DEGREE

DETAILING A NUMBER OF ARTICLES OF THE ORDINANCE ON EXPENSES FOR ASSESSMENT AND VALUATION; EXPENSES FOR WITNESSES, TRANSLATORS IN LEGAL PROCEDURES

Pursuant to the Law on Government organization dated December 25, 2001;

Pursuant to the Criminal Procedure Code dated November 26, 2003;

Pursuant to the Criminal Procedure Code dated June 15, 2004;

Pursuant to the Law on administrative procedures dated November 24, 2010;

Pursuant to the Law on Judicial Expertise dated June 20, 2012;

Pursuant to the Ordinance on Expenses for Assessment and Evaluation; Expenses for Witnesses, Translators in Legal Procedures dated March 28, 2012;

At the request of the Minister of Finance,

The Government promulgates the Decree detailing a number of articles of the Ordinance on Expenses for Assessment and Valuation; Expenses for Witnesses, Translators in Legal Procedures;

Chapter I

GENERAL PROVISIONS

Article 1. Governing scope

This Decree regulates determination of expenses for assessment and valuation of assets, expenses for witnesses, translators and payment procedures as prescribed in Articles 9, 35, 46, 52 and 57 of the Ordinance on Expenses for Assessment and Valuation; Expenses for Witnesses, Translators in Legal Procedures (hereinafter referred to as the Ordinance).

Article 2. Regulated entities

This Decree applies to agencies, organizations, and individuals at home and abroad involved in assessment, valuation, witnessing, and interpreting in legal procedures.

Chapter II

PARTICULAR PROVISIONS

Section 1: EXPENSES FOR ASSESSMENT AND PAYMENT PROCEDURES

Article 3: Determination of expenses for assessment

Based on nature of subjects and specific assessment, the expenses for assessment include one or some of the followings:

1. Salaries and fees paid to persons who perform assessment (hereinafter referred to as assessors);

2. Expenses for depreciation of machinery, vehicles and equipment

3. Expenses for consumable supplies;

4. Expenses for use of services;

5. Other expenses as prescribed in Clauses 2, 3, Article 6 hereof;

Article 4. Expenses for salaries and fees paid to assessors

1. Determination of expenses for salaries

a) Expenses for salaries shall be applied in case the procedure conducting body issues decision on soliciting assessment with respect to public judicial assessment institutions, non-public judicial assessment institutions and ad hoc judicial assessment institutions (hereinafter referred to as the assessing organization).

b) The assessing organization shall rely on requirements, quantity of work, time for performance of assessment and regulations of its existing wage regime to determine expenses for salaries and make notification to the procedure conducting body.

2. Determination of expenses for fees:

a) Expenses for fees shall be applied in case the procedure conducting body issues decision on soliciting assessment with respect to judicial assessment performers, ad hoc judicial assessment performers (hereinafter referred to as the assessment performers) who receive or do not receive salaries from state budget

b) The assessment performers who do not receive salaries from state budget shall rely on requirements, quantity of work, and time for performance of assessment, their own actual salaries and income to determine appropriate fees and make notification to the procedure conducting body.

c) The assessment performers who receive salaries from state budget shall rely on regulations of the law on allowances for judicial assessment to determine appropriate fees and make notification to the procedure conducting body.

Article 5. Expenses for depreciation of machinery, vehicles, equipment and consumable supplies

1. If the assessing organization uses machinery, vehicles and equipment in the performance of assessment, the expenses for depreciation of machinery, vehicles and equipment are determined as follows:

a) In case machinery, vehicles and equipment are fixed asset, the expense for depreciation is determined according to regulations of the law on management, use and depreciation of fixed asset for each type of machinery, vehicle and equipment and actual time for the performance of assessment.

b) In case machinery, vehicles and equipment do not meet conditions to be determined as fixed asset, the expense for depreciation shall be determined by the method of allocating cost of asset over the period of production and business but no more than two years and not in excess of actual time spent on the performance of assessment.

2. In case the assessing organization, the assessment performers who receive or do not receive salaries from state budget use consumable supplies in the performance of assessment, the expense for consumable supplies shall be determined.  Expenses for consumable supplies are determined on the basis of norms of consumable supplies and quantity of work arising in each area of assessment.

