Chương V: Nghị định 34/2016/NĐ-CP quy định chi tiết và biện pháp thi hành Luật ban hành văn bản quy phạm pháp luật Thể thức và kỹ thuật trình bày văn bản quy phạm pháp luật

Chapter V

FORMAT AND TECHNIQUE FOR PRESENTATION OF LEGAL DOCUMENTS

Section 1. FORMAT OF LEGAL DOCUMENTS

Sub-section 1. PRESENTATION OF THE BEGINNING PART OF A DOCUMENT

Article 55. The beginning part of a document

1. The beginning part of a document must consist of the official name and motto of the country, name of the promulgating agency, number and code of the document; place-name and date of promulgation, title of the document and bases for promulgation of the document.

2. The beginning part of a document which is promulgated as an attached document must consist of the official name and motto of the country, name of the promulgating agency, and title of the document, which is followed by the title, number, code and date of promulgation of the document promulgating such attached document.

Article 56. Official name and motto of the country

1. The official name of the country is: “CONG HOA XA HOI CHU NGHIA VIET NAM” (the Socialist Republic of Vietnam). The official name of the country shall be presented in 12- or 13-point upright and bold capital letters, in top upper right comer of the first page of a document.

2. The official motto is “Doc lap - Tu do - Hanh phuc” (Independence - Freedom - Happiness). The official motto shall be presented in 13- or 14-point upright and bold lowercase letters right below the line of official name of the country. The first letter of each phrase of the motto shall be capitalized. Phrases shall be separated from one another by a hyphen (-) and a space; below the motto is a solid line of a length equal to that of the line of words.

Article 57. Names of promulgating agencies

1. The name of a promulgating agency is the name of an agency or the state title of a person competent to promulgate the document as prescribed by law. The name of a promulgating agency must be the official name and written in full.

2. The name of a promulgating agency shall be presented in upright and bold capital letters of a font size of 13 points; below the name of the promulgating agency is a solid line of a length equal to one-third or half of the length of the line of words which shall be centered and balanced against the line of words.

Article 58. Number and code of a document

1. The number and code of a document must consist of the serial number, year of promulgation, type of document, and promulgating agency.

2. The number of a document shall be written in Arabic numerals, consisting of the serial number of registration, which shall be given for each type of documents promulgated by the agency promulgating such document in a year and the year of promulgation of such document, starting from 01 on January 1 and ending on December 31 every year; the year of promulgation shall be written with all numerals.

3. The code of a document must consist of the abbreviation of the type name of the document and the abbreviation of the name of the agency or the state title of the person competent to promulgate the document.

Abbreviations of names of promulgating agencies shall be specifically prescribed to be short, easy-to-understand and conformable with regulations.

4. The number and code of a document shall be presented as follows:

a/ The number and code of a document shall be arranged in the following order: serial number of the document/ year of promulgation/ abbreviation of the type name of the document- abbreviation of the name of the agency or the state title of the person competent to promulgate the document, and written without space;

b/ The number and code of a document shall be placed centered below the name of the promulgating agency.

c/ The word “Number” shall be presented in 13-point upright lowercase letters, followed by a colon (:), with a leading zero (0) added in front of numbers below 10;

d/ The code of a document shall be presented in 13-point upright capital letters;

dd/ The number, year of promulgation and code of a document shall be separated from one another by a slash (/ ); abbreviations in the code of a document shall be separated from one another by a hyphen (-) without space.

Article 59. Place-name and date of promulgation of a document

1. The place-name written in a document promulgated by a central-level state agency is the official name of the province or centrally run city where such agency is headquartered. The place-name written in a document promulgated by a state agency in a locality is the official name of the administrative unit of the promulgating agency.

The name of an administrative unit which is named after a person, in a number or after a historical event shall be written in full.

2. The date of promulgation of a document is the date when such document is approved or signed for promulgation. The date of promulgation of a document shall be written in full with numbers expressing the day, month, year written in Arabic numerals and a leading zero added in front of numbers below 10 and in front of the numbers expressing January and February.

3. The place-name and date of promulgation of a document shall be presented on the same line with the line of number and code of the document, in 13- or 14-point upright and italic lowercase letters. The place-name must have its first letter capitalized and shall be followed by a comma (,); the place-name and date of promulgation shall be placed below and centered and balanced against the line of official name and motto of the country.

Article 60. Title of a document

1. The title of a document must consist of the type name and specific title of the document. The type name of the document is the name of each type of documents prescribed in the Law. The specific title of the document is a short sentence or a phrase generally expressing the major content of the document.

2. The title of a document shall be presented as follows:

a/ The name of type of a document shall be presented in 14-point upright and bold capital letters; and aligned centered;

b/ The specific title of a document shall be presented in 14-point upright and bold lowercase letters, aligned centered and placed right below the line of type name of the document;

c/ For a document which is promulgated together with another document, the notes on the promulgation of the document shall be put in brackets, presented in 14-point italic lowercase letters and placed below and centered against the line of title of the document.

Article 61. Bases for promulgation of a document

1. Bases for promulgation of a document are legal documents of higher legal effect which are effective or have been promulgated or signed for promulgation and have not yet become effective but will be effective before or at the same time with the to-be-promulgated document. Bases for promulgation of a document comprise legal documents defining the competence and functions of the agency promulgating such document and legal documents of higher legal effect which provide the contents and bases for promulgation of the document.

2. In case a legal document of higher legal effect contains articles or clauses to be assigned for detailing, the detailing document must clearly state such articles or clauses in the part of bases for promulgation.

In case a document detailing many articles and clauses or detailing articles and clauses as assigned and concurrently providing for other contents, it is unnecessary to state articles and clauses assigned for detailing in the part of bases for promulgation.

3. Bases for promulgation shall be presented in 14-point italic lowercase letters and placed below the title of the document; each base for promulgation shall be presented in a separate paragraph ended with a semi colon (;); the last paragraph shall be ended with a period (.).

Sub-section 2. PRESENTATION OF THE PART OF CONTENTS OF A DOCUMENT

Article 62. Structure of a document

1. Depending on its contents, a document may be structured as follows:

a/ Part, chapter, section, sub-section, article, clause, and point;

b/ Part, chapter, section, article, clause, and point;

c/ Chapter, section, sub-section, article, clause, and point;

d/ Chapter, section, article, clause, and point;

d/ Chapter, article, clause, and point; or,

e/ Article, clause, and point.

2. Each point of a document must express only one idea and shall be presented in a complete sentence or a paragraph. Other symbols may not be used to express ideas in a point.

3. Each part, chapter, section, sub-section and article of a document must have a title which is a phrase expressing the main content of such part, chapter, section, sub-section or article.

4. The contents of a document shall be presented in 13- or 14-point upright lowercase letters and aligned justified; the first line of each paragraph shall be indented 1-1.27cm; the paragraph spacing is at least 6 points; and line spacing is at least single or 15 points;

5. A document which has parts, chapters, sections, sub-sections, articles, clauses, and points shall be presented as follows:

a/ The word “Part” or “Chapter” and the serial number of a part or chapter shall be placed in a separate line, aligned centered and presented in 13- or 14-point upright and bold lowercase letters. The serial number of a part or chapter shall be presented in Roman numerals. The title of a part or chapter shall be presented in 13-or 14-point upright and bold capital letters, aligned centered and placed below the line of serial number of part or chapter;

b/ The word “Section” or “Sub-section” and the serial number of a section or sub-section shall be placed in a separate line, aligned centered and presented in 13- or 14-point upright and bold lowercase letters. The serial number of a section shall be presented in Arabic numerals. The title of a section shall be placed right below the line of its serial number, aligned centered and presented in 13- or 14-point upright and bold capital letters;

c/ The word “Article”, serial number and title of an article shall be presented in 13- or 14-point upright and bold lowercase letters, left-indented by 1-1.27cm, with the serial number written in Arabic numerals, followed by a dot (.);

d/ The serial number of clauses in a section shall be written in Arabic numerals, followed by a dot (.) and presented in upright lowercase letters of a font size of 13 or 14 points which is equal to that of the text. For a clause which has a title, its serial number and title shall be placed in a separate line, presented in upright lowercase letters of a font size of 13 or 14 points which is equal to that of the text;

dd/ The serial number of points in a clause shall be written in Vietnamese letters in the order of Vietnamese alphabet, followed by the right closing bracket, and presented in upright lowercase letters of a font size of 13 or 14 points which is equal to that of the text.

Article 63. A document promulgating an attached document A document promulgating an attached document must consist of 2 parts:

1. The part of the document promulgating an attached document, which provides the promulgation of such attached document, organization of implementation and effect of such document.

