Pham Diem
State and Law Institute of Vietnam
In Vietnam, state administrative agencies constitute a part and parcel of the state apparatus, being subject to the administrative law and public administrative relations. Their legal status is institutionalized in the administrative law.
Concept and classification of state administrative agencies
State administrative bodies function to perform the state administration, which carry out executive (or state-administration) activities on the basis of law and law enforcement. Other state agencies such as the National Assembly, courts, etc. also carry out state-administration activities, which are, however, not their main activities, but only aim to basically complete their respective functions (such as the legislative function or the adjudicating function). State administrative agencies are established in a system from the central to grassroots levels, which are directly or indirectly attached to state-power bodies of the same level-the National Assembly and local People’s Councils at all levels.
There are three ways of classifying state administrative agencies in Vietnam, based on three different criteria.
1. Based on the territory, state administrative bodies are classified into:
- Central state administrative agencies, including the Government, ministries and ministerial-level agencies (the State Bank of Vietnam, the Committee for Ethnic Affairs of the Government, the Government Inspectorate, which perform the state administration throughout the Vietnamese territory, directing local state administrative bodies and promulgating legal documents of national effect.
- Local state administrative agencies, including People’s Committees of provinces or centrally run cities; districts, provincial towns or provincial cities; and communes, wards or townships, which perform the state administration in all aspects within the territory of their respective local administrative units and promulgate legal documents of local effect.
2. Based on their jurisdiction, state administrative agencies are classified into:
- State administrative agencies with general jurisdiction, including the Government and People’s Committees of all levels, which perform the state administration in all aspects of the social life.
- State administrative agencies with separate jurisdiction, including ministries and ministerial-level agencies, which perform specialized state administration nationwide.
3. Based on the organization and operation principles, state administrative agencies are classified into:
- State administrative bodies, which are organized and operate under the collective leadership regime, including the Government and People’s Committees of different levels. They have competence to decide on important issues related to different domains.
- State administrative bodies, which are organized and operate under the single-head regime, including ministries and ministerial-level agencies. Since managerial activities of these agencies require prompt decision, their responsibility regime is based on personal responsibility. Ministers and heads of ministerial-level agencies are competent to make decisions which are regarded their agencies’ decisions.
Legal status of state administrative agencies
The legal status means the role, position, legal rights and obligations of state administrative agencies which serve as a legal basis for them to well perform their state administration. Each state administrative body has its own legal status specifically and clearly defined by law in the course of carrying out their state-administration activities.
In Vietnam, the legal status of state administrative agencies is prescribed in the Constitution, the Law on Organization of the Government and the Law on Organization of People’s Councils and People’s Committees, which have been revised many times to suit the practical situation in each period and raise the effect and effectiveness of activities of state administrative bodies.
1. The Government, which is the executive body and the highest state administrative agency. Under the 1946 Constitution, the Government comprised the State President and the Cabinet, which was later called the Council of Ministers under the 1980 Constitution, then the Government under the 1992 Constitution. The Government’s organizational structure and operation mode have been renewed through different periods.
In its capacity as the executive body of the National Assembly, the Government has the power to promulgate decrees and resolutions of national effect, aiming to detail and enforce laws passed by the National Assembly. As the top state administrative agency, the Government is tasked to manage all aspects of the social life nationwide, implement domestic and external policies of the nation, and direct activities of ministries, ministerial- level agencies and People’s Committees of different levels.
The Government’s jurisdiction comprises the jurisdiction of the Government collective and the jurisdiction of the Government head, namely the Prime Minister. When performing its jurisdiction, the Government discusses collectively and votes by majority on important issues defined in Article 19 of the 2001 Law on Organization of the Government. Other matters falling under the Government’s jurisdiction are administered through decisions and directives of the Prime Minister. To ensure his/her administration, the Prime Minister has the powers:
- To convene and preside over the Government’s sessions.
- To propose the National Assembly to ratify the appointment, relief from office or dismissal of Deputy Prime Ministers, ministers and heads of ministerial-level agencies. To appoint, relieve from office or dismiss deputy ministers and holders of equivalent positions.
