Circular No. 41/2009/TT-BTC guiding financial management for the Legal Aid Fund of Vietnam

CIRCULAR

Guidelines for financial managementof the Vietnam Legal Aid Fund

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

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

Pursuant to Decision No. 84/2008/QĐ-TTg dated June 30, 2008 of the Prime Minister on the establishment of the Vietnam Legal Aid Fund;

正式、客观、精准的法定文体；不用口语化表达。

Article 1. Scope of Application

保留数字、日期、文件代码（如249/2025/NĐ-CP）和专有名词。

Article 2. Financial operation principles of the Fund

1. The Fund is a state financial organization with legal personality, having an account opened at the State Treasury to reflect revenue and expenditure activities for funds provided by the state budget or from sources with origins from the state budget; it also has an account opened at a commercial bank to reflect activities related to funds raised from organizations and individuals both within and outside the country.

2. The Fund operates without profit-making objectives and is exempted from taxes according to current laws. The operations of the Fund must comply with the provisions of the State Budget Law, relevant financial policies, and this Circular; the Fund shall not use funds for business activities, lending, or other activities contrary to the provisions of this Circular.

3. The Fund records transactions in Vietnamese dong; in cases where it receives foreign currency donations, the Fund must sell that foreign currency to a bank for Vietnamese dong to record the transaction.

4. The Fund must publicly disclose its fundraising, management, and usage of capital in accordance with Decision No. 192/2004/QĐ-TTg dated November 16, 2004 of the Prime Minister on the issuance of the Financial Disclosure Regulation for all levels of state budgets, budgetary units, organizations supported by the state budget, basic construction projects using state budget funds, state-owned enterprises, funds from the state budget, and funds from contributions of the people, and Circular No. 21/2005/TT-BTC dated March 22, 2005 of the Ministry of Finance guiding the implementation of financial disclosure for budgetary units and organizations supported by the state budget.

Article 3. The Fund has the following sources of income:

1. Annual state budget allocation based on the needs for legal aid activities and the state budget's capacity.

2. Money (or assets) voluntarily contributed and sponsored by organizations and individuals both within and outside the country in compliance with the provisions of the law.

3. Income from interest on bank deposits and from other lawful income (if any).

Article 4. Activities of Fund Support

1. Supporting the enhancement of the quality of legal aid service activities;

2. Supporting the purchase of equipment and means of transportation serving the work needs of the National Legal Aid Center, branches of the Center, and organizations participating in legal aid in provinces that require central government support, and localities facing sudden difficulties.

3. Supporting legal aid activities based on the requirements of sponsors or Projects with specific commitments in accordance with the Legal Aid Law;

4. Supporting compensation for legal aid when the person providing legal aid causes damage to the person receiving legal aid due to erroneous assistance, following the guidance of the Minister of Justice;

5. The content of expenditures supported by the Fund must ensure that there is no overlap with the content and beneficiaries of expenditures from National Target Programs, cooperation projects, and other activities already supporting legal aid work.

Article 5. Content and level of expenditures for managing the Fund

1. Content of Expenses

- Expenditure on salaries and allowances according to salary, contributions as prescribed for staff managing the Fund, overtime allowances,兼任翻译人员和越南法律专家，将越南法律文本精确无误地翻译成官方立法和公报中使用的专业、法定英语。请严格按照规则进行翻译：

- For procurement and repair of assets serving the operations of the Fund;

- For ensuring regular operations for managing the Fund such as office supplies, public services, information, publicity and communication, leasing, and other regular expenses;

- For inflow and outflow expenses serving the construction, management, and development of the Fund;

- For communication expenses related to building and developing the Fund;

- For rewarding organizations and individuals with outstanding achievements in participating in the construction and development of the Fund according to regulations;

- For training and capacity building for civil servants and employees of the Fund;

- Other expenses related to the operations of the Fund.

2. Levels of expenditure

The above expenses must be carried out in accordance with the current expenditure regime of the State or in accordance with the commitments made with sponsors regarding sponsored, aid, support, and voluntary contributions from domestic and foreign agencies, enterprises, organizations, and individuals (if any).

3. Sources of funds for managing the Fund's activities

The source of funds for managing the Fund's activities as stipulated in point 1 above shall be up to 10% of the total operating budget of the Fund approved annually by the competent authority.

Article 6. Budget Estimation, Allocation, and Settlement of the Fund's Annual Budget

The preparation of budgets, execution, and settlement of funds to ensure the operation of the Fund shall be implemented in accordance with the provisions of the State Budget Law and guiding documents. This Circular provides additional guidance on specific points to suit the activities of the Fund, specifically as follows:

1. Annual budget planning:

Annually, based on the tasks and objectives of legal aid, and in accordance with the guidelines for preparing annual budget estimates issued by the Ministry of Finance, the Fund prepares revenue and expenditure estimates to be submitted to the Legal Aid Agency for consolidation into the annual budget estimate of the Ministry of Justice, which will then be submitted to the Ministry of Finance for consolidation and presentation to the Prime Minister and the National Assembly for approval in accordance with current regulations.

Regarding the content of assistance for purchasing equipment and means: Based on the current status of equipment and means serving legal aid tasks of legal aid units, requests from localities and units sent to the Fund, and the financial capacity of the Fund, the Fund has the responsibility to review and propose specific levels of assistance for each legal aid unit, which will be consolidated into the budget expenditure estimate to be submitted to the Ministry of Finance.

2. Allocation of budget projections:

On the basis of the allocated budget, the Ministry of Justice proposes the allocation of funds to ensure the operation of the Fund to be submitted to the Ministry of Finance for review in accordance with regulations (for the content of assistance for purchasing equipment and means, it must be detailed by the assisted unit, the content of assistance, and the amount of assistance). After receiving the review comments from the Ministry of Finance, the Ministry of Justice assigns the revenue and expenditure budget to the Fund as the basis for implementation.

3. For emergency support activities and unplanned activities occurring within the year, the Ministry of Justice shall issue a document to the Ministry of Finance for review in accordance with regulations.

4. Accounting and settlement work:

- The Fund must organize accounting-statistical work, maintain books to record the Fund's income and expenditure activities, and ensure complete vouchers and invoices; annually, it must submit a final account report on the Fund's income and expenditure according to the provisions set forth in Decision No. 19/2006/QĐ-BTC dated March 30, 2006, issued by the Minister of Finance regarding the establishment of the accounting system for administrative and public service units.

- The Ministry of Justice shall be responsible for approving the final accounts of the Fund, consolidating them into the Ministry of Justice's final accounts to be sent to the Ministry of Finance for review in accordance with current regulations.

- The Fund is subject to inspection and audit of its financial activities by the Ministry of Justice, financial authorities, and competent agencies as prescribed by law.

Article 7. Implementation Organization

This Circular takes effect forty-five days from the date of issuance.

Any difficulties encountered during implementation should be reported to the Ministry of Finance for consideration and resolution./.