responsibility; and alleviating cumbersome, corrupt, and functionary procedures
in the administrative system.
Apart from the state institutions, some provisions of the 1992 constitution
regarding economy, educational, scientific, and technological policies looked out
of date in the new transitional context. Ten years of national transition, coupled
with globalization, resulted in the emergence of novel sectors of the economy
focused on education, science, and technology. Therefore, although in 2001
Vietnam reformed state institutions, it also wished to reflect economic, educa-
tional, scientific, and technological advancements in the Constitution.
Consequently, the NA adopted the constitutional amendments on December 25 ,
2001 , at its plenary session after long deliberation.^14 The amendments were then
promulgated by the President of State on January 7 , 2002 , and were effective the
next day.
In concordance with the amended constitution, a number of organic laws were
enacted or revised. On the same day (December 25 , 2001 ) that the constitutional
amendment was passed, the NA correspondingly enacted the new Law on Organ-
ization of the National Assembly, which was later amended on April 17 , 2007 , and
the Law on Organization of the Government, and revised the Law on Selection of
Delegates of the National Assembly, which had been previously enacted on April
17 , 1997. In the session on April 2 , 2002 , the NA enacted the new Law on Organiza-
tion of the People’s Procuracies and the Law on Organization of the People’s
Courts. Finally, we should note the introduction of the Law on the Supervisory
Activities of the National Assembly on June 17 , 2003 , to specify the supervisory
power of the NA. Generally speaking, the organic laws describe in detail the
relevant constitutional provisions.
Contents of constitutional amendments
Initially, some legislators and radical legal scholars called for a fundamental
revision of the Constitution or a new constitution because they believed that the
1992 constitution had been adopted in the early stage ofDoi moiwhen Vietnam did
not have the necessary conditions to introduce a comprehensively renovating
constitution.^15 However, the Party refuted both fundamental revision and a new
constitution and instead channeled the amendments toward individual issues
mainly associated with the state machinery, which were obviously old-fashioned.
(^14) For an excellent elaboration of contentious debates in the process of amending the 1992
constitution in 2001 , see Mark Sidel, “Analytical models for understanding constitutions
and constitutional dialogues in socialist transitional states: re-interpreting constitutional
dialogues in Vietnam” ( 2002 ) 6 Singapore Journal of International and Comparative Law 42.
(^15) Pham Quoc Anh (ed.),Nhung Van de Co ban cua Hien phap 1992 Sua doi(Fundamental
Issues of the Revised 1992 Constitution) (Hanoi: People’s Police Publishing House, 2006 ),
pp. 42 – 3.