This is one of two courses available to students in the Vietnam Summer School – the other is International Economic Law in the Asian Region. The course is taught in Hanoi, Vietnam, in November-December each year, and offer students an unparalleled opportunity to learn about the Vietnamese legal system and the political, economic, and cultural context in which it operates. Formal classroom learning will be supplemented with selected field trips and guest lectures. The course provides an introduction into the legal system of Vietnam with particular reference to modern developments. Vietnam opened up its economy to market forces only in the 1990s. When it did so, law and the legal system underwent fundamental change, a change still in progress. Those changes include increased role for law and its institutions and actors, and adoption in many areas of foreign law. The course examines the role law is playing in modern Vietnam by reference to its historical antecedents. The course examines particular areas of development not only for their own sake but also as indicators of the changing role of law in Vietnamese society. Areas which are the subject of particular attention include: the elements and institutions of Vietnamese legal system; the role of law in Vietnamese society from the perspectives of legal history and philosophy; private and public law; interactions with the international legal order; and dispute resolution.

At the conclusion of this course, students should be able to:

Attendance, Class Participation, and Reflective Journal - 25%

Final research paper - 75%