New proposal regarding commune-level officials and civil servants when abolishing the district level.

In accordance with the Law on the Promulgation of Legal Documents and Conclusion No. 127-KL/TW dated February 28, 2025, of the Politburo and the Secretariat on conducting research and proposing further restructuring of the political system's organizational apparatus, the Ministry of Interior submits to the Government the project.Law on Cadres and Civil Servants (amended).The draft law is currently open for public comment.

In particular, the draft law proposes amendments to regulations related to officials and civil servants when organizing local government at two levels (provincial and grassroots levels).

Specifically, the definition of officials and civil servants will be revised to no longer include the definition of officials and civil servants at the commune level; at the same time, a unified definition of officials and civil servants will be established at the central, provincial, and grassroots levels.

Accordingly, the draft Law stipulates: Cadres are Vietnamese citizens who are elected, approved, appointed, or designated to hold positions or titles for a term in agencies of the Communist Party of Vietnam, the State, the Vietnam Fatherland Front, and socio-political organizations at the central level, at the provincial level (hereinafter referred to as the provincial level), and at the commune, ward, or special administrative region level (hereinafter referred to as the grassroots level), within the staffing structure and receiving salaries from the state budget.

Civil servants are Vietnamese citizens recruited for specific positions within agencies of the Communist Party of Vietnam, the State, the Vietnam Fatherland Front, and socio-political organizations at the central, provincial, and grassroots levels, who are on the payroll and receive salaries from the state budget.

The draft law also removes the chapter on commune-level officials and civil servants from the current law on officials and civil servants. Accordingly, the draft law unifies the management of officials and civil servants from the central to local levels, without distinguishing between commune-level officials and civil servants and those at the central or provincial levels, ensuring the correct implementation of the Party's policy on interconnectedness in personnel work.

The draft law also stipulates the following transitional provisions: Officials and civil servants at the commune level, as defined by the Law on Officials and Civil Servants of 2008 (amended and supplemented by the Law amending and supplementing a number of articles of the Law on Officials and Civil Servants and the Law on Public Employees of 2019), from the date this Law takes effect, shall be included in the payroll of provinces and centrally-administered cities; their salaries shall be classified according to the corresponding grades and levels for the assigned job positions if they meet the required standards and conditions for those positions; and their recruitment, employment, and management shall be carried out in accordance with the Government's regulations on the recruitment, employment, and management of civil servants.

If an individual does not meet the qualifications and conditions required for the job position, the competent authority shall consider and decide on downsizing in accordance with the law in effect at the time of implementation.

The government will develop a roadmap and issue regulations to gradually transform the management of civil servants based on job positions within 5 years from the date this Law comes into effect. During this 5-year period, the management of the workforce, including recruitment, management, and utilization of civil servants, will continue to be implemented according to government regulations.

The Law on Cadres and Civil Servants, promulgated in 2008 and effective from January 1, 2010, was 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 within the system of agencies of the Party, State, Vietnam Fatherland Front, and political and social organizations, gradually meeting the requirements of building a state administration that serves the people, is democratic, rule of law, professional, modern, strong, open, transparent, and efficient.

However, the process of implementing the Law has revealed some limitations and shortcomings that need to be studied and amended to suit the practical situation and development requirements of the country, specifically:

Regarding the interconnectedness of personnel management, the current Law on Civil Servants stipulates a separate management mechanism for civil servants from the district level upwards and for civil servants at the commune level, tailored to the characteristics of each group.

According to the Ministry of Interior, although the Law on Civil Servants and its implementing regulations stipulate the interconnection between commune-level and district-level officials and civil servants, many administrative procedures still arise during implementation.

Simultaneously, in implementing the Party's policy on organizing local government at two levels and focusing on building and improving the quality of task performance by grassroots-level officials and civil servants, abolishing regulations on commune-level officials and civil servants and implementing a unified management mechanism for officials and civil servants from the central to the grassroots level is an urgent requirement at this time.

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