JOINT CIRCULAR

GUIDELINES ON THE ESTABLISHMENT, MANAGEMENT, USE AND SETTLEMENT OF FUNDS

to ensure the dissemination and legal education work

______________________

Pursuant to the State Budget Law and guiding documents for its implementation;

Pursuant to 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 Decree No. 93/2008/NĐ-CP dated August 22, 2008 of the Government stipulating the functions, tasks, powers, and organizational structure of the Ministry of Justice;

Pursuant to Resolution No. 61/2007/NQ-CP dated December 7, 2007 of the Government on continuing to implement Directive No. 32-CT/TW dated December 9, 2003 of the Central Committee of the Communist Party (Term IX) on strengthening the Party's leadership in legal dissemination and education work, raising awareness of law observance among cadres and people;

Pursuant to Decision No. 212/2004/QĐ-TTg dated December 16, 2004 of the Prime Minister approving the National Program on Legal Dissemination and Education and Enhancing Law Observance Awareness among Cadres and People at Communes, Wards, and Towns from 2005 to 2010;

Pursuant to Decision No. 37/2008/QĐ-TTg dated March 12, 2008 of the Prime Minister approving the Legal Dissemination and Education Program from 2008 to 2012;

Pursuant to Decision No. 06/2010/QĐ-TTg dated January 25, 2010 of the Prime Minister on the establishment, management, operation, and exploitation of Legal Bookcases;

The Ministry of Finance and the Ministry of Justice jointly issue guidelines on the preparation, management, use, and settlement of funds ensuring the legal dissemination and education work as follows,

Article 1. General Provisions

1. These joint circulars guide the preparation, management, use, and settlement of state budget funds ensuring the legal dissemination and education work of the National Program on Legal Dissemination and Education and Enhancing Law Observance Awareness among Cadres and People at Communes, Wards, and Towns from 2005 to 2010 and the operational costs of the Coordination Councils for Legal Dissemination and Education Work at all levels according to Decision No. 212/2004/QĐ-TTg dated December 16, 2004 of the Prime Minister and the Legal Dissemination and Education Program from 2008 to 2012 according to Decision No. 37/2008/QĐ-TTg dated March 12, 2008 of the Prime Minister.

2. The source of funds ensuring legal dissemination and education work; operational costs of the Coordination Councils for Legal Dissemination and Education Work shall be guaranteed by the state budget and other legitimate sources of funding.

The source of funds for establishing, managing, and operating Legal Bookcases shall be implemented according to Decision No. 06/2010/QĐ-TTg dated January 25, 2010 of the Prime Minister on the establishment, management, operation, and exploitation of Legal Bookcases.

3. Funds ensuring legal dissemination and education work at each level shall be guaranteed by the corresponding level’s budget according to the current budget decentralization and allocated in the budgets of Ministries, ministerial-level agencies, government agencies, and local People's Committees at all levels as stipulated by the State Budget Law and other relevant laws.

4. Funds ensuring legal dissemination and education work must be managed and used for their intended purposes, in accordance with regulations, and in compliance with the provisions of these joint circulars.

Article 2. Contents of expenditures for legal dissemination and education activities

1. Expenditures for the activities of Coordination Councils for Legal Dissemination and Education Work at all levels, including:

- Expenditures for organizing professional seminars, regular and extraordinary meetings of the Councils;

- Expenditures for office supplies and compiling materials serving the Councils' activities;

- Expenditures for directing and inspecting activities;

- Expenditures for mid-term reviews, final summaries, competitions, and awards.

2. Expenditures for information, communication, dissemination, and education of laws to the public through mass media, including:

Newspapers, magazines, radio stations, television stations, periodicals, bulletins, mobile information, specialized exhibitions, information boards, and information boxes; disseminating and educating laws through banners, slogans, posters, billboards, and other forms of legal dissemination and education.

3. Expenditures for compiling and translating materials to serve legal dissemination and education work, including:

- Compiling outlines introducing Laws and Ordinances;

- Compiling, printing, and distributing legal dissemination and education materials suitable for different target groups (brochures, general law books, professional books, tapes, discs, legal short stories, and other legal dissemination and education materials);

- Translating and printing legal materials in ethnic minority languages;

- Translating legal materials from foreign languages into Vietnamese and vice versa;

- Expenditures for compiling reference materials and guides for legal dissemination and education, developing programs, and reviewing and updating teaching programs for teachers and learners.

