Promoting decentralisation and delegation of authority
At the meeting of the Drafting Committee for the Law on the Capital (amended) on January 22, referring to several orientations for amending the Law on the Capital, Le Tuan Phong, Deputy Director of the Department for Legal Normative Document Development (Ministry of Justice), stated that the drafting of the amended Law on the Capital must ensure consistency with the Party’s guidelines and policies on the development of the Capital in the new situation; ensure constitutionality; and contribute to establishing a legal basis for the Capital’s master plan with a 100-year vision, while promoting greater decentralisation to the municipal government.
Phong said that the approach to drafting the Law this time is to delegate authority from the Government, the Prime Minister, and ministries and sectors to the city (except in the fields of security, national defence, foreign affairs and religion). This amendment also serves as a pilot for policy implementation (for matters different from existing laws), which, if effective, will be replicated in other localities.
The Law is also intended to establish mechanisms to attract financial resources for development, and to introduce breakthrough mechanisms to attract high-quality human resources, enabling Ha Noi to become a destination for international talent.
Another important orientation is that, alongside promoting decentralisation, there must be post-inspection mechanisms to prevent abuse of delegated authority or situations where authority is so broad that officials become hesitant and afraid of responsibility, leading to inaction. In designing mechanisms and policies, provisions need to be incorporated to address the Capital’s “bottlenecks”.
It is expected that the draft Law will consist of seven chapters, setting out general provisions on resources for the Capital’s development; the authority of the Capital; governance, construction and protection of the Capital; the Capital region; inspection and supervision, among other matters.
Thorough decentralisation accompanied by inspection and supervision
Speaking at the meeting, participants agreed on the necessity of drafting and promulgating the amended Law on the Capital to meet the high development requirements of the Capital in the coming period. They also expressed agreement with the proposed orientations and the major shift in thinking and approach to drafting the amended Law. In particular, there was strong support for the orientation of thorough decentralisation and delegation of authority to the Capital, based on the principle of “localities decide, localities implement, localities take responsibility”, except in the fields of security, national defence, foreign affairs and religion, while taking regional linkages into account.
Ngo Duc Minh, Director of the Legal Affairs Department of the Ministry of Industry and Trade, supported the design of specific policies and stronger decentralisation for the Capital’s authorities, including granting the Capital the authority to issue detailed implementing regulations for the Law, on the condition that they do not contravene the Constitution.
To ensure the long-term “lifespan” of the Law, Mr Ngo Duc Minh proposed drafting it as a framework law, with strong decentralisation and delegation of authority to the Capital, without detailing specific policies, leaving such matters to the Capital’s authorities in order to ensure broad coverage.
Several opinions suggested that, alongside maximising decentralisation to the Capital’s authorities, the Law should clearly stipulate reporting, inspection and supervision mechanisms to prevent abuse of power or excessive caution and reluctance to act.
Concluding the meeting, Deputy Minister of Justice Phan Chi Hieu requested the People’s Committee of Ha Noi to urgently review and coordinate with relevant ministries to propose major and truly necessary mechanisms and policies to resolve existing “bottlenecks”, while creating breakthrough development for the Capital in the time ahead. On that basis, these mechanisms and policies will be codified into specific provisions of the Law, ensuring both schedule and high quality.
