ABSTRACT
Administrative lawsuits may arise as consequence of land-taking disputes when the government grants land use right, decides on land conversion or decides on how to compensate for land taking. Ordinary Vietnamese people now have the legal means to force the government to pay compensation for its wrongdoings or to rescind unlawful decisions. Back in the 1990s when drafting the first rule on administrative court procedure, Vietnam lawmakers were already aware of the risk within the country’s political system. The 2015 Law on Administrative Procedure modifies the jurisdiction of administrative court only slightly. The plaintiff may have little chance to win in appellation procedure, when the province court may fully or partly accept the plaintiff’s request and rescind unlawful decisions made by the lower district government. The court procedure is also unpredictable because of the intervention of the procuracy. In Vietnam, the defendant may be any agency within the traditional administrative hierarchy.
