Amending the Law on Organization of Local Government towards converting the model of organizing 2-level local government

The Draft Law on Organization of Local Government (amended) has just been released by the Ministry of Home Affairs for public consultation on the Ministry of Home Affairs' Electronic Information Portal and the Government's Electronic Information Portal.

The Law on Organization of Local Government 2025 was passed by the 15th National Assembly and took effect from March 1, 2025. The Law has been comprehensively amended and supplemented, clearly defining authority, promoting decentralization, delegation, and authorization between central and local state agencies; between local government levels, and overcoming shortcomings, problems, and limitations in the implementation of the Law on Organization of Local Government 2015.

Because the regulations on administrative units and the model of local government organization in the current Law on Organization of Local Government are designed according to 03 levels (including provincial, district and commune levels). The amendment and supplementation of the provisions of the Law on Organization of Local Government to implement the model of 02-level local government (provincial level, grassroots level; no district level) is suitable for urban, rural, island areas, and special economic administrative units. Accordingly, the Provincial level is kept as current regulations (including: provinces, centrally run cities), but some provincial-level administrative units are merged to ensure meeting the prescribed standards, and at the same time to expand development space; Reorganize the current commune-level administrative units to form grassroots-level administrative units (including: communes, wards and special zones in islands) to suit the new organizational model; special economic administrative units are kept as current regulations established by the National Assembly.

The amendment of the Law on Organization of Local Government will create a legal corridor for agencies and organizations in the state apparatus to operate under the two-level local government model, ensuring streamlining, compactness, strength, efficiency, effectiveness, and efficiency, meeting the country's new development requirements.

The Draft Law consists of 07 chapters and 49 articles, which are tightly and scientifically designed, including:

- Keep 09 articles;

- Remove 03 articles related to the tasks and powers of district-level local authorities;

- Add 02 new articles to separate the regulations on tasks and powers of the People's Council of the province from the centrally-run city and of the commune from the ward to more specifically regulate the tasks and powers of the People's Council at administrative units in each field;

- Amend and supplement 35 articles to conform to the conversion of the local government organization model into 2 levels.

Specifically, the structure of the Law includes:

- Chapter I: General provisions, including 07 articles (from Article 1 to Article 7);

- Chapter II: Organization of administrative units, establishment, dissolution, merger, division of administrative units, adjustment of administrative boundaries and renaming of administrative units includes 03 articles (from Article 8 to Article 10);

- Chapter III: Demarcation of authority between local authorities at all levels, including 04 articles (from Article 11 to Article 14);

- Chapter IV: Duties and powers of local authorities, including 11 articles (from Article 15 to Article 25);

- Chapter V: Organization and operation of local government, including 14 articles (from Article 26 to Article 39);

- Chapter VI: Organization of local government in case of change of administrative unit boundaries and other special cases, including 07 articles (from Article 40 to Article 46);

- Chapter VII: Implementation provisions, including 03 articles (from Article 47 to Article 49).

To contribute opinions to the draft Law on Organization of Local Government (amended), people can access the Draft Documents page on the Ministry of Home Affairs' Information Portal to contribute opinions to the Draft Law on Organization of Local Government (amended) here.

Source: https://moha.gov.vn/tintuc/Pages/danh-sach-tin-noi-bat.aspx?ItemID=56999