In case regulations on norms of consumable supplies are yet to be promulgated, organizations or individuals performing assessment shall rely on relevant regulations and conditions of materials to determine norms of consumable supplies and make notification to the procedure conducting body. Organizations or individuals performing assessment shall be responsible for conformity of notified norms of consumable supplies.

Article 6. Expenses for use of service and other expenses

1. Expenses for use of service shall be applied in case additional experimentation, testing or professional judgement performed or given by other organizations or individuals, or other outsourced services are needed.

2. Other expenses are relevant expenses used for the performance of assessment in conformity with nature of each specific case.

3. Expenses for use of services and other expenses as prescribed in Clauses 1, 2 of this Article shall be determined in reliance on actual variations in each specific case based on signed contracts (if any), invoices and vouchers according to the law provisions.

Article 7: Procedures for advance of assessment expense

1. In case advance of assessment expense are needed, within five working days since receipt of decision on soliciting assessment issued by the procedure conducting body, organizations or individuals performing assessment must submit request for advance of assessment expense to the procedure conducting body as prescribed in Clause 2 of this Article.

2. Documentation of requests for advance of assessment expense includes:

a) Request form that includes name, address, tax code of organizations or individuals performing assessment; level of advance, time and method of payment.

b) Tabular calculation of total expenses for assessment and grounds for calculations;

3. Within ten working days since receipt of documented requests for advance from organizations or individuals performing assessment, the procedure conducting body shall be responsible for carrying out consideration and making advance to such organizations or individuals. Maximum level of advance shall not exceed assessment expense stated in the submitted request as prescribed in Clause 2 of this Article.

Article 8: Procedures for payment of assessment expense

1. Within 15 working days since result of assessment is available, organizations or individuals performing assessment shall submit documentation of payment request for assessment expense (hereinafter referred to as payment request) to the procedure conducting body as prescribed in Clause 2 of this Article for performing payment procedures.

2. Payment request includes:

a) Request form specifying name, address, tax code of organizations or individuals performing assessment; total expenses for performance of assessment; advanced amount, remaining amount and method of payment;

b) Documents attached to the payment request are relevant invoices, vouchers (originals).

3. Within 15 working days since receipt of the payment request as prescribed in Clause 2 of this Article and based on result of assessment, determination of assessment expense and opinions from relevant agencies (if any), the procedure conducting body shall be responsible for inspecting the payment request and making the payment to organizations and individuals performing assessment.

In case the advance is not fully paid, the procedure conducting body shall be responsible for paying the remainder of the advance.

In case the advance paid exceeds the assessment expense, organizations or individuals performing assessment must refund the difference within two working days at the latest since the submission of the payment request as prescribed in Clause 2 of this Article.

Section 2: EXPENSES FOR VALUATION AND PROCEDURES FOR PAYMENT

Article 9: Determination of expenses for valuation

Based on nature of subjects, expenses for valuation of property charged by property valuation organizations or the Council of property valuers in legal procedures include one or some of the followings:

1. Salaries and fees paid to valuers;

2. Expenses for collection and analysis of information on subjects subject to valuation;

3. Expenses for consumable supplies;

4. Expenses for use of services;

5. Other expenses as prescribed in Clauses 3, 4, Article 12 hereof;

Article 10. Salaries and fees paid to valuers

1. Salaries and fees paid to valuers;

a) Expenses for salaries shall be applied in case the procedure conducting body demands performance of valuation with respect to property valuation organization.

b) Determination of salaries is instructed in accordance with Point b, Clause 1, Article 4 hereof.

2. Determination of fees paid to valuers;

a) Expenses for fees shall be applied in case the procedure conducting body demands performance of valuation with respect to Council of property valuers.

b) Council of property valuers shall rely on regulations on expenses for conferences organized by state agencies and public service units, regulations on night-time and overtime work performed by officials, public servants (in case of working overtime) and actual working time to determine expenses for fees paid to valuers and make notification to the procedure conducting body.

