All nations consider human rights and civil rights as the basic and indispensable institutions of their constitutions. Recognizing, guaranteeing and protecting human rights and civil rights are constitutional missions and objectives in nations around the world as well as in Vietnam.

In the regime of democracy and socialist rule of law, the state power is delegated by the people, which must, therefore, be inevitably controlled. The state power is often documented by constitutional provisions to define the mandates and rights of the legislative power, executive power and judicial power. The recognition and development of the principles of power delegation, coordination and control between legislative and executive bodies through various constitutions are linked with the historical contexts of the nation in each particular period.

January 6, 1946 marked an important event in the history of the country when the Vietnamese people cast for the first time their votes to directly select and elect talented and virtuous people to the National Assembly to shoulder the responsibility for national affairs.

Throughout 70 years of its history, the National Assembly has passed five constitutions, each of which has marked the road of building and growth of the Vietnamese revolutionary state, institutionalizing the line of the Communist Party of Vietnam in each period of national development, serving as the foundation for completing the legal system and building a law-ruled socialist state of Vietnam of the people, by the people and for the people.

As the XIIIth National Assembly’s term is drawing to an end, Vietnam Law and Legal Forum talks with Associate Professor-Doctor Le Minh Thong, National Assembly deputy and Vice Chairman of the National Assembly’s Law Committee, about legislative work in the past five years.

The newly passed Law on Organization of the Government is designed to promote democracy, rule of law, initiative, flexibility and creativeness in, and raise the effectiveness and efficiency of, the operation of the Government in administration work to serve the people.

Advancing seaward quickly, strongly and sustainably is the aspiration, goal and determination of every Vietnamese in the 21st century.

While adults have the right as well as obligation to work, minors, especially children, just have the right to work, and this right needs to be protected.

The constitution is the supreme legal-political document of a country and concurrently the profound crystallization of humane, progressive and civilized values of a society, expressing the noble will and aspirations of the people which have been formed from the sacrifice and age-old desire of the nation.

On November 28, 2013, the Vietnamese National Assembly passed the Constitution of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam (the Constitution), marking an important milestone in the country’s constitutional history. With 11 chapters and 120 articles (one chapter and 27 articles fewer than the 1992 Constitution), the new Constitution creates solid political and legal foundations for advancing the comprehen