Vietnamlawmagazine

Pham Diem
State and Law Institute of Vietnam In a feudal system, the king held state power, which was in reality exercised through the system of state organs and mandarins from the central to local level. State power was exercised under the monistic mechanism, by which in each sector and at each level, power was concentrated in the hands of chief mandarins. Therefore, in order to protect the king’s power and ensure the effective and efficient exercise of state power, the feudal dynasties in Vietnam paid great attention to supervisory work.Together with the consolidation of the state apparatus, various dynasties intensified the supervision of the exercise of state power. Under the Le So (Early Le) dynasty in the 15^th century, with the administrative reform initiated by King Le Thanh Tong, the mechanism for supervising state power exercise was greatly improved and regarded as an exemplary model by subsequent kings and dynasties. Then, under the Nguyen dynasty, especially through the administrative reform conducted by King Minh Mang in the 19^th century, this mechanism became the most sizeable and perfect.Supervision was conducted regularly, strictly and fairly comprehensively, focusing on executive-administrative and judiciary-adjudicatory work. Subject to supervision were the entire contingent of mandarins and the system of administrative organs from the central to local level. The supervisory power rested with the king, full-time supervisory bodies, and superiors over their subordinates. The commoners, to some extent, also participated in the supervision through exercising their right to complaint and denunciation against madarines.The supervisory mechanism in feudal Vietnam was characterized by the following prominent peculiarities:Full-time supervisory bodiesIn the feudal regime, the full-time supervisory body was Ngu su dai (an office in charge of personnel affairs in the bureaucratic system and jurisdictional judgment), set up by the Tran dynasty during the 14^th century. According to historical books, Ngu su dai functioned to consider and examine the achievements as well as wrongdoings of mandarins nationwide for reporting to the king; inspect and supervise the adjudication throughout the country; and advise the king on the royal court’s policies[1].Under the reign of King Le Thanh Tong, the organization and functions of Ngu su dai were further enhanced with its branches called Hien sat ty established in various localities, which conducted regular and accurate supervision to directly oversee local mandarins.During the Nguyen dynasty, the supreme supervisory body was Do sat vien, which was well organized from the central to local level to enhance supervision within the royal court and in provinces. The heads of Do sat vien were directly selected and appointed by the king. As a ministerial-level organ, Do sat vien performed administrative and judiciary supervision. It was also tasked to examine mandarins’ personal qualities in administering political affairs.According to Dai Nam Thuc Luc Chinh Bien (the Chronicles of Great Vietnam)[2], the national history book of the Nguyen dynasty, Ta and Huu Do ngu su, the dual heads, of Do sat vien were tasked to “supervise the duties of mandarins and strictly maintain customs and morals as well as state principles.” Their deputies would “take care of the office’s work and explain the right from the wrong” to their heads.Giam sat ngu su, member supervisors of Do sat vien, would inspect localities and punish local mandarins who committed corruption and other illegal acts.So, working in Ngu su dai or Do sat vien were non-corrupt and upright mandarins who could be able to oversee mandarins and dare to advise the king.

Vietnamese mandarins in early 20th century __Photo: Internet