This book is the result of the first interdisciplinary conference in Vietnam which took place on "the Rule of Law." Instead of beginning immediately with a highly specialized debate from the perspective of one single academic discipline, we started to discuss numerous facets of the subject arising from a multidisciplinary dialogue. For this reason, the contributions for this publication come from various scientific disciplines in Vietnam and Germany: political, historical, social, economic and legal sciences, but also members of Vietnamese governmental and non-governmental organizations. The aim of the volume is to open up a dialogue about the Rule of Law between two very different legal cultures, the German-European and the Vietnamese-Southeast Asian.

This new book examines constitutional debate and development in one of the most dynamic and rapidly changing societies in Asia, and will be of use to scholars and students of comparative law, comparative constitutional law and Asian law, and practitioners interested in Asia or in Vietnam. The book discusses and analyses the historical development, principles, doctrines and debates which comprise and shape Vietnamese constitutional law today, during a time of reform and debate. The chapters are written in sufficient detail for anyone coming to the subject for the first time to develop a clear and informed view of how the constitution is arranged, how it works, and the main points of debate on it in Vietnamese society. It is written in an accessible style, with an emphasis on clarity and concision. The book discusses and analyses the origins of Vietnamese constitutional thought; the first (1946) Constitution of independent Vietnam; Constitutional dialogue and debate in the late 1940s and 1950s, including the work of dissidents in the 1950s; the 1959 Vietnamese Constitution; constitutional dialogue and debate in the 1960s and 1970s; the 1980 Constitution; the rise of doi moi (renovation) and debates over constitutionalism in the 1980s; the 1992 Constitution, including the role of legislative, executive and judicial sectors, constitutional power and enforcement, constitutional rights and obligations, and other issues; constitutional dialogue and debate in the 1990s; the constitutional debate and revision process of 2001 and the current Vietnamese Constitution the rise of debate over judicial independence and constitutional enforcement and review in Vietnam; comparison to constitutional developments and debates in China; constitutions and constitutional issue in the former South Vietnam; the links and tensions between state and party constitutions; and concluding analysis of 60 years of the development of Vietnam's Constitution and constitutionalism.