New contents from 07 laws in force as of January 01, 2017 (Part 2)

4. Negotiable loan interest rate not to exceed 20% per year

Such detail is newly defined in the 2015’s Civil Code (replacing the 2005’s Civil Code) as follows:

- The annual loan interest rate negotiated shall not exceed 20% of the loan, unless otherwise stipulated in other laws.

+ If the interest rate negotiated exceeds the limit, the excessive proportion is deemed invalid.

Standing Committee of the National Assembly shall adjust the said limit according to actual circumstances and the Government’s proposal and report to the National Assembly in the nearest meeting.

- If the payment of interest is stipulated but the rate is not defined, the interest rate, when disputed, shall be 50% of the said limit at the time of debt repayment.

5. Only 6 types of spending carried forward to the following year

In order to restrain the forwarding of spending, the 2015’s Law of state budget defines the following 06 types of spending permissibly carried forward to the subsequent year:

- Spending on development investment, carried forward pursuant to the Law of public investment.

- Spending on equipment purchases fully documented or for which contracts are signed before December 31 of the estimation year;

- Spending on the implementation of salary policies;

- Spending self-managed by public service providers and government agencies;

- Estimates added by competent authorities after September 30 of the estimation year;

- Spending on science research.

Apart from those 06 types of spending, additional revenues and expense reductions defined in Section 2, Article 59 of this Law can be carried forward to the following year's budget if being employed next year at the discretion of competent authorities.

6. The press prohibited to attribute guilt yet pronounced by a court

Apart from such prohibition defined in the 2016’s Law of journalism, other prohibited actions are supplemented to those defined in the 1989’s Law of journalism, such as:

- Propagation of information that advocate obsolete and superstitious practice or information on mysteries that sow chaos in the society, cause adverse effects against social order, social safety and public health.

- Propagation of information that does not accord with the recognized traditions of Vietnam.

- Propagation of information that affects the normal growth of children’s physique and mentality.

- Obstruction of printing, publishing, transmission and broadcasting of legitimate news and information to the public.

- Threatening or intimidating against the life or offending against the dignity of reports and journalists; destruction or seizure of their equipment and documents, obstruction of their legitimate professional practice.

7. Each individual awarded only one pharmacy practice certificate

Such prominent detail is defined in the 2016’s Law of pharmacy. Other prominent details are:

- A practicing certificate in pharmacy shall specify the full scope of practice for which the certificate holder meets the requirements and is licensed.

- The practicing certificate is valid nationally and does not indicate the length of validity.

- A practicing certificate in pharmacy expires upon:

+ The death or missing of the practitioner as pronounced by a court; or

+ The possession of no written confirmation of supplemental training in pharmacy in 03 years from the date of certification or the date of written confirmation of the immediately preceding training.