The Period From 1959 To 1980.

The primary court has the authority to try criminal, civil and ordinary cases at first instance and final instance. At the first instance trial, the judge tries the case alone. The clerk keeps the pen and draws up the minutes of the judgment (Article 10).

* TA level 2.

In each province and the cities of Hanoi, Hai Phong, Saigon, and Cho Lon, there is a Second-level court (Article 12).

The organizational structure of the second-level Court consists of a Chief Justice, a Prosecutor, a Presiding Judge, a Registrar and a number of assisting Secretaries (Article 15).

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The Second-level Court has the authority to try criminal, civil and ordinary cases at first instance and final instance. When trying civil and ordinary cases, the Chief Justice tries alone, but when trying minor cases, two additional People's Judges must give their opinions (Article 17). For major cases, "when trying a second-level court, there are five judges sitting together and all have the right to decide, including:

- The Chief Justice of the Second Instance Court sits in the Chief Justice's chair.

- Two Judges as Professional Associate Judges…

- Two People's Judges are drawn from the list established by the Provincial or Municipal People's Committee at the beginning of the year, including all official and alternate members of the Provincial or Municipal People's Council.

During the trial, in addition to the five above-mentioned persons, there will also be a prosecutor sitting in the prosecutor's chair and a registrar sitting in the registrar's chair" (Article 28). When the Criminal Court conducts the first instance trial, the prosecutor, the defendant and the plaintiff have the right to appeal to the Supreme Court (Article 34).

* Supreme Court.

In each session there is a Supreme Court located in Hanoi and Saigon.

In each Court of Appeal there is a Chief Justice, Chief Justices, Assessors, a Prosecutor, one or more Deputy Prosecutors, Assistants, a Registrar, Assistants and Secretaries (Article 36).

The Supreme Court has the authority to hear appeals of judgments of the Court of First Instance and the Court of Second Instance that are appealed. “When appealing misdemeanor and felony judgments, in addition to the Chief Justice and two Associate Judges, there must be two additional Associate Judges with the right to decide…” (Article 38). In a felony trial, if the defendant has no one to defend him,

The Chief Justice must appoint a lawyer to defend the defendant.

Regarding the Court staff, Decree No. 13/SL dated January 24, 1945, Articles 53 and 54 stipulate: Judge ranks include the primary rank, in which there are 5 ranks working in the primary court, and the second-level judge rank, which has 7 ranks working in the second-level court and the Supreme Court. Second-level judges are divided into two positions: Judges who try cases, headed by the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, and Judges who prosecute, headed by the Attorney General. The Minister of Justice appoints primary-level judges. The President of the Government (who is also the President) appoints second-level judges. Studying the organization and operation of the People's Court in the early period of gaining people's power, we can draw some of the following observations :

First: The system of courts was established very early, including: Military Courts, Military Courts, Special Courts and Judicial Courts at all levels. The courts (Military Courts - Military Courts - Special Courts) are organized according to the principle of one level, with the authority to try first and last instance criminal cases. The Judicial Court is organized according to the principle of two-level jurisdiction.

Second: The People's Court exercises both the right to prosecute and investigate criminal and criminal cases, but there is a clear division of labor between the trial judge and the prosecuting judge (Prosecutor).

Third: The Judicial Authority is independent of administrative agencies (Article 47 of Decree 13/SL).

Thus, it can be affirmed that from the early days of the establishment of the Democratic Republic of Vietnam, the judicial system was organized scientifically, the position and role of the court in the state apparatus were correctly determined and ensured the independence of the court in performing the adjudication function, creating a premise for the construction and development of the court system later.

The period from 1946 to 1959.

