Law Amending and Supplementing Certain Articles of the Law on Enacting Regulatory Legal Documents Number 87/2025/QH15

LAW

AMENDMENTS AND SUPPLEMENTS TO CERTAIN ARTICLES OF THE LAW ON ENACTING LEGAL DOCUMENTSLAW ON ENACTING LEGAL DOCUMENTS

Pursuant to the Constitution of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam amended and supplemented by Resolution No. 203/2025/QH15;

The National Assembly enacts this Law to amend and supplement certain articles of the Law on Enacting Legal Documents number 64/2025/QH15.

Article 1. Amendments and supplements to certain articles of the Law on Enacting Legal Documents

a) Amending and supplementing Point c Clause 2 as follows:

“Article 4. System of legal documents

1. Constitution.

2. Code, Law (hereinafter referred to collectively as "Law"), resolutions of the National Assembly.

3. Ordinances, resolutions of the Standing Committee of the National Assembly; joint resolutions between the Standing Committee of the National Assembly and the Chairman of the Central Committee of the Vietnam Fatherland Front; joint resolutions between the Standing Committee of the National Assembly, the Government and the Chairman of the Central Committee of the Vietnam Fatherland Front.

4. Decrees, decisions of the President.

5. Decrees, resolutions of the Government; joint resolutions between the Government and the Chairman of the Central Committee of the Vietnam Fatherland Front.

6. Decisions of the Prime Minister.

7. Resolutions of the Supreme People's Court Council.

8. Circulars of the Chief Justice of the Supreme People's Court; circulars of the Procurator General of the Supreme People's Procuracy; circulars of the Minister, Head of a ministry-level agency; circulars of the State Auditor General.

9. Joint circulars between the Chief Justice of the Supreme People's Court, the Procurator General of the Supreme People's Procuracy, the State Auditor General, and the Minister, Head of a ministry-level agency.

10. Resolutions of the People's Council at the provincial level (hereinafter referred to collectively as "provincial level").

11. Decisions of the Provincial People's Committee.

12. Decisions of the Chairman of the Provincial People's Committee.

13. Legal documents of local authorities in special administrative-economic units.

14. Resolutions of the People's Council at the commune, ward, and special zone levels directly under the provincial level (hereinafter referred to collectively as "commune level").

15. Decisions of the Commune People's Committee.”

2. Amend and supplement Clause 3 of Article 9 as follows:

“3. Legal documents issued by central agencies and persons with authority must be published on the electronic bulletin board of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam. Legal documents issued by the People's Councils and People's Committees at all levels, decisions of the Chairman of the Provincial People's Committee, and legal documents of local authorities in special administrative-economic units must be published on the electronic bulletin board at the provincial level.” cơ quan quản lý hành chính tại đơn vị hành chính - kinh tế đặc biệt phải được đăng tải trên công báo điện tử cấp tỉnh.

3. Amend and supplement Article 21 as follows:

“Article 21. Resolutions of the People's Council at the provincial level, decisions of the People's Committee at the provincial level, and decisions of the Chairman of the People's Committee at the provincial level

1. The People's Council at the provincial level shall issue resolutions to specify:

a) Details of articles, clauses, points, and other contents assigned in legal documents of higher-level state agencies;

b) Policies and measures to ensure the implementation of the Constitution, laws, and legal documents of higher-level state agencies;

c) Policies and measures for economic and social development, budget, national defense, and security at the locality; other specific measures suitable to the conditions of economic and social development of the locality; decentralization and implementation of tasks and powers delegated;

d) Implementation of pilot policies in accordance with the Law on Organization of Local Administration.

2. The People's Committee at the provincial level shall issue decisions to specify:

a) Details of articles, clauses, points, and other contents assigned in legal documents of higher-level state agencies;

b) Measures to implement the Constitution, laws, and legal documents of higher-level state agencies, and resolutions of the same-level People's Council regarding economic and social development, budget, national defense, and security at the locality;

c) Measures to perform state management functions at the locality; decentralization and implementation of tasks and powers delegated.

3. The Chairman of the People's Committee at the provincial level shall issue decisions to specify:

a) Measures to direct and manage the activities of the People's Committee at the provincial level; coordination of activities among specialized agencies and other organizations under the People's Committee at the provincial level;

b) Decentralization and implementation of tasks and powers delegated.”

