Hanoi (VNA) - The Presidential Office held a press conference in Hanoi on July 25 to announce the State President's order promulgating three ordinances recently adopted by the National Assembly Standing Committee at its fourth session.
The slate includes an Ordinance amending and supplementing several articles of the Ordinance on preferential treatment for revolution contributors, an Ordinance on court procedures for compulsory drug rehabilitation of addicts aged 12 to 18, and another amending and supplementing several articles of the Ordinance on litigation costs.
Expanded support for revolution contributors
The first ordinance introduces a formal definition of revolution contributors and overhauls recognition criteria to ensure greater consistency, fairness and settlement of long-pending cases.
It also broadens the categories of those eligible for recognition and the preferential policies available to them.
The ordinance establishes the principle that those with meritorious services and their families should enjoy living standards at least above their local community average. It makes housing assistance for revolution contributors and relatives of fallen soldiers a regular, long-term policy, subject to the country’s socio-economic conditions.
Notably, the ordinance rewrites rules on recognising martyrs in cases where war invalids, or those with equivalent status, die from the recurrence of war-related injuries.
Under the new rules, the requirement for martyr status is eliminated for war invalids with a bodily impairment rate of 81% or more who die. Instead, eligibility criteria apply only to those with a 61–80% impairment rate whose deaths stem directly from injury recurrence.
The ordinance also extends martyr and war invalid recognition to members of law enforcement and other competent forces injured or killed while directly performing crime prevention and control duties. Several regulations have been consolidated to broaden the criteria for recognising individuals carrying out national defence-security tasks.
It authorises the Government to recognise or delegate authority to recognise individuals as having rendered meritorious services when documentation is incomplete but supported by clear historical and factual evidence, or in other exceptional circumstances.
Faster procedures for compulsory drug rehabilitation of minors
The Ordinance on court procedures for compulsory drug rehabilitation of addicts aged 12-18 comprises five chapters and 48 articles.
It sets out procedures for courts to consider and decide on the postponement, exemption, temporary suspension or remission of compulsory rehabilitation orders, as well as rules for handling complaints, recommendations and protests related to such decisions.
Under the ordinance, first-instance hearings may proceed even if the procurator is absent. At appellate hearings, however, the procurator’s presence is mandatory and the court must adjourn if the procurator is absent.
Amendments to litigation cost regulations
The Ordinance amending and supplementing several articles of the Ordinance on litigation costs, consisting of three articles, will take effect on August 1, 2026.
It expands the categories of those eligible for exemptions or reductions in appraisal costs to include victims who require damage assessments under the Law on State Compensation Liability.
It also supplements regulations on exemptions and reductions in forensic examination costs in criminal proceedings to align with clause 5, article 135 of the Criminal Procedure Code.
On bankruptcy and restructuring proceedings, the ordinance clarifies how bankruptcy costs are determined when covered by the state budget. It also specifies rules on advances for bankruptcy expenses, payment of such costs and the handling of advance payments in cases financed by the state budget./.
