Better guarantee of human rights and civil rights

(Baonghean) - The amendment of the 2005 Civil Code is extremely necessary to promptly concretize the provisions of the 2013 Constitution related to the protection of human rights, civil rights, perfecting the socialist-oriented market economic institution and international integration. According to the plan, in the coming time, agencies, organizations and localities will continue to widely solicit public opinions in contributing to the content of the draft Civil Code (amended).

Promote ownership

The 2005 Civil Code is an important legal document in the Vietnamese legal system, regulating a wide range of social relations in civil exchanges. This Code is also the legal foundation for the legal system regulating civil relations, marriage and family, business, trade, and labor. However, in the context of Vietnam entering a new stage of development along with the process of industrialization, modernization of the country and international integration, civil relations have undergone significant and rapid changes, so the 2005 Civil Code has revealed limitations and inadequacies that need to be amended and supplemented. Therefore, amending and supplementing the Civil Code is necessary and appropriate to the practical development situation of the country. Mr. Nguyen Duc Thanh, Head of the Legal Democracy Committee, Provincial Fatherland Front Committee, said that the Civil Code has a very important position in social life and among the people. Therefore, the amendment of the Civil Code is expressed in a synchronous and tight manner, widely consulting the people.

Lieutenant Colonel Ho Ba Vo, Deputy Head of the Investigation Agency (Nghe An Police) gave comments on the draft Civil Code (amended).

One of the important objectives of the draft Civil Code is to institutionalize and strengthen measures to better recognize, respect, protect and ensure human rights and civil rights in all areas of civil life, as well as the basic ideas and principles of the socialist-oriented market economy on ownership rights, freedom of business, and equality among entities of all forms of ownership and economic sectors. The draft has amended and supplemented provisions that are still inadequate and limited in practical implementation to ensure that the Civil Code truly plays its fundamental role: Creating an effective legal mechanism to recognize, respect, protect and ensure the civil rights of individuals and legal entities, especially in protecting the rights and interests of the disadvantaged and willing parties in civil relations; minimizing the intervention of public authorities in establishing, changing and terminating civil relations.

Implementing Resolution No. 857 of the National Assembly Standing Committee, the Provincial People's Committee issued Plan No. 550 on collecting public opinions on the draft Civil Code (amended). Immediately after that, the Provincial Fatherland Front Committee deployed to collect public opinions in many forms such as providing opinions in writing, by email; collecting opinions in the form of organizing conferences, distributing leaflets... The Provincial Fatherland Front Committee directed the Fatherland Front Committees at all levels to choose the form of providing opinions and widely propagating according to the actual conditions of the locality so that the people know and promote their right to mastery.

Ensure human rights and civil rights

One of the issues that many people focused on contributing their opinions was "The Court must not refuse to resolve a civil case because there is no applicable law". Regarding this issue, Lawyer Nguyen Trong Diep, Deputy Head of the Provincial Bar Association, said that at present, there are not enough necessary conditions to include this in the Civil Code because currently, when adjudicating civil disputes, although the law has clearly and specifically stipulated in specific disputes, the Court still adjudicates incorrectly. Thus, there are specific regulations but when adjudicating, the perception and application of the law are different, leading to each place resolving it differently.

However, Lieutenant Colonel Ho Ba Vo, Deputy Head of the Investigation Agency (Provincial Police) said that in reality, there have been many cases where people have had their cases refused by the court for the reason that the issues have not been included in the law. In this situation, the parties will not know where to appeal to protect their legitimate rights and interests. In this case, the Court must not refuse to accept and resolve the case, but must apply "Similar provisions of law", "apply customary law" to resolve it. Because in some specific cases, customary law is a source of Civil Law.

In addition, the issue of interest rates in property loan contracts, according to the provisions of Article 491 of the Civil Code, the loan interest rate is agreed upon by the parties or prescribed by law. In case the parties agree, the interest rate must not exceed 200% of the basic interest rate announced by the State Bank for the corresponding type of loan, unless otherwise provided by law. Regarding this issue, Mr. Nguyen Giang Nam, member of the Legal Democracy Advisory Council (Provincial Fatherland Front Committee) said that it is unreasonable and it is necessary to regulate specific interest rates for each type of loan to ensure that the loan interest rates of civil entities are consistent with the development of the market economy and avoid usury. However, according to Lawyer Nguyen Trong Diep, it is reasonable to regulate the ceiling interest rate on loans based on the basic interest rate prescribed by the State Bank to prevent usury and create consistency in determining interest rates. “It is not necessary to stipulate an interest rate ceiling in the Civil Code because it is not suitable for the dynamic development of our country's developing economy,” added lawyer Diep.

Another issue that has received many comments is the subject of civil legal relations. The draft Civil Code only stipulates two subjects of civil legal relations, namely legal entities and individuals, excluding two subjects, namely households and cooperatives. According to Ms. Hoang Thi Huong, Chief Inspector of the Department of Labor, Invalids and Social Affairs, the draft regulation on this issue is appropriate, because the members of a household change, so determining rights and obligations when there is a dispute is difficult.

Furthermore, currently, nearly 80% of cooperatives are not registered for certification and current regulations make it difficult to determine the legal status of cooperatives, to determine the civil liability of cooperatives and the civil liability of each cooperative member. Regarding this issue, some people believe that households and cooperatives are real entities today, participating in many legal relationships. It is impossible to not regulate because of changes in family members that they cannot participate in civil legal relationships. This clearly makes it difficult for the State, first of all the Court, to resolve civil legal relationships in which these members participate.

Along with many contents related to people's rights, the legal consequences of civil transactions that do not comply with regulations on form, form of ownership, time of establishing ownership rights... are issues that are receiving many comments. The Vietnam Fatherland Front Committees at all levels continue to organize to receive comments from the people to synthesize and submit to the National Assembly Standing Committee for consideration and approval in the coming time.

Nguyen Hung