A shift in thinking in judicial reform.
When the Central Steering Committee for Judicial Reform (CCTP) ceased operations under the old model and was restructured into a new model alongside the Central Steering Committee for Institutional and Legal Improvement (with the new name: the Central Steering Committee for Institutional Improvement and Law Enforcement), it did not mean the end of the judicial reform mission. The mission of judicial reform continues, but in a broader context, with higher demands, aiming for better institutional improvement, stricter law enforcement, a more honest judiciary, and closer access to justice for the people…
It can be affirmed that the current requirement is not only to continue judicial reform, but also to more vigorously innovate the leadership and guidance mechanisms so that judicial reform enters a new phase, closely linked to institutional improvement, law enforcement, power control, and serving national development. The message emphasized by General Secretary and President To Lam at the conference summarizing the activities of the Central Steering Committee for Judicial Reform (held on June 11th) has opened up a more comprehensive approach to judicial reform; not only continuing to innovate the operations of investigative, prosecutorial, judicial, and enforcement agencies, but also placing judicial reform within the overall context of building and perfecting the socialist rule of law in Vietnam.
After 40 years of Doi Moi (Renovation), the socialist rule of law in Vietnam has gradually formed important foundations in terms of institutions, organizational structure, and mechanisms for controlling power. However, practice also shows that many limitations still exist, such as overlapping and inconsistent laws in some areas; some protracted cases and complex complaints that have not been definitively resolved; and negative practices in judicial activities, although curbed, remain a matter of particular social concern... These limitations show that judicial reform cannot be carried out separately from the improvement of institutions and the organization of law enforcement. "If the law remains overlapping, unclear, and impractical, then the judicial system will struggle to effectively protect justice. If law enforcement is lax, administrative management is not transparent, and public service responsibilities are unclear, then disputes, complaints, and violations will be channeled to the judicial system. If the judicial system is slow to innovate, lacks integrity, and is unprofessional, then even correct laws will struggle to be implemented in practice," the General Secretary and President pointed out at the conference summarizing the activities of the Central Steering Committee for Judicial Reform.
According to the General Secretary and President, the new phase of judicial reform is not just about reforming judicial bodies, but about enhancing the operational capacity of the rule of law; not just about handling cases, but about protecting justice and building trust; not just about fulfilling professional targets, but about serving the people, serving development, and protecting the future of the country through law and justice. The new thinking is to place judicial reform within a unified rule of law cycle: building good laws, strictly enforcing laws, ensuring honest judicial operations, protecting justice, controlling power, guaranteeing human rights and citizens' rights, and serving national development through a smooth, transparent, and effective institutional framework.
Therefore, the work of perfecting the legal system and judicial reform is organically and closely related, requiring a central coordinating body to ensure that the stages of lawmaking, law enforcement, and judicial reform constitute a unified, synchronized, interconnected, and effective whole. The restructuring of the Central Steering Committee on Perfecting the Legal System and Law Enforcement is not merely a mechanical arrangement, but essentially a reorganization of the central leadership and guidance mechanism for the task of building and perfecting the socialist rule of law in Vietnam, with two very important axes: perfecting the legal system and law enforcement. This issue was emphasized by General Secretary and President To Lam during a meeting with several ministries, departments, and agencies regarding the organization and operation of the Central Steering Committee on Perfecting the Legal System and the Central Steering Committee on Judicial Reform, which took place in mid-May.
To fulfill its role, the new Steering Committee must create substantive changes, demonstrated by removing major legal bottlenecks, resolving inter-agency issues, improving the quality of lawmaking and law enforcement, enhancing the quality of judicial activities, preventing wrongful convictions, protecting justice, and improving access to justice for citizens and businesses.
Digitalization of the judiciary, modernization of the rule of law.
In the context of the ongoing Fourth Industrial Revolution, for the judicial sector, digital transformation is not simply about digitizing records or applying information technology to handle work, but also about realizing the goals of judicial reform towards greater transparency, efficiency, and accessibility for the people. Therefore, along with the requirement to strictly control judicial power and prevent and combat corruption in judicial activities, the General Secretary and President also requested the promotion of digital justice, data-driven governance of judicial reform; the promotion of electronic records, electronic evidence, public disclosure of judgments, data-driven case management, and data interoperability between judicial agencies and national databases. This is precisely what needs to be done to perfect the mechanism for preventing, detecting, and handling illegal interference; and to ensure transparency in case assignment, expert assessment, valuation, auction, and enforcement of judgments.
Initial results from the judicial sector show that this trend is strongly underway. According to the Report on the results of the work of the People's Courts in 2025 at the 10th Session of the 15th National Assembly, a highlight of the sector in 2025 was the acceleration of digital transformation. The courts organized more than 16,300 online court sessions, facilitating access for citizens, reducing social costs, and ensuring transparency; nearly 1.8 million judgments and decisions were published on the Supreme People's Court's electronic portal, attracting 222 million visits, contributing to spreading the message of judicial transparency and creating an important data repository for legal research.
These figures have progressively demonstrated a substantive shift in judicial governance thinking. Publicizing judgments facilitates access, monitoring, and comparison of the application of the law for citizens, businesses, lawyers, researchers, and government agencies. Judicial transparency is therefore no longer a slogan but a vibrant reality unfolding daily.
Along with the judicial sector, the Politburo's Directive No. 06-CT/TW on strengthening the Party's leadership over people's procuracy work in the new period (issued on June 6th) also sets out the requirement to build a modern people's procuracy sector and people's procuracy work on a digital platform, strongly applying science, technology, and big data in the management and operation of professional activities. At the same time, it aims to gradually form a digital justice ecosystem, digitize all professional processes, and connect, integrate, and share data with judicial agencies and related agencies on a common platform.
These directions show that digital justice is no longer the concern of a single sector or agency. Digital justice also contributes to improving the investment and business environment, reducing legal compliance costs, and enhancing national competitiveness… thereby becoming an important component of a modern socialist rule of law state. From that perspective, digital justice not only serves the activities of the judicial sector but also directly serves the development of the country.
That is also the profound meaning of the CCTP in the new phase: not only handling cases and protecting justice, but also building trust; not only improving the effectiveness of judicial activities, but also enhancing the operational capacity of the socialist rule of law state of Vietnam on the path of rapid and sustainable development, towards the two centenary goals of the Party and the country.
Resolution No. 27-NQ/TW of the 13th Central Committee of the Communist Party of Vietnam, "On continuing to build and perfect the socialist rule of law state of Vietnam in the new period," not only sets out the requirement for reform of judicial activities, but also defines a specific goal by 2030: To fundamentally complete the building of a professional, modern, fair, strict, honest, and upright judicial system that serves the Fatherland and the People, protects justice, protects human rights and citizens' rights, protects the socialist regime, protects the interests of the State, and protects the legitimate rights and interests of organizations and individuals.
Source: https://baophapluat.vn/nang-tam-cong-tac-cai-cach-tu-phap.html
