Supporting Viet Nam’s Office of the Government in legal issues

Project description

Title: Support to the Office of the Government in Legal Issues
Commissioned by: German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ)
Country: Socialist Republic of Viet Nam
Lead executing agency: Office of the Government (OoG)
Overall term: 2020 to 2023

Context

Constitutionality and legal stability are important factors of good governance. In Viet Nam, steps are being undertaken to institute reforms and push the process of democratization. These efforts are influenced by the country’s growing international integration and are resulting in significant changes to Viet Nam’s legal system. For several years now, the Vietnamese Government has been confirming its strong commitment to introduce legal reforms that will promote the rule of law and good governance. An important contribution in this respect is the new Legal System Development Strategy, which runs until 2030, with a vision extending to 2045.

The Office of the Government (OoG), and its Department of Law in particular, play a decisive role in implementing the strategy. The department is directly involved in the process of drafting legislation and is responsible for coordinating the relevant ministries, the National Assembly and any third parties involved. It not only advises the Prime Minister and the government, providing them with statements on draft legislation, but also monitors the enforcement of laws and other legal documents once they have been enacted.

Objective

Vietnamese professional and management staff have gained a better understanding of selected legal issues relating to the economic system and internal government legislative methods as well as other relevant matters such as the rule of law, constitutional law, economic law, and international legal standards.

Approach

Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH supports Viet Nam’s legislative reforms by providing advisory services to the Office of the Government, especially the Department of Law. To this end, it organises training measures, field trips, international and national workshops, as well as study tours. The project’s particular focus is to improve technical capacities together with the partners’ understanding of relevant matters such as the rule of law, constitutional law, economic law, and international legal standards. It also works to enhance the institutional and functional organisation of the legislative process.

Results

Thanks to the support provided by the project, the Office of the Government has now become more effective at performing its duty of verifying draft laws in the legislative process before these are submitted to the Prime Minister. It also now produces comments with a higher quality of technical and professional content.
The improved quality of OoG’s recommendations and comments on draft laws means that the recommendations and statements now achieve greater acceptance, including the acceptance and final approval of the Prime Minister.
For the verification process, OoG has introduced a system of consultations with relevant organisations and ministries, as well as with high-ranking experts who have formed a scientific advisory board to advise on various legal and technical aspects.
In addition to its role as the verification body, OoG now acts as a coordination point for all draft laws prior to their submission to the government and get more deeply involved into the drafting process, which has become possible through the OoG’s improved capacities.
OoG has started a process of organisational development for the Department of Law. This aims to standardise working procedures in line with international practice and ensure that draft legislation complies with international standards and constitutional requirements.

Last update: March 2021