2. The part of the attached document, which contain specific provisions of the document. Depending on its contents, an attached document may be structured according to Clause 1, Article 62 of this Decree.

Sub-section 3. PRESENTATION OF THE ENDING PART OF A DOCUMENT

Article 64. Presentation of the ending part of a document

1. The ending part of a document must consist of the position, full name and signature of the person competent to sign the document for promulgation; the promulgating agency’s seal; and recipients of the document.

2. The ending part of a document promulgated together with another document must consist of the position, full name and signature of the person competent to sign the document for promulgation; and the promulgating agency’s seal.

Article 65. Presentation of the signature in a document

1. For a decree of the Government, a resolution of the Judicial Council of the Supreme People’s Court, or a decision of a provincial-, district- or commune-level People’s Committee, the Prime Minister on behalf of the Government, the Chief Justice of the Supreme People’s Court on behalf of the Judicial Council of the Supreme People’s Court, or the chairperson of the People’s Committee of the respective level shall respectively sign to promulgate that document and the abbreviation “TM.” (on behalf of) must precede the word “the Government”, “the Judicial Council” or “the People’s Committee”.

For a joint resolution of the Government and the Presidium of the Vietnam Fatherland Front Central Committee, the Prime Minister on behalf of the Government and the Chairperson of the Vietnam Fatherland Front Central Committee on behalf of the Presidium of the Vietnam Fatherland Front Central Committee shall sign to promulgate that resolution and the abbreviation “TM.” must precede the word “the Government” and “the Presidium of the Vietnam Fatherland Front Central Committee”.

For a decision of the Prime Minister, a circular of a minister, the head of a ministerial- level agency, the Chief Justice of the Supreme People’s Court or the Procurator General of the Supreme People’s Procuracy, or a decision of the State Auditor General, the Prime Minister, the minister or the head of the ministerial-level agency, the Chief Justice of the Supreme People’s Court, the Procurator General of the Supreme People’s Procuracy or the State Auditor General shall sign to promulgate that document.

For a resolution of a provincial-, district-, or commune-level People’s Council, the chairperson of the respective People’s Council shall sign to certify that resolution.

For a joint circular of the Chief Justice of the Supreme People’s Court and the Procurator General of the Supreme People’s Procuracy; a joint circular of a minister or the head of a ministerial-level agency and the Chief Justice of the Supreme People’s Court or the Procurator General of the Supreme People’s Procuracy, the Chief Justice of the Supreme People’s Court and the Procurator General of the Supreme People’s Procuracy and the minister or head of the ministerial-level agency shall sign to promulgate that circular.

In case a deputy signs a document on behalf of the person competent to sign the document for promulgation, the abbreviation “KT.” (sign on behalf of) must precede the position of the competent signee.

2. The position and full name of the person competent to sign a document for promulgation or the person signing on behalf of the former shall be fully indicated in the document. For a joint document, the positions and agency names of the signees shall be clearly written.

3. The abbreviation “TM.”, “K.T.” or “Q.” (acting), the authorization and position of the signee shall be presented in 13- or 14-point upright and bold capital letters.

The signee’s full name shall be presented in 13- or 14-point upright and bold lowercase letters and placed centered and balanced against the line of authorization and position of the signee.

Article 66. Seals of promulgating agencies

1. A promulgating agency’s seal may only be appended on a document after it is signed by a competent person.

2. Seals shall be appended on documents in accordance with the Government’s regulations on clerical work.

Marks of confidentiality (extremely confidential, strictly confidential or confidential) on documents of state secret must comply with the law on state secret protection.

Article 67. Recipients

1. Recipients of a document must include the agencies overseeing, examining and promulgating that document, “CONG BAO” office, and other agencies and organizations depending on the document contents.

2. The word “recipients” shall be presented separately (in the same line with the phrase “authorization and position of signee” and at the left margin) in 12-point italic and bold lowercase letters, ended with a colon (:);

Names of recipients of the document shall be presented in 11-point upright lowercase letters; the name of each recipient or group of recipients shall be presented in a separate line started with a dash at the left margin and ended with a semicolon (;); in the last line there must be the word “file” followed by a colon (:), then the abbreviation “VT.” (clerical section), a comma, abbreviation of the name of the unit (or section) drafting the document and the number of copies for file placed in brackets, a period (.), abbreviation of the name of the person drafting the document, the number of copies distributed, and ended with a period (.).

