As in many countries, court administration in Vietnam is not itself a profession. Rather, although the low-level position of “court clerk” is contemplated by Vietnamese law, the processing of cases, including their intake, assignment, noticing of parties, overall case management, formal disposition, recordation of results, and other tasks is managed initially by junior lawyers on a career track to become judges, and then by the judges themselves. Court administration as a discipline is underdeveloped. The absence of timely, accurate, and open processes results in opportunities for corruption and other failures in the judicial process. A well-functioning court administration system should include the following elements to increase the openness and accountability of the courts—
- Case tracking and management.
- Preservation of comprehensive and accurate case records.
- Ready location of case records.
- Prevention of the subversion of the judicial process through destruction or concealment of records.
- Preservation of the legal rights of the public.
- Facilitation of appellate review in a timely and non-duplicative fashion.
- Support for the enforcement process.
Although visits to two Economic Courts in Vietnam—Ho Chi Minh City and Hanoi—revealed relative order, extensive reports from lawyers, court staff, and other interested parties indicate that deficiencies in court administration decrease public confidence in the courts in Vietnam.
