Luật 25/2012/QH13

LAW

ON THE CAPITAL

Pursuant to the Constitution of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam 1992, amended and supplemented in the Resolution No. 51/2001/QH10;

The National Assembly issues the Law on the Capital

Chapter 1.

GENERAL PROVISIONS

Article 1. Scope of regulation

This Law deals with the positions and roles of the Capital, the policies and responsibilities to build, develop, manage, and protect the capital

Article 2. The position and roles of the capital

1. The capital of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam is Hanoi.

2. The capital is the political and administrative center of the nation, where the central agencies of the Communist party, the state, and the socio-political organizations, diplomatic missions, and international organizations are located; is the major center for culture, education, science, technology, economics, and international trade of the whole country.

3. The headquarters of the Communist Party, the National Assembly, the President, and the Government are located in Ba Dinh area in Hanoi city.

Article 3. Interpretation of terms

In this Law, the terms below are construed as follows:

1. Urban areas are the districts of Hanoi city.

2. Suburban areas are the peripheral districts and towns of Hanoi city.

3. The capital area is the area of socio-economic development association, including Hanoi city and some adjacent central-affiliated cities and provinces, decided by the Government.

Article 4. The responsibility to build, develop, and protect the capital

1. Building, developing, and protecting the capital is the regular and direct missions of the authorities at all levels and the people of Hanoi city; the responsibility of the agencies, organizations, the armed forces, and the people in the whole country.

2. The Vietnamese Fatherland Front and its affiliated organizations shall encourage all classes in the country and the Vietnamese overseas to participate in building, developing, and protecting the capital.

3. The state shall prioritize the investment, and adopt policies to attract the resources in order to fulfill the potentials and exploit the strength of the capital and capital area, for the purpose of building, developing, and protecting the capital.

Article 5. The responsibility of the capital

1. Build and develop a representatively civilized and modern capital

2. Ensure the safety and convenience for the operation of the the central agencies of the Communist party, the state, and the socio-political organizations, diplomatic missions, and international organizations, and for the organization of national, international programs and events in the capital.

3. Cooperate and assist the central-affiliated cities and provinces in the capital area and the whole country in expanding the forms of development association.

4. Actively expand the amicable relationships and cooperation with the capitals of other countries; utilize the outer resources to build and develop the capital; enable the organizations and people of the capital to participate in the international cooperation in economic, socio-cultural, educational, scientific, and technological activities.

Article 6. The symbol of the capital

The symbol of the capital is the picture of the Khue Van Cac in Van Mieu – Quoc Tu Giam.

Article 7. The title “Honorary citizen of the capital”

1. The title “Honorary citizen of the capital” shall be given to the foreigners that contribute to the building and development of the capital, or the expansion and fortification of the amicable relations and international cooperation of the capital.

2. The People’s Council of Hanoi city shall specify the authority, conditions, and procedure for awarding the title “Honorary citizen of the capital”.

Chapter 2.

THE POLICIES ON THE CONSTRUCTION, DEVELOPMENT, AND MANAGEMENT OF THE CAPITAL

Article 8. The Plan for the construction and development of the capital

1. The construction and development of the capital must comply with the overall planning for the construction of the capital, the laws on construction, planning, and other relevant laws.

The overall planning for the construction of the capital must ensure that the capital is civilized, modernized, able to develop sustainably, protect the environment; ensure the National defense and security, the connection of the technical infrastructures and social infrastructures of the capital with the central-affiliated cities and provinces in the capital area and the whole country.

2. The overall planning for the construction of the capital and its adjustment shall be approved by the Prime Minister after obtaining the opinions from the National Assembly.

3. The detailed planning of the capital must be conformable with the overall planning.

4. The national sectoral planning and the infrastructural planning directly relevant to the capital must be consulted by the People’s Committee of Hanoi city, and conformable with the overall planning.

5. The formulation and implementation of the planning must be open, synchronous, steady, and unrelenting.

Article 9. The measures for ensuring the implementation of the planning

1. In urban areas: do not expand the area or increase the number of beds of the existing hospitals; do not build new industrial parks and industrial factories outside industrial parks, industrial complexes, higher education institutions, and vocational education institutions.

