Chương VI Luật Tổ chức chính quyền địa phương 2015: Hoạt động của chính quyền địa phương

Chapter VI

OPERATION OF LOCAL GOVERNMENT

Section 1. Operations of the People’s Council

Article 78. Meeting sessions of the People’s Council

1. The People’s Council shall convene at least two plenary meetings every year.

The People’s Council shall make its decision on the plan to hold regular sessions at the first plenum of the People's Council that takes place in the first year of its tenure, and at the previous year’s last plenum of the People's Council that takes place in the following years of its tenure upon the request of the Standing Committee of the People’s Council.

2. The unscheduled meeting of the People’s Council will be convened by the Standing Committee of the People’s Council if requested by the Standing Committee of the People's Council or the President of the People's Committee at the same level, or at least one third of delegates of the People’s Council.

3. Electors living at communes, wards or commune-level towns shall be vested with the right to file a petition to the People’s Council of these communes, wards or commune-level towns to convene a meeting to discuss and decide issues arising at these administrative units. If this petition is signed by more than ten percent of electorate living in such communes, wards or commune-level towns according to the electoral register of electors eligible to elect delegates of the communal-level People's Council in the latest election, the Standing Committee of the communal-level People’s Committee shall be responsible for convening the unscheduled plenum of the People’s Council to discuss contents mentioned in the petition. The petition of electors shall be considered valid if it provides all of their signature, full name, birth date and address of each petitioner. Those who sign their name in the petition shall appoint one person as a representative to attend the meeting of the People's Council on contents mentioned in the petition.

4. The People’s Council shall hold the open meeting. When necessary or if requested by the Standing Committee of the People's Council or the President of the People's Committee at the same level, or at least one third of delegates of the People’s Council, the closed meeting will be decided by the People’s Council.

Article 79. Meeting agenda of the People’s Council

1. Based on the resolution of the People’s Council, upon the request of the President of the People’s Committee, the Chairperson of Vietnam Fatherland Front Committee, the Chief Justice of the People’s Court, the Head of the People’s Procuracy, committees of the People’s Council and delegates of the People’s Council at the same level, and the Standing Committee of the People’s Council, shall propose the agenda of the People’s Council’s meeting.

The first session agenda of the new-term People’s Council shall be proposed by the Standing Committee of the previous-term People’s Council. Committees of the previous-term People’s Council shall assess contents mentioned in the proposed agenda of the first meeting session of the new-term People's Council, and present the assessment result to the Standing Committee of the previous-term People’s Council to have it considered in the first meeting of the new-term People’s Council.

2. The People’s Council shall decide the meeting agenda. When necessary or as requested by the President of the People’s Committee, the Chairperson of the Vietnam Fatherland Front Committee, the Chief Justice of the People’s Court, the Head of the People’s Procuracy, committees of the People’s Council and delegates of the People’s Council at the same level, the People’s Council shall make a decision on any amendment or modification to the approved agenda.

Article 80. Convening of the meeting session of the People’s Council

1. The first meeting session of the new-term People’s Council shall be convened not later than 45 days as of the date of the election of delegates to the People's Council; with regard to local areas that require the re-election, additional election or election date delay, the permitted duration of this convening shall begin on the re-election and additional election date.

The first session held in each term of the People’s Council shall be convened by the previous-term People’s Council. In case there is an absence of the Chairperson of the People’s Council, one Vice Chairperson of the previous-term People's Council shall be authorized to convene the meeting; if both the Chairperson of the People’s Council and the Vice Chairperson of the People’s Council are absent, the Standing Committee of the superior-level People’s Council shall directly appoint an officer to convene the meeting. At the provincial level, the National Assembly Standing Committee shall appoint an officer to convene the meeting of the People's Council.

2. Within its term, the Standing Committee of the People’s Council shall decide to convene the regular meeting session not later than 20 days, and the unscheduled meeting session not later than 07 days prior to the opening of the meeting. In case there is an absence of the Standing Committee of the People’s Council, the Standing Committee of the People’s Council at the superior level shall directly appoint an officer to convene the meeting. At the provincial level, the National Assembly Standing Committee shall appoint an officer to convene the meeting and chair the meeting of the People’s Council.

3. The proposed agenda of the People’s Council’s meeting shall be sent to delegates of the People’s Council together with the decision to convene the meeting.

The decision to convene the meeting and the proposed agenda of the People’s Council’s meeting shall be disseminated through means of mass media at local areas not later than 10 days prior to the opening of the regular meeting, and if it is an unscheduled meeting, this decision will be sent not later than 03 days prior to the opening of such meeting.

Article 81. Composition of participants in the meeting session of the People’s Council

1. Representatives of the Standing Committee of the People’s Council and the People’s Committee at the directly superior level, elected deputies of the National Assembly, and delegates of the superior-level People’s Council elected at local areas, shall be invited to attend the meeting of the People’s Council; representatives of the National Assembly Standing Committee and the Government shall be invited to attend the meeting of the provincial People’s Council.

2. Members of the People’s Committee, the Chief Justice of the People’s Court, and the Head of the same-level People’s Procuracy who are not delegates of the People’s Council, shall be invited to attend the People’s Council’s meetings; shall be responsible for attending the general meeting session of the People’s Council on issues related to the industries and sectors put under their authority. Participants in the People’s Council’s meeting shall be entitled to raise their opinions on issues related to industries and sectors put under their authority if obtaining the meeting chair’s agreement, or shall be responsible for giving their opinions as requested by the People’s Council or the meeting chair.

3. Representatives of Government agencies, political organizations, the Vietnam Fatherland Front Committee and socio-political organizations shall be invited to attend the open meeting session of the People’s Council which discusses relevant issues.

4. Representatives of the People’s armed forces, social and economic organizations, international audiences, press agencies and civilians may be invited to attend the open meeting session of the People’s Council.

Article 82. Responsibility of the Chair of the People’s Council's meeting session

The Chairperson of the People’s Council who deliver the opening and closing speech at the meeting, and the Chair of the People’s Council’s meeting, shall ensure the compliance with the meeting agenda and regulations on the People’s Council’s meetings. The Vice Chairperson of the People’s Council shall assist the Chairperson of the People’s Council in chairing the meeting as assigned by the Chairperson of the People’s Council.