Section 2. DOCUMENT PRESENTATION TECHNIQUES

Article 68. Presentation of the structure of a document

1. The arrangement of provisions on the same issue in a part, chapter, section or sub-section must adhere to the following principles:

a/ General provisions precede specific provisions;

b/ Substantive provisions precede procedural provisions;

c/ Provisions on rights and obligations precede provisions on sanction;

d/ Universal provisions precede particular provisions;

dd/ General provisions precede provisions on exceptional cases.

2. A document’s structure shall be presented according to the following principles:

a/ Part is the largest structural unit of a document. Parts of a document are independent from one another;

b/ Chapter is the second largest structural unit of a document. Chapters of a document are relatively independent from one another and arranged in a systematic and logical manner;

c/ Section is the third largest structural unit of a document. Sections are divided in a relatively independent and systematic and logical manner. Sections may be used in chapters containing many provisions and articles;

d/ Sub-section is the fourth largest structural unit of a document. Sections are divided in a relatively independent and systematic and logical manner. Sub-sections may be used in chapters containing many provisions, sections and articles;

dd/ Articles may be presented with clauses and points. Each article shall be presented in full, complete and grammatically correct sentences;

e/ Clauses are used when an article contains relatively independent ideas. Each clause shows a complete idea and is presented in complete sentences;

f/ Points are used when a clause contains different ideas.

Article 69. Use of language in documents

1. The language used in documents is precise universal Vietnamese.

2. Dialectal, archaic and colloquial words may not be used. A foreign word may be used only when a substituting Vietnamese term is unavailable. A foreign word may be used directly if it is a popular or universal word, otherwise it must be transcribed into Vietnamese.

3. A document must use written language with clear, simple and understandable expression. A document containing a technical term which requires clarification must explain that term.

4. An abbreviation may only be used when necessary and explanation about that abbreviation is required at its first appearance in a document.

A document containing many abbreviations must have a separate article explaining all abbreviations used in that document.

5. Words used in a document must accurately demonstrate ideas to be conveyed without leading to different interpretations. When a word may lead to different interpretations, its intended meaning shall be explained in the document.

Interrogative words and rhetoric expressions may not be used in a document.

6. Words shall be used consistently in a document.

Article 70. Presentation of figures and units of measurement in documents

1. Figures in a document shall be presented in Arabic numerals and then written out in words, except the cases prescribed in Clause 2 of this Article.

2. Figures in the beginning and ending parts of a document; figures expressing the length of time, point of time and quantity of units of measurement shall be presented in Arabic numerals.

3. Names, symbols and way of presenting units of measurement must comply with the law on measurement.

4. Symbols and formulas in a document shall be presented in symbols accompanied with explanations.

Article 71. Presentation of time limits and points of time

1. Time limits which are determined in seconds, minutes, hours, days, weeks, months, quarters or years shall be presented in numbers expressing the length of time and units of time.

2. Points of time which are determined in seconds, minutes, hours, days, weeks, months, quarters or years shall be presented in numbers expressing the point of time and units of point of time.

3. Units of time or units of point of time shall be presented in words following the numbers expressing the length of time or point of time.

Article 72. Presentation of amended and supplemented contents in the chapter or article on implementation provisions

1. A document which amends or supplements a part, chapter, section, sub-section, article, clause, point or phrase of another document must provide such amendments or supplements in the chapter or article on implementation provisions. These amendments or supplements may be structured in articles, clauses and points depending on their scope and levels.

2. The amendments or supplements must specify the part, chapter, section, sub-section, article, clause or point of the revised document.

Article 73. Presentation of transitional provisions

Transitional provisions shall be provided in a separate article in the ending part of a document titled “transitional provisions”, or in a separate clause of an article requiring transitional provisions, or in a separate clause of the article on effect of the document.

Article 74. Presentation of provisions on effect of a document

1. A document must specify the date, month and year of its effect.

2. The article on the effect of a document must specify the title of a document, or a part, chapter, section, sub-section, article, clause or point of a document, to be annulled. A document annulling many other documents or many articles, clauses and points of another document shall be attached with a list of annulled documents or provisions.

Article 75. Document invocation techniques

1. A document invoking another document must fully indicate the type name, serial number and code, and the date of approval or signing for promulgation, of the latter; and the name of the agency or person competent to promulgate, and the title of, such document.

2. A document invoking a part, chapter, section or sub-section of another document must specify that part, chapter, section or sub-section.

