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National Legislative Development Project (NLD)
Terms of Reference
Vietnamese Specialists
1. Project Background:
The National Legislative development Project (NLD) in Vietnam was designed in parallel with
governmental and donor initiatives to support four core components of the law-making process:
planning; policy analysis; legislative drafting; and the coherence and systematization of laws. The design
has been refined to take into consideration the changes brought about by the adoption of the 2008 Law
on Laws and to include a focus on legislation with an impact on economic development.
The implementing partners are the Government of Vietnam Ministry of Justice (lead partner); the Law
Committee of the National Assembly; the Office of Government; Ministry of Finance; Ministry of
Agriculture and Rural Development; and, the Ministry of Industry and Trade, and, (contracted by the
Canadian International Development Agency, a Canadian Executing Agency (CEA) which is a consortium
of the Canadian Bar Association (CBA), Ontario Justice International, Ministry of the Attorney General of
Ontario (MAG), and Stikeman Elliott LLP (SE).
Project Context: Over the last two decades, with support from international donors, the Government of
Vietnam (GOV) developed and implemented a number of administrative and legislative initiatives to
strengthen its legal institutions and improve its processes. One of the measures undertaken by the GOV
in that context was to reform its legislative processes.
By supporting an integrated program of reform of the Vietnamese law-making process, the National
Legislative Development Project (NLD) assists the GOV to develop a strengthened, effective and
transparent legal framework that will reflect the needs of Vietnamese citizens and support equitable
economic growth.
Project Goal: To support more equitable economic growth through more transparent and
accountable governance.
Project Purpose: To support an integrated program of reform of the Vietnamese lawmaking
process and improve the quality of economic legislation.
Ultimate Outcome: A strengthened, effective, transparent legal framework reflecting the
needs of Vietnamese citizens and supporting equitable economic growth.
Project Methodology for Phase I: The methodology for Phase 1 will be implemented through
the framework of four components MOU as follows:
NATIONAL LEGISLATIVE DEVELOPMENT PROJECT (NLD)
1. Component 1: Capacity development for strategic planning needs assessment and
performance management
2. Component 2: Development of policy research impact assessment and consultation
capacities
3. Component 3: Development of technical skills for legislative drafting
4. Component 4: Development of capacities to ensure the consistency and organization of
legislation
Expected results:
Intermediate Outcomes:
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Strategic planning and management processes being applied by the MOJ and line ministries
in the legislative development process;
Increased participation in legislative development by citizens and the private sector;
Enhanced consistency, coherence, and standardization in the Vietnamese legislative
development system; and
Improved quality of economic legislation developed through pilot programmes.
Immediate Outcomes:
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Improved capacity within the MOJ and partner economic line ministries to engage in
strategic planning processes;
Increased capacity in MOJ and economic line ministries to conduct policy research and
impact assessments, including gender impact assessment;
Improved capacity in MOJ and economic line ministries to conduct consultations with
citizens and the private sector throughout the legislative development process;
Strengthened capacity in MOJ and economic line ministries to draft legislation in accordance
with recognized techniques and standards;
Improved capacity of MOJ to support and ensure quality of legislative drafting;
Improved capacity of MOJ and National Assembly’s Law Committee to apply consistent
standards to the appraisal and review of legislation; and
Increased capacity of MOJ and line ministries to systematize legal normative documents and
increase the consistency of the Vietnamese legal framework.
2. RBM:
A Results Based Management (RBM) approach to project management and reporting, leading to the
development of Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) at the strategic level and Performance Indicators
(PIs) at the operational level for the project. This will in turn result in the development of a practical
approach oriented toward validating the Monitoring system and Performance Indicators existing or to
be developed to support the three (3) level NLD and the LND process:
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Law and LND drafting and adoption process (1);
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NATIONAL LEGISLATIVE DEVELOPMENT PROJECT (NLD)
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Monitoring for implementation of laws and LNDs (2);
Monitoring for compliance of Laws and NLDs (3).
A workshop on RBM and Performance Indicators took place on December 10-11, 2013 during which
participants from all Vietnamese partners studied RBM theory in the context of law-making in Vietnam
and discussed its applicability to the NLD project. A senior lawyer from the Ministry of the Attorney
General, Ontario, Canada, made a presentation on RBM in the work of MAG.
A further workshop will be held before the end of Phase 1 of NLD to select and validate KPIs and PIs for
the NLD Project and for the MoJ and the Vietnamese law-making system. These KPIs and PIs will become
an integral part of the Performance Management Framework (PMF) for the Project.
3. Gender:
The NLD Gender Equality Strategy describes the legislative base for Gender Equality in Law-making in
Vietnam and emphasizes the importance of integration and mainstreaming of gender equality
throughout all Project activities. It calls for a review the NLD Logic Model Results through a Gender lens
and recommendation of changes where necessary; integration of gender equality concepts into RBM
and Performance Indicator training, monitoring and reporting; inclusion of gender sensitive and/or
gender specific performance indicators and targets in the Performance Measurement Framework (PMF)
and it stresses the need to Identify disaggregated baseline data in or related to the legal sector against
which to measure progress.
Local RBM and gender equality and legal experts will work with GOV officials and with the General
Statistics Office of Vietnam to research PIs and baseline data for the legal system in preparation for the
up-coming workshop and completion of the PMF and to assist in selection of KPIs for the Vietnamese
legal system. Because of the importance attached to gender equality in law-making by the GoV and the
NLD project, a consultant with combined expertise in RBM and gender equality will be contracted.
4. Statistics:
The General Statistics Office (GSO) in the Ministry of Planning and Investment undertakes surveys and
maintains databases at a national level relevant to NLD outcomes. It will be important for NLD to have
the capacity and agreement to access this information to facilitate measurement of progress on NLD
performance indicators and to link research and statistical needs to official sources of information.
5. Scope of work:
A team of three or more Vietnamese experts specialising in RBM and Performance indicator
development, Gender Equality, Statistics and Legal Indicators will be identified in order to undertake the
following tasks:
 Identification of existing relevant PIs.
 Identification of sources of potential additional or improved PIs.
 Identification of specific legal PIs.
 Identification of specific gender equality PIs.
 Development of specific PIs for monitoring laws and regulations.
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NATIONAL LEGISLATIVE DEVELOPMENT PROJECT (NLD)
 Determination of which PIs can be measured using existing sources, e.g., PAPI, PCI, JPI,
MPI or the National census etc.
 Indicate where there is a need for improved data collection by specifically designed
surveys and prepare/undertake such surveys.
 Identification of baseline data for all PIs.
 Assist the PFM and NLD RBM and gender equality specialist in the design of the
upcoming workshop including preparation (in English and Vietnamese) of workshop
materials.
 Participate throughout the workshop as required.
 Provide ongoing advice, support and technical assistance in their area of expertise over
the life of the project.
6.
Skills, knowledge and experience:
The team of Vietnamese experts will, severally or collectively, be specialists in RBM, Gender
Equality, Statistics, Legal indicators and Post Review, and will individually have some or all of the
following skills, knowledge and experience and the expert team in combination will cover all
aspects:
 Educational background at a graduate level in a field or fields relative to the application
of RBM, Gender Equality, statistics, legal indicator development and post review in NLD
 Significant experience in applying RBM approaches in legal reform projects
 Demonstrated experience in applying a gender equality approach to working in the legal
system.
 Substantial experience working with senior and middle level officials in governmental
ministries/departments in Vietnam
 Ability to work cooperatively with NLD international experts
 Capable of working independently or as part of a team, taking direction from the PFM
and working with a multi-disciplinary team within the NLD project
 Excellent oral and written Vietnamese and English language skills
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