In the first meeting held in each term of the People’s Council, the person charged with convening the meeting of the People’s Council in accordance with Clause 1 Article 80 hereof shall give his/her opening speech and chair meeting sessions to help the People’s Council to elect the Chairperson of the new-term People’s Council.

Article 83. Election of incumbents of the People’s Council and the People’s Committee

1. In the first meeting held in each term of the People’s Council, the People’s Council shall elect one of the People’s Council’s delegates as the Chairperson of the People’s Council according to the recommendation of the meeting chair.

Within the term, the People’s Council shall elect one of the People’s Council’s delegates as the Chairperson of the People’s Council according to the recommendation of the Standing Committee of the People’s Council. In case the Standing Committee of the People’s Council is absent, the People’s Council shall elect one of the People’s Council’s delegates as the Chairperson of the People’s Council according to the recommendation of the meeting chair as stipulated in Clause 2 Article 80 hereof.

2. The People’s Council shall elect one of the People’s Council’s delegates as the Vice Chairperson of the People’s Council, the Head and the Vice Head of the Committee of the People’s Council according to the recommendation of the Chairperson of the People’s Council. The provincial People’s Council shall elect one of the People’s Council’s delegates as the Chief of the Office of the provincial People’s Council according to the recommendation of the Chairperson of the provincial People’s Council.

3. The People’s Council shall elect the President of the People’s Committee according to the recommendation of the Chairperson of the People’s Council. The President of the People’s Committee elected in the first meeting of the People's Council must be the People’s Council’s delegate. The President of the People’s Committee elected within the term shall not necessarily be the People’s Council’s delegate.

4. The People’s Council shall elect the Vice President and members of the People’s Committee according to the recommendation of the President of the People’s Committee. The Vice President and members of the People’s Committee shall not necessarily be the People’s Council’s delegates.

5. The Chairperson of the People’s Council and the President of the People’s Committee shall not be entitled to hold their position in more than two consecutive terms at the same administrative unit.

6. The result of the election of the People’s Council’s Chairperson must be ratified by the National Assembly Standing Committee; the result of the election of the Chairperson and Vice Chairperson of the district-level People’s Council must be ratified by the Standing Committee of the provincial People’s Council; the result of the election of the Chairperson and Vice Chairperson of the communal-level People’s Council must be ratified by the Standing Committee of the district-level People’s Council.

7. The result of the election of the President and Vice President of the provincial People's Committee must be approved by the Prime Minister; the result of the election of the President and Vice President of the district-level People’s Committee must be ratified by the President of the provincial People’s Committee; the result of the election of the President and Vice President of the communal-level People’s Committee must be ratified by the President of the district-level People’s Committee.

8. During the People’s Council’s election of incumbents as stipulated in this Article, if there is any delegate of the People’s Council standing for such election, or if the People’s Council wishes to recommend any eligible candidate to stand for such election who does not belong to the electoral register of eligible electors already recommended by competent agencies or individuals, the Standing Committee of the People’s Council shall send a request to the People’s Council for its consideration and decision; if this election occurs in the first meeting held in each term of the People's Council, the meeting chair will be charged with sending this request to the People’s Council for its consideration and decision.

9. Officer holders stipulated in Clause 1, 2, 3 and 4 of this Article shall implement their duties and powers immediately after winning the election of the People’s Council.

10. Within 05 days from the date of the election of the Chairperson of the People’s Council, Vice Chairperson of the People’s Council, President of the People’s Committee and Vice President of the People’s Committee, the People’s Council shall send the election result to competent agencies or individuals as stipulated in Clause 6 and Clause 7 of this Article for approval. Within 10 working days of receipt of the election result, competent agencies or individuals shall be obliged to consider and approve it; in case of disapproval, they will send a written response which clearly state reasons for such refusal, and request the People’s Council to hold the re-election of disapproved position-holders.

Article 84. Resignation, discharge and dismissal of office holders elected by the People’s Council

1. If elected position-holders of the People’s Council fail to continue their work, they can resign from their post on the grounds of health problems or for any other reasons.

The resignation letter shall be submitted to agencies or individuals having the authority to recommend an eligible candidate to be elected to hold that post by the People’s Council. Agencies or individuals having the authority to recommend an eligible candidate to be elected to hold that post by the People’s Council shall be obliged to request the People’s Council to discharge persons submitting their resignations from office in the next meeting of the People’s Committee.

2. The People’s Council shall discharge and dismiss the Chairperson, Vice Chairperson of the People’s Council, the Head and the Vice Head of the Committee of the People’s Council as requested by the Standing Committee of the People’s Council.

3. The People’s Council shall discharge and dismiss the President of the People’s Committee as requested by the Chairperson of the People’s Council; discharge and dismiss the Vice President and members of the People’s Committee as requested by the President of the People’s Committee.

4. The result of the discharge and dismissal from office of the Chairperson, Vice Chairperson of the People’s Council, and the President and Vice President of the People’s Committee must be approved in accordance with regulations laid down in Clause 6, 7 and 10 Article 83 hereof.

Article 85. Procedure for passing draft resolutions, proposals and reports in the meeting of the People’s Council

1. Representatives of agencies or organizations submitting draft resolutions, proposals and reports shall make a presentation to the People’s Council.

2. Representatives of committees of the People’s Council assigned to assess draft resolutions, proposals and reports shall present the assessment report to the People’s Council.

3. The People’s Council starts discussion. Before discussion, the People’s Council at provincial and district level can hold a discussion at the Coalition of delegates of the People’s Council.

4. During the process of discussion held in the general meeting session, the meeting chair can raise contentious issues so that the People's Council takes them into consideration and make its decision. When necessary, the People’s Council shall be entitled to request related agencies to explain any issue that delegates of the People’s Council concern about.

5. The People’s Council shall take a vote on these draft resolutions, proposals and reports by single-issue, entire-issue and one-time voting.

Article 86. Introduction of resolutions, proposals, reports and minutes in the meeting of the People’s Council

1. Resolutions of the People’s Council shall be authenticated by appending the signature of the Chairperson of the People’s Council or the meeting chair.

