New proposal related to commune-level officials and civil servants when district level is abolished

Pursuant to the provisions of the Law on promulgation of legal documents and Conclusion No. 127-KL/TW dated February 28, 2025 of the Politburo and the Secretariat on implementing research and proposing to continue to reorganize the apparatus of the political system, the Ministry of Home Affairs submitted to the Government the projectLaw on Cadres and Civil Servants (amended).The draft law is currently being widely consulted.

In particular, the draft law has proposed provisions amending regulations related to cadres and civil servants when organizing two-level local government (provincial and grassroots levels).

Specifically, the concept of cadres and civil servants is revised in the direction of no longer regulating the concept of commune-level cadres and civil servants; at the same time, regulating cadres and civil servants uniformly from the central, provincial and grassroots levels.

Accordingly, the draft Law stipulates: Cadres are Vietnamese citizens, elected, approved, appointed or designated to hold positions and titles for a term in agencies of the Communist Party of Vietnam, the State, the Vietnam Fatherland Front, socio-political organizations at the central level, in provinces and centrally-run cities (hereinafter referred to as provincial level), in communes, wards and special zones under provinces (hereinafter referred to as grassroots level), on the payroll and receiving salaries from the state budget.

Civil servants are Vietnamese citizens, recruited according to job positions in agencies of the Communist Party of Vietnam, the State, the Vietnam Fatherland Front, socio-political organizations at the central, provincial and grassroots levels, on the payroll and receiving salaries from the state budget.

The draft Law also removes the Chapter on communal-level cadres and civil servants in the current Law on Cadres and Civil Servants. Accordingly, the draft Law unifies the management of cadres and civil servants from the central to local levels, without distinguishing between communal-level cadres and civil servants and central and provincial-level cadres and civil servants, ensuring proper implementation of the Party's policy on interconnectivity in cadre work.

The draft law also stipulates the following transitional provisions: Commune-level cadres and civil servants as prescribed by the 2008 Law on Cadres and Civil Servants (amended and supplemented by the Law amending and supplementing a number of articles of the Law on Cadres and Civil Servants and the Law on Public Employees in 2019) from the effective date of this Law are on the payroll of provinces and centrally-run cities; are ranked according to the salary scale and grade corresponding to the assigned job position if they meet the standards and conditions required by the job position; and are recruited, employed and managed in accordance with the Government's regulations on recruitment, employment and management of civil servants.

In case of not meeting the standards and conditions required by the job position, the competent authority shall consider and decide on streamlining according to the provisions of law at the time of streamlining.

The Government shall develop a roadmap and issue regulations to gradually transform the management of civil servants according to job positions within 5 years from the effective date of this Law. During the 5-year period, the management of civil servants, recruitment, management and use of civil servants shall continue to be implemented in accordance with the Government's regulations.

The Law on Cadres and Civil Servants was promulgated in 2008 and took effect from January 1, 2010; amended and supplemented in 2019. During its implementation, the Law has created an important legal basis for managing and improving the quality of cadres and civil servants in the system of agencies of the Party, the State, the Vietnam Fatherland Front and socio-political organizations, gradually meeting the requirements of building a state administration that serves the people, is democratic, ruled by law, professional, modern, strong, public, transparent and effective.

However, the process of organizing the implementation of the Law has revealed a number of limitations and inadequacies that need to be studied, revised and supplemented to suit the practical situation and development requirements of the country, specifically:

Regarding interconnectivity in personnel work, the current Law on Civil Servants stipulates a separate management mechanism for cadres and civil servants from district level and above and cadres and civil servants at commune level, suitable to the characteristics of each group of subjects.

According to the Ministry of Home Affairs, although the Law on Civil Servants and detailed regulations and implementation guidelines have provisions on the connection between commune-level civil servants and officials and district-level civil servants and officials, many administrative procedures still arise during implementation.

At the same time, implementing the Party's policy on organizing two-level local governments and focusing on building and improving the quality of performing tasks of grassroots-level cadres and civil servants, removing regulations on commune-level cadres and civil servants and implementing a unified mechanism for managing cadres and civil servants from the central to grassroots levels is an urgent requirement at present.

ContentpresentationandDraft Law on Cadres and Civil Servants (amended)here.