Sitting “in heaven” to draft laws in Vietnam

VietNamNet Bridge – There are many legal documents that have been protested by the public. Some of them must be amended immediately. Why?

Many people have proposed to change the legislative process, but how to change is not easy.

In many countries, they have a committee specializing on drafting bills. However, the public's right to participate in the legislative process is clearly stipulated by the Constitution and the law.

To enact a law, a basic process is implemented, as follows: Whenever they need to enact a certain law, this committee "orders" many legal experts. Each expert can compile one chapter only.

A law is considered a scientific work at national level that the compilation committee is the one that checks and takes over the work.

The experts who are invited to draft a bill must answer the questions for each problem that the experts mention in each article of the bills: Why such provisions and how the provisions shall be construed?

If the bill is accepted, the contents of the answers will be treated as "the official explanation document" after the bill is enacted. When the compilation committee has a complete draft bill, it will submit the bill to the Congress for approval.

When a law is passed, the Congress will also issue the formal explanation, no need to issue guiding instructions.

Seeking gaps in law compilation in Vietnam 

In Vietnam, when it is needed to enact a law, the first thing to do is to select the drafting agency. If that law relating to currency, it shall be assigned to the State Bank of Vietnam; if it is related to labor, insurance, social policy, it will be assigned to the Ministry of Labor and Social Affairs; if it is related to culture, it will be assigned to the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism.

Other concerned ministries and agencies shall coordinate with the compilation agency. The bill will be submitted to the National Assembly’s specialized committee for evaluation and the National Assembly Standing Committee for consultation. After that it will be put to the National Assembly for discussion and approval.

In the process of drafting legal documents, the drafting agency shall be responsible to collect opinions of the subjects of the bill and other organizations and individuals, with the method prescribed in Clause 2, Article 35 of the Law on Promulgation of Legal Documents.

At the same time, the compilation agency is responsible to collect and explain the contents of the bill.

In the process of compilation, the drafting agencies can mobilize the participation of research institutes, universities, associations, other organizations involved or experts into the activities such as: To review and evaluate the implementation of the law; review and assess current legal documents; hold surveys, sociological investigation; assess the state of social relations related to the draft bill; collect, research, compare international documents and agreements related to the project; or assess the impact of the draft bills.

But, in fact, in Vietnam many people are on the heaven to make laws. As a result, many legal documents are protested by the people. Some of them must be amended immediately after their issuance.

Mr. Ngo Van Minh, member of the National Assembly’s Legal Committee, said: "Any regulation must firstly conform to reality and the level of development of society and ensure conditions for the implementation so they will be accepted by the people.”

According to Minh, legal documents must be issued in accordance with the order and procedure of the Law on Promulgation of Legal Documents. Accordingly, they must be considered by the concerned ministries and agencies and especially the affected subjects, and then approved by the Ministry of Justice before being submitted for the National Assembly’s consideration and signing.

“I think the problematic legal documents are those that do not comply with the above procedures or those that are issued hastily, reckless. Why did the public protested the regulations that allow traffic police to impose fine on those who drive vehicles that are not registered under their names? Because that regulation is unrealistic and contrary to the principles of law," Mr. Minh said.

Asking him about the reason that many legal documents are protested or must be amended immediately after they are issued, Mr. Minh said the reasons are the poor qualification of the law makers and the bureaucracy.

“I used to compare the making of the legal documents that are illegal and unrealistic, like sitting in heaven to make laws. For example, many ministries and agencies claimed that when they drafted a law, they consulted the people and the subject concerned. But it turned out that they just posted the draft on their websites," Minh added.

Many people have proposed to change the legislative process, but how to change is not easy.

According to Minh, the important issue is the need to change the process of people's consultation. The consultation must be carried out widely, effectively, with the right subjects and especially the law compilers have to directly collect and process the opinions.

Compiled by Tran Cham