On March 12, at the National Assembly Building, the Standing Committee of the National Assembly's Committee on Legal and Judicial Affairs held a preliminary appraisal meeting on the draft revised Capital Law.

Member of the Party Central Committee and Head of the National Assembly's Committee on Legal and Judicial Affairs Hoang Thanh Tung chaired the meeting.

Representatives from the National Assembly included members of the Standing Board of the Committee on Legal and Judicial Affairs representatives from several other National Assembly committees and Deputy Minister of Justice Nguyen Thanh Tu.

Representing Hanoi were Nguyen Xuan Luu, member of the Standing Board of the Hanoi Party Committee and Vice Chairman of the Hanoi People's Committee, and Pham Thi Thanh Mai, Vice Chairwoman of the Hanoi People's Council and Deputy Head of the Hanoi National Assembly Delegation.

Agreement with principles and viewpoints for drafting the revised Capital Law

At the meeting, Deputy Minister of Justice Nguyen Thanh Tu presented a summary of the proposal for the revised Capital Law.

According to the proposal, the draft revised Capital Law includes nine chapters and 36 articles, a reduction of 18 articles compared with Capital Law No. 39/2024/QH15.

Tu explained that the practical basis for revising the law lies in the need to improve special and breakthrough mechanisms to mobilize, allocate and use resources effectively for the development of the capital.

In practice, institutional bottlenecks, particularly in investment, finance and budgeting, land management and public-private partnerships, have limited the ability to mobilize social resources, especially from the private sector.

Therefore, special policies and mechanisms are needed to enable the capital to take greater initiative in deciding and implementing large-scale infrastructure projects with regional and interregional connectivity.

At the same time, the requirement to build a modern, streamlined and efficient urban government model calls for stronger decentralization and delegation of authority, linked with accountability under the principle of "local authorities decide, implement and take responsibility."

In the preliminary appraisal of the draft law, the Standing Committee of the National Assembly's Committee on Legal and Judicial Affairs supported a comprehensive revision of the Capital Law.

Nguyen Phuong Thuy, Deputy Head of the Committee for Law and Justice, said the law dossier was carefully and thoroughly prepared and complies with regulations governing the submission of legislative proposals under the simplified procedure stipulated in Article 50 of the Law on Promulgation of Legal Normative Documents.

According to Article 51 of the same law, the dossier contains all required documents and meets the conditions for submission to the National Assembly Standing Committee for consideration and feedback.

The Standing Committee of the Commission for Law and Justice and related agencies agreed with the viewpoints and principles for drafting the revised Capital Law as presented in Government Submission No. 61/TTr-CP.

The draft law institutionalizes the Party's policies on building, developing and protecting the capital in the new period, particularly conclusions drawn after three years of implementing Resolution No. 15-NQ/TW and proposals to the Politburo to issue a new resolution on developing Hanoi in a new era.

It also reflects strategic resolutions of the Politburo for the country's development and the development orientation defined in the Resolution of the 18th Hanoi Party Congress as well as recent directions from Party and State leaders.

The Standing Committee of the Commission for Law and Justice proposed further research on several issues, including fully incorporating the requirement to renew legislative thinking in accordance with Politburo Resolution No. 66-NQ/TW when drafting provisions in the law.

The committee also recommended studying the incorporation of requirements set out in several resolutions, including Resolution No. 80-NQ/TW on Vietnamese cultural development, Resolution No. 71-NQ/TW on breakthroughs in education and training, Resolution No. 72-NQ/TW on improving healthcare and protecting public health and Resolution No. 68-NQ/TW on developing the private sector.

It also suggested considering provisions on establishing a Capital Region Development Fund as a state financial fund outside the state budget and assigning the city People's Council authority to determine the number, establishment, organizational model, operation, management and financial and credit mechanisms of such funds.

Draft law based on comprehensive decentralization approach

Vice Chairman of the Hanoi People's Committee Nguyen Xuan Luu said the Hanoi People's Committee has worked closely with the Ministry of Justice in drafting the revised Capital Law.

