Five newly-passed laws announced

Vice Chairman of the President Office Phạm Thanh Hà announces the five newly-passed laws at the press conference on Tuesday. VNA/VNS Photo

HÀ NỘI – Laws newly passed by the 15th National Assembly were announced by the President Office in Hà Nội on Tuesday.  

These include the Law on Capital; the Law on Amendments and Supplements to a Number of Articles of the Law on Property Auction; the Law on Amendments and Supplements to a Number of Articles of the Land Law, Housing Law, Real Estate Business Law; Law on Credit Institutions; the Law on Road; and the Law on Social Insurance.

The Capital Law aims to improve the legal framework, build exceptional and outstanding mechanisms and address difficulties and issues that arise during the implementation of the Capital Law.

It focuses on developing the capital into a political, administrative, economic and cultural centre, aiming for a smart, modern, green, clean, beautiful, safe and secure city.

The goal is to foster rapid and sustainable development, creating a ripple effect to boost the development of the Red River Delta region, the Northern key economic region and the entire country.

The law is placed within the overall legal system and does not replace the existing legal system but applies specifically to the capital.

Moreover, the law aligns with the nine policy groups in the proposal to amend the Capital Law, approved by the Government, to regulate specific mechanisms and policies, aiming to maximise the strengths of the capital.

Digital transformation on property auctions

The Law on Amendments and Supplements to a Number of Articles of the Law on Property Auction aims to contribute to anti-corruption, negativity and waste; continue to professionalise and specialise the auctioneer team and property auction organisations; overcome limitations and ensure transparency and objectivity; and promote the application of information technology and digital transformation in property auction activities.

The law introduces new content related to the amendments and supplements to regulations on auctioneers and property auction organisations; the order and procedures for property auctions; the responsibilities of agencies, organisations, and individuals in property auction activities.

Notably, the law prohibits certain behaviours for auctioneers, auction organisations and property owners, such as creating false participant lists, falsifying documents and restricting participation unlawfully to enhance independence, objectivity and transparency in auction activities.

The law also adds two new articles on online auctions and the procedures for online auctions, which are conducted through the National Property Auction Portal or online auction websites.

It sets general principles for online auctions and delegates the detailed regulation to the Government, aiming to improve the online auction format and promote IT application and digital transformation in property auction activities.

Liberating land resources

The Land Law, Housing Law, Real Estate Business Law and Law on Credit Institutions institutionalise many new policies and address existing issues identified during implementation reviews and introduce many innovative and breakthrough regulations drawn from practical evaluations and trials.

These laws help solve limitations, especially in land valuation, land recovery, compensation, and resettlement as well as create a coherent legal framework to liberate land resources, promote a healthy real estate market, expedite investment projects, particularly public investment projects and real estate projects and facilitate businesses and individuals in exercising land use rights and protecting the rights of those whose land is recovered.

Strategic breakthroughs in road development

The Road Law focuses on three strategic breakthroughs of institutional policies, infrastructure and human resources and addresses practical needs with a strategic vision towards smarter and more IT-applicable road operations and enhances decentralisation, delegation, and administrative procedure reform.

Notably, Chapter III on expressways is new and critical, establishing strategic and breakthrough policies on expressways, resolving obstacles in mobilising non-budget resources to upgrade expressways as per the planning scale and creating a legal framework to achieve the goal of having 5,000km of expressways nation-wide by 2030.

Compared to the 2008 Road Traffic Law, the new law includes new provisions on standards, regulations, and the application of science and technology in expressway design, construction, management, operation, and exploitation.

It also covers development and investment policies for expressways, expansion, renovation, and modernisation of expressway projects and regulations on temporarily suspending expressway exploitation, rest stops and parking points on expressways.

One-time social insurance benefits

The Social Insurance Law includes new provisions focusing on adding social pension benefits; enhancing the connection between social pension benefits and basic social insurance; expanding the target audience for participation and full benefits of social insurance; and adding maternity benefits to voluntary social insurance policies.

It also increases opportunities for participants to receive pensions; better ensures participation and benefit rights for Vietnamese workers abroad and foreign workers in Việt Nam; enhances social insurance fund investment efficiency; and uses a ‘reference level’ instead of the ‘base salary’ for calculations.

Notably, the law includes many amendments to increase benefits, making participation more attractive and encouraging workers to maintain their contribution period to receive a pension instead of opting for a one-time social insurance benefit.

Workers who do not opt for a one-time benefit and maintain their contribution period will have higher benefit opportunities.

All five laws will take effective from January 1, 2025. VNS