Decree No. 34/2016/ND-CP Detailing a Number of Articles and Measures to Implement the Laws on Promulgation of Legal Normative Documents

Issuing authority and legal basis

Decree No. 34/2016/ND-CP is issued by The Government on the proposal of the Minister of Justice. According to its preamble as excerpted, it is promulgated on the basis of the Law on Organization of The Government dated 19 June 2015 and the Laws on Promulgation of Legal Normative Documents dated 22 June 2015. It provides detailed provisions for a number of articles and implementation measures under that Laws.

Scope and application

The Decree details the implementation of the Laws with respect to the formulation, issuance and management of legal normative documents. The excerpt indicates it covers the whole policy-to-issuance cycle at central and local levels, including ministries, The Government, the National Assembly and local people's councils and people's committees. The body excerpt is abridged and the articles are truncated, so the full scope, list of subjects and definitions cannot be extracted verbatim from the excerpt alone.

Key obligations and procedures

From the table of contents visible in the excerpt, the Decree regulates: construction of legislative programmes and drafting plans; policy evaluation and policy impact assessment (evaluation, methods, responsibilities and use of assessment results); consultation with relevant agencies, organisations and the public and handling of comments; preparation of dossiers, submission, appraisal (tham dinh) by the Ministry of Justice and other justice agencies, and verification (tham tra) by competent bodies; procedures for elaboration, consideration, adoption and promulgation of drafts submitted to The Government, the Prime Minister and other competent authorities; and establishment and operation of drafting boards and editorial groups under Articles 52, 53, 54 and 90 of the Laws.

Further sections address correction of errors, consolidation and codification techniques, numbering and signing of documents, and handling of documents with errors in form, authority or content under Articles 60, 94, 100 and 128 of the Laws.

Drafting technique, publication and systematization

The Decree prescribes presentation and drafting technique for legal normative documents: national emblem, name of issuing body, number and code, geographical place and date, title, legal basis, structure, wording, language, seal and place for receipt, and annexes (Articles 55 to 81). It also regulates publication and posting: dispatch, receipt, publication on the Official Gazette, posting and listing, and validity of posting, as well as translation of documents and consolidation of documents.

It provides for examination, review, handling and systematization of legal normative documents: monitoring, review (kiem tra) and handling by competent bodies, authority and procedures for handling unlawful documents, publication of review results and dossiers, responsibilities of ministries, the Ministry of Justice and local authorities, and periodic systematization and codification under Articles 153, 154 and related provisions.

Effect and transition

The excerpt provided does not reproduce the final articles on effect, transition, and replacement of previous regulations. The issuing year 2016 and the reference to implementation of the Laws dated 22 June 2015 indicate the Decree is the principal detailed decree under that Laws. No effective date and no expressly named superseded decree can be confirmed from the abridged excerpt alone, and therefore they are not stated here.