The Supreme People's Court of Vietnam: Benchbook Online | Articles | An Phat Pham Law Firm | Văn phòng luật sư An Phát Phạm

After the publication of the first Benchbook in 2008, the Supreme People’s Court and the group of international consultants gathered comments from the Judges throughout the country for the purpose of supplementation and revision of the Benchbook. The consultation was conducted in three forms: interviews, questionnaires and seminars.

Most of the comments show the need to update the Benchbook, especially, in the context that Vietnam became the 150th member of the World Trade Organization (WTO) on 11 January 2007, and Vietnam acceded to or signed a number of international convention and treaties, both bilateral and multilateral. Vietnam has been continuously improving their legal system, including both substantive and procedural laws, by revising and adopting a lot of new legal normative documents in order to meet the WTO’s requirements.

The Supreme People’s Court, assisted by the international consultants, leads the revision and supplementation of the Benchbook and updates the relevant normative legal documents adopted from 2006 concurrently.

After revision, the Benchbook still contains commentaries and guidance on theories and practical skills applicable to the resolution of different types of cases in Courts. The Benchbook is not a collection of laws and codes to be used directly by the Judges in rendering decisions, but a supportive tool to help Judges find the necessary information to resolve a particular case, or clues to make proper decisions. The criteria for development of the Benchbook is that both its contents and form should meet current practical needs and be suitable for easy and convenient updating or alteration when so required.

The revised and supplemented Benchbook is expected to be a manual for Judges, especially the newly appointed ones, to improve their professional skills and to facilitate their daily performance. In addition, the Benchbook is also an important source of reference for persons conducting proceedings, law lecturers and students. It also helps persons participating in proceedings have a better understanding about Court procedures that in turn, facilitates the smoothness of proceedings. The Benchbook is intended to assist the public study in more detail the operation of the court, making the courts more accessible to the public, and improving the transparency of its procedures.
The Supreme People’s Court, especially the group of authors and the Edition Board, contributed significantly to supplementing and revising the Benchbook. The supplementation and revision of the Benchbook has been accomplished with the technical assistance from the Australian Government via AusAID, the Federal Court of Australia, and the Australian Embassy to Vietnam and in particular, the tremendous efforts of the group of Australian consultants – His Excellency Justice Michael Moore of the Federal Court of Australia, Madame Cate Sumner, and Mr. Kien Cuong Nguyen, lawyer of Maddocks Lawyers in Melbourne.

It is hoped that the Benchbook will satisfy the users, especially the Judges. With such expectations, the Supreme People’s Court wishes to receive more comments about the Benchbook for further revision and improvement in future editions.

                                                                                                                                     Chief Justice of the Supreme People’s Court

                                                                                                                                                               Truong Hoa Binh

Introduction

The Benchbook includes comments and guidelines with respect to theoretical and practical skills for resolving different types of cases at Court. The Benchbook is created as a manual for Judges in improving their expertise and facilitating their daily duties. In addition, the Benchbook is a valuable source of information to persons who conduct proceedings. The Benchbook also allows the public to gain an understanding of procedures involved within the Vietnamese Court system and therefore improves transparency of Court practices and procedures. Information contained in this database has been obtained from the Supreme People's Court of Vietnam.

Please click here to go to the Benchbook.