Representatives attending a consultation workshop on a draft decree guiding the implementation of Vietnam's revised Law on Belief and Religion focused their discussions on three key areas: belief-related activities, religious activities, and the reduction, simplification and restructuring of administrative procedures.

The consultation workshop took place in Ninh Binh on July 28 to gather feedback on the draft decree detailing several provisions and implementation measures for the revised Law on Belief and Religion.

Deputy Minister of Ethnic and Religious Affairs Nguyen Hai Trung chaired the event, which was attended by representatives of the Government Committee for Religious Affairs, leaders from 28 provincial Departments of Ethnic and Religious Affairs, and Departments of Home Affairs from six provinces and centrally governed cities.

Better safeguarding freedom of belief and religion

Speaking at the workshop, Deputy Minister Nguyen Hai Trung said that, under the Government's assignment, the Ministry of Ethnic and Religious Affairs has actively and promptly prepared the draft decree detailing provisions and implementation measures for the revised Law on Belief and Religion.

The draft provides detailed guidance for 34 articles of the 2026 Law on Belief and Religion and introduces measures to facilitate its implementation. It also addresses difficulties encountered during the enforcement of Government Decree No. 95/2023/ND-CP and Decree No. 124/2025/ND-CP, which continued efforts to simplify administrative procedures in the field of belief and religion.

According to the ministry, the decree is intended to align with Vietnam's ongoing digital transformation while further safeguarding the rights of individuals and organizations to freedom of belief and religion.

The draft decree consists of eight chapters and 77 articles.

Three main groups of issues

Participants offered detailed and constructive comments on the draft decree, concentrating on three principal areas.

The first area concerns belief-related activities, particularly those conducted outside officially recognized belief establishments.

The second focuses on religious activities, especially belief and religious activities conducted online; the withdrawal of approvals for concentrated religious gatherings and certificates of religious activity registration; suspension of religious functionaries; and regulations on educational standards, training methods and forms at religious educational institutions.

The third area addresses the reduction, simplification and restructuring of administrative procedures.

Nguyen Viet Hung, Deputy Director of the Phu Tho Department of Ethnic and Religious Affairs, proposed establishing a coordination mechanism between state agencies responsible for belief and religious affairs and authorities overseeing information, communications, cybersecurity and local administration.

He also suggested applying electronic identification measures to monitor online spiritual information platforms in order to detect, prevent and promptly address activities that exploit belief or religion to violate the law, promote superstition, spread false information, incite division within the national unity bloc or infringe upon the lawful rights and interests of organizations and individuals.

Several delegates also proposed issuing more detailed guidance on the registration and notification of belief-related activities at privately owned shrines and places of worship, including criteria for determining the scale of activities, responsibilities of facility managers, and coordination mechanisms among relevant authorities responsible for supervision.

Regarding the authority to issue certificates for concentrated religious gatherings and registrations of religious activities under Vietnam's two-tier local government system, many delegates called for clearer guidance defining the responsibilities of each level of government and each agency in receiving, assessing and processing applications to ensure consistency and avoid confusion at the local level.

Continuing to improve detailed regulations

In his closing remarks, Deputy Minister Nguyen Hai Trung, on behalf of the Ministry of Ethnic and Religious Affairs, highly appreciated the thoughtful, practical and constructive contributions made by participants. He said their recommendations would serve as an important reference in finalizing the draft decree.

The ministry will continue refining detailed regulations covering online belief and religious activities; representatives and management boards of belief establishments; notification and registration of belief-related activities; registration of concentrated religious gatherings; issuance of certificates for religious activity registration; regulations governing religious organizations and religious activities; charitable donations and sponsorship; renovation, upgrading and construction of belief and religious facilities and supporting infrastructure; as well as administrative forms used in the field of belief and religion before completing the draft decree.

The Ministry of Ethnic and Religious Affairs will carefully study, analyze and evaluate all recommendations raised during the workshop to further revise and improve the draft decree detailing provisions and implementation measures for the Law on Belief and Religion.

 
 Hong Phuc