On June 24, 2025, the National Assembly promulgated Resolution No. 206/2025/QH15 (“Resolution 206”) on a special mechanism for addressing legal difficulties and obstacles. Under this Resolution, the National Assembly authorizes the National Assembly Standing Committee ("NASC") and the Government to issue normative legal resolutions to amend laws in certain specific cases. This is an unprecedented and extraordinary provision in the legislative and legal enforcement history of Vietnam.
1. Conditions for the NASC and the Government to amend laws and issue “higher-level” Resolutions
1.1. Basis for implementation:
Resolution 206 allows the NASC to promulgate normative resolutions to adjust certain provisions of laws and National Assembly resolutions at a “higher level” when legal difficulties or obstacles arise due to any of the following criteria, which hinder or obstruct socio-economic development:
- Provisions that are contradictory or overlapping within a single legal document or between different legal documents;
- Legal provisions that are unclear, open to multiple interpretations, unreasonable, infeasible, or cause difficulties in implementation and enforcement;
- Legal provisions that impose high compliance costs; lack of regulations or existing provisions that restrict innovation, the development of new growth drivers, the mobilization of resources, economic growth, and international integration.
1.2. Timeframe for implementation:
The NASC and the Government may only issue such “higher-level” Resolutions to amend laws and National Assembly resolutions during the period in which those laws or resolutions have not yet been amended, supplemented (under a simplified procedure), or interpreted in accordance with the Law on Promulgation of Legal Normative Documents (depending on the situation, an appropriate course of action will be selected).
1.3. Implementation procedure:
- Ensure that the principles for handling legal difficulties and obstacles are not violated;
- The Government may issue resolutions to amend laws or National Assembly resolutions at a “higher level” with respect to documents it has submitted and reported to the NASC or the National Assembly at the most recent session. The NASC may issue such resolutions for documents not submitted by the Government or not reported to the NASC or the National Assembly at the most recent session;
- If the Government's resolution includes provisions that address matters not yet regulated by law or National Assembly resolutions, or that have significant impacts on socio-economic affairs, national defense, security, or foreign affairs, the Government must seek opinions from the competent Party authority before promulgation.
2. Validity of "higher-level" resolutions:
Resolutions issued by the NASC and the Government under Resolution 206 must clearly specify the expiration date, which must be prior to March 1, 2027.
At the same time, these Resolutions shall be assigned separate numbering and codes for monitoring and processing purposes. For example: Resolution No. 66.1/2025/NQ-CP or Resolution No. 66.1/2025/UBTVQH15.
As previously noted, the provision for issuing “higher-level” normative resolutions under Resolution 206 is unprecedented, breaking away from the traditional rules established in the Constitution and previous legal documents. However, in the current transitional period of the country, marked by substantial changes in the state administrative structure and the continuous emergence of socio-economic issues, we believe that this regulation issued by the National Assembly provides a flexible, swift, and timely mechanism to address legal difficulties and better meet practical needs.
Resolution 206 is effective from June 24, 2025, until the end of February 28, 2027.
Comment: