Deputy Prime Minister Ho Quoc Dung requests completion and ensuring consistency and feasibility of three Projects of the Ministry of Justice

Representatives from the Ministry of Justice, the Ministry of Public Security, the Ministry of Health, the Ministry of Ethnic Affairs and Religion, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Government Office, and other agencies attended the meeting.

At the meeting, the relevant ministries and agencies provided their opinions on the three projects, including the drafts of: (1) the Prime Minister’s Decision promulgating the implementation plan of the toolkit for preventing and handling acts of non-compliance with the law in the field of international adoption; (2) the Prime Minister’s Decision on the issuance of the Regulation on self-examination of legal normative documents issued by the Government and the Prime Minister; (3) Viet Nam’s national action program on civil registration and statistics for the 2025–2030 period.

Implementation plan of the Toolkit for preventing and handling acts of non-compliance with the law in the field of international adoption

Deputy Minister of Justice Phan Chi Hieu stated that the Ministry of Justice is urgently finalizing the draft Decision on the issuance of the implementation plan of the toolkit for preventing and handling acts of non-compliance with the law in the field of international adoption for the 2026–2030 period.

The draft was developed in the context where the Party’s important documents emphasize the need to protect human rights, citizen rights, and especially children’s rights, with a human-centered approach, considering people as the subject and driving force of national development. These documents identify the tasks of completing legal policies, enhancing the capacity of relevant agencies, and ensuring full compliance with international obligations in the fields of child care, education, and protection.

Although Viet Nam acceded to the Hague Convention in 1993 over 20 years ago and promulgated the Law on Adoption in 2010, practical implementation still faces many legal and humanitarian risks in international adoption activities. To meet practical requirements, in March 2023, the Council on Policy and General Affairs (HCCH) approved the toolkit to support member states in identifying, preventing, and addressing acts of non-compliance with the law in this field.

The draft Decision of Viet Nam aims at two main objectives:

The first is to ensure the best interests of children, prevent acts of exploitation, circumvention of the law, or profiteering related to children, with particular attention to children in special circumstances, ethnic minority children, and children in border areas.

The second is to demonstrate Viet Nam’s international responsibility as a member of the Hague Convention, thereby enhancing national prestige in international judicial cooperation. The draft also includes orientations to strengthen the capacity of agencies, raise awareness, complete legal policies, review and organize the enforcement of documents related to adoption, combat child trafficking, social welfare, and support children’s reintegration into families.

Concluding on this matter, Deputy Prime Minister Ho Quoc Dung emphasized that the issuance of the toolkit for preventing and handling acts of non-compliance with the law in the field of international adoption is an urgent requirement to address shortcomings in international adoption practices in recent years.

The Deputy Prime Minister requested that the Ministry of Justice closely coordinate with relevant ministries and sectors, fully incorporate the comments provided, and finalize the draft for submission to the Government for issuance as soon as possible, ensuring the completeness, consistency, and feasibility of the implementation plan for the 2026–2030 period.

Issuance of the regulation on self-examination of Legal Normative Documents

According to the Deputy Minister of Justice, to implement the drafting of "the Prime Minister’s Decision on the Issuance of the Regulation on Self-Examination of Legal Normative Documents Issued by the Government and the Prime Minister", a Drafting team has been established. The Ministry of Justice has organized multiple meetings with relevant ministries and sectors to discuss and complete the content. The draft dossier has been posted on the Ministry of Justice’s electronic information portal to collect broad opinions from affected agencies, organizations, and individuals.

The Ministry of Justice has also organized workshops to gather feedback, ensuring that the draft is fully approached and critically reviewed before submission to the Government.

The draft Regulation aims to clearly and specifically define the responsibilities and coordination mechanisms among agencies in the process of self-examining documents issued or jointly issued by the Government and the Prime Minister. The draft emphasizes the need to specify procedures for each stage and task, avoiding overlaps or omissions, while enhancing the proactiveness and accountability of the units involved.

Concluding on this matter, Deputy Prime Minister Ho Quoc Dung requested the Ministry of Justice to thoroughly review the entire draft to ensure that it does not conflict with existing legal documents. The development of the Regulation must maximally inherit existing clear provisions, avoiding unnecessary repetition or further complication of the administrative apparatus.

The Deputy Prime Minister also requested that the unity of the legal system be ensured; the responsibilities of each unit must be individualized and specified to enhance the effectiveness of public service performance and the quality of self-examination of legal documents, thereby contributing to the improvement of the legal system and strengthening the effectiveness of state management.

Ensuring the national digital transformation goals in the field of civil registration

Also according to Deputy Minister of Justice Phan Chi Hieu, the draft national action program on civil registration and statistics for the 2026–2030 period was developed based on the achievements of the 2017–2024 period and addresses remaining shortcomings. The program aims at modernization and strong digital transformation in the field of civil registration, providing reliable civil registration data and statistics to effectively serve socio-economic policy planning.

The draft sets out the requirement to continue increasing the registration rates for births and deaths and to enhance the quality of civil registration statistical data. At the same time, the implementation process needs to be associated with international integration, in line with the spirit of the Declaration of the Asia-Pacific Regional Ministers’ Conference on Civil Registration, aiming for comprehensive, universal, and timely registration.

On this matter, the Deputy Prime Minister requested the Ministry of Justice to fully incorporate the opinions of the Government Office, the Ministry of Public Security, and other ministries and sectors to finalize the draft. The draft must clearly define the responsibilities of each ministry, sector, and local authority in implementation. The Deputy Prime Minister also emphasized the need to connect and integrate civil registration data across sectors to effectively manage population mobility.

The Deputy Prime Minister requested the Ministry of Justice to complete the dossier and submit it to the Government on schedule, ensuring that the Program is highly feasible and aligned with the national digital transformation objectives in the field of civil registration.