Supreme People's Court of Vietnam


The Supreme People's Court of Vietnam is the highest court of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam. The Supreme People's Court is one of the two institutions at the apex of the judicial system of Vietnam, with the other body being the Supreme People's Procuracy of Vietnam. Both are accountable to the President of Vietnam, the highest institution of government power in the country. The head of the Supreme People's Court of Vietnam is the Chief Justice. The current Chief Justice of Vietnam is Nguyen Hoa Binh.

Responsibility and jurisdiction

The Supreme People's Court is responsible for providing leadership to the Vietnamese court system, supervising the judicial process, and recommending bills to the National Assembly as appropriate under law. It is a court of final resort.
The Court is by statute the court of final resort for all matters arising under Vietnamese law. It hears appeals in cases where court decisions have been implemented. The Court's Council of Justices can also pass resolutions directing lower courts on the uniform enforcement of the law across the country.
Prior to June 2015, when parts of the Law on the Organisation of People's Courts and several resolutions by the Standing Committee of the National Assembly took effect, the Supreme People's Court also had some intermediate appellate jurisdiction via its three appellate benches. However, the 2014 law transformed those appellate benches into full courts called superior people's courts, and removed intermediate appellate jurisdiction from the Supreme People's Court.

Organisation

The Supreme People's Court of Vietnam is organised according to the Law on the Organisation of People's Courts. Under law, the Court's organisation consists of the Council of Justices, its supporting apparatus, as well as training facilities as needed.
The Court's Council of Justices consists of the Chief Justice, the Deputy Chief Justices, and other justices of the Supreme People's Court as appointed by the National Assembly on nomination by the President. It must have at least 13 members, and at most 17 members. Appeals are heard by panels of five justices, or by the entire Council of Justices when appropriate under law.

List of Chief Justices