Nghe An National Assembly Delegation contributes ideas to perfecting the draft Law on Associations

(Baonghean.vn)- Continuing the working program at the 2nd Session (14th National Assembly), on October 25, under the direction of Vice Chairman of the National Assembly Uong Chu Luu, the National Assembly worked in the hall, discussing a number of contents with different opinions related to the Draft Law on Associations.

The report on the explanation and acceptance of the draft Law on Associations presented by the Standing Committee of the National Assembly, Chairman of the Law Committee Nguyen Khac Dinh, said: Regarding the scope of regulation, the Standing Committee of the National Assembly found that this Law was issued to specify the right to form associations of Vietnamese citizens as stipulated in the Constitution. Therefore, the scope of regulation of the draft Law proposed that the National Assembly keep it as the draft Law: "This Law regulates the right to form associations of Vietnamese citizens; the organization and operation of associations and state management of associations".

Recognizing and appreciating the efforts of the drafting agency, the majority of members of the National Assembly Delegation of Nghe An province agreed with the draft law and the report on acceptance, revision and explanation of the National Assembly Standing Committee. At the same time, they focused on contributing opinions to analyze and clarify policies on associations, the State's management role on associations; cases of restricted rights to establish associations; conditions for establishing associations...

According to Delegate Tran Van Mao (Nghe An), in the structure of the draft law, it is necessary to add an article on the explanation of terms in the general provisions section to clarify the issues in the draft law, avoid duplication and misunderstanding when implementing; move Article 4 (Associations) before Article 3 (Right to establish associations) to be more suitable and logical, because to regulate the right to establish associations, we must first regulate what an association is...

Regarding Clause 5, Article 8 of the draft Law stipulates that “The Association shall not affiliate with or join foreign associations or receive foreign funding; special cases shall be determined by the Government”. Unify the provisions of the draft Law to avoid exploitation by reactionary forces abroad, through association and funding to engage in activities to sabotage the State and the regime.

Delegate Tran Van Mao spoke.

However, it is also necessary to consider specific regulations, create a clear and open legal corridor to overcome inequality between associations and create a mechanism of asking and giving, complicating administrative procedures in special cases as prescribed by the Government - delegate Tran Van Mao analyzed.

Regarding the financial policy for associations in Articles 5 and 7, the majority of delegates basically agreed with the report of the National Assembly Standing Committee. However, according to delegate Tran Van Mao, the provisions in Clause 4, Article 7 are not clear, and do not fully reflect the content stipulated in Articles 36 and 38 of the State Budget Law. Therefore, the Draft needs to clearly stipulate the state's policy for each type of association to avoid the mechanism of asking for and giving, ensuring the principle of autonomy and self-financing of associations, reducing the burden of state budget support because the current associations, according to TC's report, are about over 30 trillion VND and continue to increase. (Currently, the whole country has about 63,000 registered associations, the state supports tens of billions of VND in budget for associations) - Delegate Tran Van Mao cited.

Delegates discussed the draft law.

Regarding the conditions for establishing associations (Article 10), the opinions of the National Assembly Delegation of Nghe An province proposed to supplement Article 10 on the regulation that one of the conditions for establishing associations is "the main field of activity does not overlap with the main activities of previously legally established associations within the same scope of activity". Such a regulation is to avoid the situation of widespread association establishment, which complicates the mobilization of resources in society. In reality, there have been many associations established with overlapping fields of activity, purposes, and even participating members. For example, related to military personnel, there are associations: Veterans Association, Veterans Association, Association of prisoners...

Regarding the time limit for granting the Certificate of registration for the establishment of an association at Point a, Clause 2, Article 11, delegate Tran Van Mao proposed to shorten the time limit. Because the regulation of 60 days is too long (while the Enterprise Law stipulates the time limit for establishing an enterprise is only 3 days or for establishing a science and technology organization is 15 days).

Emphasizing that Clause 4, Article 22 of the draft stipulates that one of the rights of the association is: "To train, foster, and grant practice certificates to members when they meet the conditions prescribed by law" is inappropriate. Delegate Nguyen Thanh Hien (Nghe An) explained: Training, fostering, and granting practice certificates to qualified people in industries and professions are carried out by state management agencies. For example, according to current law: Issuing a lawyer practice certificate is decided by the Minister of Justice; granting a medical examination and treatment practice certificate for Vietnamese people is under the authority of the Ministry of Health... Therefore, the draft stipulates that the association has the right to train, foster, and grant practice certificates to members is inappropriate.

Regarding Chapter III on Implementation Provisions, members of the Provincial Delegation of National Assembly Deputies proposed to supplement an Article "Based on the provisions of this Law and the Law on Handling Administrative Violations, the Government shall prescribe administrative violations, forms of handling, levels of penalties, and authority to handle administrative violations for administrative violations in association activities" to have a legal basis for administrative handling of association activities, ensuring the enforceability of the Association Law.

Tomorrow, the National Assembly will continue working and discussing in the Hall the draft Law amending and supplementing a number of articles of the Penal Code.

Diep Anh - Anh Tuan