Cablegate: Vietnam's National Assembly Approves Ten New Laws,

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RR RUEHCHI RUEHDT RUEHHM
DE RUEHHI #1803/01 1980446
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 170446Z JUL 06
FM AMEMBASSY HANOI
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 2766
INFO RUEHHM/AMCONSUL HO CHI MINH CITY 1505
RUEHZS/ASEAN REGIONAL FORUM COLLECTIVE

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 HANOI 001803

SIPDIS

SENSITIVE
SIPDIS

STATE FOR EAP/MLS

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PREL PGOV PHUM HUMANR ETRD EINV ECON VM
SUBJECT: VIETNAM'S NATIONAL ASSEMBLY APPROVES TEN NEW LAWS,
CONTINUES INDIRECT CRITICISM OF PARTY'S ROLE IN SOCIETY

REF: A) Hanoi 1802; B) Hanoi 677; C) Hanoi 835

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1. (SBU) Summary: During an unusually long summer session convened
May 16-June 29 to approve the new government selected by the
Communist Party of Vietnam's (CPV) 10th Party Congress (Ref A),
Vietnam's National Assembly (NA) also debated ten laws and approved
three resolutions. These new laws include a Law on Lawyers, a Law
on Legal Assistance, a Law on Information and Technology, a revised
Aviation Law and a Securities Law. Assembly deputies also debated
the GVN's controversial draft revisions of laws on residence, on
associations and on the Labor Code. End Summary.

Newly Passed Laws - A Quick Look
--------------------------------

2. (SBU) In addition to the controversy over corruption and the
final approval of the new Government, the NA also debated ten new
laws during this session, including a Law on Lawyers, a Law on Legal
Assistance, a Law on Information and Technology, a revised Aviation
Law, a Securities Law, a Cinema Law, a Law on Real Estate Trading, a
Law on Sea Dikes, a Law on Standardization and a Law on HIV-AIDS
Prevention and Control. One of the resolutions passed by the
assembly defined for which types of national construction the GVN
must request NA approval. Assembly deputies also debated the GVN's
controversial draft revisions of laws on residence, associations and
the Labor Code.

3. (SBU) The new Law on Lawyers, which replaces an existing National
Assembly Standing Committee ordinance, allows foreign lawyers to
provide consultative services on foreign and international laws and
other legal services relating to foreign and international laws.
The law stipulates, however, that foreign lawyers who wish to
provide legal consultancies on Vietnamese law must hold a Vietnamese
college law degree and meet all the requirements necessary for
Vietnamese lawyers to provide legal services.

4. (SBU) The new Law on Legal Assistance provides that poor people,
people who are credited with helping the revolutionary cause, lonely
elderly people with disabilities, homeless children and ethnic
minority people are eligible for free legal assistance. The law
also stipulates that lawyers must provide free legal assistance to
those who are eligible.

5. (SBU) The revised Law on Information Technology reportedly
addresses some practices undermining information technology
intellectual property rights (IPR) in Vietnam. The final text of
the law has not been released; however, according to a Ministry of
Posts and Telematics (MPT) official, only Article 70 of the law
touches upon this issue. The article provides that protection for
IPR in the IT field falls under the International Property law, but
adds two exceptions. Citizens may make a "temporary copy of a
licensed work" in cases where there is technical need for a certain
period. Users are also entitled to make copies of licensed software
without asking for permission of the rightholder or paying royalty
for the purpose of making backups. (Note: Current regulations on
information technology are scattered in different legal documents
and generally refer to technological application but do not address
such issues as information safety, information security and
protection of users. According to contacts, the new law aims to
create a "legal corridor" for IT applications and development of the
information industry. The IT law regulates applications, dispute
settlements and sanctions applicable violations in the IT sector.
The MPT will be responsible for taking the lead to coordinate with
other relevant ministries in the state management of information
technology. End Note.)