2. Minutes of the People’s Council’s meetings shall be signed by the Chairperson of the People’s Council or the meeting chair.

3. Not later than 10 days as of the closing of the meeting, resolutions, proposals, reports and minutes generated by the meeting of the People’s Council must be submitted by the Standing Committee of the People’s Council to the Standing Committee of the People’s Council and the People’s Committee at the directly superior level; as for the meeting held at the provincial level, these documents must be submitted to the National Assembly Standing Committee and the Government.

4. Resolutions of the People’s Council must be submitted to relevant agencies or organizations for the implementation purpose. Resolutions of the People’s Council shall be published on the local Official Gazette, disseminated through local means of mass media, and publicly posted and filed in accordance with legal regulations.

Article 87. Supervisory operations of the People’s Council

1. The People’s Council shall exercise its supervisory power in the People’s Council’s meeting and this exercise of power must be based on supervisory operations of the Standing Committee of the People's Council, Committees of the People’s Council, Delegate Coalitions of the People’s Council and delegates of the People’s Council.

2. The People’s Council shall decide supervisory contents upon the request submitted by the Standing Committee of the People’s Council on the basis of recommendations offered by Committees of the People’s Council, Delegate Coalitions of the People’s Council, delegates of the People’s Council, Vietnam Fatherland Front Committee at the same level as well as opinions and recommendations offered by the local electorate.

3. The People’s Council shall exercise their supervisory power through the following actions:

a) Consider task performance reports made by the Standing Committee of the People’s Council, the People’s Committee, the People’s Court and the People’s Procuracy at the same level;

b) Consider reports of the People’s Committee at the same level on the enforcement of the Constitution and legislative documents issued by the superior-level state organs and resolutions of the People’s Council at the same level;

c) Consider reports of the People’s Committee at the same level on the enforcement of the Constitution and legislative documents issued by the superior-level state organs and resolutions of the People’s Council at the same level;

d) Consider query responses from the President of the People’s Committee, the Vice President of the People’s Committee, members of the People’s Committee, Chief Justice of the People’s Court, the Head of the People’s Procuracy at the same level;

dd) Establish the Commission of Supervision of a single issue when necessary and consider the supervision result produced by the Commission of Supervision.

4. Based on the supervision result, the People’s Council shall have the following powers:

a) Request the People’s Committee, the President of the People’s Committee at the same level to issue documents to enforce the Constitution, legislation and resolutions of the People’s Council;

b) Abolish part or all of documents issued by the People’s Committee and the President of the People’s Committee at the same level in breach of the Constitution and legislative documents issued by the superior-level state organs and resolutions of the People’s Council;

c) Pass the resolution on query responses and responsibilities of persons charged with responding to queries when necessary.

d) Discharge and dismiss the Chairperson of the People's Council, the Vice Chairperson of the People's Council, the Head, the Vice Head of the Committee of the People's Council, the President of the People’s Committee, the Vice President of the People's Committee and members of the People's Committee, from office.

Article 88. Taking a vote of confidence

1. The People’s Council shall take a vote of confidence in the following incumbents:

a) The Chairperson, Vice Chairperson, Head of the Committee of the People's Council; the Chief of the Office of the People’s Council, if it is the People’s Council at the provincial level;

b) The President, Vice President and members of the People’s Committee.

2. Voting Deadline, date and procedure applied to target persons subjected to the vote of confidence held by the People’s Council shall be stipulated by the National Assembly.

Article 89. Casting a vote of confidence

1. The People’s Council shall cast a vote of confidence on office-holders elected by the People’s Council.

2. The Standing Committee of the People’s Council shall request the People’s Council to cast a vote of confidence under the following circumstances:

a) At least one third of delegates of the People’s Council give their recommendation;

b) The Vietnam Fatherland Front Committee at the same level gives its recommendation;

c) Target persons subjected to the vote of confidence have received votes of low confidence from more than two thirds of delegates of the People's Council.

3. Target persons subjected to the vote of confidence who have gained votes of no confidence from more than half of delegates of the People’s Council shall be allowed to resign from office. In case these persons refuse to resign, agencies or individuals having powers to recommend them to be elected by the People’s Council shall be responsible for requesting the People’s Council to consider and decide the discharge of such persons from office.

Article 90. Consideration of the aggregate report on opinions and recommendations of the local electorate

1. The People’s Council shall consider the aggregate report on opinions and recommendations of the local electorate.

2. Relevant State organs, organizations and units shall be responsible for carefully examining, handling and responding to recommendations of the local electorate as well as reporting to the People's Council on the handling result.

3. At the first meeting held in each tenure of the People’s Council, the Vietnam Fatherland Front Committee at the same level shall submit the aggregate report on opinions and recommendations from the local electorate in the vote for the People’s Council’s delegates to the People’s Council.

At meetings following the first one, the Standing Committee of the People’s Council in conjunction with the Vietnam Fatherland Front Committee at the same level shall submit the aggregate report on opinions and recommendations from the local electorate to the People’s Council; the Standing Committee of the People’s Council shall report on the result of supervision of handling of recommendations submitted by the local electorate to the People’s Council in the previous meeting.

When necessary, the People’s Committee shall discuss and adopt the resolution on handling of opinions and recommendations from the electorate.

Article 91. Voting at general meetings

1. The People’s Council shall decide issues at general meeting sessions in the form of a voting. Delegates of the People’s Council shall have the right to cast their yes, no or abstention votes. Delegates of the People’s Council shall not be allowed to act on behalf of other delegates to vote.

2. The People’s Council shall decide to apply one of the voting methods as follows:

a) Open voting;

b) Secret voting.

3. The resolution of the People’s Council shall be passed when more than half of delegates of the People’s Council vote in favor of it; meanwhile, the resolution to dismiss delegates of the People’s Council from office shall be passed when at least two thirds of delegates of the People’s Council vote in favor of it.

Article 92. Materials circulated at the People’s Council’s meetings

1. The Chairperson of the People’s Council shall decide which materials are circulated in the meeting of the People’s Council.