The higher education institutions and vocational education institutions of which the head offices are not located in urban areas are not allowed to open schools in the urban areas.

The Prime Minister shall decide the solutions and plans for moving some industrial facilities away from the urban areas; move some hospitals, higher education institutions, vocational education institutions away from urban areas, or build their branches outside the urban areas.

2. When making the detailed planning for new traffic routes in the capital, each side of the red boundary must be expanded in accordance with the laws on urban planning.

The collection of opinions from the community about the planning in this case must be made as prescribed by the laws on urban planning. Based on the requirements of the construction and development of the capital, and the opinions from the community, the People’s Committee of Hanoi shall submit the planning to the People’s Council at the same level for consideration and decision.

3. When executing of project of development of traffic routes according to the approved planning, the competent agencies of Hanoi city shall withdraw the land alongside the roads to serve the planning. The withdrawal of land in this case is similar to the withdrawal of land in the same project.

When the planning includes the construction of on-the-spot resettlement houses, or the execution of the projects of production or trading, the people that have withdrawn land shall be prioritized to resettle or participate in such projects.

4. The People’s Council of Hanoi city shall decide the new traffic routes prescribed in Clause 2 this Article.

People’s Committee of Hanoi city shall decide the boundaries and the area of land alongside the roads that must be withdrawn to build traffic roads as prescribed in Clause 3 this Article.

Article 10. The management of the space, architecture, scenery, and urban construction

1. The space, architecture, scenery, and urban construction of the capital must be managed in accordance with the planning scheme, ensure the conservation, embellishment, and improvement of the architectures that have cultural and historical values, create a green environment for the capital and the scenery alongside Hong river.

2. The renovation and embellishment of the important roads in urban areas must be concurrent with the renovation and embellish of the constructions alongside the roads, preserve the typical space and architecture of the urban area.

3. The People’s Committee of Hanoi shall preside and cooperate with the Ministry of Construction in formulating the regulations and standards of the planning and architecture applicable to the renovated areas, that suit the actual conditions, for the purpose of planning and redesigning the urban areas in Ba Dinh district, Hoan Kiem District, Dong Da district, Hai Ba Trung District, and submit them to the Prime Minister for consideration and decision.

The People’s Committee of Hanoi shall approve the separate design in the areas of which the use purpose of land is stable in order to serve the management of the urban scenery, space, architecture, and issue the License for construction.

Article 11. The cultural preservation and development

1. The preservation and development of the capital culture must be typical of the national culture, uphold the tangible and intangible cultural values of the capital and the country; develop a civilized culture.

The cultural resources in the capital must be managed, extracted, and used in order to satisfy the requirements of preservation and development of the capital and the whole country.

2. Concentrate the resources on the following cultural heritages, relics and areas for preserving and upholding the cultural values:

a) The Ba Dinh area;

b) The President’s Palace relic; the Ho Chi Minh’s mausoleum; the Hoang Thanh Thang Long relic, Co Loa fort; Van Mieu - Quoc Tu Giam, and other special national relics in the capital;

c) The Hoan Kiem Lake area and Tay Lake;

d) Typical ancient towns, ancient villages, trade villages;

dd) Old villas and the constructions that were built before 1954;

e) The intangible cultural values in the capital.

3. The People’s Council of Hanoi shall issue:

a) The policies on encouraging investment and contributions from organizations and individuals to the construction of cultural works, parks, flower gardens, amusement parks, the preservation, renovation, and improvement of cultural heritages in the capital;

b) The list of ancient towns, ancient villages, typical trade villages, old villas; and the constructions built before 1954 and the intangible cultural values prescribed in Point d, dd, and e Clause 2 this Article.

Article 12. The development of education and training

1. Popularize and develop the pre-school education and compulsory education that satisfy the national standards; encourage organizations and individuals to invest in the construction of educational institution in the capital according to the planning.

2. The planning for the network of higher education institutions and vocational colleges is approved by the Prime Minister by concentrating on training high-quality human resources for the capital and the whole country.