4. Expenditures for conducting mobile legal dissemination and education, directly answering legal questions for the public, specialized activities, maintaining, and organizing the activities of Legal Clubs and core groups, including:

- Expenditures for purchasing and photocopying materials related to legal dissemination and education;

- Providing legal information through brochures, pocket books, legal handbooks, and other legal publications and materials;

- Expenditures for travel expenses for staff participating in mobile legal dissemination and education, attending specialized activities with Legal Clubs and core groups;

- Expenditures for purchasing or renting equipment to serve legal dissemination and education activities and the activities of Legal Clubs and core groups, ensuring principles of thrift and effectiveness;

- Expenditures for supporting food for members attending the launch meeting of Legal Clubs; drinking water for participants in Legal Club activities and core group activities. Local People's Committees have the responsibility to create conditions to support venues for Legal Club activities;

- Expenditures for mid-term reviews and final summaries of Legal Club and core group activities;

- Expenditures for translating into ethnic minority languages and hiring guides (if necessary).

5. Expenditures for building, managing, and operating legal bookcases in agencies, units, enterprises, schools, communes, wards, towns, residential areas, including: Purchasing legal books and materials for new legal bookcases; updating and supplementing new legal books and materials for existing legal bookcases in line with the needs of cadres and the public, and other expenditures directly serving the construction, management, and operation of legal bookcases.

6. Expenditures for organizing the collection of information and materials, establishing electronic databases to serve the work of answering legal questions, legal dissemination, and education.

7. Expenditure for organizing legal knowledge contests; vocational contests on legal dissemination and education; activities to support understanding of laws in schools.

8. Expenditure for organizing training courses, capacity building, and workshops to enhance the capabilities and skills of cadres implementing legal dissemination and education work at all levels, including legal reporters, legal propagandists, mediators, teachers, and students. For training courses that issue certificates, there will be additional expenditure for preparing examination questions, answers, and grading.

9. Expenditure for organizing meetings with collaborators and mediators; propaganda, dissemination, and education law meetings; implementation plans for legal dissemination and education; programs and projects; seminars and roundtable discussions exchanging experiences related to legal dissemination and education activities and vocational legal dissemination and education.

10. Remuneration for legal reporters, legal propagandists, and collaborators participating in legal dissemination and education activities, guiding specialized club activities, core groups, and grassroots mediation teams.

11. Expenditure for grassroots mediation, including:

- Remuneration for mediators;

- Expenditure for mid-term and final reviews of mediation activities;

- Expenditure for competitions and awards;

- Expenditure for purchasing materials and office supplies for mediators; printing forms, books, and reports.

12. Expenditure for conducting domestic surveys on the demand for legal dissemination and education among various social strata; students' and young people's legal awareness; surveys on the implementation of civics and law textbooks; investigations and surveys to implement legal dissemination and education plans and to implement approved projects.

13. Expenditure for reporting, statistics; mid-term and final reviews; expenditure for competitions and awards for collectives and individuals with outstanding achievements in legal dissemination and education work.

14. Expenditure for purchasing equipment and assets to serve legal dissemination and education work.

15. Expenditure for managing and operating legal dissemination and education programs and plans at all levels (central and local), including:

- Expenditure for drafting detailed outlines, compiling complete outlines, obtaining expert opinions on programs, plans, and projects;

- Expenditure for travel expenses, inspection, supervision, and monitoring of implementation; writing summary reports evaluating implementation; night shift wages, overtime pay; office supplies, materials, equipment, and other direct expenditures serving the project management team's operations.

16. Expenditure for implementing projects funded from foreign sources based on international cooperation documents approved by competent authorities.

Article 3. Budget Allocation Levels

1. Expenditures for legal dissemination and education work shall be implemented according to current financial expenditure standards and norms, specifically as follows:

a) Travel expenses for those on business trips (including collaborators implementing legal dissemination and education) shall be carried out according to the current regulations of the Ministry of Finance regarding travel expenses for state officials, civil servants, and employees;

b) Expenditure for drafting normative legal documents on legal dissemination and education shall be carried out according to the current regulations of the Ministry of Finance regarding the management and use of state budget funds to ensure the work of drafting normative legal documents;

c) Expenditure for organizing training, workshops, and professional development for cadres involved in legal dissemination and education and the application of information technology shall be carried out according to the current regulations of the Ministry of Finance regarding the management and use of training and cadre development funds;

d) Expenditure for organizing seminars and roundtable discussions on exchanging professional experience in legal dissemination and education shall be carried out according to the current regulations regarding the expenditure system for organizing scientific seminars;

