Vice Chairman of the Presidential Office Pham Thanh Ha (standing) chairs the press conference (Photo: VNA)

The newly-approved laws include the Vietnam Border Defence Law; the 2020 Law on Residency; the Law on International Agreements; the law on amendments and supplements to several articles of the Law on the Handling of Administrative Violations; the revised Law on Vietnamese Guest Workers under Contract; the law on amendments and supplements to several articles of the Law on HIV/AIDS Prevention and Control; and the 2020 Law on Environmental Protection.

With six chapters and 36 articles, the Vietnam Border Defence Law is to take effect on January 1, 2022, and create a strong legal foundation for safeguarding national sovereignty in the new circumstances.

The 2020 Law on Residency, with seven chapters and 38 articles, revises a number of matters in the 2006 version. It will take effect on July 1, 2021, and aims to ensure Vietnamese citizens’ freedom of residency in the country, streamline related paperwork, and increase the application of advanced technology in residency management. As such, it will help replace the current management model of using household registrations and temporary residence books with modern management via personal identification numbers updated in a national residency archive.

To come into force on July 1 next year, the seven-chapter Law on International Agreements expands the scope of eligible signatories to international agreements, to include general departments, departments under ministries, ministerial-level agencies, specialised agencies under provincial-level People’s Committees, and district- and commune-level People’s Committees in border areas.

The three-article law on amendments and supplements to several articles of the Law on the Handling of Administrative Violations will take effect on the first day of 2022. It will raise the maximum fines imposed on violations in 10 State-managed sectors, including road traffic, prevention and control of social vices, national border management and protection, education, electricity, newspapers, and real estate.

Effective from January 1, 2022, the revised Law on Vietnamese Guest Workers under Contract has eight chapters and 74 articles that are applied to a larger scope of subjects. It supplements regulations to ensure the better protection of guest workers’ rights and interests. For example, such workers will have the right to unilaterally terminate contracts when being mistreated or threatened, and will be consulted and supported in seeking employment.

The law on amendments and supplements to several articles of the Law on HIV/AIDS Prevention and Control revises 15 and discards two articles. It will be effective from July 1, 2021. Notably, it reduces the age when people are entitled to seek voluntary HIV testing to 15, so as to match the reality that more young people may contract the disease.

The revised Law on Environmental Protection, with 16 chapters and 171 articles, will take effect from January 1, 2022. For the first time, a community of residents is regulated as a subject in protecting the environment./.VNA