3. Build some preschool education institutions and compulsory education institutions in the capital according to the criteria for the facilities, the teaching staff, the programs, the teaching method, and the educational services. The enrolment in the high-quality educational institutions is voluntary.

4. The People’s Council of Hanoi city shall issue regulations on the financial policies applicable to the high-quality educational institutions prescribed in Clause 3 this Article.

5. The People’s Council of Hanoi shall:

a) Specify the criteria for the facilities, the teaching staff, the programs, the teaching method, and the educational services prescribed in Clause 3 this Article;

a) Specify the advanced programs outside the preschool education program and compulsory education program for the high-quality educational institutions prescribed in Clause 3 this Article after obtaining the opinions from the Ministry of Education and Training.

Article 13. The development of science and technology

1. Concentrate on the synchronous development of social science, natural science, and technologies; ensure the fulfillment of the potentials and intelligence of the scientists; encourage the participation and cooperation of the research institutions, universities, and other scientific and technological organizations; develop the scientific and technological services; study the application and transfer of advanced technologies, especially high-technologies and clean technologies in the capital.

2. The People’s Council of Hanoi may issue policies on the incentives for talent; the incentive policies applicable to the organizations and individuals that invest in the scientific and technological development, and the scientists that participate in the key scientific and technological programs of the capital, based on the balance of the local resources.

Article 14. The environment protection and management

1. The management and protection of the capital’s environment are carried out according to the rules of sustainable development, together with the maintenance of natural, cultural, and historical factors in the capital; ensure the proportion of green space according to the planning.

2. It is prohibited to fill, trespass, or pollute the rivers, streams, lakes, parks, flower gardens, public places; fell trees and destroy forests in the capital; discharge untreated waste into the environment; use public flower gardens and parks for improper purposes.

The refurbishment of rivers, lakes, and streams that are polluted, degraded, or depleted, must be suitable with the architecture, scenery, and environment of the capital.

3. The Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment shall issue some stricter environmental regulations on sewages, exhaust fumes, and noise in the capital that the national environmental regulations at the request of the People’s Committee of Hanoi city.

Article 15. Land management

1. The land in the capital must be frugally, efficiently managed and used, in accordance with the overall planning for the capital construction, the planning for land use, and the laws on land.

2. According to law and the actual requirements, for the harmony between the interests of the State, the enterprises and the people whose land is withdrawn, the People’s Council of Hanoi city shall provide solutions to ensure the punctual land withdrawal and land clearance for the important projects of investment in the capital.

3. The People’s Council of Hanoi shall:

a) Formulate and announce the land use planning; the geographical and cadastral information system; the prices of land use, land rent, house ownership, and other property attach to land in the capital.

b) Allocate land to the central agencies and public non-business units for moving their office according to the planning. The State budget shall allocate budget to the agencies that move.

4. The land after moving the industrial facilities, hospitals, higher education institutions, vocational education institutions prescribed in Clause 1 Article 9 of this Law, and the land after moving the agencies prescribed in Point b Clause 3 this Article shall be reserved for the construction and development of public works, social infrastructures, technical infrastructures; it is prohibited to build high-rise apartment buildings contrary to the planning.

The Prime Minister shall specify this Clause.

Article 16. The development and management of houses

1. The plans for the development of urban areas and houses must be conformable with the overall planning for the capital’s construction, and the requirements for building a civilized and modern capital; prioritize the investment in building the modern and convenience urban areas and houses in the suburbs, concurrently with the construction if technical infrastructures and social infrastructures.

2. The old apartment buildings and houses shall be refurbished and reconstructed in order to ensure the urban scenery and the users' safety. The refurbishment and construction must comply with the regulations on the height, population density and construction density according to the planning.

3. The refurbishment and restoration of ancient houses, old villas, and the constructions built before 1954 must ensure the preservation of their architectural values as prescribed by law.

4. In the projects of developing commercial houses, the new urban areas must have higher proportion of residential land and houses in order to develop the social housing as prescribed by national regulations.

