The agency submitting the draft law must take ultimate responsibility.

Giving opinions during the group discussion session on the draft Law on Promulgation of Legal Documents (amended) on the morning of February 12, National Assembly Chairman Tran Thanh Man noted that it is necessary to strengthen the role of the submitting agency in taking ultimate responsibility for the draft legal document.

National Assembly Chairman Tran Thanh Man speaks during the morning discussion session on February 12. (Photo: THUY NGUYEN)

The National Assembly Chairman said that according to the Government's Submission, the draft Law on Promulgation of Legal Documents (amended) is structured into 8 chapters and 72 articles (9 chapters and 101 articles less than the 2015 Law).

The number of articles reduced or removed from the law are provisions on decrees and circulars, implemented in accordance with the new viewpoint on law-making, which is a matter under the authority of the National Assembly, the National Assembly will regulate, and the Government will issue decrees and circulars to proactively manage.

“The socio-economic situation is constantly changing. There have been difficulties in recent administration due to the Law on Promulgation of Legal Documents. Therefore, we are amending this Law as a pillar for the development of new laws as well as amending and supplementing existing laws to ensure proper authority,” the National Assembly Chairman emphasized.

In reality, in the past, there were bills that the agencies submitted only met 50-60% of the requirements and then had to transfer them to the National Assembly agencies with great difficulty; there were bills that the National Assembly Chairman and Vice Chairmen sat in 7-8 meetings. The National Assembly Chairman also said that he had repeatedly requested and reminded ministers and heads of sectors to take ultimate responsibility for the law-making of their agencies, and could not be assigned to the Deputy Minister, and then the Deputy Minister assigned it to the Department Head..., lacking close attention.

“Therefore, the aim is to strengthen the role of the submitting agency in taking ultimate responsibility for the draft. legal documents. This is an issue that needs to be noted in this amendment to the Law. Along with that, it is necessary to separate the policy process from the process of preparing the draft legislative program; clearly distinguish the policy process and the drafting process; perfect the mechanism of one law amending many laws...", the National Assembly Chairman noted.

Scene of the discussion session at Group 13. (Photo: THUY NGUYEN)

The National Assembly Chairman agreed to supplement the Government's resolution as a legal document to properly implement the direction of competent authorities; proposed to carefully review the provisions on the content of the Government's resolution promulgation in Clause 2, Article 4, to avoid duplication of content when promulgating the decree.

The National Assembly Chairman also agreed to the direction of innovation in the legislative process in the direction that draft laws and resolutions will, in principle, be considered and approved in one National Assembly session to speed up the promulgation process while still ensuring the quality of the documents.

In case, through discussion at the session, the National Assembly finds that the project has many complicated contents and there are different opinions, and needs more time to study, absorb and revise, the National Assembly shall decide to consider and approve it at the next session.

According to the National Assembly Chairman, the Law on Promulgation of Legal Documents (amended) passed by the National Assembly will create conditions for the construction and completion of the National Assembly's legal system in the coming time, first of all in 2025 when there will be two regular sessions, the 9th and 10th.

Need to clarify and separate between "consultation" and "obtaining opinions"

Participating in the discussion, National Assembly deputies agreed with the new proposal on policy consultation and found that the regulations on policy consultation help agencies coordinate more closely and effectively, contributing to improving the quality and speeding up the progress of building and promulgating legal documents.

However, this is a new issue, so it is recommended to research and clearly define the concept of "policy consultation", clearly distinguishing between policy consultation and consulting in the process of policy making, drafting of bills, ordinances and resolutions.

According to Vice Chairman of the National Assembly Tran Quang Phuong, the purpose and nature of consultation is to create consensus. The consultation process is a continuous process, from discovering practical problems, forming policy intentions, to formulating policies, discussing and approving policies, and then issuing laws on policies. This is done by policy-making agencies (such as agencies of the National Assembly, the Government, or the Supreme People's Court, the Supreme People's Procuracy, etc.).

“The subjects of consultation are individuals, organizations, experts, scientists and people. The process of collecting people's opinions on the Information Portals is the process of policy consultation,” the Vice Chairman of the National Assembly stated.

Vice Chairman of the National Assembly Tran Quang Phuong expressed his opinion during the discussion session in groups.

Emphasizing that consulting agencies is a legislative process, Vice Chairman of the National Assembly Tran Quang Phuong suggested that there needs to be a clear distinction between consultation and asking for opinions.

“It is necessary to clarify when to ask for opinions and when to examine. It is necessary to separate consultation, asking for opinions and the right to examine. If there is no clear separation between consultation, asking for opinions and the right to examine of the National Assembly agencies, it will not be true to the nature of consultation,” the Vice Chairman of the National Assembly emphasized.

Delegate Nguyen Thi Kim Anh (Bac Ninh delegation) suggested that there should be a regulation that the agency responsible for drafting documents must also be responsible for responding to comments or organizing meetings to receive and explain comments.

Regarding the form of consultation, some people think that policy consultation in the form of conferences is very difficult, for example, domestic and international experts cannot always attend meetings to consult. In the age of information technology, there should be more flexibility in the form and method of policy consultation.

Delegate Vu Tuan Anh (Phu Tho delegation) said that when consulting on policies, it is more appropriate to consult experts, instead of consulting agencies.

Source