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Draft law on higher education
Thi said that universities were trying to become research institutions. This meant that they needed to become more independent to carry out high-quality training. Article 28 of the draft bill regulates the main principles for this to happen. Thi asked Minister Luan to work with relevant ministries to outline the specific regulations for universities wishing to make the transition.
The committee found that this objective was an essential move for the Vietnamese educational system to be consistent with world trends in higher education.
Currently the Ministry of Education is responsible for overseeing the enrolment process at both State and private universities. Under the proposed training scheme, educational institutions would control their own admissions. However, the Ministry would keep a firm eye on the process and monitor any violations.
NA law to protect all bank deposits
Most National Assembly deputies agreed to enact a law on compulsory deposit insurance.
This is aimed at improving the legal framework on these activities, overcome shortcomings in the current policy and making the law consistent with international rules.
Deposit insurance is a measure implemented in many countries to protect bank depositors, in full or in part, from losses caused by a bank's inability to pay its debts when due.
It is a component of a financial system safety net that promotes financial stability.
NA deputies said that creating a law on deposit insurance would help raise the confidence of depositors and effectively supervise the performance of all institutions presently providing deposit insurance, including commercial banks, people's credit funds, and financial companies. Deputies said that enforcing deposit insurance would help create a fair and healthy playground for the domestic banking system.
Deputy Phan Van Quy from central Nghe An Province said some people did not understand the existing policy on deposit insurance despite its implementation over the last 12 years.
Quy added that in a market-oriented economy, a law on deposit insurance was needed to enhance the efficiency of deposit insurance activities, protect the legal rights and interests of depositors and ensure national financial safety and economic stability to avoid a domino effect.
The majority of NA deputies agreed that the policy on deposit insurance should only insure deposits from individuals, not organisations.
Deputies said the deposit insurance would protect small investors from being exposed to risk.
Deputy Tran Quoc Tuan from southern Tra Vinh Province proposed that the NA consider three groups should be eligible for deposit insurance: individuals, co-operatives and small businesses employing less than 10 people.
Deputies Nguyen Van Phuc and Nguyen Van Son of central Ha Tinh Province asked the NA to specify the responsibility of the deposit insurance organisations in case they went bankrupt.
Deputy Nguyen Van Chien from northern Bac Ninh Province said regulations were not yet clear. They did not mention their specific function or responsibility.
Some said the draft bill should regulate an appropriate fixed premium of the total insured deposits.
The draft bill should also include a specific regulation on criteria to define the amount of premium needed.
In this regard, the NA's Committee on Economics said in the context of volatile economy, the draft bill should not regulate a fixed premium and insurance coverage. It should be set in a flexible manner.
Deputies agreed with the regulations to ensure deposits in Vietnamese dong, not in foreign currencies, so as to make the policy on deposit insurance consistent with the country's policy on foreign currency management.
Under the draft bill, people are encouraged to accumulate foreign currencies that should be sold to the banks. This provision is in line with international practices.
Deputies also discussed the draft bill on water resources. Most of them agreed with the promulgation of the law on water resource so as to address shortcomings and supplement more regulations to meet the demand of State management of water resources.
Law and ordinance building program
Deputies took a look at the law and ordinance building program of the 13th NA.
The program had already been adjusted five times during the 12th National Assembly, said deputy Nguyen Thi Kha. She also said there was a need for such alterations because many of the laws currently on record were not feasible and would be too difficult to implement. Many regulations were strict but vague, requiring further Government decrees and guidelines to be set out before they could come into effect.
Kha said the problem was compounded by the slow pace of the Government in the issuance of these by-law documents. According to a Government report, 55 decrees and a huge number of circulars have still not been issued.
Deputy Nguyen Van Phuc said the NA's law and ordinance building program must be seriously reassessed. He said the move would help determine the quality and efficiency of these legal documents, whereas the discussion at present was mainly focused on the quantity of laws and not their quality.
Deputy Tran Xuan Vinh said drastic measures should be taken, otherwise the bulk of the work would be left unfairly for the future: for example, the 13th NA would have to approve 121 legal projects during its tenure.
There were 67 laws which were approved during the previous assembly. Phuc said differences in opinions among NA deputies about laws and ordinances had caused their quality to suffer. He said the lengthy law-making process was hindering socio-economic development.
Phuc said many laws became outdated as they awaited guidelines or approval. He cited the Capital Ordinance as one example, which had to wait five years for a circular. "Such a long delay is unacceptable," he said, "since it is likely that we will fall into a trap where we keep asking for new laws to be issued but we are not sure if they are necessary."
NA Chairman Nguyen Sinh Hung said the problem would be addressed and meetings would then be shortened, because only big issues and policies would be put on the NA agenda for discussion and approval.
Hung said participants would be able to focus on the quality of laws by reducing the number up for review and grouping ones with similar content.
Deputies Kha and Phuc, meanwhile, called for more co-ordination between various NA committees in the law-making process. Phuc also stressed the need for a larger contingent of professional staff who would edit and compile the laws.
Deputies also asked the NA Standing Committee to give priority to laws and ordinances related to economic development, Vietnam's integration into the world economy and constitution amendments.
Law on protection of state secrets
According to the government’s report, up to 229 cases in which 757 documents sealed as state confidential were out on the Internet, through the media, at workshops, etc.
The Prime Minister has assigned the Ministry of Public Security to review the Ordinance on Protection of State Secrets and to upgrade it into a bill to submit to the 13th NA.
This law will stipulate the scope, methods, power in protecting state secrets as well as regulations on protecting state secrets in communications, on the media and at international workshops and meetings.
Besides the bills on protecting state secrets, private rights, other bills on protecting civil rights and the democratic and freedom rights will be considered during the 13th NA. There will have 98 official bills and 38 reserved bills.
NA urges early issuance of Law on Demonstration
Many NA deputies called for early passage of the Bill on Demonstrations, saying demonstrations have become a burning social issue that needs to be regulated by a law.
The bill, drafted by the Ministry of Public Security at the suggestion of Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung, should be included in the house’s 2011-16 lawmaking agenda, many deputies said. The government has not put it in the agenda for early discussion.
Trinh The Khiet, from Hanoi, said gathering to voice complaints about a certain issue had become a common event among people. Therefore, there should be a Law on Demonstrations soon to create a mechanism for people to publicly express their views on issues.
Tran Thi Quoc Khanh, also from Hanoi, said that such a law will help people organize their demonstrations and in a lawful manner.
Several deputies pointed out that some bills that were not urgently required to be passed -- like the one on prevention and control of money laundering and terrorist funding -- were included in the agenda.
They should be considered only after more urgent bills like the ones on demonstrations, prevention and control of corruption, and referendums, were discussed, they said.
Le Nhung – Chung Hoang – Phuong Loan
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