2. Materials circulated at the People’s Council’s meetings must be handed out to delegates of the People’s Council not later than 05 days prior to the opening of the meeting, unless otherwise stipulated by laws.

3. Delegates of the People’s Council shall be responsible for implementing regulations on use and storage of materials at the meeting; disclosure of contents of confidential materials or closed meeting sessions of the People’s Council is strictly prohibited.

4. Resolutions, files and other instruments at each meeting of the People’s Council shall be safekept in accordance with regulations on file storage.

Article 93. Responsibilities for attending the meeting session of the People’s Council

1. Delegates of the People’s Council shall be responsible for attending all meetings and sessions of the People’s Council, participating in discussion and voting on issues that fall within the remit of the People’s Council.

2. Delegates of the People’s Council who fail to attend meetings or sessions must clearly state reasons and report to the Chairperson of the People’s Council in advance. Where delegates of the People’s Council have not attended meetings for 01 consecutive year without any acceptable reasons, the Standing Committee of the People’s Council must report to the People’s Council to dismiss them from office.

Article 94. Responsibilities of the People’s Council’s delegates for communicating with the electorate

1. Delegates of the People’s Council must keep a close contact with the electorate of their electoral units, be overseen by them and be charged with collecting and communicating their opinions, aspirations and recommendations in an honest manner; protect lawful rights and interests of the electorate; implement regulations on contact with the electorate, and report to the electorate on their activities and those of the People’s Council to which they are elected at least once a year, and respond to requests and recommendations from the electorate.

2. After each meeting of the People’s Council, delegates of the People’s Council shall be responsible for reporting to their electorate on the result of that meeting, disseminating and explaining the resolution of the People’s Council, and encouraging and collaborating with the people to implement such resolution.

Article 95. Responsibilities of the People’s Council’s delegates for holding receptions for citizens, receiving and handling complaints, denunciations and recommendations of citizens

1. The People’s Council’s delegates shall be responsible for holding receptions for citizens as prescribed by laws.

2. Upon receipt of complaints, denunciations and recommendations from citizens, delegates of the People’s Council shall be responsible for carefully examining and promptly forwarding them to competent individuals to find solutions as well as notifying petitioners of this; expediting, monitoring and overseeing the handling process. The in-charge person shall be obliged to notify delegates of the People’s Council of the handling result within the statutory duration.

3. On seeing that handling of complaints, denunciations and recommendations is in breach of laws, delegates of the People’s Council shall have the right to meet with the head of relevant agency, organization or unit to seek any explanation or to request reconsideration; when necessary, delegates of the People’s Council is able to request the head of agency, organization or unit directly superior to the abovementioned one to get them handled.

Article 96. Rights of delegates of the People’s Council to ask questions

1. Delegates of the People’s Council shall be vested with the right to put questions to the President of the People’s Committee, the Vice President of the People’s Committee, members of the People’s Committee, Chief Justice of the People’s Court and the Head of the People’s Procuracy at the same level. Questioned persons shall be obliged to answer questions of delegates of the People’s Council.

2. During the meeting, delegates of the People’s Council shall send questions to the Standing Committee of the People's Committee at the same level. Questioned persons shall be obliged to answer questions to the People’s Council in that meeting. In case any investigation or verification is required, the People’s Council can decide whether questions will be answered at the next meeting of the People’s Council, or written answers will be sent to questioning delegates and the Standing Committee of the People’s Council.

3. In between sessions of the People’s Council, questions of delegates of the People’s Council shall be sent to the Standing Committee of the People’s Council at the same level to forward them to questioned persons and deadline for answering questions shall be decided as well.

Article 97. Rights of delegates of the People’s Council to give recommendations

1. Delegates of the People’s Council shall be vested with the right to make recommendations to the People’s Council to take the vote of confidence for incumbents elected by the People’s Council, convene unscheduled or recommendation-sending meetings and make other recommendations that delegates find necessary.

2. Recommendations from delegates of the People’s Council shall be sent in writing to the Standing Committee of the People’s Council in which reasons and contents must be clearly stated.

The Standing Committee of the People’s Council shall be responsible for aggregating and handling recommendations from delegates of the People’s Council within its jurisdiction and report to the People’s Council under the circumstances stipulated in Clause 3 of this Article or others that the Standing Committee of the People’s Council finds necessary.

3. In case more than one third of delegates of the People’s Council make recommendations to the People’s Council on the vote of confidence towards position-holders elected by the People’s Council, or on unscheduled or closed meetings held by the People’s Council, the Standing Committee of the People’s Council shall report to the People’s Council for consideration and decision.

4. The number of necessary recommendations stipulated in Clause 3 of this Article is total recommendations received by the Standing Committee of the People’s Council within the period from the opening date of this meeting to the opening date of the next meeting, or to the pre-session date, on relevant contents in the event that delegates of the People’s Council recommend the People’s Council to hold the closed meeting.

5. Delegates of the People’s Council shall be vested with the right to recommend agencies, organizations or individuals to apply necessary measures to implement the Constitution and legislation, and protect rights and interests of the State, human rights and lawful rights and interests of citizens.

Article 98. Rights of delegates of the People’s Council to take actions against law violations

1. When discovering law violations that may cause harm to the State interests, lawful rights and interests of organizations and individuals, delegates of the People’s Council shall have the right to request relevant agencies or organizations to take necessary measures to promptly terminate such violations.

2. Within a permitted duration of 15 days of receipt of requests from delegates of the People’s Council as prescribed in Clause 1 of this Article, agencies or organizations must take action to deal with these violations and notify delegates of the People’s Council of this. If these agencies or organizations have not responded to them by the deadline, delegates of the People’s Council shall have the right to request the head of these agencies or organizations at the superior level for consideration and solution.

Article 99. Rights of delegates of the People’s Council to request provision of information

1. Within their duties and powers, delegates of the People’s Council shall be entitled to request agencies, organizations or individuals to provide information and materials relating to the duties and powers of these agencies, organizations or individuals.

2. The head of these agencies, organizations or individuals shall be responsible for answering questions posed by delegates of the People’s Council in accordance with legal regulations.

