Rethinking contemporary conceptions of law, the legal system, and the structure of the legal system in Viet Nam

Abstract

As Viet Nam enters a new phase of development, rethinking prevailing the conceptions of law, the legal system, and its structure has become imperative. This article identifies key conceptual bottlenecks in Vietnamese scholarship and practice and suggests remedies. Based on a review of leading textbooks, legal dictionaries, the Constitution, and selected statutes, the analysis finds that: (i) law is still primarily conceived as a tool of state management rather than a foundation for the protection of human rights and checks on power; (ii) a statute-centric “single-source” understanding persists despite the formal recognition of treaties, case law, and custom; (iii) the structure of the legal system is commonly reduced to two layers (substantive content/formal sources) with insufficient attention to an operational layer; and (iv) terminology, interpretive methods, and citation practices remain inconsistent. The paper therefore proposes to reposition law as a rights- and accountability-based institution, consolidate a multi-source approach, develop a three-layer structural model (content- form- operation), and standardize legal terminology and interpretive techniques to advance legal development in Viet Nam.