On November 23, coinciding with Vietnam’s Cultural Heritage Day, 413 out of 422 attending delegates (86.22%) voted in favor of the law, marking its formal adoption.

The revised Cultural Heritage Law comprises nine chapters and 95 articles, an expansion from the previous version’s seven chapters and 73 articles.

The newly passed law introduces significant updates, particularly in defining cultural heritage ownership under public, joint, and private categories, aligning with Vietnam's Civil Code and related legal frameworks.

State policies have been refined to prioritize the protection and promotion of cultural heritage. These include increased funding for specialized activities, and the training and capacity-building of personnel involved in heritage management and preservation.

Prohibited actions are now more clearly defined, ensuring a robust foundation for implementation, monitoring, and enforcement. This includes detailed guidelines for boundary adjustments of protected zones, such as Zones I and II of heritage sites, as well as buffer areas surrounding UNESCO World Heritage sites. The law also specifies principles and authority for modifying protective boundaries to ensure practical application.

Provisions for repairing, renovating, and constructing buildings within and outside protected heritage zones are included to address concerns related to urban and rural development.

The law introduces comprehensive regulations on managing artifacts, antiquities, and national treasures. This encompasses guidelines for the discovery, reporting, and surrender of cultural items, as well as the acquisition and repatriation of Vietnamese cultural artifacts from abroad.

Additional measures include the establishment of a Cultural Heritage Preservation Fund and policies supporting the documentation, protection, and promotion of documentary heritage. Reforms also aim to enhance the development of museum systems and strengthen the role of cultural heritage inspection agencies.

The law seeks to address longstanding legal ambiguities by focusing only on well-defined issues that have been tested in practice and shown stability. Overlapping and impractical regulations have been revised or removed.

Key areas of focus include clarifying the rights, responsibilities, and obligations of organizations and individuals involved in cultural heritage management, protection, and promotion. Prohibited activities are explicitly outlined, along with the responsibilities of those entrusted with heritage management.

A tiered governance system has been introduced for heritage site classification, with provincial-level heritage under the authority of provincial People’s Committee chairpersons, national-level sites overseen by the Minister of Culture, Sports, and Tourism, and special national heritage sites under the Prime Minister’s jurisdiction.

Provincial chairpersons are also tasked with organizing and delegating responsibilities for establishing boundary markers in protected areas, either directly or through specialized cultural agencies or district-level chairpersons.

The law underscores the need to modernize cultural heritage management by building a national cultural heritage database, promoting digital transformation, and encouraging public participation in preservation and utilization efforts.

The Cultural Heritage Law will take effect on July 1, 2025.

Tinh Le