Article 11. Expenses for collection and analysis of information on subjects subject to valuation

1. Expenses for collection and analysis of information on subjects subject to valuation include one or some of the followings:

a) Expenses for overall determination of property subject to valuation;

b) Expenses for planning property valuation;

c) Expenses for field survey and collection of information on property subject to valuation;

d) Expenses for analysis of information on property subject to valuation;

2. Expenses for collection and analysis of information on subjects subject to valuation shall be determined by actual variations in each specific case and professional factors serving the collection and analysis of information on the subjects based on signed contracts (if any), invoices and vouchers according to the law provisions.

Article 12. Expenses for consumable supplies, use of service and other expenses

1. Expenses for consumable supplies shall be determined for property valuation organizations or Council of property valuers if such consumable supplies are used for valuation by property valuation organizations or Council of property valuers. Determination of expenses for consumable supplies is based on quantity of work, process of valuation, valuation standards for individual subjects subject to valuation; prescribed norms of consumable supplies in conformity with the area of valuation.

In case regulations on norms of consumable supplies are yet to be promulgated, property valuation organizations or Council of property valuers shall rely on relevant regulations and conditions of the materials serving the valuation to determine norms of consumable supplies and make notification to the procedure conducting body.  Property valuation organizations or Council of property valuers shall be responsible for conformity of notified norms of consumable supplies.

2. Expenses for use of service shall be applied in case professional judgement made by experts or other outsourced services directly serving the performance of assessment are needed.

3. Other expenses are relevant expenses used for the performance of valuation in conformity with nature of each specific case.

4. Expenses for use of service and other expenses as prescribed in Clauses 2, 3 of this Article are determined according to Clause 3, Article 6 hereof.

Article 13: Procedures for advance of valuation expense

1. In case advance of valuation expense are needed, within five working days since receipt of request for property valuation from the procedure conducting body, property valuation organizations or Council of property valuers shall submit request for advance to the procedure conducting body as prescribed in Clause 2 of this Article.

2. Documentation of requests for advance of valuation expense includes:

a) Request form specifying name, address, tax code of property valuation organizations or representatives of Council of property valuers; level of advance, time and method of payment.

b) Tabular calculation of total expenses for valuation and grounds for calculations;

3. Within ten working days since receipt of documented requests for advance from property valuation organizations, Council of property valuers, the procedure conducting body shall be responsible for making advance to such organizations or Council of property valuers. Maximum level of advance shall not exceed valuation expense stated in the submitted request as prescribed in Clause 2 of this Article.

Article 14: Procedures for payment of valuation expense

1. Within 15 working days since result of valuation is available, property valuation organizations or Council of property valuers shall submit request for payment of valuation expense (payment request) as prescribed in Clause 2 of this Article to the procedure conducting body.

2. The payment request includes:

a) Payment request specifying name, address, tax code of property valuation organizations, representatives of Council of property valuers; total expenses for performance of valuation; advanced amount, remaining amount and method of payment;

b) Documents attached to the payment request are relevant invoices, vouchers (originals);

3. Within 15 working days since receipt of the payment request as prescribed in Clause 2 of this Article and based on result of valuation, determination of valuation expense and opinions from relevant agencies (if any), the procedure conducting agency shall be responsible for inspecting the payment request and making the payment to property valuation organizations or Council of property valuers.

In case the advance is not fully paid, the procedure conducting agency shall be responsible for paying the remainder of the advance.

In case the advance paid exceeds the valuation expense, organizations or individuals performing valuation must refund the difference within two working days at the latest since the submission of the payment request as prescribed in Clause 2 of this Article.

Section 3: EXPENSES FOR WITNESSES, TRANSLATORS AND PAYMENT PROCEDURES

Article 15: Content of expense for witnesses, translators

1. Based on each specific case, expenses for witnesses, translators determined shall include one or some of the followings:

a) Salaries or fees paid to witnesses, translators

b) Travel expenses (if any);

c) Accommodation expenses (if any);

d) Other expenses (if any) as prescribed in Clauses 2 Article 18 hereof;

2. Expenses for witnesses, translators are calculated according to number of days and actual amount of time of participation in court, meeting sessions and other proceedings to solve criminal, administrative and civil cases.

3. Witness, translators performing their duties in meeting sessions for settlement of criminal, civil, administrative and other criminal proceedings shall enjoy salaries, fees and wages equal to 50% of the expense paid to witnesses, translators who are summoned to appear in court as prescribed in Articles 16, 17 hereof.

