The COVID-19 pandemic has posed myriad brain-wracking questions to decision-makers at all levels. Viet Nam managed to curb mortality and morbidity to praiseworthy levels in the past COVID-19 waves, however, has now had its back against the wall amidst the recent exponential infection cases and draining medical resources. For swiftly flattening the curve, the legislature authorized the Government to take bolder steps where needed, even different from the laws. This article argues that while the empowerment comes from the goodwill of the legislature for the purpose of containing the raging outbreak, there remain procedural irregularities. This should garner more attention from the state authority to ensure the rule of law and legality of all state actions during the time of public health emergency.

中文翻译：

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“被授权违反法律”

COVID-19 大流行向各级决策者提出了无数令人头疼的问题。越南在过去的 COVID-19 浪潮中设法将死亡率和发病率控制在值得称赞的水平，然而，在最近的指数级感染病例和医疗资源枯竭的情况下，越南现在已经陷入困境。为了迅速拉平曲线，立法机关授权政府在需要时采取更大胆的措施，甚至与法律不同。本文认为，虽然授权来自立法机关为遏制疫情肆虐的善意，但仍存在程序上的违规行为。这应该引起国家当局的更多关注，以确保在突发公共卫生事件期间所有国家行为的法治和合法性。