Decree No. 66/2008/ND-CP on Legal Support for Enterprises

DECREE

Regarding legal support for businesses

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GOVERNMENT 

Pursuant to the Law on Organization of the Government dated December 25, 2001;

Based on the Law on the Organization of People's Councils and People's Committees dated November 26, 2003;

Considering the proposal of the Minister of Justice,

 DECREE:

 PART I

GENERAL PROVISIONS

Article 1. Scope of Regulation

This Decree stipulates the forms, contents of legal support, conditions to ensure the operation of legal support for businesses and organizations, individuals engaged in business (hereinafter referred to collectively as businesses); responsibilities of Ministries, agencies at the level of ministries (hereinafter referred to collectively as Ministries) and People's Committees of provinces and centrally governed cities (hereinafter referred to collectively as Provincial People's Committees) in providing legal support to businesses.

Article 2. Applicability

The subjects to which this Decree applies include:

1. Ministries;

2. Provincial People's Committees;

3. Vietnam Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Vietnam Union of Cooperatives and business associations, clubs (hereinafter referred to collectively as business representative organizations);

4. Businesses;

5. Other agencies, organizations, and individuals as prescribed by law.

Article 3. Principles of Legal Support for Businesses

1. Legal support for businesses as prescribed in this Decree shall be implemented for all businesses without distinction based on ownership form, organizational form, scale of business, and field of activity.

2. Legal support activities shall be carried out through appropriate forms. Programs for legal support for businesses shall be developed based on the country's economic and social conditions, regional, sectoral, and field-specific conditions, and the needs of the supported entities.

3. Legal support activities for businesses shall be conducted on the principle of cooperation between state agencies and business representative organizations.

Article 4. Responsibilities of Ministries and Provincial People's Committees in Legal Support Activities for Businesses

Within their functions, tasks, and authorities, Ministries and Provincial People's Committees shall have the responsibility to:

1. Direct specialized agencies to proactively grasp the legal support needs of businesses;

2. Organize the implementation of legal support activities for businesses as prescribed in this Decree.

Article 5. Responsibilities of Business Representative Organizations in Legal Support Activities

1. Proactively organize the implementation of legal support activities for businesses within the scope of their functions and tasks.

2. Coordinate with state management agencies and other related organizations in implementing legal support activities for businesses as prescribed in this Decree.

Article 6. Responsibilities of Businesses

1. Actively study laws, allocate staff responsible for corporate legal affairs or hire lawyers to advise the business in compliance with the law.

2. Coordinate with state management agencies and business representative organizations in implementing legal support activities as prescribed in this Decree.

Chapter II

FORMS AND CONTENTS OF LEGAL SUPPORT FOR BUSINESSES

Article 7. Construction and Utilization of Legal Information Databases to Serve Business Operations

1. Ministries shall organize the construction, maintenance, and updating of databases containing regulatory legal documents within their respective sectors and fields under their management that are relevant to business operations to be published on the official website of the Ministry, except for documents classified as state secrets according to the law.

2. Provincial People's Committees shall organize the construction, maintenance, and updating of databases containing regulatory legal documents issued by local competent state agencies that are relevant to business operations to be published on the official website of the Provincial People's Committee, except for documents classified as state secrets according to the law.

3. Businesses may access and use free of charge information published on the websites specified in Clauses 1 and 2 of this Article. In cases where regulatory legal documents come into effect but have not been published on the official websites of Ministries or Provincial People's Committees, businesses have the right to request Ministries or Provincial People's Committees to update such documents.

Article 8. Compilation of materials to introduce and disseminate legal normative documents

1. Ministries shall compile materials to introduce and disseminate newly issued legal normative documents within their respective sectors and fields of management that are relevant to business operations.

2. Provincial People's Committees shall compile materials to introduce and disseminate legal normative documents issued by local state agencies with authority that are relevant to business operations.

3. Provincial People's Committees shall direct specialized agencies to coordinate with business representative organizations to develop plans and organize the dissemination of materials introducing legal normative documents to businesses in their locality.