Article 100. Immunities of delegates of the People’s Council

1. Delegates of the People’s Council shall not be subjected to imprisonment, custody, detention, prosecution, or house or office search within the meeting of the People’s Council, or without consent from the People’s Council or the Standing Committee of the People’s Council.

2. In case delegates of the People’s Council is temporarily suspended because of criminals caught in the act, the detaining authority must immediately report to the People’s Council or the Standing Committee of the People’s Council for consideration and decision.

Article 101. Discontinuity of duties, temporary cessation and loss of rights of delegates of the People’s Council

1. Within their term of office, if delegates of the People’s Council have not worked any more and are not residing at administrative units from which they are delegates, they are required to apply for their duty discontinuity. Delegates of the People’s Council can request discontinuity of their duties on grounds of health problems or for other reasons.

Agreeing to the discontinuity of duties of delegates of the People’s Council shall be considered and decided by the People’s Council at the same level.

2. Where delegates of the People’s Council are being prosecuted, the Standing Committee of the People’s Council shall decide to temporarily suspend these delegates from implementation of duties and powers.

Delegates of the People’s Council shall be reinstated as delegates with their duties and powers as well as their lawful interests shall also be reinstated, if competent authorities halt the investigation or the case against these delegates, or as from the effective date of the court verdict or judgement whereby these delegates have been judged not guilty or exempted from criminal liability.

3. If delegates of the People’s Council have been charged by the court verdict or judgement, it is obvious that they will lose their delegate’s rights as from the date on which this verdict or judgement enters into force.

4. Delegates of the People’s Council who have discontinued delegate’s duties or lost delegate’s rights, it is certain that they are also discharged from office in the Standing Committee of the People's Council and committees of the People’s Council.

Article 102. Dismiss of delegates of the People’s Council from office

1. If delegates of the People’s Council have not met accepted standards any more, or no longer deserved the People’s confidence, the People’s Council or the electorate will vote to dismiss them from office.

2. The Standing Committee of the People’s Council shall decide to call for the vote of the People’s Council for dismissal of delegates of the People’s Council from office, or follow the request of the Vietnam Fatherland Front Committee at the same level for the vote of the electorate for this dismissal.

3. Under the first circumstance, at least two thirds of delegates of the People’s Council vote for this dismissal.

4. Under the latter circumstance, the dismissal shall be carried out in conformity with the procedure stipulated by the National Assembly Standing Committee.

Article 103. Necessary conditions for activities of delegates of the People’s Council

1. Full-time delegates of the People’s Council shall be assigned tasks, paid salary, allowances and entitled to other benefits to facilitate their activities.

2. Part-time delegates of the People’s Council are required to spare at least one third of working hours per year for implementation of their assigned duties or delegated powers. Working hours per year that part-time delegates of the People’s Council spend on performing their duties shall be included in total hours that such delegates have spent on working at their agencies, organizations or units and are paid salary, allowance and entitled to other benefits covered by these agencies, organizations and units. The head of agencies, organizations or units where delegates work shall be responsible for arranging work and creating necessary conditions for task performance of the People's Council's delegates.

3. The People’s Committee at different levels, agencies, organizations, units or individuals, within their assigned duties and delegated powers, shall be responsible for creating favorable conditions for activities of delegates of the People’s Council.

4. The Vietnam Fatherland Front Committee and its member organizations shall create necessary conditions to enable delegates of the People’s Council to communicate with electors, collect opinions, aspirations and recommendations of the People to the People's Council.

5. Delegates of the People’s Council shall be paid all monthly costs incurred by their activities and provided with necessary support to facilitate their activities as well.

6. The Government shall request the National Assembly Standing Committee to specify regulations, policies and conditions for activities of delegates of the People’s Council.

Article 104. Duties and powers of the Standing Committee of the People’s Council

1. Convene meetings of the People’s Council; cooperate with the People’s Committee in making arrangements for meetings of the People’s Council.

2. Expedite, examine the compliance of the People’s Committee and other state organs with resolutions of the People’s Council.

3. Supervise the compliance with the Constitution and legislation within their areas.

4. Direct, control and coordinate operations of committees of the People’s Council; examine the supervision result of committees of the People’s Council when necessary and report to the People’s Council in the next meeting; keep close contact with delegates of the People’s Council; aggregate questions posed by delegates of the People’s Council to report to the People’s Council; request agencies, organizations or individuals to explain issues concerning duties and powers of the Standing Committee of the People’s Council in the meeting of the Standing Committee of the People’s Council.

5. Make necessary arrangements so that delegates of the People’s Council can hold receptions for citizens in accordance with laws; expedite, inspect and assess handling of recommendations, complaints and allegations received from civilians; aggregate opinions and aspirations of the people to report to the People’s Council in the meeting.

6. Approve the list of members of committees of the People’s Council in the number of delegates of the People’s Council, and discharge of these members from office upon the request of the Heads of committees of the People’s Council.

7. Request the People’s Council to take or cast a vote of confidence for incumbents elected by the People’s Council in accordance with Article 88 and 89 hereof.

8. Decide whether the dismissal of delegates of the People’s Council from office will be voted for by the People’s Council or the electorate.

9. Report on performance of the People’s Council at the same level to the People’s Council and the People’s Committee at the directly superior level; the Standing Committee of the People’s Council shall report on their performance to the National Assembly Standing Committee and the Government.

10. Keep close contact with and cooperate with the Standing Committee of the Vietnam Fatherland Front Committee at the same level in performing tasks; notify the Vietnam Fatherland Front Committee at the same level of performance of the People's Council twice a year.

Article 105. Duties and powers of members of the Standing Committee of the People’s Council

1. The Chairperson of the People’s Council shall lead operations of the Standing Committee of the People's Council at the same level, act on behalf of the Standing Committee of the People’s Council to keep contact with the People’s Committee, state organs, the Standing Committee of the Vietnam Fatherland Front Committee, member organizations of the Vietnam Fatherland Front Committee at the same level, other social organizations and citizens.

2. The Vice Chairperson of the People’s Council shall assist the Chairperson of the People’s Council in executing duties and powers as assigned and delegated by the Chairperson of the People’s Council.

