ABSTRACT
Looking back on Vietnamese legal development since doi moi, it is difficult to deny that fundamental change has occurred. While socialist instrumentalism remains a potent force, imported Western ‘rule of law’ notions have profoundly changed statutory norms, and, more recently, institutional thought and practices. Although it is premature to proclaim a procedural ‘rule of law’, since the courts lack the capacity to check the bureaucracy meaningfully, some movement in this direction is unmistakable.
