Circular No. 59/2020/TT-BTC guides the preparation of budgets, management, use, and settlement of funds for ensuring the operation of legal aid activities.

CIRCULAR

Guidelines for preparing budgets, managing, using, and settling accounts for funds to ensure activities of legal aid
đảm bảo hoạt động trợ giúp pháp lý

Pursuant to the Law on State Budget dated June 25, 2015;

Pursuant to the Legal Aid Law dated June 20, 2017;

Pursuant to Decree No. 163/2016/NĐ-CP dated December 21, 2016 of the Government guiding some Articles of the State Budget Law;

Pursuant to Decree No. 144/2017/NĐ-CP dated December 15, 2017 of the Government detailing some provisions of the Legal Aid Law;

Pursuant to Decree No. 87/2017/NĐ-CP dated July 26, 2017 of the Government stipulating functions, tasks, powers, and organizational structure of the Ministry of Finance;

At the proposal of the Director of the Department of Administrative Financial Affairs;

The Minister of Finance issues this Circular on guidelines for preparing budgets, managing, using, and settling accounts for funds to ensure activities of legal aid.

Article 1. Scope of Regulation and Applicability

Thông tư này quy định chi tiết khoản 4 Điều 38 Luật Thủy sản số 18/2017/QH14 đã được sửa đổi, bổ sung tại điểm c khoản 21 Điều 14 Luật số 146/2025/QH15.

This Circular provides guidance on preparing budgets, managing, using, and settling accounts for funds to ensure activities of legal aid.

Thông tư này áp dụng đối với tổ chức, cá nhân có liên quan đến hoạt động kinh doanh đối tượng thủy sản nuôi chủ lực trên lãnh thổ Việt Nam.

a) Legal aid management agencies and organizations implementing legal aid (Legal Aid Agency, Department of Justice, State Legal Aid Center, and Branches of the State Legal Aid Center). Hereinafter referred to collectively as state legal aid agencies;

b) Agencies, organizations, and individuals related to legal aid activities as prescribed.

Article 2. Sources of funds to ensure legal aid activities

1. Financial resources for legal aid work shall be implemented in accordance with Clause 1, Article 5 of the Legal Aid Law dated June 20, 2017.

2. Funds to ensure the operation of state legal aid agencies at any level shall be guaranteed by the budget of that level in accordance with the State Budget Law and shall be included in the annual budget estimates of the agency.

3. Funds for the operation of state legal aid agencies must be used for their intended purposes and for the designated beneficiaries in accordance with current financial expenditure standards, and shall comply with regulations on reporting and settling accounts for funds used as prescribed by law.

Article 3. Contents of expenditures for legal aid activities

1. Payments to individuals: salaries, wages, allowances, contributions based on salary (social insurance, health insurance, trade union fees, unemployment insurance, if applicable) in accordance with current regulations; expenditures according to the regime for civil servants and public officials as stipulated in Decree No. 144/2017/NĐ-CP dated December 15, 2017 of the Government detailing certain provisions of the Legal Aid Law (hereinafter referred to as Decree No. 144/2017/NĐ-CP dated December 15, 2017 of the Government) and other payments to individuals as prescribed by law.

2. Expenditures for public services; office supplies; information and communication; regular maintenance and repair of assets and equipment of the unit; procurement and replacement of working equipment for civil servants, public officials, and employees as prescribed; expenditures for purchasing books, newspapers, and materials serving legal aid work; rental expenses (if any).

3. Expenditures for mid-year and year-end reviews; training and professional development; rewards; domestic travel expenses; expenses for overseas missions and other regular expenditures serving the operations of state legal aid agencies.