3. Members of the Standing Committee of the People’s Council shall be collectively responsible for implementing duties and powers of the Standing Committee of the People’s Council; solely responsible to the Standing Committee of the People’s Council for implementing duties and powers assigned and delegated by the Standing Committee of the People’s Council; attend meetings held by the Standing Committee of the People’s Council, discuss and decide issues within assigned duties and delegated powers of the Standing Committee of the People’s Council.

Article 106. Meeting sessions held by the Standing Committee of the People’s Council

1. Meeting sessions held by the Standing Committee of the People’s Council are major activities of the Standing Committee of the People’s Council. At each meeting session, the Standing Committee of the People’s Council shall discuss and decide issues that fall within their assigned duties and delegated powers in accordance with legal regulations.

2. The Standing Committee of the People’s Council shall convene the regular meeting once a month. When necessary, the Standing Committee of the People’s Council can convene the unscheduled meeting as requested by the Chairperson of the People’s Council. Meeting sessions held by the Standing Committee of the People’s Council must be attended by at least two thirds of members of the Standing Committee of the People’s Council.

3. The Chairperson of the People’s Council shall decide the meeting time and agenda, and make all necessary preparations and preside over the meeting; if the Chairperson of the People’s Council is absent, one Vice Chairperson of the People’s Council shall be authorized by the Chairperson to chair the meeting instead.

4. Members of the Standing Committee of the People’s Council shall be responsible for attending all of meeting sessions. For some special reasons for their absence from such sessions, they are required to report to the Chairperson of the People’s Council for consideration and decision.

5. Representatives of the People’s Committee, the Vietnam Fatherland Front Committee at the same level shall be invited to attend meetings held by the Standing Committee of the People’s Council. The Head of the National Assembly Delegation shall be invited to attend meetings of the provincial People’s Council.

6. Representatives of the People’s Court, the People’s Procuracy and heads of professional affiliates of the People’s Committee, and representatives of socio-political organizations at the same level, relevant agencies and organizations, may be invited to attend meeting sessions of the Standing Committee of the People’s Council to discuss related issues.

7. The People’s Committee, the People’s Court, the People’s Procuracy and Committees of the People’s Council, the Heads of professional affiliates of the People’s Committee, and related agencies and organizations, shall be responsible for preparing projects, proposals and reports appropriate for the meeting agenda as assigned by the Standing Committee of the People’s Council at the same level, or according to the duties and powers stipulated by laws.

Article 107. Receptions for citizens held by the Standing Committee of the People’s Council

1. The Standing Committee of the People’s Council shall be responsible for making arrangements for receptions for citizens held by delegates of the People’s Council; set out regulations on, procedures for citizen receptions in compliance with laws and in relevance to local conditions; set the schedule for citizen receptions of delegates of the People’s Council; appoint competent and qualified civil servants who have a good command of laws to hold receptions for citizens; make necessary arrangements for receptions for citizens living at local areas where candidates call for election.

2. The Chairperson of the People’s Council must keep his/her citizen reception schedule. Depending on the work requirements, the Chairperson of the People’s Council can decide the frequency of citizen reception within a month. The Chairperson of the People’s Council can authorize the Vice Chairperson of the People’s Council or members of the Standing Committee of the People’s Council to hold receptions for citizens, but in at least one quarter of the year, the Chairperson of the People’s Council should spare 01 day to meet with citizens in person.

Article 108. Sectors managed by Committees of the People’s Council

1. The Committee on Legislation managed by the People’s Council at the provincial, district and communal level shall be responsible for sectors such as enforcement of the Constitution and legislation, national defence, social security, order and safety, and local government construction and administrative division management affairs in this local area.

2. The Committee on Culture – Society managed by the People’s Council at the provincial level shall be responsible for sectors such as education, healthcare, culture, society, information, physical exercise, sports affairs and policies on religion in this local area.

3. The Committee on Economy – Budget managed by the provincial People’s Council shall be responsible for sectors such as economy, budget, urban, transportation, construction, science, technology, natural resources and environment affairs throughout the province.

4. The Committee on Economy – Budget managed by the People’s Council of the centrally-governed city shall be responsible for sectors such as economy, budget, science, technology and natural resources affairs throughout the centrally-governed city.

5. The Committee on Urban Affairs managed by the People’s Council of the centrally-governed city shall be responsible for sectors such as urban planning, technical and social infrastructural development, transportation, construction, environment and public service rendering affairs throughout the centrally-governed city.

6. The Committee on Economy – Society managed by the People’s Council at the district and communal level shall be responsible for sectors such as economy, budget, urban, transportation, construction, education, healthcare, culture, society, information, physical exercise, sports, science, technology, natural resources, environment affairs and religious policies in this local area.

7. The Committee on Ethnic Affairs managed by the People’s Council at the provincial and district level shall be responsible for the ethnic sector in this area.

8. In case the People’s Council at the provincial and district level have not established the Committee on Ethnic Affairs, the Committee on Culture - Society managed by the People's Council at the provincial level, and the Committee on Economy – Society managed by the People’s Council at the district level shall be responsible for the ethnic sector in this area.

Article 109. Duties and powers of Committees of the People’s Council

1. Get involved in preparing contents of the People's Council's meetings in relation to their in-charge sectors.

2. Examine draft resolutions, reports and proposals relating to their in-charge sectors as assigned by the People’s Council or the Standing Committee of the People’s Council.

3. Assist the People’s Council in supervising operations of the People’s Court and the People’s Procuracy at the same level; supervising operations of the People’s Committee and professional affiliates of the People’s Committee at the same level in their in-charge sectors; supervising legislative documents that fall within their remit.

4. Organize activities to assess the implementation of regulations enshrined in laws on their in-charge sectors as assigned by the People’s Council or the Standing Committee of the People’s Council.

5. Report on the supervision result to the People’s Council and the Standing Committee of the People’s Council.

6. Committees of the People’s Council shall be accountable for their performance to the People’s Council; during the off-meeting time, report on their performance to the Standing Committee of the People's Council.

Article 110. Collaboration between Committees of the People’s Council

1. Committees of the People’s Council shall coordinate their tasks and share operational experience relating to related issues.

2. Committees of the People’s Council at the provincial level shall be responsible for collaborating with the Ethnic Council and Committees of the National Assembly and Committees of the National Assembly Standing Committee when these entities pay a visit to their local areas.

