VietNamNet Bridge - While many laws still lack legal documents guiding the laws’ implementation, other legal documents misinterpreted the spirit of the laws. 

 

Ten important laws including the Housing Law, Enterprise Law, Investment and Real Estate Business Law, took effect on July 1. However, decrees and circulars have not been issued, which means that the laws still cannot come into force.

Lawyer Le Thanh Kinh, head of Le Nguyen Law Office, said some business registrations made by his office for clients have been rejected. 

“The management agencies told us to wait for the legal documents that guide the implementation of the new laws. The 2005 Investment and Enterprise Laws are no longer valid,” Kinh said.

Also according to Kinh, some foreign investors have asked about the opportunities in the real estate sector, but he could not reply because many provisions of the laws remain unclear and need to be clarified by ministries’ circulars.

“We have no other choice than to tell them to wait,” he said.

A report from the Ministry of Justice (MOJ) shows that government agencies still have not released 54 legal documents that guide the implementation of 10 laws taking effect on July 1 alone. 

As many as 55 legal documents guiding the implementation of other laws should have been released in the first half of 2015.

An official of MOJ warned that the same situation may occur with the 11 laws ratified by the National Assembly recently.

Lawyer Trinh Vinh Phuc of Phuc Duc Law Firm noted that the delay in releasing legal documents will have a bad impact on socio-economic development.

The Prime Minister, realizing the problem, has instructed the Ministry of Planning and Investment (MPI) to temporarily issue documents to guide the implementation of the Investment and Enterprise laws.

HCM City authorities have told relevant departments to continue following administrative procedures and deal with business registrations while waiting for the legal documents.

However, analysts warned that the temporary measures cannot help, and local authorities may offer incorrect guidance.
 
Meanwhile, many promulgated legal documents, as pointed out by lawyers, wrongly interpret the spirit of the laws.

The 2007 Personal Income Tax Law only sets one condition for people to be able to enjoy the assignment duty exemption. However, Decree No 65 released in 2013 has set many additional conditions.

The 2014 MOJ’s report showed that the ministry found 431 legal documents which had problems in content and 316 legal documents had problems in both promulgation authorization and content.

TBKTSG