On the afternoon of March 14, continuing the 43rd Session, under the direction of Vice Chairman of the National Assembly Tran Quang Phuong, the National Assembly Standing Committee gave opinions on the draft Law on Participation in United Nations Peacekeeping Forces.

Presenting the report, General Nguyen Tan Cuong, Chief of the General Staff of the Vietnam People's Army and Deputy Minister of National Defense, said that the development and promulgation of the law is necessary to fully institutionalize the Party's guidelines and policies on Vietnam's participation in United Nations peacekeeping activities, continue to institutionalize the provisions of the 2013 Constitution, international commitments of which Vietnam is a member on participating in United Nations peacekeeping activities, and create a complete, solid, long-term, and stable legal corridor for the deployment of forces to participate in United Nations peacekeeping activities.

Regarding the scope of regulation, this Law stipulates principles, subjects, forms, fields; building and deploying forces; ensuring resources, regimes, and policies; international cooperation on United Nations peacekeeping and the responsibilities of agencies and organizations in participating in the United Nations peacekeeping force.

The subjects of application of the Law include: Officers, professional soldiers, defense workers and civil servants, non-commissioned officers, soldiers and units under the Ministry of National Defense; professional and technical officers, non-commissioned officers, police workers, soldiers and units under the Ministry of Public Security assigned to participate in the United Nations peacekeeping force; State officials, civil servants and public employees assigned to participate in the United Nations peacekeeping force; agencies, units, organizations and individuals related to participation in the United Nations peacekeeping force.

Presenting the preliminary review report, Chairman of the National Defense, Security and Foreign Affairs Committee, Lieutenant General Le Tan Toi, said that the Standing Committee of National Defense, Security and Foreign Affairs basically agreed on the necessity of promulgating the Law on Participation in United Nations Peacekeeping Forces for the reasons stated by the Government in the Submission.

Regarding the subjects of application, the Standing Committee agreed to add the subjects of application as "State officials, civil servants and public employees" participating in the United Nations peacekeeping force in Clause 2, Article 2 of the draft Law.

There are also opinions that Clause 2, Article 2 of the new draft Law stipulates that individuals are "officials, civil servants, and public employees of the State", but there are no regulations for units outside the armed forces. There are opinions suggesting combining Clauses 1 and 2 into one clause and shortening it; there are opinions suggesting removing Article 2.

Therefore, it is recommended that the drafting agency review and clarify the reasons for not yet regulating units under departments, ministries, branches and localities; at the same time, study the above opinions to ensure consistency, unity and feasibility in the provisions of the Law.

Concluding the discussion, Vice Chairman of the National Assembly Tran Quang Phuong said that the National Assembly Standing Committee highly appreciated the Government and the Ministry of National Defense for their active efforts in drafting the Law; preparing complete documents on schedule. The National Assembly Standing Committee also basically agreed with many contents of the draft Law and found that the Law is qualified to be submitted to the National Assembly for consideration at the 9th Session.