3. The Ethnic Council and Committees of the National Assembly and Committees of the National Assembly Standing Committee shall share experience of task performance with equivalent Committees of the provincial People’s Council.

4. Committees of the People’s Committee shall appoint members to participate in operations of the Standing Committee of the People’s Council at the same level as requested by the Standing Committee of the People’s Council.

5. The People’s Committee, its professional affiliates, the People’s Court, the People’s Procuracy at the same level, relevant agencies or organizations at their local areas shall be responsible for providing information and materials on issues requested by Committees of the People’s Council.

Article 111. Examination of draft resolutions, reports and proposals made by Committees of the People’s Council

1. In order to make preparations for this examination, a Committee of the People’s Council shall designate its members to get involved in studying draft resolutions, reports and proposals; request formulation agencies and relevant agencies to provide materials and give explanations for issues that it is examining; convene the meeting to collect opinions from those who expertise in such issues; assess actual situations that may arise in its local area in terms of contents concerning draft resolutions, reports and proposals.

2. A Committee shall carry out the examination of draft resolutions, reports and proposals by going through the following procedures:

a) Representatives of agencies or organizations submitting draft resolutions, proposals and reports make their presentation;

b) Relevant agencies or organizations voice their opinions;

c) Members of that Committee enter into a discussion;

d) Representatives of agencies or organizations submitting draft resolutions, proposals and reports voice their opinions if necessary;

dd) The meeting chair draws his/her conclusion.

3. The examination report should include assessment of the relevance of draft resolutions, reports and proposals to the Communist Party’s guidelines and intentions, the state policies and laws, socio-economic development situations and conditions in the local area; clarify viewpoints and propose measures to deal with discrepancies.

Article 112. Duties and powers of the Delegate Coalition of the People's Council at the provincial and district level

1. The Delegate Coalition of the People’s Council shall oversee the compliance with the Constitution, legislation and instruments issued by the superior-level state organs, and resolutions of the People’s Council at the same level in the area, or issues as assigned by the People’s Council or the Standing Committee of the People’s Council.

2. The Delegate Coalition of the People’s Council shall be responsible for studying materials, preparing opinions contributed in the meeting of the People’s Council at the same level; making arrangements to enable delegates of the People’s Council to hold receptions for citizens, collect opinions and recommendations from the electorate prior to the opening of the People’s Council’s meeting, and to report to the electorate on the result of the meeting following the People's Council’s one.

Section 2: OPERATIONS OF THE PEOPLE’S COMMITTEE

Article 113. Meeting session of the People’s Committee

1. The People’s Committee shall convene the meeting once a month.

2. The People's Committee shall convene the unscheduled meeting under the following circumstances:

a) The meeting is convened by the decision of the President of the People’s Committee;

b) The meeting is requested by the President of the People’s Committee at the directly superior level. If it is the meeting of the provincial People's Committee, it will be requested by the Prime Minister;

c) At least one third of members of the People’s Committee make their request.

Article 114. Convening of the meeting of the People’s Committee

1. The President of the People’s Committee shall specifically decide the meeting date, agenda and contents.

2. Members of the People’s Committee shall be responsible for attending all meeting sessions of the People’s Committee. In case they are absent, they have to report to and ask the President of the People’s Committee for leave of absence.

3. Meeting sessions held by the People’s Committee shall be commenced only if at least two thirds of members of the People’s Committee attend.

4. Meeting agenda, time and materials presented in the meeting must be sent to members of the People’s Committee not later than 03 working days prior to the opening date of the regular meeting and not later than 01 working day prior to the opening date of the unscheduled meeting.

Article 115. Responsibility of the People’s Committee for presiding at the meeting

1. The President of the People’s Committee shall preside at the People’s Committee’s meeting and ensure the compliance with the meeting agenda and regulations. If the President of the People’s Committee is absent, one Vice President of the People’s Committee shall be designated to preside at the meeting by the President of the People’s Committee.

2. The President of the People’s Committee, or the Vice President of the People’s Committee designated by the President of the People’s Committee, shall chair discussions on specific contents presented at the People's Committee's meeting.

Article 116. Guests invited to the People’s Committee’s meeting

1. Representatives of the Standing Committee of the People’s Council shall be invited to the meeting of the same-level People’s Meeting; the Head and the Vice Head of the National Assembly Delegation shall be invited to the provincial People’s Committee’s meeting; the Head of the Delegate Coalition of the provincial People's Council shall be invited to the district-level People's Committee's meeting.

2. The Chairperson of the Vietnam Fatherland Front Committee, the Head of the local socio-political organization and representatives of Committees of the People’s Council shall be invited to the same-level People’s Committee to discuss relevant issues; the Chief Justice of the People’s Court and the Head of the People’s Procuracy at the provincial and district level shall be invited to the same-level People’s Committee’s meeting to discuss relevant issues.

3. The Chairperson of the People’s Council, the Heads of State organs at the inferior level, and other members, shall be invited to the People's Committee's meeting to discuss relevant issues.

Article 117. Voting at the People’s Committee’s meeting

1. The People’s Committee shall make a decision on issues at the meeting by means of voting. Members of the People’s Committee shall have the right to cast their yes, no or abstention votes.

2. The People’s Committee shall decide to apply one of the voting methods as follows:

a) Open voting;

b) Secret voting.

3. The decision made by the People’s Committee must obtain more than half of members of the People’s Committee voting in favor. In case the number of votes in favor equals the number of votes against, the President of the People’s Committee shall have the deciding vote.

Article 118. Voting by means of opinion balloting

1. With regard to certain issues considered as pressing issues or those that are not necessarily required to be dealt with by discussions or voting at the People's Committee's meetings, the President of the People’s Committee shall decide voting of members of the People’s Committee in the form of opinion balloting. Voting in the form of opinion balloting shall be implemented in accordance with Clause 3 Article 117 hereof.

2. The President of the People’s Committee must announce the result of voting in the form of opinion balloting at the upcoming meeting of the People’s Committee.