6. (SBU) The revised Civil Aviation Law stipulates that the GVN will
"create favorable conditions" for Vietnamese carriers who are
obligated to provide air services "to remote and poor mountainous
areas." During the session, some delegates proposed that foreign
carriers should be allowed to operate within Vietnam's domestic
market as well, but these amendments were voted down. (Note:
Vietnam, like other signatories to the Chicago Convention, reserves
domestic markets only to domestic carriers. The deputies who
proposed that foreign carriers should be allowed to operate within
Vietnam's domestic markets were reportedly not aware of the Chicago
Convention. The NA voted their amendments down after the NA
discussed the implications of the convention. End Note.)

7. (SBU) The new draft Securities Law states that the State
Securities Commission (SSC) should remain under the control of the
Ministry of Finance (MOF) due to Vietnam's limited experience with
stock markets. This proposal was hotly debated by NA deputies.
Deputy Chairman Tao Huu Phung of the NA's Economic and Budgetary
Committee and the Vietnam Association of Financial Investors (VAFI)
reportedly defended the idea because the MOF is a powerful ministry
and "makes policies on stock market development, State Owned
Enterprise (SOE) reform, tax policy and accounting and auditing

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regulations." He also noted that since the SSC was put under MOF in
2004, Vietnam's stock market has taken off. Phung reportedly
concluded that SSC should not be moved at present for fear that it
would unsettle the market.

8. (SBU) Other delegates argued that since the MOF already controls
the Tax Department, Customs Department and the Government's Pricing
Committee, it will become even more of a "super-ministry" if SSC
oversight is retained. Some deputies noted that the recent
corruption scandals relating to ODA management indicate that the MOF
does not have a sufficient capability to monitor closely all areas
falling under their management. Others observed that the MOF is the
issuing agency of Government bonds, while bond issuance is the
purview of the SSC. If the SSC is kept under MOF, then the ministry
will be both "the player and the referee" on the issuance of
Government debt, a legal contradiction that should be avoided. One
NA deputy also questioned the accuracy of the Government proposal,
which mentioned that in most countries, the stock market is governed
by a commission whose chairman is the minister of finance. The
deputy cited that in five countries of the G-8, the securities
commission is an independent agency. Phung reportedly replied that
after several more years of stable development, an appropriate model
could be created.

Less State Intervention in Associations Expected
--------------------------------------------- ---

9. (SBU) The NA discussion of the GVN's draft Law on Associations
(REF C) focused on whether the law should cover all associations,
including the so-called "legacy associations" which form part of the
CPV's apparatus to control Vietnam's political system. At present
these organizations operate under separate state laws and include
the Vietnam Fatherland Front (the GVN's umbrella watchdog for
popular organizations), the Vietnam General Confederation of Labor
(the Trade Union), the Vietnam Peasants' Association (Farmers
Association), the Ho Chi Minh Youth Union, the Vietnam War Veterans'
Association and the Vietnam Women's Union. Religious organizations
are also excluded from the scope of the draft and already operate
under the 2005 Ordinance on Religion. Nguyen Chi Dzung, a senior
Office of the National Assembly (ONA) staffer and former
Editor-in-Chief of the ONA-affiliated Legislative Journal, noted
that many deputies think the law on associations should regulate all
associations, including the CPV itself and all associations
operating under the party's auspices.

10. (SBU) For his part, Vice Chairman of the ONA Nguyen Sy Dzung
told Pol Assistant that there have been more and more voices
questioning the scope of "the Party's decisions and intervention in
Vietnam's political life, and a law on the Party would put the Party
under the law and subject to law, not beyond." (Note: Vietnam's
Constitution vaguely provides that "the CPV exercise its leadership
over the State and the whole society." In an interview with local
newspapers preceding the Party Congress, Vu Mao, Chairman of the
National Assembly Foreign Relations Committee and a member of the
previous CPV Central Committee, said he supported the idea of having
a law on the Party. This interview ignited an unprecedented debate
in the media in the lead-up to the Congress and the NA post-Congress
session. REF A. End Note.)

11. (SBU) Many deputies also criticized the GVN's proposed
procedures for establishing associations as overly complicated.
Most deputies also expressed their belief that the State should not
intervene too much in associations' activities, and that the current
system of line-ministries managing associations should be abolished.
Some deputies proposed that only the Ministry of Home Affairs
(MOHA) should manage associations at the central level, while
provincial people's committees should manage associations formed at
the local level. GVN drafters from MOHA succeeded in retaining
language outlining line-ministry direct supervision of associations
in their sector, despite the fact that in a preliminary vote the
NASC voted the provision down, according to reliable sources.

