1. Decree No. 108/2024/ND-CP regulating the management, use, and exploitation of non-residential public real estates assigned to local housing management and business organizations for management and exploitation (“Decree 108”)
In practice, the management, use, and exploitation of non-residential public real estates (“NRPREs”) had already been regulated by several legal documents. However, the wasteful and inefficient use, and the profiteering of public assets still exist, causing losses to state property.
With the goal of improving the efficiency of state management in the exploitation of NRPREs, Decree 108 was issued, and went into effect from 15 October 2024. This decree has established a mechanism for the management, use, and exploitation of NRPREs, with the following new points:
First, Decree 108 has allowed NRPREs to be subleased for other purposes, such as production and business activities. However, this must be under the management of the provincial People’s Committees and the authorities assigned to manage public assets at the provincial level. This approach aims to address local socio-economic development needs while ensuring consistency in managing the NRPREs resource. Accordingly, the exploitation of these assets is carried out by recording an increase in assets and asset value, which is not accounted for state capital in enterprises.
Furthermore, Decree 108 has established the principle that the leasing of NRPREs must be carried out through auction, except for cases of supporting socialization or leases valued at less than 50 million VND/year, which the listed price method will be applied. Clearly, determining the lease price through auction is the option that can generate the maximum revenue and also lessen ambiguity in the management and exploitation of NRPREs.
According to Decree 108, the maximum lease term for NRPREs is five (05) years and can be extended. However, for NRPREs under temporary management while awaiting handling, the maximum lease term is three (03) years. It can be seen that the above-mentioned timeframes are quite appropriate to ensure the business operations of the lessee while not being too long as to preclude re-evaluating the lease price to ensure the management of NRPREs.
In addition, Decree 108 also stipulates a model lease contract for NRPREs (the “Model Contract”) to standardize and synchronize management and partially resolve issues arising during the leasing process. With the expectation of balancing the interests of the state and the lessee, the Model Contract stipulates provisions regarding the rights of the lessee, such as requiring the lessor to compensate for damages if the lessor is at fault, and penalties for contract violations. In particular, a noteworthy new point is that the Model Contract stipulates that the resolution of disputes, complaints, or civil issues shall be carried out in accordance with relevant laws. Thus, if a civil dispute arises, it will be resolved in accordance with the provisions of civil law and civil procedure; that is, the lessor – the state representative agency – is a party in a purely civil dispute, limiting the imposition of administrative regulations when resolving disputes.
However, special attention should be paid to the contract termination clause due to force majeure. Unlike ordinary civil relationships where the lessor is simply a party, the lessor of NRPREs is also a state administrative management authority. This means that the lessor can issue policies affecting NRPREs. According to the law, changes in legal policy can potentially be considered events of force majeure. To address this issue, the lessee should note that one of the conditions that a force majeure event must meet is that it is unforeseeable. Therefore, the lessee of NRPREs should discuss this issue before entering into the contract to avoid the lessor unilaterally terminating the contract due to a force majeure event arising from its own decision (or the decision of its governing body) without being subject to any sanctions.
Overall, regarding general terms, Decree 108 is issued with numerous provisions to help limit existing shortcomings, improve the efficiency of NRPREs management, and create equality between the interests of the state and citizens in the process of exploiting NRPREs. However, there are still many challenges when put into practice. Therefore, coordination between the state and citizens is needed to optimize the expectations that Decree 108 is aiming for.
2. Decree No. 110/2024/ND-CP on social work (“Decree 110”)
It is apparent that social work in Vietnam is a humanitarian activity with a widespread impact on society. However, the concerning reality is that recently, many individuals have been exploiting social work for personal gain, diminishing the humanitarian significance of social work and depriving vulnerable groups of the opportunity to access care and support from the community.
As such, Decree 110 was issued, and went effect on 15 October 2024, marking an important milestone in building and completing the legal framework for social work to promote its development, contribute to ensuring social security and equality, and aim to prevent acts of taking advantage of and profiting from social work activities.
Accordingly, Decree 110 has introduced quite a few forms of social work, such as through agencies, units, enterprises, or independent social work. However, when practicing social work, practitioners are required to meet conditions regarding ethical qualities, health, and expertise, and must have a valid professional practice registration certificate.
In particular, in addition to stipulating prohibited acts such as: Providing, publishing, disclosing, or destroying personal information and data of subjects without their consent; Taking advantage of social work practice for personal gain, etc.; Decree 110 also provides for sanctions for violations such as having the professional practice registration certificate revoked and can only be considered for a new certificate after 05 years from the date of revocation. At the same time, in cases of taking advantage of social work to appropriate money or property of others, depending on the nature and extent of the violation, administrative penalties or criminal sanctions may be imposed, with the highest penalty being life imprisonment.
Decree 110 was issued with the policy of creating favorable conditions for social development based on the spirit of societal solidarity; coupled with the obligation to prevent and combat acts of “exploiting compassion” to protect the noble meaning of social work activities.