Article 119. Meeting minutes of the People’s Committee

Meeting sessions of the People’s Committee shall be duplicated into two versions. The meeting minutes should record full contents of oral opinions and all events that take place at the meeting and concluding comments or statements issued by the meeting chair, or the voting result.

Article 120. Notification of the result of the People’s Committee’s meeting

1. The result of the People’s Committee’s meeting must be disseminated to the following entities:

a) Members of the People’s Committee, the Standing Executive Committees of the Communist Party, the Standing Committee of the People’s Council and the Standing Committee of the Vietnam Fatherland Front Committee and the Heads of the socio-political organizations at the same level;

b) The President of the People’s Committee at the directly superior and inferior level; the Prime Minister in terms of the provincial People's Committee's meetings;

c) Relevant agencies, organizations or units.

2. As for the result of the People’s Committee’s meetings relating to the socio-economic development plan and zoning, and proposal for land use, compensation and site clearance as well as issues pertaining to rights and obligations of local residents, the People’s Committee shall be responsible for notifying press agencies immediately after each meeting session.

Article 121. Scope of and responsibilities for accomplishing tasks of the President of the People’s Committee

1. Assume sole responsibility for implementing duties and powers delegated under the provisions of this Law; collaborate with other members of the People’s Committee in assuming collective accountability for the performance of the People’s Committee to the People’s Council at the same level, state organs at the superior level and local people as well as taking legal liability.

2. Directly provide directions on handling, or authorize the Vice President of the People's Committee to preside over or collaborate in dealing with, issues in relation to different industries or sectors at local areas. When necessary, the President of the People’s Committee shall be entitled to establish consulting organizations to advise and assist the President to deal with his/her work.

3. Authorize one Vice President of the People’s Committee to act on behalf of the President to manage all work of the People’s Committee in the event that the President of the People’s Committee is absent.

4. Act on behalf of the People’s Committee to sign the People’s Committee’s decisions; promulgate decisions, directives and instructions, and inspect the implementation of these instruments at local areas.

Article 122. Scope of and responsibilities for accomplishing tasks of the Vice President of the People’s Committee

1. Perform tasks assigned by the President of the People’s Committee and take responsibility to the President of the People’s Committee for his/her performance of assigned tasks; collaborate with other members of the People’s Committee in taking collective responsibility for the performance of the People’s Committee.

2. Attend all of meeting sessions of the People’s Committee; discuss and hold a voting for issues within assigned duties and delegated powers of the People’s Committee.

3. Sign decisions and directives approved by the President of the People’s Committee as authorized by the President of the People’s Committee.

Article 123. Scope of and responsibilities for accomplishing tasks of members of the People’s Committee

1. Undertake specific tasks assigned by the President of the People’s Committee and take responsibility to the People’s Committee and the President of the People’s Committee for his/her performance of assigned tasks; collaborate with other members of the People’s Committee in taking collective responsibility for the performance of the People’s Committee; report their performance to the People’s Council upon request.

Members of the People’s Committee being the Heads of professional affiliates of the People’s Committee shall be responsible to superior-level state organs in charge of specific industries or sectors.

2. Attend all of meeting sessions of the People’s Committee; discuss and hold a voting for issues within assigned duties and delegated powers of the People’s Committee.

Article 124. Dispatch and dismissal of the President, Vice President of the People’s Committee

1. The Prime Minister shall decide to dispatch the President and the Vice President of the provincial People’s Committee; the President of the People’s Committee at the provincial and district level shall decide to dispatch the President of the People’s Committee and the Vice President of the People's Committee at the directly inferior level.

2. The Prime Minister shall decide to dismiss the President and the Vice President of the provincial People’s Committee; the President of the People’s Committee at the provincial and district level shall decide to dismiss the President and the Vice President of the People’s Committee at the directly inferior level when these incumbents commit violations against laws or fail to comply with their delegated duties and powers.

3. Dispatched or dismissed persons are forced to terminate implementation of duties as the President or Vice President of the People's Committee as at the effective date of dispatch or dismissal decisions.

4. The person making decisions to dispatch and dismiss the President of the People's Committee shall delegate powers of the President of the People's Committee; notify the People’s Council of dispatch and dismissal of the President or the Vice President of the People’s Committee, and the delegation of powers of the President of the People’s Committee in order for them to elect the new President or the Vice President of the People’s Committee at the next meeting.

Article 125. Holding discussions or dialogues between the communal-level People's Committee and the people

The communal-level People’s Committee shall be responsible for holding discussions or dialogues with the local people on the performance of the People’s Committee and issues relating to rights and obligations of the local people at least once a year; in case the size of the administrative unit at the communal level is too large, such discussions or dialogues shall be held by each village group and residential quarter. The people’s committee shall post a notice through means of mass media and notify the Head of the village and the Head of the residential quarter of time, venue and contents in the discussion or dialogue with the people not later than 07 days before the opening date.

Section 3: OFFICE, OPERATING EXPENSE AND ASSISTING MACHINERY OF THE LOCAL GOVERNMENT

Article 126. Office and operating expense of the local government

1. The local government’s office shall be built for the People’s Council and the People’s Committee, and be provided with equipment and facilities to meet the demand for collaboration between local government agencies in performing duties and serving the people.

2. The operating expense paid by local government shall be funded by the state budget. The operating budget of the local government must be managed so that it is used in an economical and efficient manner as well as must be audited in accordance with laws.

Article 127. Assisting machinery of the local government

1. The office of the provincial People’s Council shall be an organ tasked with advising, assisting and supporting operations of the People’s Council, the Standing Committee of the People’s Council, committees of the People’s Council and delegates of the People’s Council at the provincial level.

2. The office of the provincial People’s Committee shall be an organ tasked with advising, assisting and supporting operations of the provincial People’s Committee.

3. The office of the People’s Council and the People’s Committee at the district level shall be an organ tasked with advising, assisting and supporting operations of the People’s Council and the People’s Committee at the district level.

4. The Government shall specify duties, powers and organizational and personnel structure of the Office of the provincial People’s Council, the Office of the provincial People's Committee, the Office of the People’s Council and the People’s Committee at the district level, and organization of tasks of advising, assisting and supporting operations of the People’s Council and the People’s Committee at the communal level.