4. Amend and supplement Article 22 as follows:

“Article 22. Regulatory legal documents of local authorities in special administrative-economic units and communes

1. Local authorities in special administrative-economic units issue regulatory legal documents in accordance with this Law and relevant regulatory legal documents of the National Assembly.

2. The People's Council at the commune level issues resolutions to specify:

a) Matters assigned by laws and resolutions of the National Assembly;

b) Policies and measures to ensure the implementation of the Constitution, laws, and legal documents of higher-level state agencies;

c) Policies and measures for economic and social development in the locality; implementation of tasks and powers delegated.

3. The People's Committee at the commune level issues decisions to specify:

a) Matters assigned by laws and resolutions of the National Assembly;

b) Measures to implement the Constitution, laws, regulatory legal documents of higher state agencies, resolutions of the same-level People's Council;

c) Measures to perform state management functions in the locality; implementation of tasks and powers delegated.”

5. Amend and supplement Clause 1 of Article 23 as follows:

“1. The Standing Committee of the National Assembly shall take the lead and coordinate with the Government to draft the Legislative Orientation for the term of the National Assembly, to be completed within ninety days from the end of the first session of the term of the National Assembly, to submit to the competent authority of the Party for approval.

The Standing Committee of the National Assembly shall itself propose legislative tasks; the State President, the National Ethnic Council, the Committees of the National Assembly, the Government, the Supreme People's Court, the Supreme People's Procuracy, the State Audit Office, the Vietnam Fatherland Front Central Committee, central agencies of political-social organizations, and National Assembly deputies shall send proposals on legislative tasks to the Standing Committee of the National Assembly within sixty days from the end of the first session of the term of the National Assembly for consideration and inclusion in the Legislative Orientation for the term of the National Assembly.”

6. Amend and supplement Clause 1 of Article 24 as follows:

“1. Based on the Legislative Orientation for the term of the National Assembly or requirements to address issues arising from practice (if any), the Standing Committee of the National Assembly shall itself propose the drafting of laws, resolutions of the National Assembly, ordinances, and resolutions of the Standing Committee of the National Assembly; the State President, the National Ethnic Council, the Committees of the National Assembly, the Government, the Supreme People's Court, the Supreme People's Procuracy, the State Audit Office, the Vietnam Fatherland Front Central Committee, central agencies of political-social organizations, and National Assembly deputies (hereinafter referred to collectively as the proposing agencies) shall submit project proposals for the drafting of laws, resolutions of the National Assembly, ordinances, and resolutions of the Standing Committee of the National Assembly to the Standing Committee of the National Assembly before August 1st each year to include them in the Legislative Program for the following year.”

7. Amend and supplement Clause 2 of Article 26 as follows:

“2. In cases where it is necessary to promulgate laws or resolutions immediately during the ongoing session of the National Assembly or the nearest session to resolve urgent, contentious, or problematic issues arising from practice that are not included in the annual Legislative Program, the proposing agency shall apply simplified procedures to draft projects; submit project files for review by the National Ethnic Council and the Committees of the National Assembly, and simultaneously submit to the Standing Committee of the National Assembly for comments and decide to include them in the proposed agenda of the National Assembly session for consideration and adoption.”

8. Amend and supplement Point b of Clause 2 of Article 29 as follows:

“b) Economic and social impacts are assessed based on analysis and forecasting of costs, benefits, positive and negative effects related to production, business, employment, ethnicity, religion, culture, health, education, environment, national defense, security, decentralization, science and technology, innovation, digital transformation, and other issues related to economic and social matters;”

9. Amend and supplement some points and clauses of Article 31 as follows:

a) Amend and supplement Clause 1 as follows:

“1. The Ministry of Justice shall take the lead and coordinate with the Ministry of Finance, the Ministry of Home Affairs, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Ministry of Public Security, the Ministry of Defense, the Ministry of Science and Technology, and relevant agencies, organizations, and individuals to organize policy reviews of laws, resolutions of the National Assembly, and ordinances of the Standing Committee of the National Assembly before submitting them to the Government within thirty days from the date of receipt of all documents. The review is conducted based on the submitted policy documents.