Article 16. Salaries and fees paid to witnesses

1. Salaries paid to witnesses for participation in court to settle criminal, administrative and civil cases are as follows:

a) Expenses as salaries shall be applied in case the procedure conducting agency summons assessors, property valuers as witnesses to appear in court for settlement of criminal, administrative and civil cases.

b) Salaries paid to witnesses equal 200% of basic pay of officials, public servants and the armed forces and are calculated according to the number of days as prescribed.

2. Fees paid to witnesses for participation in court to settle criminal, administrative and civil cases are as follows:

a) Fees paid to witnesses who do not receive salaries as prescribed in Clause 1 hereof;

b) Fees paid to witnesses equal 100% of basic pay of officials, public servants and the armed forces and are calculated according to the number of days as prescribed.

Article 17: Wages paid to translators

Wages paid to translators for appearance in court for settlement of criminal, administrative and civil cases are determined as follows:

1. Wages paid to translators for performance of oral and written translation of foreign languages are instructed in accordance with regulations of the law on translation expenses for reception of foreign guests working in Vietnam and for organization of international conferences, seminars in Vietnam.

2. Wages paid to translators for performance of oral and written translation of minority ethnic languages are instructed in accordance with the law on expenses for translation of minority languages.

Article 18: Travel, accommodation and other expenses for witnesses, translators

1. Travel and accommodation expenses are determined according to actual variations of each specific case based on signed contracts (if any), invoices and vouchers according to regulations of the law on expenses for business trips, organization of conferences with respect to regulatory agencies and public service units.

2. Other expenses are the expenses used for serving witnessing and translation and are determined according to actual variations of each specific case based on signed contracts (if any), invoices and vouchers as prescribed.

Article 19: Procedures for payment to witnesses, translators

1. After performance of witnessing, translation in court is completed, the witnesses, translators must submit payment request as prescribed in Clause 2 of this Article to the procedure conducting body for performing payment procedures.

2. The payment request includes

a) Request form specifying name, address, tax code of witness, translator; requested amount of money and method of payment;

b) Documents attached to the payment request are relevant invoices, vouchers (originals) as proof of actual expenses paid by witnesses, translators during their performance.

3. The procedure conducting agency shall be responsible for receiving and inspecting documented payment request submitted by witnesses, translators as prescribed in Clause 2 hereof. In case such payment request fails to meet requirements as set out in Clause 2 of this Article, the procedure conducting agency shall issue a written notice with reasons specified to witness, translators for supplements as prescribed. In case the payment request is adequate and eligible, the procedure conducting agency shall perform payment to witness, translators according to regulations of the law on control and payment of state budget-related expenses through State Treasuries.

Chapter III

IMPLEMENTARY CLAUSE

Article 20. Effect

This Circular takes effect since October 01, 2014.

Article 21. Responsibilities of the procedure conducting body

1. Annually, based on actual expenses for property assessment and valuation, expenses for witnesses, translators from preceding year, the procedure conducting body shall formulate estimation of expenses for property assessment and valuation, expenses for witnesses, translators within responsibility as prescribed hereof, compile them into budget estimates of agencies, units and make the submission to financial agencies at the same level for compilation and submission to competent authorities according to regulations of the Law on State Budget and other guiding documents.

2. Based on the cost estimates approved by competent authorities, head of the procedure conducting body shall be responsible for paying expenses within responsibility to the assessing organization, assessors, property valuation organizations, Council of property valuers; witnesses, translators in legal procedures that have performed requested duties as prescribed hereof, ensure thrift and efficiency, take responsibility for its decision; and at the same time ensure sufficiency of invoices, vouchers for payment and settlement as prescribed.

Article 22. Implementation

1. The Minister, heads of ministerial-level agencies shall be responsible for executing this Decree.

2. The Ministry of Finance shall be responsible for providing guidance on relevant matters within functions, duties and scope of management as prescribed hereof.

3. The Ministry of Justice, the Ministry of Health, the Ministry of Public Security, the Ministry of National Defense and other relevant ministries, ministerial-level agencies shall be responsible for providing guidance on the execution of this Decree within their functions, tasks, and powers./.