1. The regional courts of first instance (toa an so tham khu vuc)
established in one or several administrative localities at district level
will hear first cases of all kinds.
2. The courts of appeal (toa an phuc tham) established in one or
several administrative localities at provincial level will hear appeals
and some cases of first instance.
3. The high courts (toa an thuong tham) established in certain regions
will hear appeals from lower courts.
4. The People’s Supreme Court (Toa an nhan dan toi cao) will be
responsible for reconsidering, reviewing, and summing up trial
experiences; guiding the uniform application of law; and develop-
ing case law.^77The above court reform project seems unattainable unless the 1992 constitution is
amended.^78 Therefore, court structural reform is a principal concern for the
coming constitutional amendment debate. The spirit of the Judicial Reform
Strategy is reflected in the Constitutional Proposal. The Proposal restates the Party
guidance of “organizing the courts according to jurisdiction over trial and inde-
pendent of administrative unit.”^79
The proposed court system shares a number of commonalities with judiciaries in
the modern democracies. When Vietnam is successful in implementing the court
reform proposal, this will be a significant step towards modern standards of the
judiciary.
Local government: the problems of local representative
and grassroots democracyLike the court system, the local government system was one of the principal
concerns of the last constitutional reform, but remained unchanged eventually.
However, recent developments reveal more pressure for reforming local govern-
ment, which may result in revising the relevant constitutional provisions.
During the initial stage of the last constitutional amendment process, particular
attention was paid to the symbolic status of the representative body, the people’s
council (Hoi dong nhan dan), at district level. Some commentators called for
eliminating the institution because of its formalist function. However, the argu-
ment for any relevant constitutional change was far from cogent. Recently, more
practical evidence of the role of the institution has proved its futility, resulting in
further demands for its removal.
(^77) Judicial Reform Strategy.
(^78) “Khong sua Hien phap, kho Cai cach Tu phap” (Without amending the Constitution, it
would be difficult to reform the judiciary),http://vnexpress.net/gl/phap-luat/ 2007 / 10 /
3 b 9 fb 3 fb(last visited October 4 , 2011 ).
(^79) “Constitutional Proposal.”