The 2013 Constitutional Amendment has great significance for the country's development.

Lawyer Nguyen Van Hau, Deputy Head of Ho Chi Minh City Bar Association - Photo: VGP/Le Anh

Currently, the National Assembly is soliciting public opinions on the Draft Resolution amending and supplementing a number of articles of the 2013 Constitution with two groups of issues: The first group, on the two-level local government model and the second group, regulating the powers, functions and tasks of the Fatherland Front, socio- political organizations and mass associations assigned by the Party and State.

Urgent request

Commenting on the above two issues, in an interview with reporters of the Government Electronic Newspaper, Lawyer Nguyen Van Hau, Deputy Head of the Ho Chi Minh City Bar Association, Member of the Central Committee of the Vietnam Fatherland Front, said that this amendment and supplement is an urgent requirement to promptly institutionalize the major policies of the Party, especially Resolution No. 60-NQ/TW dated April 12, 2025 of the 13th Party Central Committee on continuing to innovate and reorganize the apparatus of the political system to be streamlined, operate effectively and efficiently, and the conclusions of the Central Committee, the Politburo , and the Secretariat.

According to Lawyer Nguyen Van Hau, the reality of more than 11 years of implementing the 2013 Constitution shows that, besides important achievements, regulations related to the Vietnam Fatherland Front, socio-political organizations and the 3-level local government organization model have revealed certain limitations and inadequacies.

For the Vietnam Fatherland Front and socio-political organizations, there are still overlaps and interferences in functions, tasks and objects of mobilization. Although social supervision and criticism activities have been regulated, their effectiveness is not high, sometimes they are formal, evasive, and lack a mechanism to monitor and urge the implementation of recommendations after supervision. The collection of public opinions is not timely and thorough in some places and at other times. The right to submit draft laws and ordinances of member organizations is still limited.

For local government organizations, the 3-level model reveals its cumbersomeness, many intermediate levels, leading to overlapping tasks. The existence of the district level increases administrative procedures, slowing down policy implementation. Many small-scale administrative units disperse resources. The capacity and authority of commune-level governments are still limited. Decentralization and delegation of authority between levels are not really strong.

"The above shortcomings require constitutional adjustments to create a solid legal basis for restructuring the apparatus towards streamlining, improving effectiveness and efficiency of operations, in line with the requirements of national development in the new period. Therefore, this amendment and supplement to the Constitution is completely necessary and correct," said Lawyer Nguyen Van Hau.

Need to specify the mechanism of 'chairing' and 'unifying action'

Regarding the amendment and supplement to Article 9 of the Constitution (Clause 1, Article 1 of the Draft), according to Lawyer Nguyen Van Hau: The Draft stipulates that major socio-political organizations under the Vietnam Fatherland Front operate in a unified and coordinated manner under the leadership of the Front, which is a fundamental change, consistent with the policy of streamlining the apparatus and overcoming overlaps. This not only affirms the central role of the Vietnam Fatherland Front but also clarifies the core functions and tasks, such as gathering, uniting, representing, protecting the people's interests, implementing democracy, supervising, providing social criticism, and participating in Party and State building.

However, to maximize the combined strength without losing the initiative and specificity of each member organization, the mechanism of "chairing" and "unifying action" needs to be specified. In particular, the function of social supervision and criticism needs a mechanism to ensure stronger implementation effectiveness, overcoming the existing formalities and evasions.

Therefore, in addition to agreeing with the amendment direction in the Draft, Mr. Nguyen Van Hau recommended that the Law on the Vietnam Fatherland Front (amended) and guiding documents should specifically stipulate detailed coordination regulations between the Standing Committees of the Vietnam Fatherland Front Committees at all levels and member organizations at the same level, clearly defining the responsibilities of presiding and coordinating in each field.

There needs to be a common decision-making mechanism that ensures the principle of democratic consultation on issues related to many organizations. It is important to establish an effective legal mechanism to ensure that the recommendations after supervision and criticism of the Vietnam Fatherland Front are received, explained and seriously handled by State agencies. It is possible to consider adding regulations on the responsibility of monitoring, urging and recommending handling of responsibilities to Article 9 of the Constitution or specialized laws. At the same time, it is necessary to clearly define the responsibility of State agencies to provide information and ensure resources for this activity of the Front.

