An Incomplete Social Contract: The Legacy of Việt Nam's 2013 Constitution

Bảo Khánh wrote this Vietnamese article, published in Luật Khoa Magazine on May 7, 2025. Thúc Kháng translated this into English for The Vietnamese Magazine.

The year 2013 marked a significant period in Việt Nam when the 1992 Constitution became a central focus of public life. An extensive but lively feedback process swept the nation, with continuously broadcasting commune loudspeakers and information vehicles delivering feedback forms directly to households. This widespread public consultation led to the creation of the 2013 Constitution, a milestone still referenced in discussions about constitutional reform.

Now, that landmark document is itself being amended to "pave the way" for streamlining the state apparatus. On May 6, 2025, the National Assembly released a draft Resolution to amend and supplement several articles of the 2013 Constitution, once again initiating a period of nationwide public opinion collection and bringing back memories of the lively process from over a decade ago.

On May 5, 2025, the National Assembly formed a Drafting Committee, tasked with amending the 2013 Constitution. Communist Party General Secretary Tô Lâm has stated that this effort is not a fundamental overhaul but rather a targeted revision to address urgent requirements.

The proposed changes in the draft resolution are twofold: first, to solidify the leading role of the Việt Nam Fatherland Front and its political-social organizations; and second, to restructure the government by removing the district administrative level. The National Assembly is expected to pass this constitutional amendment resolution before the deadline of June 30, set by the Communist Party.

Two Notable Efforts

The official public consultation process for amending the 1992 Constitution was launched on Nov. 23, 2012, through the National Assembly's Resolution 38/2012. The designated feedback period ran from Jan. 2, 2013, to March 31, 2013, inviting input on the entire draft from citizens in Việt Nam and overseas.

Public participation during this period fell into two distinct categories: (1) individuals and organizations taking part in government-organized activities, and (2) independent groups and individuals operating without state coordination.

The first category yielded significant official engagement, with over 26 million opinions collected through 28,000 conferences, seminars, and discussions nationwide. Opinions submitted via the Việt Nam Fatherland Front were reported to be largely in agreement with the draft's content.

In the second category, active participation from intellectuals formed what Luật Khoa Magazine described in its article, "The 2013 Constitutional movement – a short history," as a rare constitutional movement. A prominent example was the "Petition for Amending the 1992 Constitution," (Petition 72) a project initiated by 72 intellectuals, including former Minister of Justice Nguyễn Đình Lộc, activist Nguyễn Quang A, and economist Phạm Chi Lan.

The petition, published on Jan. 19, 2013, proposed significant reforms. Its proposals included affirming the sovereignty of the people, accepting political competition, recognizing private land ownership, clearly separating the legislative, executive, and judicial branches, removing the clause requiring the armed forces' loyalty to the Communist Party, and calling for a referendum to approve the final Constitution. The petitioners also requested an extension of the public feedback deadline and encouraged the submission of other draft proposals. By November 2013, this petition had gathered nearly 15,000 signatures.

Continuing this momentum, prominent figures including Professor Ngô Bảo Châu, Professor Đàm Thanh Sơn, and former Editor-in-Chief of VietNamNet Nguyễn Anh Tuấn launched the "Cùng viết Hiến pháp” (We jointly draft the Constitution) group. This online initiative aimed to build a more progressive constitution by gathering independent opinions.

On March 30, 2013, the group published a document titled "Some Opinions on Constitutional Amendments," proposing specific changes. These included recognizing multiple forms of land ownership, granting substantive authority to the Constitutional Council, allowing voters to directly elect People's Committee chairpersons at the district level and below, and revising vague legal language, especially the overuse of the phrase "according to the provisions of the law" in articles about citizen rights.

Petition 72 and the proposal from the "Cùng viết Hiến pháp” group are considered two of the most notable constitutional efforts of that period.

Reaction from the Authorities

The direct proposals from independent groups were met with strong condemnation from the government and state-controlled media. In a speech broadcast on Việt Nam Television on Feb. 25, 2013, then-General Secretary of the Communist Party, Nguyễn Phú Trọng, described the independent opinions as evidence of “political, moral, and lifestyle degradation.” Weeks later, on April 19, 2013, an article in the magazine Quốc Phòng Toàn Dân called the constitutional proposals “isolated opinions, hiding behind bad intentions, going against the will and aspirations of the people.”

Unsurprisingly, the proposals from these groups were not recognized by the drafting committee. The draft Constitution submitted by the drafting committee to the National Assembly was considered a system fraud, leading many to express disappointment that their contributions were not seriously considered.

This sentiment was powerfully captured in a farewell message from the "Cùng viết Hiến pháp” group, published on Nov. 28, 2013: “[…] We feel the need to clearly state that on the most important points, the amended Constitution passed by the National Assembly on Nov. 28, 2013, differs significantly from our proposal and from the majority of our readers' opinions.”

A constitution's true meaning is derived from its ability to reflect the common will and aspirations of the citizenry; it functions as a foundational social contract, guaranteeing human rights and limiting the power of the state. As the foundational law that is the clearest expression of the principle of popular sovereignty, any process to create or amend it must therefore be validated by the people, typically through constitutional conventions, assemblies, or referendums. The reform of the 1992 Constitution was undertaken in accordance with this fundamental principle.

The process of constitutional amendment is only meaningful when the people themselves are able to author their own decisions freely, not simply follow a prepared script or be limited by an external power. The 2013 constitutional amendment, however, led many to question whether this principle was upheld. Despite a nationwide collection of opinions, the draft was ultimately passed selectively by the National Assembly within a framework entirely predetermined by the government. Because contrary and critical opinions were neither fairly accepted nor recognized, the process prompted the rhetorical question: does constitutional power truly belong to the people?

For many, the 2013 Constitution ultimately failed to become a true social contract. Nevertheless, the constitutional movement initiated by independent groups marked a vivid milestone in demonstrating democratic practices in social life. These efforts sparked a new wave of political thinking, transforming abstract constitutional rights into genuine citizen concerns.

This experience now raises practical questions for the upcoming constitutional amendment: will the people truly be treated as the subjects of constitutional power, and will the new social contract carry a more complete meaning?