Political and Legal Environment

Political and Legislative System

The Constitution in general put the people under the leadership of the Communist Party, of which the highest representation is the Politburo and the Party Secretary General. The power of the people is to be exercised through the National Assembly (“NA”) at the central level and the People’s Councils at different local levels.

The NA is the supreme representative and legislative body and determines both domestic and foreign policy. It is elected by universal suffrage. The NA in turn elects and may remove from office the President, Vice-President, Chairperson of the NA, Vice-chairperson of NA, members of the Standing Committee of the NA, the Prime Minister of Government (“PM”), the Chief Justice of the Supreme People’s Court, and the Head of the Supreme People’s Procuracy. In addition, the NA has the responsibility of approving the PM’s selection of Deputy Prime Ministers and Ministers.

The NA is also responsible for approving the organization of the Government of Vietnam (“GoV”) and its agencies and is then the supreme law-making body. The duration of the NA is 5 years and elections are held two months prior to the expiry of its term. The Standing Committee possesses the power to manage the day-to-day affairs of the NA when it is not in session and during this time the Standing Committee assumes all its powers, including the law-making power on matters entrusted to it by the NA.

The Head of State is the President, who is elected by the NA and represents the Nation internally and externally.

The highest executive body in Vietnam is the GoV. It is charged generally with the management of the economy and the state. It is made up of the PM, Deputy Prime Ministers, Ministers and the Chairpersons of the various State Committees and the Governor of the State Bank. Individual ministries and organizations equivalent to ministries aid the PM in the administration of the Country within the specific fields in which they have jurisdiction. The Deputy Prime Ministers and the Ministers are selected by the PM but must be approved by the NA. With the exception of the PM, the members of the GoV do not have to be members of the NA. Decisions on major issues must be taken on a majority basis.

As from 1 July 2025, local governments have been being organized according to a 2-level model (replacing the former 3-level model), including the provincial/centrally run city level, and the ward/commune level (eliminating the rural district/urban district level). Each level of local government includes the People’s Council and the People’s Committee. The People’s Council is elected by the people, and the People’s Council shall elect the People’s Committee.

In line with the 2-level local government model, the systems of People’s Courts and People’s Procuracies in Vietnam have been also rearranged. Instead of being organized according to the former 4-level model, the People’s Courts and the People’s Procuracies are now organized according to a 3-level model, including the central, provincial and regional levels (eliminating the urban district/rural district level).

At the central level, the Supreme People’s Court is the highest judicial body in Vietnam and the Chief Justice is elected by the National Assembly. Under the new model, the Supreme People’s Court has Court of Appeal 1 in Hanoi, Court of Appeal 2 in Da Nang and Court of Appeal 3 in Ho Chi Minh City. The Supreme People’s Procuracy is the highest prosecuting authority in Vietnam, and the Chief Prosecutor is also elected by the National Assembly.

At the local levels, these authorities include People’s Courts/Procuracies of provinces/centrally run cities and regional People’s Courts/Procuracies.

For information, the political system and State apparatus are outlined below: