Pham Diem
State and Law Institute of Vietnam
In Vietnam, social security is construed as the society’s protection of its members, primarily and principally those who suffer marked income decreases due to such risks as ailments, labor accidents, occupational diseases, disability, unemployment, loss of nurturers, maternity leave, old age, natural calamities and enemy sabotage. It is also understood as the society’s preferential treatment of its members who have sacrificed their lives for the nation and people or rendered great services for the cause of national construction and defense.
So, this means that social security covers three major groups of relations: social insurance relations, social relief relations and social preference relations. These groups of relations constitute the principal subjects governed by social security law. In other words, social security law is composed of three fundamental institutions: (1) the social insurance institution; (2) the social relief institution; and (3) the social preference institution.
Though social security law constitutes a new law branch in Vietnam’s legal system, social security, to some extent, has existed for long within a given scope.
Right during the feudal regime, which existed in Vietnam for thousands of years, various dynasties adopted a prominent and special policy of “taking people as the root.” Whenever appeared natural calamities, crop failures or famines, the feudal states usually issued orders on tax cut and exemption and distributed relief to poor people against famines. As ancient Vietnamese were closely bound together in village communities, the fine traditions of mutual assistance and compassion were established very early as manifest in the following sayings: “thuong nguoi nhu the thuong than” (love your countrymen as yourself), “hang xom lang gieng tat lua toi den co nhau” (neighbors have one another as friends in wealth and woe) and “la lanh dum la rach” (the untorn leaf should cover the torn leaf).
In the French-ruled time, a number of charity homes and orphanages were set up within a limited scope by colonial rulers in an attempt to appease local inhabitants. During the 30s of the last century, the French colonialists offered some social insurance allowances to those who worked in their administrative apparatus and armed forces and suffered from ailments or accidents. Yet, discrimination between Europeans and native people was seen in the application of these allowances. For instance, labor accident compensation was paid under two different regimes: one to Europeans, promulgated by the French President’s September 9, 1934 Order, and one to Vietnamese, promulgated by the Indochina Governor General’s Decree of November 30, 1934, with the levels of compensation paid to Europeans much higher than those for the natives.
The August 1945 Revolution abolished the colonial regime and gave birth to the Democratic Republic of Vietnam. Since then, social security law and regimes have been step by step formulated and developed.
Right after its emergence, the young Republic faced numerous difficulties and hardships left behind by the colonial regime: a declining economy, empty state coffers and a horrible famine which took the lives of almost two million people. The nation was confronted with domestic enemies and foreign invaders, then compelled to wage a resistance war against French colonialists. In such a circumstance, the Democratic Republic of Vietnam adopted a number of social security policies focusing on social security and social preference.
Regarding social relief, the most urgent tasks after the August 1945 Revolution were to do away with the famine, restore production and incrementally stabilize the people’s life. At the proposal of President Ho Chi Minh, the Government launched a food crop cultivation and animal raising campaign in order to combat the famine. President Ho Chi Minh himself initiated “hu gao cuu doi” (anti-famine rice jars) in order to save rice for hunger-stricken compatriots.
On November 28, 1945, the Government issued a decree establishing the Supreme Relief Committee, which was fully empowered to study and apply necessary measures to supply food and relief to people nationwide. Earlier on September 10, 1945, the Social Relief Ministry issued a decree prescribing principles on social relief, which clearly stated: “Social relief covers assistance rendered to people hit by floods, fires or crop failure. Such assistance can be material, such as foods, clothing, lodgings or jobs, and spiritual.”
These can be considered first legal documents on social relief in Vietnam. Particularly, the 1946 Constitution acknowledged: “Aged or disabled citizens who are unable to labor will be provided with assistance.”
With regard to social preference, in the 1945-1954 period of resistance war against the French colonialists, special importance was attached to social preference to war invalids, war martyrs’ families, army men and people with meritorious services. The Government promulgated many legal documents on the establishment of agencies to implement social preference policies, on persons eligible for social preference and contents of social preference, of which the most important were the Government’s July 19, 1947 Decision setting up the War Invalids and Veterans Ministry; the Government’s October 3, 1947 Decree establishing War Invalids and Veterans Departments in provinces; the Government’s February 16, 1947 Decree (which was later supplemented by the October 12, 1948 Decree) prescribing criteria for the certification of war invalids and martyrs and regimes applicable to war invalids and war martyrs’ families. These can be considered the first legal documents on social preference in Vietnam.
