Part III
District Administration

Chapter I
Location, Role, Functions and Organization Structure
 

Article 19 District

      A district is a level of local administration under the supervision of a Province or Capital City . A district is composed of several villages.

Article 20 Role and Functions of District Administration

     The role of district administrations is to manage political, economic, socio-cultural affairs and human resources; protect/preserve and utilize natural resources, the environment and other resources; manage national and local defense and security, and foreign affairs as assigned by the Province/Capital City.

Article 21 The Organization Structure and Personnel of the District Administration

     The organization structure of the district administration is comprised of the following:

• the District Cabinet; and

• The field offices of the line ministries and equivalent offices in the district.

The personnel of district administration is comprised of:

• Chief of district;

• Vice Chief of district;

• Chief and Deputy Chief of the District Cabinet;

• Director and Deputy Director of line offices in the district; and

• Permanent staff of the district administration.
  
  

Article 22 Location and Role of the Chief of District Cabinet

     The district cabinet is part of the organization structure of the district. The role of the district cabinet is to: assist the district chief in their management of tasks; formulate program and project plans; study, finalize, draft, research and edit documents; coordinate with concerned parties; provide information; supervise and support the implementation of legal acts of higher level and the district authorities; and facilitate the operation of the district administration.

     Further details of the organization structure, personnel, authority and duties of the District Cabinet are outline by specific regulations.

Article 23 Location, Role and Functions of the Field Offices of the Line Ministries and Equivalent Organizations in the District

     The field offices of the line ministries and equivalent organization are part of the organization structure of the district administration. The role of the field offices is to manage their own sector's responsibilities as assigned by the province, capital city and line ministries and equivalent organizations; implement legal acts of higher authorities and socio-economic development plans of the province, capital city and district.

     Further details of the organization structure, personnel, authority and duties of field offices of the line ministries and equivalent organizations of the district are outline by specific regulations.

Chapter II
Creation of the District

Article 24 Creation, Abolition, Division, Merger and Land Area Definition

     The creation, abolition, division, merger or definition of land area of a district is defined and proposed by the Governor or Mayor and approved by the Government

Article 25 Criteria Creation:

      The criteria for the creation of a district are:

1. A suitable geographic location for administration;

2. A population of at least 30,000 for districts in the low land and 20,000 for those in the high land. Special cases will be decided by the government;

3. The presence of infrastructure and conditions for socio-economic development.
   
   

Chapter III
Roles, Functions, Authorities and Duties of the District Chief

Article 26 Roles of the District Chief

     The District Chief is the chief of administrative and representative of the district. S/he is responsible to the provincial and Capital city to fulfill their role, authority and duties.

Article 27 Authorities and Duties of the District Chief

     The District Chief shall have the following authorities and duties:

1. To ensure the effective implementation of the constitution, laws and rules of the State;
2. To convene and preside over district administration meetings;
3. To study, develop strategies for district socio-economic development and budget plans;
4. To implement plans for: socio-economic development; the state budget; defense and security of the district; prevention of negative phenomena; monitoring and inspection of the central, provincial and Capital City investment projects being implemented in the district;
5. To facilitate and manage the organizations concerned to ensure the timely and accurate accounting of revenues in the district;
6. To motivate, promote and facilitate the participation of the Lao Front for National Construction, mass organizations, civil society organizations and all economic parties and ethnic people in the socio-economic development of the district;
7. To issue decisions, orders, instructions, notification and other regulations in accordance with laws;
8. To implement citizen management in the district;
9. To suspend or cancel other legal acts of lower local administration; or propose to higher level authority to cancel legal acts of higher local administration that do not support National Laws and regulations;
10. To propose the creation and abolition of villages and any offices within the structure of the district administration;
11. To propose appointment, transfer or demote of deputy districts chief, Chief, deputy Chief of the district Cabinet;
    To propose appointment or acknowledge an appointment of deputy directors of field offices of the line ministries and equivalent organizations in the districts;
12. To appoint, transfer or demote the heads and deputy heads of units of the district administration and other staff in accordance with the regulations; to approve the election or appointment of the villages chiefs;
13. To manage the performance of the organization and personnel in accordance with their authority, including the supervision and reporting on performance of civil servants of line ministries;
14. To consider, advise or resolve complaints, petitions and proposals from within the civil service, relating to inappropriate behavior or unsatisfactory performance of staff or organization within the scope of their jurisdiction in accordance with the laws;
15. To regularly report the overall situation in the district to the Governor or Mayor;
16. To cooperate with international organization as directed by the province or Capital City ;
17. To assume other authorities and duties in accordance with the laws.
    
    

Article 28 Authorities and Duties of Vice District Chief

     The Vice District Chief shall assist the District Chief and is also in charge of some functions which are given by the District Chief.

     In the case District Chief is unable to implement her/his duties for any reason, the Vice District Chief takes over.

Article 29 Appointment and Term of Office of the Chief and Vice District Chief

     The District Chief is appointed, transferred or demoted by the Prime Minister based on the proposal of the Governor/Mayor.

     The District Chief shall have a five - year term of office and can be reappointed for one more term in the same place.

    The Vice District Chief is appointed, transferred or demoted by the Governor/Mayor based on a proposal of the District Chief and shall have a five- year office term and may be reappointed.

Chapter IV
District Administration Meeting

Article 30 The District Administration Meeting

     Regular district administration meetings shall be held once a month and shall be convened and chaired by the district chief. The participants of the districts administration meeting include the Vice District Chief, Chief of the Districts Cabinet, Directors of field offices of the line ministries and equivalent organizations. If necessary, the representatives of other concerned parties may be invited to attend.

     In cases where an emergency or urgent matter arises, the District Chief can call a special meeting.

     In each meeting, minutes of the meeting shall be recorded. The minutes shall be approved and signed by the Chairman, and then distributed to the participants and concerned parties for implementation. In cases where there is a decision on important issues, a resolution of the meeting shall be prepared.

Article 31 The Agenda of the District Administration Meeting

     The agenda or topics to be considered and agreed upon in the district administration meeting should include:

1. Socio-economic strategy and development plans of the districts;
2. District budget plan and annual budget amendments or adjustments;
3. Create/Abolition of villages and organization structure of district to considerate by higher level authority ;
4. Draft legal acts of the district;
5. Consideration of investment projects in the district;
6. Report on the implementation of planned activities of the district;
7. Annual report to the Governor, Mayor;
8. Local defense and security of the district and international relation and cooperation;
9. Personnel management issues.

     The district administration meeting may also discuss other important and necessary issues.