He noted that the draft law is complex and involves most areas of state management, while preparation was required within a very limited timeframe.

Therefore, every appraisal opinion and comment is important and the Hanoi People's Committee will carefully study and incorporate feedback to improve the draft law.

The approach to drafting the law emphasizes decentralization.

Regarding recommendations to review provisions in the draft law to ensure alignment with the Party's direction on legislative reform, particularly expanding decentralization, the articles should be formulated in a more general manner focusing on defining the authority of city government rather than overly detailed regulations.

At the same time, the inclusion of specific provisions also establishes legal boundaries allowing Hanoi to proactively implement tasks related to the management of a special urban area within the defined scope of delegated authority while creating a basis for oversight by higher authorities.

Regarding the scope of delegated authority for the capital's government, some opinions suggested clarifying which powers are permanently delegated to the city and distinguishing them from pilot mechanisms that may differ from current laws.

In response, the Hanoi People's Committee will review and revise the draft law to more clearly define groups of powers assigned to city authorities, especially the decision-making authority of the Hanoi People's Council in areas such as organizational structure, human resource management, financial management and the issuance of special policies.

Regarding decentralization in urban governance and the role of commune- and ward-level authorities, the city also agreed with suggestions to clarify decentralization mechanisms in urban management, particularly the role of grassroots authorities that directly handle many urban management issues.

Relevant provisions will be reviewed to more clearly define responsibilities between the city government and commune and ward authorities.

Regarding pilot policies, these matters will be considered and decided by the National Assembly and stipulated in the law. Implementation will therefore follow provisions of the law and related guiding documents.

On supervision, inspection and accountability, the draft law includes a dedicated chapter, Chapter VIII, clearly defining responsibilities of the National Assembly, its committees, National Assembly delegations and deputies, as well as the responsibilities of the capital's government, organizations, agencies and residents.

The Vice Chairman of the Hanoi People's Committee affirmed that effective provisions from Capital Law No. 39 and Resolution No. 258/2025/QH15 on piloting special mechanisms for implementing major projects in the capital will continue to be incorporated into the draft law.

Regarding the Capital Region, Luu emphasized that the Hanoi Capital Region differs from other regions because it functions as a central hub while surrounding provinces serve as linked areas.

Hanoi's development therefore goes hand in hand with regional development. For that reason, the draft law proposes establishing a Capital Region Development Fund.

The fund will finance projects promoting regional connectivity and development, particularly those related to environmental protection, climate issues, infrastructure connectivity and shared regional policies.

Currently, Hanoi has already established cooperation with five provinces and has jointly implemented major projects such as Ring Road 4 and the road connecting to Gia Binh Airport.

On behalf of the Hanoi leadership, Luu expressed appreciation for the appraisal opinions from the Standing Committee of the National Assembly's Committee on Legal and Judicial Affairs and contributions from other National Assembly bodies.

He noted that the feedback was thoughtful, comprehensive and valuable.

At the meeting, representatives of participating agencies agreed on the necessity of revising the Capital Law and the proposed groups of new policies.

They recommended clearly distinguishing provisions granting Hanoi autonomous decision-making authority appropriate to the city's unique development characteristics from pilot mechanisms that differ from existing legal regulations.

Such clarification would ensure clear responsibilities and accountability in implementation.

Concluding the meeting, Chairman of the National Assembly's Committee on Legal and Judicial Affairs Hoang Thanh Tung said 12 opinions were presented during the session, while representatives from the Ministry of Justice and the Hanoi People's Committee provided additional explanations.

The participants generally agreed on the necessity of revising the Capital Law and praised the efforts of the Ministry of Justice, the Hanoi People's Committee and the drafting agencies in preparing the legislative dossier within a short timeframe despite the large workload.

Many comments had already been incorporated during the drafting process and the proposal is now ready to be submitted to the National Assembly Standing Committee for further consideration and feedback.