- To suspend the enforcement of, or abrogate circulars of ministries or heads of ministerial-level agencies; decisions and directives of People’s Committees and chairpersons of People’s Committees of provinces or centrally run cities, which are contrary to law; to suspend the enforcement of illegal resolutions of provincial/municipal People’s Councils and propose the National Assembly Standing Committee to abrogate them.
- To ratify the election, relief from office, transfer and dismissal of chairmen and deputy chairpersons of provincial/municipal People’s Committees, to ratify the relief from office of members of People’s Committees of this level.
2. Ministries, ministerial-level agencies, which are government agencies performing the state management of their respective sectors or domains nationwide as well as representation of the state owners at enterprises with state capital.
There are at present 22 ministries and ministerial-level agencies in Vietnam. They are central state administrative bodies having specialized jurisdiction (each of them manages a number of sectors or domains) and operating under the single-head regime. Therefore, ministers and heads of ministerial-level agencies are members of the Government who are answerable to the Prime Minister. The legal status of ministries and ministerial-level agencies demonstrates largely in the jurisdiction of ministers and heads of ministerial-level agencies, who have the powers:
- To promulgate circulars guiding the implementation of documents issued by the Government for sectors or localities, which are related to their respective sectors or domains.
- To guide and inspect ministries, ministerial-level agencies and government-attached agencies, and to direct and coordinate with People’s Committees at different levels in, the performance of tasks in their respective sectors or domains.
- To suspend the enforcement of legal documents with illegal contents, with regard to documents promulgated for their respective sectors or domains by ministries, ministerial- level agencies or People’s Committees; to propose the Prime Minister to suspend the enforcement of resolutions of provincial/ municipal People’s Councils.
- To coordinate with other ministries or sectors in promulgating joint circulars.
3. People’s Committees of different levels
These are executive bodies of state power agencies (People’s Councils) of the same level and local state administrative bodies, having the powers to promulgate administrative decisions and perform administrative acts in order to execute the executive power in localities and performing the function of state administration in all domains within their respective administrative boundaries. Subordinate People’s Committees are subject to the leadership and direction of superior state administrative bodies.
There exist in Vietnam three administrative levels. Each People’s Committee corresponds to each administrative-territorial unit. The jurisdiction of People’s Committees of different levels are defined in the 2003 Law on Organization of People’s Councils and People’s Committees.
The rights and obligations of provincial/municipal People’s Committees are specified in Article 96 while the rights and obligations of district-level People’s Committees are prescribed in Article 111 thru Article 118.
People’s Committee chairpersons at different levels are persons who lead and administer affairs of their local People’s Committees, bearing personal liability for the performance of their tasks and the exercise of their powers and together with People’s Committee collectives being answerable to People’s Councils of the same level and superior state bodies. Their legal status covers the tasks and powers defined in Articles 126 and 127.
Reform of state administrative apparatus
Reform of the administrative apparatus is identified as the central task of the national administrative reform, with its contents clearly defined ten years ago in the overall program on reform of the state administration as follows:
- To adjust the functions of the Government, ministries, ministerial-level agencies and local administrations at different levels to suit state management requirements in the new situation.
- To specifically and clearly define the functions and responsibilities of state administrative agencies with a view to redressing overlapping functions and tasks among these agencies.
- To step up state administration decentralization between the central government and local administrations as well as among local administrations at different levels.
- To streamline state administrative agencies, incrementally modernizing the administration.
The reform of the state administrative apparatus in Vietnam has gained remarkable achievements after 10 years’ implementation, including clear distinction between the state administration and business administration, renewal of functions, tasks and powers of the Government and other state administrative bodies, initial streamlining of the state administrative apparatus through merger of a number of competent central state administrative agencies, and merger of a number of organizational sections within local state administrative bodies.
However, the current state administrative apparatus in Vietnam still reveals shortcomings, such as its cumbersome organizational structure, and inefficient and unsmooth operation, thus increasing the administrative payroll and expenditure.
Vietnam is stepping up the reform of its state administrative apparatus in particular and the administrative reform in general on the road of building a law-governed state of the people, by the people and for the people.-