Vietnam – annual report 2022

Details
Published: September 4, 2023
Delegation from the Supreme People’s Court of Vietnam at the Federal Court of Justice in Karlsruhe with Chief Justice of the Supreme People’s Court, His Excellency Nguyen Hoa Binh.
Delegation from the Supreme People’s Court of Vietnam at the Federal Court of Justice in Karlsruhe with Chief Justice of the Supreme People’s Court, His Excellency Nguyen Hoa Binh.

Strategic Framework

Legal Policy Starting Point

Vietnam holds a key strategic position in Southeast Asia due to the German government’s realigned Asia policy in the wake of the global crisis mode and due to the country’s economic potential.

Last year, the country launched its “strategy for building and perfecting the Socialist Rule of Law State of Vietnam until 2030, with a vision to 2045”. In order to implement this plan, the government initiated a variety of restructuring processes, as well as reforms of the legal system and the judiciary. The limits are set by the political leadership, though. For instance, control over state authorities will remain with the Communist Party of Vietnam. Any criticism of state authority is still punished severely and freedom of expression and of the press are highly curtailed.

The country’s economic prosperity – Vietnam has managed to grow exports and is increasingly involved in free trade agreements and supply chains – is attracting many investors. There is therefore a significant need to develop an effective legal system with an efficient judiciary.

Overall Concept

IRZ is among the actors in the German-Vietnamese Rule of Law Dialogue between the Federal Ministry of Justice and the Vietnamese Ministry of Justice. A Three-Year Work Programme for 2022 to 2025 was signed in September 2022 to confirm continuation of this partnership, which was affirmed by the visit of the Vietnamese Minister of Justice Le Thanh Long to the Federal Ministry of Justice in Berlin in November 2022.

Annual work programmes, including bilateral planning of the different activities, address the specifics of cooperation in the individual legal areas and for projects within the judiciary. IRZ completed the projects from the 2021 to 2022 work plan in 2022, and in October 2022 the ministries of justice adopted the work plan until October 2023, creating a basis for IRZ’s activities in 2023.

The judicial reforms, which aim to establish a clearer separation of powers held by state organs at legislative, executive and judicial levels, prompted the Supreme People’s Court to visit Berlin and Karlsruhe in early July 2022. An eleven-strong delegation led by Chief Justice Nguyen Hoa Binh visited the Federal Court of Justice in Karlsruhe and held intensive expert talks on the basis of a prepared catalogue of questions on court administration, the allocation of court business and on the appeal stages (legal remedy, appeal against non-admission). During their time in Berlin, the visitors from Vietnam sought discussions with experts on specialised jurisdiction, lay and juvenile jurisdiction with the Federal Ministry of Justice and the Berlin-Tiergarten Local Court. Based on these specific needs, the discussions enabled in-depth discussions of important structural regulations, including explanations of how they are put into practice in daily work practice routines.

Focus of Activity in 2022

Civil and Commercial Law

  • Hybrid workshop on gender equality in family law (women’s position in marriage and family law) in cooperation with the Ministry of Justice
  • Hybrid workshop in cooperation with the German Federal Bar and the Vietnam Bar Federation to strengthen negotiation and counselling skills in the conclusion of
  • merger and acquisition contracts and in the transfer of real estate

Public Law

  • Hybrid workshop with the Supreme People’s Court on administrative law, administrative procedure law and practical experience in administrative court cases

Administration of Justice

  • Study trip (in close cooperation with the Federal Ministry of Justice) for the Supreme People’s Court on current judicial reforms: court organisation, specialised jurisdiction and juvenile jurisdiction

Criminal and Penitentiary Law

  • Online expert participation in the exchange of international experiences with the Supreme People’s Court on the draft law on juvenile jurisdiction
  • Hybrid workshop on combating corruption and white collar crime and on corruption prevention in cooperation with the Ministry of Public Security

Outlook

A foundation has been laid to continue cooperation with the adoption of the work programme for 2022 to October 2023. Topics include human rights guarantees in criminal proceedings, human rights and business, civil procedural law, medical law, strengthening legal advocacy skills, training courses on legal methodology, white collar criminal law, juvenile criminal law, corruption prevention, the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), an exchange on international experience in questions relating to the death penalty and international maritime law.