Article 9. Legal knowledge training for businesses

1. Ministries shall organize the compilation of materials for legal knowledge training within their respective sectors and fields of management that are relevant to business operations, and coordinate with provincial People's Committees and business representative organizations to implement legal knowledge training for businesses.

2. Provincial People's Committees shall direct specialized agencies to coordinate with business representative organizations to develop plans and organize legal knowledge training for businesses in their locality.

Article 10. Legal consultation for businesses

1. Businesses have the right to request specialized agencies under provincial People's Committees to provide legal consultations within their respective sectors and fields of management that are relevant to business operations.

2. In cases where the legal consultations provided by specialized agencies under provincial People's Committees as stipulated in Clause 1 of this Article do not meet the requirements of businesses, businesses have the right to request related ministries to provide consultations.

3. Legal consultations shall be conducted through the following forms:

a) Consultation by written response;

b) Consultation via electronic networks;

c) Direct consultation or consultation via telephone;

d) Other forms as prescribed by law.

4. Specialized agencies under provincial People's Committees and ministries shall be responsible for responding to requests for legal consultations within fifteen working days from the date when businesses provide all relevant information concerning the legal consultation request.

For cases involving complex content or relating to the scope of state management across multiple sectors and fields, the response period shall be thirty working days.

5. In cases where legal consultations are not provided, the agency requested to provide consultations must clearly state the reasons.

6. The legal consultations prescribed in this Article shall not apply to business requests for legal consultations regarding specific cases related to their production and business activities.

Article 11. Receiving business proposals and improving laws

1. Ministries and provincial People's Committees shall organize the receipt and consolidation of business proposals related to legal provisions to amend, supplement, or issue new legal normative documents within their authority, or submit such matters to competent state agencies for consideration and decision on amending, supplementing, or issuing new legal normative documents.

2. Legal affairs organizations under ministries and Departments of Justice under provincial People's Committees shall take the lead and coordinate with related units to assist ministries and provincial People's Committees in implementing tasks as stipulated in Clause 1 of this Article.

3. By December 31 each year, ministries and provincial People's Committees shall be responsible for submitting consolidated reports on the results of receiving and handling business proposals for improving legal provisions within their respective sectors, fields, or localities to the Ministry of Justice for consolidation and reporting to the Prime Minister.

Article 12. Construction and implementation of legal support programs for businesses

1. The objectives of the legal support program for businesses aim to provide legal information to businesses; disseminate and enhance business law knowledge for business managers; and improve business legal affairs skills and expertise.

2. Bases for constructing legal support programs for businesses:

a) Legal support needs of businesses during each period, in various regions, industries, fields, and requirements for international economic integration;

b) Legislation construction programs and resolutions of the National Assembly; ordinances and resolutions of the Standing Committee of the National Assembly, and plans to issue regulatory legal documents of the Government, central agencies, and local authorities.

3. Construction of legal support programs for businesses:

a) For legal support programs for businesses within the scope of an industry or locality:

The Ministers of Ministries and Chairpersons of Provincial People's Committees shall organize the construction and approval of legal support programs for businesses within their managed industries, fields, or localities.

b) For inter-sectoral legal support programs:

- Ministries and Provincial People's Committees shall propose legal support activities for businesses within their managed industries, fields, or localities and submit them to the Ministry of Justice for consolidation into inter-sectoral legal support programs;

- Business representative organizations shall propose legal support activities based on the requirements of member businesses and submit them to the Ministry of Justice for consolidation into inter-sectoral legal support programs;

- The Ministry of Justice shall take the lead and coordinate with the Ministry of Planning and Investment and the Ministry of Finance to develop plans and implement inter-sectoral legal support programs to be submitted to the Prime Minister for approval.

4. After the legal support program for businesses has been approved by competent state agencies, Ministries and Provincial People's Committees shall be responsible for implementing the program within their functional and assigned tasks. Business representative organizations and service providers with legal functions are encouraged to participate in implementing legal support activities for businesses according to the support programs. 

Chapter III

IMPLEMENTATION OF LEGAL SUPPORT FOR BUSINESSES

Article 13. Responsibility for implementation organization

1. The Ministry of Justice assists the Government in managing national legal support work for businesses throughout the country.

Within its responsibilities, the Ministry of Justice has the following duties and powers:

a) To take the lead or participate in drafting and submitting to competent authorities for issuance, or to issue directly within its authority, legal regulatory documents concerning legal support work for businesses;

b) To proactively implement or coordinate with others in implementing legal support activities for businesses as stipulated in this Decree;

c) To organize training in legal knowledge and guide professional skills for staff involved in legal support work for businesses;

d) To coordinate with Ministries and Provincial People's Committees in directing and inspecting the implementation of legal support work for businesses;

e) To take the lead and coordinate with Ministries and Provincial People's Committees in summarizing legal support work for businesses and reporting annually to the Prime Minister.

2. Ministries and Provincial People's Committees shall proactively implement or coordinate with others in implementing legal support activities for businesses as stipulated in this Decree; they shall also organize summaries of legal support work for businesses and report periodically annually or upon request to the Ministry of Justice for consolidation and reporting to the Prime Minister.

3. Legal Affairs Departments under Ministries shall serve as focal points for organizing and implementing legal support activities for businesses within their respective responsibilities.

4. Departments of Justice shall act as advisory bodies to Provincial People's Committees on legal support work for businesses at the local level and serve as focal points for coordinating with other specialized agencies under Provincial People's Committees to implement legal support activities for businesses as stipulated in this Decree.

Article 14. Financial Guarantee for Legal Support Activities

1. The funds to ensure legal support activities shall be allocated in the annual budget estimates of ministries and provincial People's Committees according to the provisions of the State Budget Law and other relevant laws.

2. Ministries and provincial People's Committees may mobilize and utilize financial assistance and support from domestic and foreign organizations and individuals to serve legal support activities for businesses in accordance with the law.

3. For legal support programs for businesses stipulated in point a, Clause 3, Article 12 of this Decree, the program implementation costs shall be budgeted in the annual budgets of ministries and provincial People's Committees. As for inter-sectoral legal support programs stipulated in point b, Clause 3, Article 12 of this Decree, the program implementation costs shall be budgeted in the annual budgets of the leading agencies.

4. The Ministry of Finance shall take the lead and coordinate with the Ministry of Justice to guide the preparation of budget estimates, management, and utilization of state budget funds for legal support activities for businesses.

Article 15. Organizational Assurance and Enhancement of Legal Officers' Capacity in Ministries and Provincial People's Committees

1. Legal departments under ministries and specialized agencies under provincial People's Committees shall be strengthened and improved to act as focal points for implementing legal support activities for businesses as prescribed in this Decree.

2. Ministers and Chairpersons of provincial People's Committees shall be responsible for ensuring staffing levels that meet the requirements for strengthening and improving the organization and operations of legal departments under ministries and specialized agencies under provincial People's Committees.

3. Legal officers under ministries and specialized agencies under provincial People's Committees shall be trained and provided with skill and professional development opportunities, and favorable conditions regarding material facilities, working tools, systems, and policies shall be created to ensure the completion of assigned tasks.

The Ministry of Home Affairs shall take the lead and coordinate with the Ministry of Justice, the Ministry of Finance, and the Ministry of Labor, Invalids, and Social Affairs to establish systems and policies for legal officers working in ministries and specialized agencies under provincial People's Committees. 

Chapter IV

ARTICLE TRANSITION PROVISIONS

Article 16. Effective Date

This Decree shall take effect fifteen days after its publication in the Official Gazette.

Article 17. Responsibility for Implementation

Ministers, heads of ministerial-level agencies, and Chairpersons of provincial People's Committees directly under the Central Government are responsible for implementing this Decree./.