5. The People’s Council and People’s Committee of Hanoi city shall provide the solutions for implementing Clause 2 and Clause 3 this Article, specify the area of residential land and houses for developing social housing in the projects of developing commercial housing prescribed in Clause 4 this Article.

Article 17. The development of technical infrastructure system

1. The urban technical infrastructure system of the capital shall be synchronously and modernly constructed and developed, ensure the long-term orientation and connection between the capital and the central-affiliated cities and provinces in the capital area and in the whole country.

2. The state shall prioritize the investment, and provide policies to attract the resources to the investment in the construction, development, and maintenance of the large-scale and important technical infrastructures in the capital.

3. The People’s Committee of Hanoi shall make investment under the decentralization; organize the synchronous investment in the water supply and drainage system, sewage treatment system, solid waste management and treatment system, urban lighting and energy supply system, the communication system, and other technical infrastructures in the capital.

Article 18. The development and management of transport

1. The transport system in the capital shall be synchronously and modernly planed, constructed, and developed, ensuring the connection between the capital and the central-affiliated cities and provinces in the capital area and in the whole country, conformable with the requirements for the socio-economic development, and ensuring the National defense and security; concentrate on the investment, and encourage the investment in the development of the transport infrastructure and the public transportation system in the capital.

2. The management and maintenance of the highways crossing the capital shall be organized by the People’s Committee of Hanoi city in accordance with the planning, except for the freeways and some highways that are planned as freeways, Highway 1, Ho Chi Minh road, and the outer peripheral roads.

It is prohibited to illegally trespass and use the sidewalks and the pavement.

3. The People’s Council of Hanoi city shall issue regulations on prioritize the development of the mass public transport system; encourage the investment in the construction and use of bus stations and car parks; apply high-technologies to the management and operation of the transport system.

Article 19. Population management

1. The residents in the capital shall be managed according to the scale, density, and structure in the overall planning for the capital’ construction

2. The People’s Council of Hanoi city shall provide the policies on prioritizing the investment and mobilizing the resources to investing in the construction of synchronous, modern, and convenient urban areas, houses, technical infrastructure and social infrastructure in the suburbs; cooperate with the central-affiliated cities and provinces in the capital area in the socio-economic development and employment creation in order to prevent the uncontrolled immigration into urban areas.

3. The registration of permanent resident in the suburbs must comply with the laws on residence.

4. The citizens in on of the following cases are eligible for the registration of residence in urban areas:

a) The cases prescribed in Clause 2, 3 and 4 Article 20 of the Law on Residence;

b) The cases not specified in Point a this Clause that have temporarily resided in the urban areas for at least 3 years, owned or rented houses in urban areas of organizations and individuals that have applied for housing business registration; for houses for lease must satisfy the conditions for average area as prescribed by the People’s Council of Hanoi city, and the registration for permanent residence at the leased housed must be approved in writing by the lessors.

Article 20. Protecting the capital, ensuring the security, order, and social safety in the capital

1. Construct the capital protection area, the plan for ensuring the safety of the capital in any situation; protect the political security and social safety in the capital by taking efficient measures; all violations of law must be promptly discovered, prevented, and strictly handled.

2. The penalties for administrative violations in urban areas must comply with the laws on handling administrative violations and the following regulations:

a) The People’s Council of Hanoi may impose the higher fines for the corresponding violations of the laws on culture, land, and construction, but such fines must not exceed 2 times of the fines imposed by the Government;

b) The positions authorized to impose fines for the administrative violations prescribed in Point a this Clause are also authorized to impose the higher fines for the corresponding violations.

Article 21. The financial policies and mechanism

1. The capital may raise domestic investment capital by issuing municipal bonds, from voluntary contributions from organizations and individuals, and other methods of capital raising as prescribed by law.

2. The budget expenditure estimate of the capital is determined based on the higher budget allocation than that of other central-affiliated cities and provinces, applicable to the stable period from 03 to 05 years.

The capital may use the budget revenues that exceed the estimate, except for the following amounts:

a) The revenues from the VAT on imports;

b) The differences between the receipts and expenses of the State bank;

c) The revenues that are not collected by the capital, do not arise in the capital, but are recorded and paid in the capital.

