Things that civil servants are absolutely prohibited from doing from July 1, 2025.

The Law on Cadres and Civil Servants (amended), passed by the National Assembly and effective from July 1, 2025, has been widely publicized. This law not only clearly defines civil servants but also specifies actions they are absolutely prohibited from doing to ensure transparency and efficiency in their work.

According to Clause 2, Article 1 of the Law on Cadres and Civil Servants of the National Assembly 2025, No. 80/2025/QH15, a civil servant is a Vietnamese citizen recruited into a position in agencies of the Communist Party of Vietnam, the State, the Vietnam Fatherland Front, and political-social organizations at the central, provincial, and commune levels; in agencies and units of the People's Army that are not officers, professional soldiers, or defense workers; in agencies and units of the People's Public Security that are not officers, non-commissioned officers, or soldiers serving under the professional regime, or police workers; and in cryptographic organizations that are not cryptographic personnel, on the payroll and receiving salaries from the state budget.

Things that civil servants are not allowed to do.

Based on Article 14 of the 2025 Law on Cadres and Civil Servants, the list of prohibited acts includes:

• Avoiding responsibilityEvading, shirking, avoiding, or passing the buck in performing assigned duties and responsibilities; creating factions and causing disunity; arbitrarily quitting or abandoning work; participating in strikes; posting, disseminating, or making statements containing false information that affects the image and reputation of the country, locality, agency, organization, or unit where one works.
• Corrupt and unethical behavior: There are acts of embezzlement, corruption, misconduct, waste, profiteering, harassment, and other acts that violate the law against citizens, businesses, agencies, organizations, and other related individuals in the course of performing their duties.
• Unauthorized use of property: Using state-owned assets and people's assets illegally.
• Abuse of powerExploiting or abusing official duties and authority, and using information related to official duties for personal gain.
• Discrimination: There is any form of discrimination based on ethnicity, gender, age, disability, religion, belief, or social class in the performance of official duties.
• Other behaviors: Prohibited activities related to production, business, and personnel matters as stipulated by laws on preventing and combating corruption, practicing thrift, combating waste, protecting state secrets, and other matters as prescribed by law and by competent authorities during employment and after termination of employment or retirement.

The new regulations aim to improve public service ethics, ensuring that civil servants perform their duties responsibly and transparently. Violations may result in disciplinary action or legal penalties.

Public officials need to be familiar with these regulations early on to avoid undesirable consequences and contribute to building a positive image of the government in the eyes of the people.