With regard to social insurance, due to war conditions in this period, only some urgent matters in the field of social insurance were prescribed in legal documents, particularly the October 1, 1945 Decree of the Ministry of Labor providing for allowances to sacked workers, aiming to protect laborers’ interests, and the Government’s November 3, 1945 Decree prescribing a retirement regime applicable to civil servants. These can be considered Vietnam’s first legal documents on social insurance.
Vietnam’s social security law in the 1945-1954 period can be characterized as follows:
- The number of regulations on social security was rather numerous, most of which were issued by executive bodies as the National Assembly could not regularly meet during wartime.
- The social security law failed to fully and comprehensively cover all matters, but only focused on most urgent and essential issues in order to reduce difficulties and stabilize people’s life while serving the primary task of national defense.
- The social security law was flexible and conformable to the practical situation and development of the resistance war, contributing to mobilizing people to participate in the resistance war.
When the anti-French colonialist war of resistance was crowned with victory, northern Vietnam was liberated while the South fell under the yoke of the US imperialists and their puppet administration. The Vietnamese people reconstructed the North while waging a resistance war against the US imperialists to liberate the South and reunify the country.
In this period (1954-1975), social security policies were facilitated with the gradual economic restoration and development in northern Vietnam, which created physical foundations for the implementation of these policies despite heavy consequences of the anti-French colonialist war of resistance and the fiercer and fiercer war of resistance against the US imperialists.
Yet, in pursuance to the 1959 Constitution, which acknowledged: “Laborers are entitled to material assistance when they get old and sick or lose their working capacity. The State shall gradually expand social insurance, relief and medical organizations to ensure benefits of laborers,” the State promulgated many legal documents on social security.
Most prominent in the field of social insurance was the Government’s December 27, 1961 Decree promulgating a Provisional Regulation on social insurance regimes applicable to workers and state employees. As compared to previous documents of the same type, this Regulation proved to be most comprehensive and specific, which was regarded as the official document on social insurance for a long time.
During the resistance war against the US imperialists, social preference policies applicable to people with meritorious services were broadened to cover those who directly engaged in combat or participating in combat services. The State promulgated a number of legal documents prescribing more comprehensively the preferential regimes, of which the most noteworthy were a Regulation on preferences to war invalids and diseased army men, which was promulgated together with Government Decree of July 27, 1956, and a Regulation on preferences to army men, militia and self-defense personnel and youth volunteers, which was promulgated together with the Government’s Decree of October 30, 1964.
With regard to social relief, after the North was liberated, the people’s life was incrementally stabilized and improved; hence social relief was no longer an acute and burning issue like in the post-August 1945 Revolution period. Importance was attached to regular relief to disabled people, helpless aged persons and orphans as well as extraordinary relief to people meeting with difficulties and risks caused by natural disasters or wars, which were specified in various legal documents.
Generally, the social security law in the 1954-1975 period saw a vigorous development with a fairly large number of documents promulgated largely by executive bodies (the Government and ministries), which prescribed more comprehensively and more adequately various matters related to social security, especially social insurance. The social security law in this period also proved to be flexible and suitable to the practical situation, thus encouraging people to perform the primary task of the anti-US war for national salvation.
In the first years after the country was re-unified, Vietnam still followed the mechanism of bureaucratic centralism with state subsidies. Hence, the social security law did not see any big change.
Since Vietnam shifted to a market economy with open-door policies and international integration, the social security law has been incrementally renewed.
The 1992 Constitution prescribes citizens’ social security rights to labor security, social insurance, health protection, social preference and social relief. On the basis of the new Constitution, many legal documents on social security were promulgated, including the Government’s August 15, 1992 Decree promulgating the Provisional Regulation on health insurance and June 22, 1993 Decree providing for the social insurance regime.
An important event marking the development of the labor law and the social security law in Vietnam was the National Assembly’s passage of the Labor Code on June 23, 1994, with a whole chapter codifying the previous regulations on social insurance.
The same year, the National Assembly Standing Committee passed an Ordinance on Preferential Treatment of Revolutionary Activists, which was later replaced by the 2005 Ordinance on People with Meritorious Services to the Revolution.
On March 9, 2000, the Government promulgated a Decree on social relief policy.
Particularly on June 29, 2006, the National Assembly passed the first Social Insurance Law.
In short, in the years of national renewal, social security has been renewed profoundly and comprehensively, which is considered the objective and also a key national policy for Vietnam’s sustainable development. Important fields of social security have been gradually codified, constituting a separate system of normative regulations in Vietnam’s legal system. Yet, like other law branches, social security law must be further supplemented and renewed to correspond to the national socio-economic development and gradually approach relevant international standards.-