State announces new four laws

The State President Office announced the promulgation of four laws on food safety, child adoption, trade arbitrator and enforcement of criminal verdicts at a press briefing in Hanoi on July 8.

The laws were adopted by the 12th National Assembly at its seventh meeting.

The five-chapter, 52-article Law on Child Adoption provides for regulations to ensure adopted children enjoy the best benefits when they are raised, cared and educated in their adoptive family.

It details child adoption inside the country, child adoption involved foreign elements, and responsibilities of State agencies in the field.

In article 8, the law regulates that children below 16 years old are offered for adoption. Under current law, children up to 15 years old can be adopted.

The law will come into force on January 1st, 2011.

The Law on Food Safety reserves the entire chapter III to prescribe conditions on food safety. This is a completely new chapter compared with the Ordinance on Food Safety and Hygiene.

Differing from the ordinance, the law has provisions for small-size food production establishments and businesses and a special item prescribing safety conditions for street food.

The Law on Enforcement of Criminal Verdicts consists of 15 chapters with 182 articles, providing for the operation, tasks, and authority of competent agencies in charge of executing criminal sentences, jail sentences, death penalty, suspension sentences, warnings, re-education without custody, and other contents.

Articles 44, 46, 47 and 48 regulate that the State is responsible for providing clothing and personal effects for prisoners and ensure prisoners take part in physical, sport and cultural activities, meet their relatives, receive gifts, and have communications and healthcare services, reflecting the humanity of law and lenient policy of the State.

Article 45 lays down special regulations on mechanisms to be applied for women prisoners who are pregnant or raising child under 36 months to assist them in protecting and raising their children.

Article 59 of the law, which will take effect from July 1, 2011, provides that death penalty will be carried out with lethal injection.

The Trade Arbitration Law provides for the definition of legal relations between trade arbitrators and court, the procuracy and the law enforcement force.

With clearly-defined regulations, the law will help judiciary agencies and the arbitrators’ council as well as concerned parties in dispute settle specific cases smoothly.

The Ministry of Justice is authorized to license the establishment of a trade arbitrators’ association.

The 13-chapter, 82-article law will come into force on January 1, 2011.