Perfecting Law on Treaties – Affirming Viet Nam's resolve and position in the international arena

Accordingly, the Law on Treaties 2016 has played an important role in the conclusion, accession, and implementation of treaties. However, after nearly a decade, many limitations have emerged. Thach Phuoc Binh (Vinh Long) stated that the division of powers among bodies such as the National Assembly, the Government, and the President remains insufficiently clear, leading to confusion in practice.

The draft Law this time has introduced a simplified authorization mechanism, allowing for expedited negotiation and conclusion of treaties in special circumstances. This is considered a major step forward, enhancing proactivity in diplomacy. However, it still requires strict provisions on the criteria for application and the supervisory mechanism of the National Assembly to prevent abuse.

“The lack of clarity regarding competence easily leads to confusion in practice, especially in treaties with broad impact. The current draft has added a simplified authorization mechanism, which is an important step forward in enhancing proactivity and responsiveness in diplomacy. However, it is necessary to specify the criteria for what is deemed ‘necessary’, while also supplementing the reporting mechanism to the National Assembly in order to ensure both flexibility and the maintenance of supreme oversight,” emphasized Delegate Thach Phuoc Binh.

An important highlight is the reduction of the appraisal and consultation period to only 10–20 days, along with the encouragement of electronic dossiers and online consultations. This not only helps save costs but also aligns with the trend of modern governance.

The draft also codifies the simplified procedure for treaties of a technical nature, ODA loan agreements, or simple bilateral treaties. However, delegates emphasized that clear criteria must be established to ensure that national defense, security, and public finance are not adversely affected.

The draft Law codifies the simplified procedure, allowing negotiation–signing, signing–approval, and signing–ratification for certain technical and simple treaties. Delegate Thach Phuoc Binh regarded this as a breakthrough step, particularly useful in ODA loan agreements or bilateral treaties.

However, National Assembly Deputy Thach Phuoc Binh also cautioned: “To avoid the risk of abuse, the simplified procedure should only be applied to treaties that do not affect politics, national defense, or security, and do not impose significant obligations on the state budget. At the same time, there must be responsibility for ex-post review and reporting to the National Assembly and the President to ensure rigor.”

Another shortcoming of the current Law is the limited transparency and archival of international treaties. The new draft supplements provisions on publication in the electronic Official Gazette; however, many National Assembly Deputies proposed that the establishment of a National Database on International Treaties should be codified in the law.

This will be a public, unified, and easily accessible system that effectively serves research and management, while also ensuring the right of citizens and enterprises to access information.

The Conference also recommended that the National Assembly should retain a pivotal role in supervising treaties directly related to sovereignty, national defense, security, and national finance. In addition, there should be consistency between the Law on Treaties and other relevant laws, such as the Law on Organization of the Government, the Law on Promulgation of Legal Normative Documents, and the Law on Public Debt Management.

“Only in this way can the new Law truly take effect in practice, becoming a solid legal foundation that enables Viet Nam to be proactive and flexible in international integration while firmly safeguarding national interests,” affirmed the Deputy to the National Assembly from Vinh Long Province.

On behalf of the Drafting Agency, Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Le Anh Tuan acknowledged and addressed many of the opinions raised. Deputy Minister Le Anh Tuan stated that the draft Law has further clarified the delineation of authority, incorporated simplified procedures while still ensuring legal safety, and at the same time promoted digital transformation and the publication of electronic records.

“We will continue to review and coordinate with relevant agencies to further improve the draft Law with the highest possible quality, and submit it to the National Assembly for consideration and adoption at the next session,” emphasized the Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs.

Overall, the amendments in the draft Law revising and supplementing a number of articles of the Law on Treaties are not only intended to improve the legal framework, but also demonstrate Vietnam’s determination to pursue proactive-flexible-effective integration.

With the guiding principle of “clear authority – streamlined procedures – transparent information – strengthened oversight,” the new Law is expected to become an important legal instrument, enabling Vietnam to advance firmly on the path of integration while affirming its position and credibility in the international arena.