4. Expenditures related to legal aid activities:

a) Fees paid to lawyers, legal aid volunteers, and organizations providing legal aid: Content and amount of payment shall be carried out in accordance with Clause 1, Clause 2, and Clause 4 of Article 13 and Article 14 of Decree No. 144/2017/NĐ-CP dated December 15, 2017 of the Government;

b) Expenses for persons providing legal aid through participation in litigation or representation outside litigation who need time to collect evidence or clarify cases shall be reimbursed for actual expenses incurred in providing legal aid as stipulated in Clause 5 of Article 13 of Decree No. 144/2017/NĐ-CP dated December 15, 2017 of the Government, including: Fees and administrative costs required by law for the direct provision of legal aid (office supplies, copying documents, communication costs with the person receiving legal aid or their relatives directly for collecting evidence or clarifying legal aid cases); travel expenses when traveling to serve the resolution of legal aid cases or verifying the person receiving legal aid upon receipt of notifications or information from competent authorities or judicial proceedings;

c) Expenditures for disseminating and communicating about legal aid; participating in popularizing and educating the law to the people through mass media (radio, television, press), electronic information, and other forms (compiling, printing, distributing pamphlets, bulletin boards, other materials);

d) Translation costs from foreign languages to Vietnamese and vice versa to serve legal aid activities;

đ) Interpretation costs (simultaneous interpreting) from Vietnamese to ethnic minority languages and vice versa to serve legal aid activities; interpretation costs for language in cases where the person receiving legal aid is a hearing-impaired or speech-impaired person as prescribed in Decree No. 28/2012/NĐ-CP dated April 10, 2012 of the Government detailing and guiding the implementation of certain provisions of the Persons with Disabilities Law;

e) Costs for establishing a database to support legal aid work; costs for applying information technology to support legal aid activities;

g) Training and professional development costs to enhance the expertise and skills of legal aid providers;

h) Costs for compiling professional guidance materials for legal aid;

i) Expenditure for inspecting and evaluating the quality of legal aid cases; expenditure for soliciting opinions from experienced lawyers and independent legal experts to evaluate legal aid cases and the agencies implementing such cases (excluding legal aid officers and civil servants, public officials, and employees receiving salaries from the state budget) participating in or advising on the quality evaluation of complex legal aid cases as stipulated in Clause 2, Article 15 of Circular No. 12/2018/TT-BTP dated August 28, 2018 issued by the Ministry of Justice guiding certain operational activities of legal aid and management of legal aid case quality.

k) Expenditure for inter-agency cooperation in legal aid activities: Expenditure for joint working groups; training and capacity building expenditure; research, investigation, survey, organizing seminars, and roundtable discussions on legal aid work in inter-agency cooperation; inspection and supervision expenditure in inter-agency cooperation; expenditure for organizing mid-term and final review meetings; expenditure for rewarding collectives and individuals with outstanding achievements in inter-agency cooperation on legal aid, and other expenditures as prescribed by law serving legal aid activities.

Article 4. Level of Expenditure

For the systems, standards, and levels of expenditure already established by competent authorities, state legal aid agencies shall implement according to the current state expenditure regulations and norms. This Circular provides additional guidance as follows:

1. Expenditure for communication on legal aid activities: Based on the content and tasks of legal aid communication approved and assigned by competent authorities in accordance with regulations, legal aid agencies are responsible for selecting forms and contents of communication that ensure economy and effectiveness within the budget allocated by authorized bodies. The content and level of expenditure are as follows:

a) Expenditure for communication activities through mass media (radio, television, press); expenditure for making new, repairing banners, posters, and promotional materials for legal aid activities: Implemented in accordance with the current legal provisions on regular procurement bidding to maintain the operation of state agencies and units.

b) Expenditure for organizing promotional sessions on the content and activities of legal aid by the Department of Justice, State Legal Aid Centers, including: Expenditure for drinking water, session materials, travel expenses for speakers, renting sound systems, auditoriums (if necessary). The level of expenditure is implemented according to the conference expense regulations stipulated by the People's Councils of provinces and centrally-administered cities as provided in Circular No. 40/2017/TT-BTC dated April 28, 2017 of the Ministry of Finance regarding travel expense regulations and conference expense regulations (hereinafter referred to as Circular No. 40/2017/TT-BTC dated April 28, 2017 of the Ministry of Finance).