3. Decree No. 128/2024/ND-CP amending and supplementing a number of articles of Decree No. 81/2018/ND-CP dated 22 May 2018 of the Government detailing the Law on Commercial on trade promotion (“Decree 128”)
Decree 128 took effect from 01 December 2024, with some new points as follows:
One of the prominent new points of Decree 128 is the regulation that other forms of promotion, if approved by the state management agency for trade, typically promotions through the internet, electronic means, and information technology, will not be subject to the maximum limit on the value of goods and services used for promotion. Clearly, this is a prominent regulation to promote trade and improve consumption efficiency.
In addition to improving consumption, preventing inefficiency in promotions is also a noteworthy issue. It can be seen that the concentrated promotion activities previously presided over by government authorities and only organized for a specific period led to a situation where some programs ended due to the expiration of the promotion period, but there were still quite a lot of goods in stock and the promotion efficiency was not achieved. Accordingly, Decree 128 has removed the regulation limiting the duration of concentrated promotion activities in order to solve the above situation and increase the flexibility of traders in promotional activities.
In addition, the administrative procedure for notifying the implementation of promotions was also one of the inadequacies in promotional activities. Accordingly, Decree 128 has simplified the above administrative procedure. Specifically, when carrying out promotional activities such as: Organizing for customers to participate in cultural, artistic, entertainment programs and other events for promotional purposes; Providing sample goods, providing sample services for customers to try for free; Giving away goods, providing services free of charge; Selling goods, providing services with attached shopping vouchers, service vouchers, etc., traders do not need to carry out promotional activity notifications.
With the spirit of overcoming existing inadequacies and moving towards a more flexible mechanism to promote the development of concentrated promotional activities, Decree 128 has marked a new step forward in commerce, not only removing barriers to the limit on the value of goods and services used for promotion but also opening up opportunities for traders to actively design programs that are appropriate to business practices and suitable for sustainable socio-economic development goals.
4. Decree No. 135/2024/ND-CP stipulating mechanisms and policies to encourage the development of self-produced and self-consumed rooftop solar power (“Decree 135”)
Decree 135 was issued and took effect on 22 October 2024, with some notable new points as follows:
Previously, the scope of regulation for activities related to rooftop solar power (“RTSP”) mainly focused on households, which limited large-scale deployment and multi-party development cooperation. To address this situation, Decree 135 has expanded its application to include public agencies, industrial parks, industrial clusters, export processing zones, high-tech zones, economic zones, production facilities, and business establishments invested and built throughout the country.
In addition, Decree 135 also introduces many policies to encourage the development of self-produced and self-consumed RTSP, such as: Exemption from electricity activity permits and no capacity limits (in cases where there is no connection to the national electricity grid; installation of anti-reverse power equipment into the national electricity grid; households or individual houses with a capacity of less than 100kW); Enjoyment of preferential tax policies; Streamlined administrative procedures, etc. Accordingly, the introduction of the above policies has partly optimized investment, installation, and operation costs for organizations and individuals participating in RTSP.
In general, the issuance of Decree 135 has partially met the expectations of the domestic and foreign power industry business community, increasing people’s demand for energy; at the same time, promoting the mobilization of social resources and foreign investment in the development of the renewable energy sector, contributing to the goal of carbon neutrality by 2050 so that Vietnam can catch up with the world’s green and sustainable development process.
5. Decree No. 117/2024/ND-CP amending Decree No. 82/2020/ND-CP on administrative penalties in the fields of judicial assistance; judicial administration; marriage and family; civil judgment enforcement; bankruptcy of enterprises and cooperatives (“Decree 117”)
Decree 117 takes effect on 15 November 2024, amending and supplementing key provisions related to penalties and sanctions in areas such as judicial assistance, judicial administration, and marriage and family. The details are as follows:
One notable highlight of Decree 117 is the regulation that actions offending the honor, dignity, or reputation of individuals authorized to conduct legal proceedings will be subject to fines ranging from VND 15 to 20 million. This regulation aims to ensure the authority of authorities, organizations, and individuals involved in legal proceedings, which citizens are advised to take note of.
Aside from the above, Decree 117 also stipulates that lawyers engaging in acts of harassing clients, demanding or receiving any money or benefits beyond the remuneration and costs agreed upon in the legal service contract, or deceiving clients, depending on the nature and severity of the violation, will face revocation of their lawyer practicing certificate or license in Vietnam.
Additionally, when performing signature authentication procedures, it is required to authenticate all signatures of those who have signed the document requesting authentication. According to Decree 117, failure to authenticate all signatures in such cases is considered a violation of regulations on certifying copies from originals, rendering the authenticated document invalid for use.
Overall, Decree 117 addresses existing inadequacies and helps reduce errors in regulated areas. Citizens are advised to stay updated to protect their legitimate rights and interests in activities related to these fields.