For policies proposed by the Ministry of Justice or in cases of necessity, the Minister of Justice may establish a review board.”

b) Amend and supplement Point đ of Clause 4 as follows:

“đ) The necessity to stipulate administrative procedures, decentralization, promotion of scientific and technological application and development, innovation, and digital transformation, gender equality, ethnic policies (if applicable);”

10. Amend and supplement some points and clauses of Article 33 as follows:

a) Amend and supplement Points b and c of Clause 3 as follows:

“b) Solicit social feedback from the Vietnam Fatherland Front and send representatives to participate in social feedback meetings when invited.

The Vietnam Fatherland Front shall take the lead or organize social feedback in coordination with the Vietnam Fatherland Front. Feedback documents shall be sent to the drafting agency no later than twenty days from the date of receipt of the documents;

c) Publish the draft law, ordinance, and resolution documents on the electronic portal of the drafting agency and the National Legal Portal for at least twenty days to allow agencies, organizations, and individuals to provide comments, except in cases where international treaties to which the Socialist Republic of Vietnam is a party have different provisions. In cases where regulatory legal documents are issued through simplified procedures, the publication shall be carried out in accordance with Point b of Clause 4 of Article 51 of this Law;”

b) Amend and supplement Point đ of Clause 4 as follows:

“đ) An assessment report on administrative procedures, decentralization, promotion of scientific and technological application and development, innovation, and digital transformation, gender equality, and ethnic policies (if applicable);”

11. Amend and supplement some points and clauses of Article 34 as follows:

a) Amend and supplement Clause 1 as follows:

"1. The Ministry of Justice shall take the lead and coordinate with the Ministry of Finance, the Ministry of Home Affairs, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Ministry of Public Security, the Ministry of National Defense, the Ministry of Science and Technology, relevant agencies, organizations, and individuals to organize the review of draft laws, ordinances, and resolutions before submitting them to the Government within thirty days from the date of receiving all necessary documents. The review shall be conducted based on the submitted project dossier.

In cases where the draft is prepared by the Ministry of Justice or when necessary, the Minister of Justice shall establish a review board."

b) Amend and supplement point e of Clause 2 as follows:

"e) An assessment of administrative procedures, delegation of authority, application, promotion of scientific and technological development, innovation, digital transformation, gender equality, and ethnic policies (if applicable);"

c) Amend and supplement point đ of Clause 4 as follows:

"đ) The necessity and rationality of administrative procedures, delegation of authority, application, promotion of scientific and technological development, innovation, digital transformation, gender equality, and ethnic policies (if applicable);"

12. Amend and supplement some points and clauses of Article 37 as follows:

a) Amend and supplement Clause 1 as follows:

"1. For projects submitted to the National Assembly, the submitting agency must send the dossier specified in Clause 3 of this Article to the leading reviewing agency at least forty-five days before the opening day of the National Assembly session for review purposes, and send the dossier specified in Clause 3 of this Article electronically to the Secretary-General of the National Assembly - Chairman of the National Assembly Office to forward to the Delegations of the National Assembly and publish on the National Assembly's electronic portal.

For projects submitted to the Standing Committee of the National Assembly, the submitting agency must send the dossier specified in Clause 3 of this Article to the leading reviewing agency at least twenty days before the start of the Standing Committee session for review purposes.

The submitting agency must publish the project dossier on the National Law Portal for projects submitted to the National Assembly and the Standing Committee of the National Assembly."

b) Amend and supplement point đ of Clause 3 as follows:

"đ) An assessment of administrative procedures, delegation of authority, application, promotion of scientific and technological development, innovation, digital transformation, gender equality, and ethnic policies (if applicable);"

c) Amend and supplement point e of Clause 4 as follows:

"e) The necessity and rationality of administrative procedures, delegation of authority, application, promotion of scientific and technological development, innovation, digital transformation, gender equality, and ethnic policies (if applicable);"

13. Amend and supplement Clause 4 Article 44 as follows:

"4. Depending on the content of the draft decree or decision, the President of the State shall decide on the full publication on the electronic portal of the agency responsible for drafting and the National Law Portal. The publication of the draft decree or decision shall last for at least twenty days to allow agencies, organizations, and individuals to provide comments, except in cases where international treaties to which the Socialist Republic of Vietnam is a party have different provisions. In cases where normative legal documents are issued through simplified procedures, the publication shall be carried out according to the provisions of point b of Clause 4 of Article 51 of this Law."

