ALIN Legislative News
From Institute of State and Law, Vietnam Academy of Social Sciences
VIETNAM LAW ON
IDENTIFICATION OF 2023 COMES INTO EFFECT ON 1/7/2024
The 2023 Law on Identification was passed by the 15th National Assembly of
Vietnam at the 6th session on November 7th 2023 and will come into effect on
July 1st 2024. From the effective date of this Law, Law on Citizen
Identification of 2014 (amended and supplemented in 2020) will expire. The Law
consists of 7 Chapters and 46 Articles, that regulates: National population
database, identification database; identification card, electronic
identification; identification certificate; rights, obligations, and responsibilities
of relevant agencies, organizations, and individuals.
Firstly, regarding the name, the Law on Identification of 2023 uses the
term “identity” instead of “Citizen identity” as in the previous law. Article 3
of the Law stipulates that “identification” means basic information about a
person’s record, background, identity and biometric; and “identity card” is an
identification document containing information about the identity of Vietnamese
citizens. The change from “Citizen Identity” card to “Identity” card is to
ensure compatibility with international practices because many countries in the
world are also using the phrase Identity Card. This will create a premise for
the recognition and acknowledgement of identity documents between countries in the
region and around the world; limiting the need to amend and supplement the law
when Vietnam signs agreements with other countries to use identity cards
instead of passports to travel between countries (for example, travel within
the ASEAN).
Regarding the subjects of regulation, the Law on Identification of 2023
expands the subjects to not only include Vietnamese citizens but also people of
Vietnamese origin whose nationality has not been determined and is living in
Vietnam. These are people who do not have papers nor documents proving their
Vietnamese nationality or nationality of another country, but have the same
bloodline as a person who once had Vietnamese nationality as determined by the
principle of bloodline. If these people have been living in Vietnam
continuously for 06 months or more, they will be granted an Identity
Certificate. This certificate is valid for proving identity to carry out
transactions, rights and legitimate interests in the territory of Vietnam. To
be granted an Identity Certificate, people of Vietnamese origin whose
nationality has not been determined must go to the identification management
agency of the district-level police or the identification management agency of
the provincial-level police where they reside to complete the procedures.
The Law on Identification of 2023 also expands the subjects eligible for
Identity cards. Previously, according to Article 19 of the Law on Citizen
Identification of 2014, only Vietnamese citizens aged 14 and over were eligible
for Identity cards. However, according to Article 19 of the 2023 law, the
regulation has been expanded to include people under 14 years old. Accordingly,
Vietnamese citizens aged 14 and over must complete Identity card issuance
procedures. As for citizens under 14 years old, they will be issued Identity
cards upon request.
In terms of content, the Identity card is supplemented with information on
background and biometrics that the previous Citizen Identification card did not
have, such as iris biometrics, DNA, voice; information related to relatives
including parents, spouses, representatives, and represented persons. In
addition, Article 22 of the Law on Identification of 2023 stipulates the
integration of information, use and exploitation of information into the
Identity card. Accordingly, the integrated information includes: Information on
health insurance cards, social insurance books, driver’s licenses, birth
certificates, marriage certificates or other documents decided by the Prime
Minister. People can make a request for the above information to be integrated,
and this integrated information has the same value as providing information or
using documents containing that information in the process of performing
administrative procedures, public services and other transactions and
activities.
In addition, the form of the Identity card has also changed and removed
some information such as identification features and fingerprints to ensure
privacy for citizens during card usage.
Regarding the responsibility of the Identity management agency, the Law on
Identification of 2023 stipulates that the Identity management agency is
responsible for collecting, updating, and adjusting information in the National
Population Database. At the same time, the management agencies must be
responsible for ensuring information security and safety, protecting personal
data in the National Population Database, the Identification Database, the
electronic identification and authentication system; and settling complaints,
denunciations, and handling violations against regulation on identification in
accordance with the law.
The Law on Identification of 2023 is one of the draft laws passed by the
Vietnamese National Assembly to meet the requirements of applying science and
technology in state management and population management to ensure human rights
and citizens’ rights in the context of Vietnam’s international integration.
This is an important legal basis, consistent with the development of society
and promoting national digital transformation, establishing a digital
government and digital society, closely linked to the implementation of the
Project on developing population data applications and electronic
identification to assist national digital transformation in the period of 2022
- 2025, with a vision to 2030 of the Government of Vietnam (Project 06/CP).
Author: LLM.
Tran Thi Loan
Topic: Introduction
of new regulations on Law on Identification
Jurisdiction:
Viet Nam
Date: August 27,
2024