Amending the 2013 Constitution: Innovating legal thinking while promoting substantive democracy

(Chinhphu.vn) - This amendment to the 2013 Constitution not only meets the requirements of innovative thinking in law-making, but also promotes substantive democracy and strictly follows the prescribed procedures.

Minister of Justice Nguyen Hai Ninh: The Government agreed to determine the effective date of the Resolution amending and supplementing a number of articles of the 2013 Constitution as July 1, 2025. Photo: VGP/DA

On June 5, the Government reported the results of collecting opinions from the people, sectors and levels on the draft Resolution amending and supplementing a number of articles of the 2013 Constitution and sent it to the Committee for drafting amendments and supplements to a number of articles of the 2013 Constitution.

Reporters from the Government Electronic Newspaper interviewed Minister of Justice Nguyen Hai Ninh, the agency assigned by the Government to synthesize the results of the consultation, about the highlights of this round of public consultation on amending and supplementing the Constitution.

More than 20 million citizens participate in giving opinions on VNeID

Dear Minister, can you tell us how many comments the Government has collected on the Draft Resolution amending and supplementing a number of articles of the 2013 Constitution after a month of collecting public opinions?

Minister Nguyen Hai Ninh: According to the synthesis of reports from agencies, ministries, branches and localities, as of June 5, 2025, the total number of comments from agencies, organizations and individuals on the contents of the draft Resolution is more than 280 million comments; in particular, the collection of public opinions via the VNeID application has attracted more than 20 million citizens to contribute their opinions. In particular, the content of amending and supplementing Article 9 of the 2013 Constitution on the Vietnam Fatherland Front and its member organizations has received the most attention and comments from many agencies, organizations and individuals.

On average, the approval rate for the contents of the draft Resolution reached 99.75%. This affirmed that the policy of amending and supplementing a number of articles of the 2013 Constitution has correctly reflected "the will of the Party and the people's heart", reflecting the high consensus and unity of all classes of people, sectors and levels.

During the process of collecting public opinions, it is known that many opinions are interested in the regulations on the organization of administrative units and local governments. What are the results of the opinion synthesis and which plan does the Government agree on, Minister?

Minister Nguyen Hai Ninh: The Government agrees with the content of amending and supplementing Article 110 of the Constitution in the draft Resolution to institutionalize the policy of arranging and streamlining the organization and apparatus of the political system according to Resolution No. 60-NQ/TW. The general provisions, without specifically listing the names of administrative units, create flexibility in case it is necessary to adjust the model of administrative units to suit the reality and new requirements without having to amend the Constitution. Accordingly, the National Assembly can decide to adjust the organization of administrative units through laws or resolutions in a flexible manner, suitable to the specific situation of each period.

However, the Government proposes to maintain the provision in Clause 2, Article 110 of the 2013 Constitution on "The establishment, dissolution, merger, division, and adjustment of administrative boundaries must consult local people and follow the order and procedures prescribed by law" to ensure the people's right to mastery, as a basis for people to openly and democratically discuss important contents directly related to the people.

In addition, it is proposed to accept and maintain the regulation on the right to question of People's Council delegates to the Chairman of the People's Committee, other members of the People's Committee, Chief Justice of the People's Court, Chief Prosecutor of the People's Procuracy and Heads of agencies under the People's Committee, as a basis for concretization in the Law on Organization of Local Government and other relevant laws.

At the same time, supplement specific regulations on the organization of local governments in special zones in the draft Law on Organization of Local Government in the direction: "In special zones, where the election of People's Council deputies cannot be organized due to conditions, the provincial People's Committee shall specifically regulate the implementation of tasks, powers, organization and operation of the People's Committee, Chairman of the People's Committee, and specialized agencies under the People's Committee of the special zone; the Chairman of the provincial People's Committee shall appoint, dismiss, transfer, reward, discipline, and remove the Chairman, Vice Chairman, and members of the People's Committee of the special zone".

Regarding some other contents, the Government also agreed to amend and supplement Articles 111, 112 and 114 of the 2013 Constitution in the direction of regulating the organization of local government including People's Councils and People's Committees; not using the term "local government level" to show the unity of the local government organization model, avoiding confusion and creating different understandings of local government organization; reviewing and adjusting some regulations to conform to the organizational model of the political system after implementing the arrangement and streamlining. Basically keeping the regulations on organizational principles and working regime of People's Councils and People's Committees at the provincial and communal levels as they are now.

The effective date of the Resolution amending the Constitution is from July 1, 2025.

Based on the comments, what is the Government's opinion on the transitional provisions in the Resolution amending and supplementing a number of articles of the Constitution so that agencies and organizations are not passive in the implementation process, Minister?

Minister Nguyen Hai Ninh: Regarding the effective date and transitional provisions (Article 2 of the draft Resolution), the Government agreed to determine the effective date of the Resolution amending and supplementing a number of articles of the 2013 Constitution as from July 1, 2025 to create a constitutional basis for implementing the Party's policy in Resolution No. 60-NQ/TW of the 11th Conference of the 13th Party Central Committee.

The Government agreed to stipulate the declaration of the termination of the current district-level administrative units nationwide. At the same time, it agreed to the content of the transitional provision (Clause 3, Article 2) stipulating the appointment of positions of the People's Council, People's Committee and Head and Deputy Head of the National Assembly Delegation, creating a legal basis for the consolidation of the organizational apparatus of agencies in the 2025 provincial and commune-level administrative unit arrangement and the consolidation of the organizational apparatus of the People's Council and People's Committee for the 2021-2026 term when there are no more district-level administrative units, ensuring the timely institutionalization of Conclusion No. 150-KL/TW dated April 14, 2025 of the Politburo guiding the development of personnel plans for provincial-level Party committees subject to consolidation and merger and newly established communes.

In addition, it is recommended that there should be a way to officially declare the end of operations of the current district-level administrative units nationwide to recognize the contributions of district-level administrative units in the process of building and defending the Fatherland.

The issue of constitutional techniques also received much attention during the comment process. What is the Government's opinion in the Report, Minister?

Minister Nguyen Hai Ninh : Regarding constitutional techniques, the Government believes that it is necessary to continue reviewing to ensure that the draft Resolution both properly institutionalizes the Party's major policies and orientations and meets the requirements of innovative thinking in law-making (the Constitution and laws need to focus on regulating basic contents under the authority of the National Assembly), ensuring the stability and longevity of the Constitution. Although the scope of this constitutional amendment is not a comprehensive amendment, it is still necessary to ensure a modern, scientific approach and constitutional techniques to meet the requirements of sustainable development of the country.

Through the process of synthesizing opinions of the people, sectors and levels, we found that, in addition to the 08 Articles expected to be amended and supplemented in the draft Resolution, agencies, ministries, sectors and localities also proposed that the Drafting Committee amend and supplement a number of articles of the 2013 Constitution to amend and supplement a number of other contents.

However, in the short term, the Government agreed to focus only on amending regulations related to the organization of two-level local governments and streamlining the Vietnam Fatherland Front, socio-political organizations, and mass organizations assigned by the Party and State to implement the Party's policies. Other contents need to continue to be carefully studied and proposed for amendment and supplementation at the appropriate time...

Thank you very much Minister.

Dieu Anh (performed)

Source: https://baochinhphu.vn/sua-hien-phap-2013-vua-doi-moi-tu-duy-phap-luat-vua-phat-huy-dan-chu-thuc-chat-102250606213252299.htm