Draft maritime, civil codes scrutinised by NA standing committee hinh anh 1Justice Minister Ha Hung Cuong gives idea on the draft Civil Code (revised) (Source: VNA)
The National Assembly Standing Committee discussed several contentious matters of the draft Vietnam Maritime Code (revised) and Civil Code (revised) during its 40th session on August 18 in Hanoi. 

Lawmakers agreed with a series of ideas in a report on the draft maritime code of the NA Committee for Legal Affairs. 

They concurred with the regulation on protecting the right to inland transportation in order to preserve national interests and develop the country’s ship fleet, especially in the context that many countries boast a developed maritime transport sector and have more advantages in both capital and management experience than Vietnam. 

The regulation was developed from that of the existing code and did not run counter to any international treaties of which Vietnam is a member. 

The issue of gender transformation in the draft revised civil code was also debated during the morning sitting. 

Clause 2 of Article 36 of the draft code stipulates that the State does not acknowledge gender transformation, and transgender people have the right to request relevant State agencies to make changes in personal records as well as other personal rights as stipulated in Clause 1 of this article. 

However, almost all members of the NA Committee for Legal Affairs, which is responsible for verifying the draft code, said that the right to gender transformation is a part of human rights and need to be recognised in the final civil code

Many lawmakers also supported dropping the stipulation in the draft code that the full name of an individual must not exceed 25 letters. 

In the afternoon, the NA Standing Committee will conclude its 40 th session after discussing supplements and amendments to regulations of NA sessions.-VNA
VNA