đ) Expenditure for organizing meetings and conferences on mid-term and final reviews of legal dissemination and education; mid-term and final reviews of the activities of legal clubs and core groups shall be carried out according to the current regulations of the Ministry of Finance regarding the expenditure system for conferences;

e) Expenditure for establishing electronic databases to serve legal dissemination and education work shall be carried out according to the current regulations of the Ministry of Finance regarding the level of expenditure for creating electronic information under information technology and current regulations on information technology, database construction, and management;

g) Expenditure for compiling books and materials guiding professional legal dissemination and education work shall be carried out according to the regulations of the Ministry of Finance regarding the content and level of expenditure for building framework programs and compiling programs and textbooks (at the level of vocational secondary education);

h) Expenditure for rewarding individuals and groups with outstanding achievements in legal dissemination and education and grassroots mediation work shall be carried out according to the current regulations on reward expenditure;

i) Expenditure for conducting surveys and research on legal dissemination and education work shall be carried out according to the current regulations of the Ministry of Finance regarding expenditure for conducting surveys from state budget funds for public services;

k) Expenditure for translating materials from Vietnamese to foreign languages and vice versa shall be carried out according to the current regulations of the Ministry of Finance regarding translation expenditure in the reception of foreign guests and expenditure for organizing international conferences and seminars in Vietnam;

l) Expenditure for supporting food and accommodation for members of the organizing committee and examination boards; supporting food and accommodation for contestants participating in legal knowledge contests and vocational contests on legal dissemination and education, including:

- Expenditure for supporting food and accommodation for members of the organizing committee and examination boards during the contest period shall be carried out according to the current regulations of the Ministry of Finance regarding travel expenses for state officials, civil servants, and employees;

- Expenditure for supporting food and accommodation for contestants (including practice and competition days, not exceeding ten days) shall apply the support level for food and accommodation for non-salaried delegates according to the current regulations of the Ministry of Finance regarding conference expenditure.

Those who have received this support shall not be reimbursed for travel expenses at their agencies.

m) Expenses for printing publications, educational materials on law; expenses for publicizing through mass media; expenses for producing tapes, discs, and legal sketches according to the regulations, quotas, and unit prices of relevant sectors with similar tasks;

n) The level of expenditure for building and managing legal bookcases shall be implemented in accordance with Decision No. 06/2010/QĐ-TTg dated January 25, 2010, issued by the Prime Minister on the construction, management, and utilization of legal bookcases;

o) Expenditures for purchasing, renting equipment and other expenditures for purchasing and renting related to activities of disseminating and educating about the law based on valid invoices and expense vouchers in accordance with current legal regulations;

2. This Circular guides certain special expenditures in the work of disseminating and educating about the law (as attached);

The level of expenditure for implementing the work of disseminating and educating about the law stipulated in this Circular is the maximum level of expenditure; based on budget capacity and actual conditions at the locality, the People's Committee of provinces and centrally-administered cities shall submit to the People's Councils at the same level to specify the expenditure levels for agencies and units under their jurisdiction; the Ministers, Heads of Ministries equivalent to Ministries, and Heads of Government Agencies shall specify the expenditure levels for subordinate agencies and units based on the allocated state budget but not exceeding the maximum expenditure level specified in this Circular. In cases where Ministries, sectors, and localities have not issued specific regulations on expenditure levels, agencies and units may apply the provisions of this Circular.

Article 4. Establishment, Implementation, and Settlement of Funds for Dissemination and Education on Law

The establishment, implementation, and settlement of funds for dissemination and education on law shall be carried out in accordance with the State Budget Law, Accounting Law, and guiding documents for these laws. This Circular provides additional guidance on certain special points as follows:

1. Preparation of Budget Estimates:

a) Each year, Ministries and sectors assigned the main responsibility for implementing the National Program on Dissemination and Education on Law and Enhancing Legal Compliance Awareness among Cadres and the Public from 2005 to 2010 pursuant to Decision No. 212/2004/QĐ-TTg dated December 16, 2004, issued by the Prime Minister, and the Program on Dissemination and Education on Law from 2008 to 2012 pursuant to Decision No. 37/2008/QĐ-TTg dated March 12, 2008, issued by the Prime Minister, shall issue guidelines on specific contents of work to implement the Program based on its progress, serving as a basis for Ministries, sectors, localities, and agencies and units assigned the task of disseminating and educating about the law to prepare annual budget estimates;

b) Based on the guidelines of the agency responsible for implementing the Program and the requirements of the work of disseminating and educating about the law; based on the content and plans of activities of the Coordination Councils for Dissemination and Education on Law at all levels; agencies and units assigned the task of disseminating and educating about the law and agencies and units that have established Coordination Councils for Dissemination and Education on Law shall prepare budget estimates for ensuring funds for the work of disseminating and educating about the law and for the activities of the Councils together with regular budget estimates of their agencies and units to be submitted to the financial authorities at the same level for consolidation and submission to the competent authority for approval and allocation in the annual state budget for the units. The preparation, management, disbursement, payment, and settlement of funds shall be carried out in accordance with the State Budget Law and guiding documents for this law.