Regarding the amendment and supplement to Clause 1, Article 84 of the Constitution (Clause 3, Article 1 of the Draft), Lawyer Hau agreed with the content of the Draft on Article 84. However, to ensure that the voices and legitimate proposals from member organizations representing all sectors and sectors are still considered during the legislative process, according to Lawyer Hau, it is necessary to establish a specific mechanism in the Law on the Vietnam Fatherland Front (amended). This mechanism stipulates the responsibility of the Central Committee of the Vietnam Fatherland Front in proactively receiving, synthesizing, and studying proposals and initiatives for law and ordinance development from member organizations. When the proposal is deemed necessary and appropriate, the Central Committee of the Vietnam Fatherland Front will exercise the right to submit draft laws and ordinances according to its authority.

Regarding the amendment and supplement to Article 110 of the Constitution (Clause 4, Article 1 of the Draft), according to Lawyer Nguyen Van Hau, Draft Article 110 provides a general definition of administrative units (ADUs) including provincial level and sub-provincial level, instead of listing 3 levels in detail as before, which is a reasonable adjustment. This provision creates flexibility for future legislation in organizing the 2-level government model, while ensuring long-term stability for the Constitution. Assigning the National Assembly to specify in detail the determination of types of ADUs below the provincial level and related procedures is also consistent with legislative authority.

However, to increase clarity, Lawyer Hau suggested that Clause 1, Article 110 should be rephrased to clearly indicate that there are two administrative levels: provincial level and grassroots level. The specific name of the grassroots level (commune, ward, town, special zone, etc.) will be determined by law. In addition, it is necessary to clarify and unify the use of the terms "Special administrative-economic unit" and "special zone" in the legal system. Importantly, the upcoming Law on Organization of Local Government (amended) needs to have clear and scientific criteria for classification, establishment, and merger of administrative units, taking into account specific factors, avoiding subjectivity, and at the same time, there must be specific regulations on the management model of the former district-level urban areas after this level is abolished.

Regarding the implementation and transitional provisions (Article 2 of the Draft), Lawyer Nguyen Van Hau said that this is an extremely important content, deciding the success of the transition process. Transitional provisions need to ensure comprehensiveness, detail, and feasibility so that the political system operates smoothly and people's lives are least affected.

Regarding the termination of the operation of district-level administrative units, there should be specific regulations on the process and deadline for handing over work, records, finances, public assets, and staffing. It is necessary to clarify the mechanism for inheriting legal rights and obligations, resolving complaints, denunciations, disputes, and unfinished cases, as well as affirming the validity of documents issued by the district level.

Regarding personnel, in addition to appointing leadership positions during the transition period, there should be a comprehensive and humane policy to arrange and resolve the regime for redundant cadres and civil servants at the district level. In addition, allowing the appointment of non-People's Council delegates to hold leadership positions of the People's Council also needs careful consideration.

For the settlement of administrative procedures, there should be specific instructions on the transfer and reception of files being processed at the district level, and the new location and processing agency should be made public to avoid causing trouble and shirking responsibility. In particular, the issue of adjusting information on documents of citizens and organizations when changing administrative units needs to have very favorable transitional regulations. It should be affirmed that old documents are still valid, adjustments should only be made when requested or issued or renewed, and at the same time, a roadmap for mass issuance and renewal, free of charge or with reduced fees, should be studied.

To ensure consistent and timely implementation, Lawyer Nguyen Van Hau proposed adding a clause to Article 2 assigning the Government to specify and guide the implementation of transitional contents. At the same time, the Government and ministries and branches should urgently review, amend and promulgate relevant legal documents to comply with the amended Constitution, possibly setting a specific deadline for completion.

Lawyer Nguyen Van Hau emphasized: "Amending and supplementing a number of articles of the 2013 Constitution is an important political and legal task, of great significance to the country's development in the new period. I believe that, with the wise leadership of the Party, the careful and scientific preparation of state agencies and the consensus of the people, the innovation and reorganization of the political system will be successful, contributing to building an increasingly strong socialist rule-of-law state of Vietnam, truly of the people, by the people and for the people."

Le Anh (performed)

Source: https://baochinhphu.vn/sua-doi-hien-phap-nam-2013-co-y-nghia-to-lon-doi-voi-su-phat-trien-cua-dat-nuoc-102250515094625778.htm