The Standing Committee of the National Assembly (NA) convenes on Sept. 8. a working group meeting on the draft Law on Belief and Religion and draft Law on Associations.
The meeting was Chaired by NA Chairwoman Nguyễn Thị Kim Ngân, attended by NA Vice Chairmen and Chairwoman, members of the NA’s Standing Committee, heads of NA’s committees, representatives of the delegation of deputies from all 63 provinces and cities in the country, and representatives of concerning central ministries and agencies.
Representing the state agency drafting the draft Law on Belief and Religion at the event included Deputy Minister of Home Affairs Nguyễn Trọng Thừa and Executive Vice Chairman of the Government Committee for Religious Affairs Bùi Thanh Hà.
The meeting discussion on the draft law on religion focused on four specific issues: the right to freedom of belief and religion, the legal entity of religious organization, social activities of religious organizations and state administration on belief and religion.
The discussion recorded 17 comments on the draft Law on Belief and Religion. Deputies agreed that promulgation of the draft laws will contribute to realizing the Party’s viewpoints on religion and spirit of the Constitution 2013 for ensuring the right to freedom of belief and religion for all people.
However, for improving the draft’s contents with the aim to enhance efficiencies in practice, NA deputies at the meeting requested more attention to be paid to provisions on the right to freedom of belief and religion of foreigners, conditions for recognition of religious organizations, the legal entity of religious organizations, education activities by religious organizations, the system of the state governance on religious affairs at central and local levels, the interpretation of concepts in the draft, training of personnel of the state administration on religious affairs, etc.
On behalf of the appraisal board of the draft Law on Belief and Religion, Chairman of the NA’s Culture, Education, Youth and Children Committee Phan Thanh Bình made explanations on key issues and pledged to further consider NA deputies’ comments, so as to improve the draft law in ways that complying with Constitution and making the domestic law compatible with international agreements and treaties that Vietnam is a signatory to. The Standing Committee of the 14th National Assembly will further debate on this draft law in late September before its submission to the National Assembly in October this year.
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