14. Amend and supplement some points and clauses of Article 46 as follows:

a) Amend and supplement the beginning of point b of Clause 1 as follows:

"b) The draft resolution shall be published on the Supreme People's Court's electronic portal and the National Law Portal for at least twenty days to allow agencies, organizations, and individuals to provide comments, except in cases where international treaties to which the Socialist Republic of Vietnam is a party have different provisions; in cases where the resolution is issued through simplified procedures, the publication shall be carried out according to the provisions of point b of Clause 4 of Article 51 of this Law."

b) Amending and supplementing Point b Clause 2 as follows:

"b) The unit assigned to take the lead in drafting shall be responsible for summarizing the practical implementation of related laws; researching relevant information and materials; preparing outlines, drafting, and revising the draft; organizing the collection of opinions; preparing the submission report and related documents.

The draft circular shall be published on the Supreme People's Court's electronic portal and the National Law Portal for at least twenty days to allow agencies, organizations, and individuals to provide comments, except in cases where international treaties to which the Socialist Republic of Vietnam is a party have different provisions; in cases where the circular is issued through simplified procedures, the publication shall be carried out according to the provisions of point b of Clause 4 of Article 51 of this Law.

Depending on the nature and content of the draft, the Chief Justice of the Supreme People's Court shall decide to send the draft circular for opinions from local people's courts, military courts, and related agencies and organizations;"

15. Amend and supplement Clause 3 of Article 47 as follows:

"3. The draft circular shall be published on the Supreme People's Procuracy's electronic portal and the National Law Portal for at least twenty days to allow agencies, organizations, and individuals to provide comments, except in cases where international treaties to which the Socialist Republic of Vietnam is a party have different provisions; in cases where the circular is issued through simplified procedures, the publication shall be carried out according to the provisions of point b of Clause 4 of Article 51 of this Law.

Depending on the nature and content of the draft, the Chief Prosecutor of the Supreme People's Procuracy shall decide to send the draft circular for opinions from local people's procuracies, military procuracies, and related agencies and organizations."

16. Amend and supplement Clause 2 of Article 48 as follows:

"2. The draft circular shall be published on the State Audit Agency's electronic portal and the National Law Portal for at least twenty days to allow agencies, organizations, and individuals to provide comments, except in cases where international treaties to which the Socialist Republic of Vietnam is a party have different provisions; in cases where the circular is issued through simplified procedures, the publication shall be carried out according to the provisions of point b of Clause 4 of Article 51 of this Law."

17. Amend and supplement point c of Clause 2 of Article 49 as follows:

"c) The draft shall be published on the website of the drafting agency and the National Law Portal for at least twenty days to allow agencies, organizations, and individuals to provide comments, except where international treaties to which the Socialist Republic of Vietnam is a party have different provisions; in cases where joint circulars are issued under simplified procedures, the publication shall be carried out in accordance with Point b, Clause 4, Article 51 of this Law."

Draft joint circulars issued jointly by the President of the Supreme People's Court must solicit opinions from members of the Supreme People's Court Judges Council; draft joint circulars issued jointly by the Prosecutor General of the Supreme People's Procuracy must solicit opinions from members of the Supreme People's Procuracy Inspection Committee;"

18. Amend and supplement Point d, Clause 2, Article 50 as follows:

"d) The Standing People's Council, upon the proposal of the agency submitting the decision on applying simplified procedures in the promulgation of People's Council resolutions; the Chairman of the People's Committee, upon the proposal of the main drafting agency, decides on applying simplified procedures in the promulgation of People's Committee decisions; the Chairman of the Provincial People's Committee may decide on applying simplified procedures in the promulgation of his own decisions either on his own initiative or upon the proposal of the main drafting agency;"

19. Amend and supplement some points and clauses of Article 51 as follows:

a) Amending and supplementing Clause 5 as follows:

"5. The examination and review of regulatory legal documents and the Government's opinion on projects not submitted by the Government through simplified procedures shall be carried out as follows:"

a) The examination file includes the request for examination; the draft report; the draft document; a comparison of the draft amendment, supplementation, replacement with current laws, resolutions of the National Assembly, ordinances, resolutions of the Standing Committee of the National Assembly and reasons for proposing amendments, supplements, replacements; a review of Party policies, regulatory legal documents, international treaties related to the draft; a summary of opinions, adoption, explanation of opinions provided by agencies, organizations, and individuals (if any);"

b) The file sent to the Government for its opinion on projects not submitted by the Government includes the request for opinion; the draft report; the draft document; a comparison of the draft amendment, supplementation, replacement with current laws, resolutions of the National Assembly, ordinances, resolutions of the Standing Committee of the National Assembly and reasons for proposing amendments, supplements, replacements; a review of Party policies, regulatory legal documents, international treaties related to the draft; a summary of opinions, adoption, explanation of opinions provided by agencies, organizations, and individuals (if any);"

c) The review file includes the report; the draft document; the examination report or the Government's opinion on projects not submitted by the Government and the report on adoption and explanation; a comparison of the draft amendment, supplementation, replacement with current laws, resolutions of the National Assembly, ordinances, resolutions of the Standing Committee of the National Assembly and reasons for proposing amendments, supplements, replacements; a review of Party policies, regulatory legal documents, international treaties related to the draft; a summary of opinions, adoption, explanation of opinions provided by agencies, organizations, and individuals (if any);"

d) Within seven days from the date of receipt of the project file as stipulated in Points a and c of this clause, the examining agency shall be responsible for examination, and the reviewing agency shall be responsible for review; for complex projects involving multiple sectors and fields, the time limit shall not exceed fifteen days from the date of receipt of the file;"

e) The main drafting agency shall be responsible for studying, adopting, and explaining examination opinions or the Government's opinion on projects not submitted by the Government, and review opinions;"

In cases where the examining agency concludes that the project does not meet the conditions for submission to the Government, the main drafting agency must adopt, explain, and perfect the project for re-examination. In cases where the main reviewing agency has opinions that the project does not meet the conditions for submission to the Standing Committee of the National Assembly or the National Assembly, it shall report to the Standing Committee of the National Assembly for consideration and return the file to the agency submitting the project for further refinement and perfection;"

b) Amend and supplement Point a, Clause 6 as follows:"

"a) The file for submitting draft laws, resolutions of the National Assembly, ordinances, and resolutions of the Standing Committee of the National Assembly includes the report; the draft document; a comparison of the draft amendment, supplementation, replacement with current laws, resolutions of the National Assembly, ordinances, resolutions of the Standing Committee of the National Assembly and reasons for proposing amendments, supplements, replacements; the examination report or the Government's opinion on projects not submitted by the Government; the review report; a review of Party policies, regulatory legal documents, international treaties related to the draft;"

c) Amend and supplement Point c, Clause 7 as follows:"

"c) The President, Prime Minister, Ministers, Heads of Ministries-equivalent agencies, President of the Supreme People's Court, Prosecutor General of the Supreme People's Procuracy, State Auditor General, and Chairmen of Provincial People's Committees shall examine and sign to promulgate documents within their authority;"

20. Amend and supplement Clause 2, Article 54 as follows:"

"2. Regulatory legal documents of People's Councils, People's Committees, and Chairmen of People's Committees at any administrative unit shall be effective within the scope of that administrative unit and must be specifically stipulated in the document itself. In cases of changes in the territorial boundaries of administrative units, the spatial and applicability effects of regulatory legal documents shall be determined as follows:"

a) In cases where an administrative unit is divided into several new administrative units of the same level, regulatory legal documents of the People's Council, People's Committee, and Chairman of the People's Committee of the divided administrative unit shall continue to be effective for the new administrative units until the People's Council, People's Committee, and Chairman of the People's Committee of the new administrative units issue other decisions;"

b) In the case where multiple administrative units are merged into a new administrative unit at the same level, the regulatory legal documents of the People's Councils, People's Committees, and Chairpersons of the People's Committees of the merged administrative units shall continue to be effective within the scope of those administrative units until the People's Councils, People's Committees, and Chairpersons of the new administrative unit issue administrative documents to decide on the application or abolition of the regulatory legal documents of the People's Councils, People's Committees, and Chairpersons of the merged administrative units, or issue new regulatory legal documents.

c) In the case where part of the territorial boundary of an administrative unit is adjusted to another administrative unit, the regulatory legal documents of the People's Councils, People's Committees, and Chairpersons of the administrative unit whose territory has been expanded shall remain effective for the portion of the territorial boundary that has been adjusted.

d) Regulatory legal documents that are currently effective within the territorial boundaries of an administrative unit prior to its establishment, dissolution, division, merger, or adjustment of territorial boundaries shall continue to be effective within those territorial boundaries, except in cases provided for in points a, b, and c of this clause or where they have been amended, supplemented, replaced, or abolished by documents from competent authorities or persons with authority.

21. Amend and supplement Clause 3 of Article 55 as follows:

“3. Regulatory legal documents of the Chairman of the Provincial People's Committee, People's Councils of Communes, and People's Committees of Communes shall not stipulate retroactive effect.”

22. Amend and supplement Clause 2 of Article 57 as follows:

“2. Regulatory legal documents become entirely or partially ineffective due to being replaced or amended by other regulatory legal documents; detailed regulations and specific measures to organize and guide the implementation of such documents also become ineffective, except in cases where they are announced to continue to be entirely or partially effective. The announcement document must be an administrative document and must be published on the electronic bulletin board and the national database on laws.”

23. Amend and supplement Clause 3 of Article 60 as follows:

“3. The Standing Committee of the National Assembly may itself or upon the proposal of the President, the National Ethnic Council, the Committees of the National Assembly, the Government, the Supreme People's Court, the Supreme People's Procuracy, the State Audit Agency, the Vietnam Fatherland Front Central Committee, central agencies of political-social organizations, and National Assembly deputies implement the explanation of the Constitution, laws, ordinances, and resolutions.”

24. Amend and supplement Points b, c, and d of Clause 1 of Article 63 as follows:

“b) The Government and the Prime Minister are responsible for self-inspecting regulatory legal documents issued by themselves or jointly issued; the Government inspects regulatory legal documents issued by ministers, heads of ministerial-level agencies, provincial People's Councils and People's Committees, and Chairpersons of provincial People's Committees according to their authority regarding local administrative-economic special zones.

c) Ministers and heads of ministerial-level agencies are responsible for self-inspecting regulatory legal documents issued by themselves or jointly issued; they inspect regulatory legal documents issued by ministers, heads of ministerial-level agencies, provincial People's Councils and People's Committees, and Chairpersons of provincial People's Committees according to their authority regarding matters related to their sectors or fields.

d) People's Councils and People's Committees at all levels, and Chairpersons of provincial People's Committees are responsible for self-inspecting regulatory legal documents issued by themselves; higher-level local governments inspect regulatory legal documents issued by lower-level local governments according to their authority.”

25. Amend and supplement Clause 8 of Article 64 as follows:

“8. Provincial People's Committees shall review and systematize documents issued by provincial People's Councils and People's Committees, and Chairpersons of provincial People's Committees.

Commune People's Committees shall review and systematize documents issued by commune People's Councils and People's Committees.”

Article 2. Implementation clause

This Law shall take effect from July 1, 2025.

Article 3. Transitional Provisions

From the date this Law takes effect, regulatory legal documents of People's Councils and People's Committees at the district level shall be handled as follows:

1. Resolutions of People's Councils and decisions of People's Committees at the district level shall continue to be effective within the territorial boundaries of the district-level administrative units before reorganization until February 28, 2027, except where People's Councils and People's Committees at the commune level issue documents pursuant to Clause 2 of this Article or where there are different provisions by competent authorities or higher-level state agencies.

2. When People's Councils and People's Committees at the commune level issue regulatory legal documents related to regulatory legal documents of People's Councils and People's Committees at the district level, they must clearly specify the time when the regulatory legal documents of People's Councils and People's Committees at the district level will not be applied within their territorial boundaries; the issuance of such regulatory legal documents must be completed no later than February 28, 2027.

This Law was passed by the National Assembly of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam, the 15th term, the 9th session on June 25, 2025.