3. A document invoking an article, or a clause or point of another document is not required to specify the part, chapter and section containing that article, clause or point.

4. A document invoking a part, chapter, section, sub-section, article, clause and point of another document must invoke them in the order from small to large structural units, including the document title. When invoking from a clause or point to another clause or point of the same article, or from a section or an article to another section or article of the same chapter of the same document, the document title is not required to be specified but such invocation must be specific.

Article 76. Paper sizes, margins, fonts and numbering of pages of documents

The paper size and margins of pages of a document must comply with Appendix II to this Decree.

Fonts used for presenting a document must be under Vietnamese character code Unicode according to Vietnamese standard TCVN 6909:2001.

Pages of a document shall be numbered in 13- or 14-point upright Arabic numerals consecutively from the second page of the document horizontally in the center on the top margin of the document. Pages of appendices shall be numbered separately by appendix.

Section 3. PRESENTATION OF AMENDING AND SUPPLEMENTING DOCUMENTS

Sub-section 1. PRESENTATION OF DOCUMENTS AMENDING AND SUPPLEMENTING A NUMBER OF ARTICLES

Article 77. Documents amending and supplementing a number of articles

1. A document amending and supplementing a number of articles means a document amending, supplementing or annulling one or a number of provisions of an existing document. A document amending and supplementing a number of articles must specify the chapters, sections, sub-sections, articles, clauses and points which are to be amended, supplemented, replaced or annulled.

2. The title of a document amending and supplementing a number of articles must comprise that document’s type name together with the phrase “amending and supplementing a number of articles of” and the full title of the revised document.

Article 78. Structure of a document amending and supplementing a number of articles

1. A document amending and supplementing a number of articles of another document may comprise 4 articles: Article I provides amendments and supplements; Article 2 provides the annulment or replacement of words or expressions related to many articles and clauses of the revised document; Article 3 provides implementation responsibilities (if any); and Article 4 provides the document’s effective date.

2. Clauses on amendments, supplements, replacement or annulment shall be arranged in the order corresponding to the order of articles, clauses and points of the revised document.

Article 79. Numbering of added articles and clauses and sequence of articles and clauses of a revised document

1. Added articles and clauses shall be numbered as follows:

a/ Based on contents to be added, to determine the positions of articles and clauses to be added to an existing document;

b/ To number added articles and clauses by adding a letter in the order of the Vietnamese alphabet to the number of the preceding article or clause.

c/ The serial number of a chapter, section, sub-section, article or clause to be added must consist of a number and a letter. The number is the serial number of the chapter, section, sub-section, article or clause of the revised document. The letter shall be arranged in the order of the Vietnamese alphabet.

The serial number of a point to be added must consist of a letter and a number. The letter shall be presented in the order of the points of the revised document. The number starts from 1.

2. The presentation of a document amending and supplementing a number of articles must not cause changes in the sequence of the revised document’s articles and clauses which are not amended, supplemented, or annulled.

Sub-section 2. PRESENTATION OF DOCUMENTS AMENDING AND SUPPLEMENTING MORE THAN ONE DOCUMENT

Article 80. Documents amending and supplementing more than one document

1. A document amending and supplementing more than one document means a document amending, supplementing, annulling or replacing provisions of a number of related documents.

2. Depending on to-be-revised contents, the title of a document amending and supplementing more than one document may consist of that document’s type name together with the phrase “amending and supplementing a number of articles of’ followed by the titles of revised documents with generalized revised provisions or specific titles of all revised documents.

Article 81. Structure of a document amending and supplementing more than one document

1. Depending on its content, a document amending and supplementing more than one document may be presented in separate articles each of which contains amendments and supplements to a document, except the articles on implementation responsibilities, organization of implementation and effect of the amending and supplementing document.

2. Articles and clauses of a document amending and supplementing more than one document must specify the titles of the revised documents and articles, clauses and points to be revised.

The title of an article of the amending and supplementing document is the order guiding the amendment, supplementation, annulment or replacement of each specific document.

3. Articles of a document amending and supplementing more than one document may be presented in clauses; clauses may be presented in points.

4. A clause comprises an order guiding the amendment, supplementation, annulment or replacement of a chapter, section, sub-section, article, clause or point, and the content of such revision.

5. Amendments, supplements, or annulment or replacement provisions shall be provided in the order corresponding to the sequence of articles, clauses and points of the revised documents.