The discourse of constitutional review in Vietnam

Abstract

Like China, early twenty first century Vietnam has witnessed the particular rise of discourse on the possible creation of an independent institution of constitutional review. But different from in China, the matter of constitutional review receives official concern in Vietnam. Several congresses of the Communist Party of Vietnam encourage the search a suitable model of constitutional review in Vietnam. In 2010s, when Vietnam initiates the plan to comprehensively revise the nation’s constitution, the debates over constitutional review bloom. Several drafts of the revised constitution introduce an institution of constitutional review called constitutional council, but the new Constitution enacted in late 2013 eventually rejects it. Despite the rejection, the dynamics of Vietnamese discourse of constitutional review deserves scholarly attention. This paper describes and analyzes the rise of the Vietnamese discourse of constitutional review by employing several theories of constitutional review adoption. The paper argues that the rising discourse of constitutional review in Vietnam is considerably associated with: the rising popular awareness of rights, the rule of law, and limited government; the impact of globalization of constitutional review; and the political interests. It concludes by suggesting more comparative academic inquiries into the discourse, creation, and practice of constitutional review in authoritarianism.