Delegates Support Right to Choose Residence
-------------------------------------------

12. (SBU) The GVN's draft law on residence also attracted
considerable attention from delegates over a proposal to retain the
current requirement for citizens to maintain household registration
books. Drafters from the Ministry of Public Security (MPS) stressed
that the books are vital in the fight against crime, particularly in
big cities. NA deputies, however, noted that many officials use
household registration books as a pretext to deny services to, or to
hamper the legitimate business of, citizens who are not registered
in their jurisdiction, though many Vietnamese do not reside in the
jurisdiction in which they are officially registered as residents.

13. (SBU) Delegate Le Thi Nga from Thanh Hoa Province cited a report

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from the MPS that there are at least 380 separate regulations
relating to residential registration, underlining that "such
regulation limits citizenship rights." Nga proposed folding
personal information currently maintained in household registration
books and identity cards into a new form of national identity cards
which would be granted right after a person is born. (Note:
Current regulations provide that only those who are officially
registered as residents in a province or city are eligible for
certain benefits and allowances available in that province or city,
and are allowed to formally register their property with local
authorities. In-migrants are required to register their temporary
residence and their travel from place of temporary residence with
local authorities. End Note.)

14. (SBU) Most delegates supported Nga's viewpoints. Some argued,
however, that if registration books are to be retained, they must be
used only in tracking residency, and any regulation that limits
other rights of citizens should be forbidden. Delegate Nguyen Dinh
Loc, a former Minister of Justice, even questioned the scope of the
draft law. According to him, only two out of 47 articles of the
draft law relate to the right to residency, while the remaining 45
articles cover various aspects of State management of residency by
common citizens. "Is this a law on citizens' right to residency or a
law on State management over citizens' residence?" he demanded.
Some delegates observed that provisions in the draft law are just
too strict. For example, one provision requires that citizens above
the age of 14 who travel from their place of residence for three
days need to register their travel plans with their place of
residency and with officials in the place to which they intend to
travel. (Note: Prominent religious and dissident figures,
including UBCV Patriarch Thich Huyen Quang and political dissident
Nguyen Khac Toan, have frequently complained that this requirement
has been used by the GVN to prevent them from traveling freely
within Vietnam, as permitted by law. End Note.)

Labor Code Reforms
------------------

15. (SBU) The NA also discussed a proposed amendment to Chapter 14
of the Labor Code relating to worker strikes. This amendment was
submitted in the wake of hundreds of nationwide strikes at foreign
and domestically owned firms earlier in 2006 related to wages and
conditions. The amendment aims to streamline the procedures for
calling legal strikes, as the current process for doing so is
criticized as notoriously complex. Almost none of the 1000-odd
strikes in the last decade have proceeded legally. During the
debate, several deputies objected to the amendment as the revised
Code should avoid limiting the right to strike and that striking is
often "workers' last weapon" to protect their legitimate rights and
benefits. The deputies also proposed that the code not divide
collective labor disputes into two types -- rights and interests --
as currently defined, because it is difficult to clearly distinguish
between rights and interests. (Note: Recent and strong criticism
of the amendment in newspapers and on radio has asserted that the
amendment fails to simplify the procedure. GVN officials have also
complained to Econoff privately that the amendment attempts to
create an administrative solution to a larger labor problem
involving Vietnam's lack of independent and capable unions and
collective bargaining mechanisms amid the country's transition to a
market economy. End Note.)

COMMENT
-------

16. (SBU) This latest NA session underscores that Vietnamese
legislators are increasingly outspoken and willing to take on
sensitive issues related to the Party and State authority. However,
policy expertise remains a premium within the National Assembly (Ref
B), as evidenced by the confusion surrounding the ability of foreign
airlines to fly domestically. Until the legislature is able to
develop homegrown policy expertise, it will continue to be beholden
to Vietnam's line ministries and unable to play a preeminent role in
Vietnam's lawmaking process.

MARINE

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