3. For some important large-scale constructions and projects relevant to the environment, traffic, and irrigation managed by Hanoi city that exceed the ability to balance the municipal budget, the Government shall request the National Assembly to decide the support for the capital’s budget from the central budget in order or execute such projects.

4. The People’s Councils and People’s Committees at all levels in Hanoi shall use the allocated budget properly and efficiently when executing the programs and projects of building and developing the capital.

Chapter 3.

THE RESPONSIBILITY TO BUILD, DEVELOP, AND MANAGE THE CAPITAL

Article 22. The responsibility of the National Assembly, the agencies of the National Assembly, the delegation of the National Assembly, and the members of the National Assembly.

1. The National Assembly shall decide the special budget of the capital as prescribed in Clause 2 and Clause 3 Article 21 of this law; supervise the implementation and send reports on the implementation of the Law on the capital to the Government every 3 years.

Standing Committee of the National Assembly, the National council, the committees of the National Assembly, the delegation of the National Assembly, and the members of the National Assembly shall supervise the implementation of the Law on the capital within the ambit of their duties and authority.

2. If necessary, the National Assembly, Standing Committee of the National Assembly shall request the People’s Committee of Hanoi city to report the implementation of the Law on the capital.

Article 23. The responsibility of the Government and the Prime Minister

1. The Government shall direct the Ministries, ministerial-level agencies, Governmental agencies, People’s Committees of central-affiliated cities and provinces to cooperate with the People’s Committee of Hanoi city in implementing the law on the capital, providing the mechanism for the cooperation among the central-affiliated cities and provinces in the capital area in order to implement the law on the capital.

2. Annually, the Prime Minister shall work with the People’s Committee of Hanoi city, the central-affiliated cities and provinces in the capital area, and relevant Ministries in order to assess the result of the implementation of the law on the capital.

Article 24. The responsibility of the Ministries and ministerial-level agencies

1. Preside and cooperate with the People’s Committee of Hanoi city in formulating the sectoral strategies and plans, formulate law documents related to the construction, development, and management of the capital.

2. Actively cooperate with the People’s Committee of Hanoi city when executing the programs and projects of investment in the capital in order to ensure the uniform management according to the planning.

Article 25. The responsibility of the organizations and people in the capital

1. The People’s Councils, People’s Committees, and Presidents of the People’s Committees at all level in Hanoi city shall implement the law on the capital, and take responsibility for the violations and shortcomings during the construction, development, management, and protection of the capital.

2. The People’s Council of Hanoi city shall supervise the implementation of the Law on the capital, periodically examine and report the implementation of the Law on the capital to the People’s Committee of Hanoi city.

3. The People’s Committee of Hanoi city shall:

a) Cooperate with the organizations concerned to ensure the operation of the central agencies, the important internal and foreign affairs of the Communist party and the State

b) Enable organizations and individuals to efficiently participate in the construction, services, and protection of the capital;

c) Report the implementation of the Law on the capital to the Government annually.

4. The Committees of the Vietnamese Fatherland Front at all levels of Hanoi city shall tightly cooperate with various local governments, and encourage the participations of organizations and individuals in the capital in the construction, development, and protection of the capital.

5. The officers, officials, and public employees in the capital must keep studying and training in order to raise their competence and proficiency, and satisfy the requirements for their duties; be a positive role model in the assigned duties and authority; instruct and enable the people to comply with law.

6. The people in the capital must comply with law, actively participate in the construction of the government, the civilized lifestyle, keeping the security, order and social safety in the capital.

Chapter 4.

IMPLEMENTATION PROVISIONS

Article 26. Effects

1. This Law takes effect on January 01^st 2013.

2. The Ordinance on the Capital No. 29/2000/PL-UBTVQH dated December 28^th 2000 are annulled on the effective date of this Law.

Article 27. Specifying and guiding the implementation

The Government and the competent agency shall specify and guiding the implementation of the assigned Articles and Clauses in this Law.

This Law is passed by the 13^th National Assembly of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam in the 4^th session on November 21^st 2012.