2. Expenditure for translating from foreign languages into Vietnamese and vice versa to serve legal aid activities: Apply the general translation and simultaneous interpretation expense levels as prescribed in Circular No. 71/2018/TT-BTC dated August 10, 2018 of the Ministry of Finance regarding reception expense regulations for foreign visitors working in Vietnam, conference and seminar expense regulations for international conferences and seminars held in Vietnam, and domestic reception expense regulations.

3. Expenditure for simultaneous interpretation from Vietnamese into ethnic minority languages and vice versa to serve legal aid activities; expenditure for interpretation services when the person receiving legal aid is a hearing-impaired or speech-impaired individual: The rate for hiring interpreters applies the rate for hiring tour guides兼任口译员，规定在财政部2016年6月30日发布的第109/2016/TT-BTC号通知关于制定、管理和使用以及决算统计调查和全国普查经费的规定。

4. Expenditure for establishing information technology databases to serve legal aid work; expenditure for applying information technology to serve legal aid work: Implemented in accordance with the provisions of Government Decree No. 73/2019/NĐ-CP dated September 5, 2019 on managing investment in the application of information technology using state budget funds and current laws.

5. Expenditure for training and upgrading professional skills and legal aid competencies for legal aid practitioners; expenditure for compiling legal aid operational guidelines: Implemented according to the content and expenditure levels prescribed by the People's Councils of provinces and centrally-administered cities as stipulated in Circular No. 36/2018/TT-BTC dated March 30, 2018 of the Ministry of Finance guiding the preparation of budgets, management, and use of funds for training and upgrading cadres, civil servants, and public officials.

6. Expenditure for inspecting and evaluating the quality of legal aid: Implemented according to the travel expense regulations stipulated in Circular No. 40/2017/TT-BTC dated April 28, 2017 of the Ministry of Finance.

7. Expenditure for soliciting opinions from experienced lawyers and independent legal experts to evaluate legal aid cases and the agencies implementing such cases as specified in Point i, Clause 4, Article 3 of this Circular: Maximum expenditure of 300,000 VND per case and must be used within the budget allocated by authorized bodies.

8. Expenditure for paying fees as prescribed by laws on fees and charges and other administrative costs directly related to the implementation of legal aid: Based on receipts for fee collection, invoices, and valid expense vouchers in accordance with current regulations.

Article 5. Establishment, allocation of budget estimates and settlement of funds

The establishment, allocation of budget estimates and settlement of funds for legal aid activities shall be carried out in accordance with current laws on state budget, accounting laws, and existing guiding documents. This Circular provides additional guidance as follows:

1. Preparing budgets

When establishing the annual state budget estimate, in addition to establishing the estimate to ensure the regular operation of state legal aid agencies in accordance with current regulations, based on the requirements of legal aid work, state legal aid agencies shall establish the estimate and clearly explain the contents of expenditures serving legal aid activities in accordance with current regulations to be included in the annual state budget expenditure estimate as prescribed. The operating funds of the State Legal Aid Center include the operating funds of its Branches.

2. The settlement of funds for the activities of state legal aid agencies shall be carried out in accordance with current regulations.

Article 6. Implementation Organization

1. This Circular takes effect from September 1, 2020.

2. This Circular replaces Circular Joint Circular No. 209/2012/TTLT-BTC-BTP dated November 30, 2012 of the Ministry of Finance and the Ministry of Justice guiding the establishment, management, use, and settlement of funds ensuring the operation of state legal aid agencies and organizations.

3. When regulations on allowance systems and expenditure standards referred to for application in this Circular are amended, supplemented, or replaced by new documents, they shall be applied according to the amended, supplemented, or replacing documents.

4. The allowance systems for cadres, civil servants, public officials, and employees stipulated in this Circular shall be abolished when implementing the salary system pursuant to Resolution No. 27-NQ/TW dated May 21, 2018 of the Seventh Plenary Session of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Vietnam's Twelfth Congress on salary policy reform for cadres, civil servants, public officials, armed forces, and workers in enterprises.

5. In the course of implementation, if there are difficulties, please promptly reflect them to the Ministry of Finance for research and resolution./.