Ministries and sectors assigned the main responsibility for implementing Programs approved in Decision No. 212/2004/QĐ-TTg dated December 16, 2004, and Decision No. 37/2008/QĐ-TTg dated March 12, 2008, issued by the Prime Minister, shall prepare budget estimates (funds guaranteed by the central government) based on the objectives of each Program and submit them to the Ministry of Finance for consolidation and submission to the Prime Minister for approval and inclusion in the annual state budget of the Ministries and sectors responsible for the Programs.

Ministries and sectors assigned the main responsibility for implementing Sub-Programs within the Programs approved in Decision No. 37/2008/QĐ-TTg dated March 12, 2008, issued by the Prime Minister, shall prepare budget estimates for expenditures (funds guaranteed by the central government) based on the objectives of each Sub-Program and consolidate them into their own budget estimates and submit them to the Ministry of Finance (after obtaining the opinion of the agency responsible for the Program) for consolidation and submission to the competent authority for approval and inclusion in the annual state budget of the Ministries and sectors responsible for the Sub-Programs.

c) Regarding funds for building and managing Legal Libraries:

- Funds for constructing legal bookcases at agencies and units: Each year, based on the expenditure quota and the plan for constructing legal bookcases decided by the competent authority, agencies and units shall prepare budget estimates for constructing legal bookcases and consolidate them into their own budget estimates to be submitted to the competent authority according to the分级任务如下：

- Funds for constructing legal bookcases at communes, towns, and wards: Provinces and centrally-administered cities ensure funds from the local budget to maintain the operation of legal bookcases at communes, towns, and wards. The preparation of budget estimates for constructing legal bookcases at communes, towns, and wards shall be carried out in accordance with the State Budget Law and guiding documents on the following principles:

For provinces and centrally-administered cities that can balance their budgets independently, they shall allocate and use local revenue to fund the construction and management of legal bookcases in their areas;

The central government will provide funds for constructing legal bookcases at communes, towns, and wards for provinces that cannot balance their budgets independently.

2. The management, expenditure, reimbursement, and settlement of funds for dissemination and education on law; funds for the activities of the Coordination Council for Dissemination and Education on Law shall be carried out in accordance with the current financial management system and regulations.

State-owned enterprises that have been assigned by the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development to conduct offshore wind power project surveys before the effective date of this Circular shall continue to implement according to the assigned documents; any new matters arising after the effective date of this Circular shall be implemented in accordance with the provisions of this Circular.

1. This Circular shall take effect forty-five days from the date of signature and shall replace Circular No. 63/2005/TT-BTC dated August 5, 2005 of the Ministry of Finance guiding the management and use of funds for legal awareness and education activities.

2. Political and social organizations, social-professional organizations, and other organizations and mass organizations assigned tasks related to the dissemination and education of laws shall apply the provisions of this Joint Circular.

3. For regular tasks related to the dissemination and education of laws (not included in the National Action Program on Legal Dissemination and Education and Enhancing Legal Compliance Awareness among Cadres and People at Communes, Wards, and Towns from 2005 to 2010 pursuant to Decision No. 212/2004/QĐ-TTg dated December 16, 2004 of the Prime Minister and the Legal Dissemination and Education Program from 2008 to 2012 pursuant to Decision No. 37/2008/QĐ-TTg dated March 12, 2008 of the Prime Minister), the Ministers, heads of ministerial-level agencies, heads of agencies under the Government, and People's Councils of localities shall issue guiding documents based on the content and expenditure levels specified in this Joint Circular, to suit actual conditions and budget capabilities of ministries, sectors, and localities, but shall not exceed the maximum expenditure level prescribed in this Joint Circular. In cases where ministries, sectors, and localities have not issued specific regulations on expenditure levels, relevant agencies and units may apply the provisions of this Joint Circular for implementation.

4. During the implementation process, if there are difficulties or obstacles, agencies and units are requested to report them to the Ministry of Finance and the Ministry of Justice for study, amendment, and supplementation to ensure appropriateness.