"I'm really scared of you guys too!"
(Baonghean)Minister of Justice Ha Hung Cuong has proposed including 53 draft laws and 2 draft ordinances in the legislative agenda for approval by the National Assembly in 2013.
Furthermore, agencies, delegations, and National Assembly representatives proposed the drafting of 69 other draft laws and ordinances! In total, 122 draft laws and 2 draft ordinances have been proposed for drafting, discussion, and approval! Indeed, with such a massive number of draft laws and ordinances, we shouldn't just call it a "forest of laws," but a "vast forest of laws" to be truly fitting! With 365 days in a year, to have 122 draft laws, the Government and National Assembly would need to "produce" a new law every 3 days on average! Therefore, Minister of Justice Ha Hung Cuong proposed that the National Assembly consider 2014 and 2015 as pivotal years in lawmaking to ensure the completion of the legal system, stabilize the organizational structure, create a healthy environment for production and business, and develop the country after the new Constitution is adopted.
Knowing this, the National Assembly's Law Committee (UBPL) still lamented that it was impossible to implement such a massive volume of legislation! They said: "It's too much compared to the preparation capacity and time constraints of the submitting and reviewing agencies, as well as the National Assembly's capacity to consider and approve it." Some delegates suggested that priority should be given to projects in the 2014 program aimed at promptly institutionalizing the Party Congress documents and projects directly related to the provisions of the Constitution, serving economic restructuring and improving the investment and business environment.
Mr. Phan Trung Ly, Chairman of the National Assembly's Legal Committee, stated: "Regarding the Law on Referendums, the Law on Demonstrations, and other laws related to the fundamental rights and obligations of citizens, they need to be enacted soon to institutionalize the newly amended and supplemented content of the Constitution. Therefore, they should be included in 2014 for submission to the National Assembly." However, National Assembly Chairman Nguyen Sinh Hung and Vice Chairman Tong Thi Phong still expressed concerns about the feasibility of this plan. Both stated: "It is unclear how the new Constitution will regulate this content."
Many members of the National Assembly Standing Committee requested that the Government and agencies drafting laws seriously implement regulations on the preparation of project dossiers, improve the quality of drafts, ensure the feasibility of regulations, minimize the need to issue guiding documents for law implementation, and especially avoid situations where laws are enacted but have to wait for decrees and circulars. Indeed, for a long time, many decrees, circulars, and even some laws have lacked practicality and feasibility. This has not only caused frustration among the public but also among National Assembly deputies, including those in the National Assembly's Legal Committee.
National Assembly Chairman Nguyen Sinh Hung made a statement that astonished many delegates present at the conference: “With the situation of projects being introduced and then removed, removed and then introduced again, I propose that projects must ensure quality, be thoroughly prepared, and be mature before being implemented! Projects whose details are unclear should not be implemented! For example, the recent decree on identity cards including parents' names caused great public outrage! Now it must be stopped! The government is proposing a law on identity cards! What is an identity card? Surely it's just another identity card, right? Why so many names? And then there's the Law on Civil Registration! So many types of documents! You comrades keep creating so many types of documents, I won't accept that, I would say the same thing in the National Assembly!” After a long speech expressing the people's frustration about the enormous "mountain of paperwork" that is causing inconvenience in their lives, Chairman Nguyen Sinh Hung concluded: "I am a citizen, and I am also very afraid of you guys!"
"I'm really scared of you guys!" When I say "scared of you guys," the real fear lies in the chaotic and overlapping nature of the legal documents and paperwork we've issued so far – documents that are both redundant and insufficient. Take the land law, for example, with its endless stream of green, red, and yellow certificates… When will we learn how to streamline these basic documents to the bare minimum, improving work efficiency while avoiding unnecessary inconvenience for the public?!
Thach Quy