A LIVING CONSTITUTION WITHOUT JUDICIAL REVIEW: RETHINKING CONSTITUTIONAL INTERPRETATION IN VIETNAM

Abstract

This article reinterprets constitutional development in Vietnam through the lens of the living constitution doctrine. While many constitutional systems recognize that constitutional meaning must evolve with social change, Vietnam’s interpretive practice remains largely formalistic and institutionally constrained. Drawing on comparative insights from the United States, Germany, and South Korea, the article shows how constitutional courts sustain the normative vitality of constitutional law by adapting constitutional principles to contemporary challenges. In contrast, the absence of constitutional adjudication in Vietnam has fostered a rigid legal culture that struggles to respond to emerging societal demands. The article advances three reform directions: establishing an independent mechanism for constitutional review, integrating dynamic interpretive approaches into legal education, and strengthening scholarly debate on constitutional meaning. It argues that constitutional effectiveness depends not on textual permanence alone, but on the capacity of constitutional interpretation to remain responsive to lived social realities. The article ultimately asks whether, and to what extent, the living constitution can serve as a viable interpretive framework for constitutional development in Vietnam in the absence of judicial review.