Number of pages: 19 pages
Author: Nguyen Hung Quang
Published year: 2010

Abstract:
Legal diffusion and the role of non-state actors in shaping the regulatory environment in Vietnam is an observation by lawyer Nguyễn Hưng Quang on the interaction of law from the non-state sector with the state legal system. This observation contrasts with some scholars’ views that Vietnam’s legal system consists solely of state-issued legal norms, or that law is merely an instrument of the ruling class.

By examining certain business groups, traditional craft villages in Vietnam, business chains that combine Vietnamese enterprises with foreign corporations, and the adoption in Vietnam of foreign private-sector standards such as ISO—which influence the behavior of state agencies—the author argues that the legal system should not be seen only as the norms and actions of state authorities. Rather, it should also encompass the self-regulatory rules of non-state actors, such as business associations (both formal and informal), international donors, foreign investors, the business community, and Vietnamese lawyers. These actors actively engage in legal interaction through their own regulations to serve their business and operational purposes.

In the process of building and reforming the national legal system, research should not only consider the state’s normative framework but also pay attention to the legal systems created by non-state elements, in order to ensure the effective implementation of law from both sides.

This study was published in the volume Legal Reforms in China and Vietnam, edited by Professors John Gillespie & Albert Chen, Routledge Publishing Ltd, 2010.

Suggested ciatation: Nguyen Hung Quang (2010), Legal diffusion and the role of non-state actors in shaping the regulatory environment in Vietnam. in J Gillespie & AHY Chen (eds), Legal Reforms in China and Vietnam: A Comparison of Asian Communist Regimes. 1st edn, Routledge, Abingdon UK, pp. 350 – 369..

See further information about the book at: https://www.palgrave.com/gp/book/9781403975522