state secret protection for agencies, organizations, and localities;

d) Inspecting, auditing, handling complaints and denunciations, and dealing with violations of laws on state secret protection concerning subordinate agencies, organizations, and individuals;

g) Assigning personnel to perform state secret protection duties and implementing reporting systems on state secret protection work as prescribed by the Government;

4. The Ministry of National Defense shall be responsible before the Government for implementing national management of the protection of state secrets within its jurisdiction and performing the responsibilities stipulated in Clause 3 of this Article;

5. The Government Cryptographic Agency shall have the following responsibilities:

a) Implementing state secret protection work in the field of cryptographic communications in accordance with this Law and other relevant laws;

b) Advising the Government in building and developing the national cryptosystem; managing research, production, supply, and use of cryptographic products to protect state secret information;

c) Performing the responsibilities stipulated in Clause 3 of this Article.

Article 25. Responsibilities of the head of agencies and organizations directly managing state secrets

1. Issuing internal regulations on protecting state secrets within the agency or organization, except for agencies and organizations specified in Clause 3, Article 24 of this Law.

2. Directing, inspecting, and urging the implementation of legal provisions and regulations and internal rules on protecting state secrets within agencies and organizations under their management scope.

3. Directing the handling and promptly reporting to competent authorities when state secrets under their management scope are leaked or lost.

4. Organizing the recovery of documents and carriers containing state secrets when individuals assigned to manage state secrets cease work, transfer jobs, retire, pass away, or for other reasons and are not assigned to continue managing state secrets.

Article 26. Responsibilities of persons accessing and persons directly managing state secrets

1. Persons accessing state secrets have the following responsibilities:

a) Adhering to legal provisions, regulations, and internal rules of the agency or organization regarding the protection of state secrets;

b) Implementing measures to protect state secrets;

c) Using state secrets for their intended purpose;

d) Fulfilling requests and guidance from agencies or organizations directly managing state secrets.

2. Persons directly managing state secrets have the following responsibilities:

"a) To implement the responsibilities prescribed in Clause 1 of this Article;"

b) Proposing authorized persons to decide on applying measures to protect state secrets they directly manage;

c) In case of discovering violations in activities protecting state secrets, persons directly managing state secrets must take measures to handle them and report to responsible persons for resolution, informing the agency or organization that identified the state secret to take corrective measures;

d) Before ceasing work, transferring jobs, retiring, or for other reasons and not being assigned to continue managing state secrets, they must hand over state secrets to authorized agencies or organizations and commit to protecting the state secrets they managed.

Chapter V

IMPLEMENTING PROVISIONS

Article 27. Effective Date

Article 1. This Law takes effect from July 1, 2020, except for cases stipulated in Clause 2 of this Article.

2. Provisions of this Law related to establishing, reviewing, issuing the list of state secrets, the duration of protecting state secrets, and extending the duration of protecting state secrets take effect from January 1, 2019.

3. The State Secret Protection Ordinance No. 30/2000/PL-UBTVQH10 ceases to be effective from the date this Law takes effect.

Article 28. Transitional Provisions

State secrets determined before January 1, 2019 shall have their protection period determined according to Clause 1, Article 19 of this Law. Agencies and organizations that have determined state secrets shall ensure the protection period ends before July 1, 2021.

If the protection period of state secrets ends before the date this Law takes effect, then the extension of the protection period of state secrets must be carried out according to Article 20 of this Law from the extension date; if it cannot be extended, then it must be declassified according to the State Secret Protection Ordinance No. 30/2000/PL-UBTVQH10.

If the protection period of state secrets ends after the date this Law takes effect, state secrets included in the list of state secrets issued according to this Law will continue to be protected until the end of the determined or extended period; if they no longer belong to the list of state secrets, they must be declassified according to this Law.