NA Chairwoman Nguyễn Thị Kim Ngân (centre) delivers speech at the last working day of their third session yesterday. — VNA/VNS Photo Trọng Đức

HÀ NỘI – The draft law on associations sat at the top of the National Assembly Standing Committee’s agenda during the last working day of their third session yesterday.

The draft law contains specific articles concerning association registration, association rules and State management of associations.

Most deputies agreed that the law must create favourable conditions for citizens to practice their rights to establish associations and tap into associations’ self-regulation, use of volunteers and sense of responsibility.

However, they said the draft law should more specifically regulate State management over associations, particularly those with foreigners or that are not registered, in order to ensure operations are law abiding.

Lê Thị Nga, Chairwoman of the NA’s Justice Committee, said associations that are not required for registration and associations without legal entities all need specific regulations in order to ensure the respect of people’s rights while also ensuring State management over unregistered associations.    

Some deputies proposed strict specific regulations on association formation in order to avoid the establishment of associations en mass, which could cause difficulty for State management, and avoid the abuse of association establishment for illegal activities.

Regarding regulation that allows foreigners working legally in Việt Nam to join associations, NA General Secretary Nguyễn Hạnh Phúc said more studies are necessary to ensure their rights are respected and their operation abide by Vietnamese laws.

Vice NA Chairman Uông Chu Lưu called this an important law, urging care to ensure the law fully respects the rights of citizens as stipulated in the Constitution as well as ensures State management over operation of these associations.

He asked the compiling board and relevant agencies to study opinions of the deputies at this discussion session and submit the draft by the second meeting of the National Assembly next month.

Closing remark

Closing the session—which ended after eight and a half days of work—NA Chairwoman Nguyễn Thị Kim Ngân said the session fulfilled all assigned tasks.

The committee discussed the preparation for the second sitting of the 14th NA, scheduled to open on October 22. It also commented on the adjustment of three bills, including the law on associations, the law on belief and religion, and the law on asset auction.

The committee’s members discussed 10 draft laws and one draft resolution that will be submitted to the 14th NA at its second session, including the law on water resources, the law on railways, the law on technology transfer, the law on foreign trade management, and the law on management and use of State assets, among others.

They gave opinions on the committee’s draft resolution on regulations on the creation, verification and submission of State budget estimates, central budget allocation plans and State budget balance to the NA for approval.

The committee adopted a draft resolution on principles, criteria and norms for the allocation of the State budget for frequent expenditures.

It also looked into the 2016 working reports of the Government, the Chief Justice of the Supreme People’s Court and the Prosecutor General of the Supreme People’s Procuracy on crime prevention and violations in law enforcement and anti-corruption work.

Ngân proposed the Government, the People’s Supreme Court and the People’s Supreme Procuracy—along with relevant agencies—continue collecting opinions to improve draft laws, reports and resolutions for submission at the upcoming second session of the 14th NA. — VNS