On November 9, 1946, the first Constitution of our State was passed by the National Assembly of the Democratic Republic of Vietnam at its 2nd session. This is the fundamental law, the foundation for building the State apparatus and the new legal system. With 7 articles of Chapter VI of the Constitution, the organization and operation of the judicial system are regulated. Article 63 stipulates: “The judicial body of the Democratic Republic of Vietnam includes: “The Supreme Court; the Courts of Appeal; the Courts of

secondary and primary”

The Judicial Courts under the 1946 Constitution were organized according to the principle of two-level jurisdiction: First instance and appeal. The Court system during this period was built by President Ho Chi Minh with modern characteristics, established according to democratic and progressive principles such as: Independence from administrative agencies; all trials must be public, except in special cases (Article 67); the defendant has the right to defend himself or herself or hire a lawyer (Article 67); during the trial, the Judges only obey the law, other agencies are not allowed to interfere (Article 69). The judges of the Courts include: Trial Judges and Accused Judges exercising the right to prosecute, all appointed by the Government (Article 64).

The system of courts was stipulated in the 1946 Constitution, but due to the increasingly fierce and widespread war throughout the country, the Supreme Court was not established, the Court of Appeal was temporarily suspended according to Decree No. 05 dated January 1, 1947 of the Ministry of Justice and dissolved in January 1947. Primary courts and secondary courts were established in most localities in the North and Central regions, except for areas under French colonial control.

Thus, according to the 1946 Constitution and the first Decrees of the Democratic Republic of Vietnam (Decree No. 19/SL dated February 16, 1947. Decree No. 45/SL dated April 25, 1947 and Decree No. 59/SL dated July 5, 1947), the system of judicial agencies during this period included: Military Court, Military Court, Special Court and Judicial Court. The judicial system promptly suppressed and punished plots and tricks against the revolution, those who committed crimes, contributing to protecting social order and safety, and building people's trust in the new regime. Regarding the position of the Court in the State apparatus, President Ho Chi Minh affirmed in a letter to the National Judicial Conference in February 1948 as follows: "The Court is an important agency of the government".

After nearly five years of operation, the organization of the People's Court system has revealed limitations that need to be promptly amended and supplemented. In order to build a "people's judiciary" [40. p.9] to strengthen democracy in the organization and operation of the Court, our state has carried out the first People's Court reform by the President of the Government of the Democratic Republic of Vietnam issuing Decree No. 85/SL dated May 22, 1950 on reforming the judicial apparatus and the law.

[3. p.101]. According to this Decree, the primary court was renamed the district court, the second-level court was renamed the provincial court, the appellate council was called the appellate court, and the people's appellate court is now called the people's HTND (Article 1). The purpose of the reform is to ensure the democratic principle in the organization and operation of the people's court, to create conditions for people to participate in the trial and also to supervise the trial activities of the court.

In addition to the above purposes, the reform also aims to "lighten the judicial apparatus so that the trial work can be faster and closer to the people." (Section B of the Proposal for Decree No. 85/SL). In addition, the Proposal for Decree No. 85/SL also notes: "Litigation procedures need to be more reasonable and simpler" in resolving criminal and civil cases.

In 1950, the Government issued a number of other Decrees related to the organization and operation of the TA such as:

Decree No. 151/SL dated November 17, 1950 sets out the rules for appointing the People's Court and determining the composition of the Court of Appeal in special cases, i.e. in this case, the People's Court can be appointed without being elected by the People's Council, the composition of the Court of Appeal can consist of only one Judge and two People's Courts;

Decree No. 155/SL dated November 17, 1950, on the organization of inter-zone TAQS (Article 1), stipulates that one TAQS shall be established in each inter-zone. Existing TAQS not organized in accordance with this Decree shall be abolished.

Decree No. 156/SL dated November 17, 1950 on the organization of inter-zone People's Courts, Article 1 stipulates: In each inter-zone, an inter-zone People's Court will be established when there is a complaint. The inter-zone People's Court will be established by Decree of the Prime Minister.

Decree No. 157/SL dated November 17, 1950 on the organization of People's Courts in temporarily occupied areas, according to Article 1 of this Decree, "In areas temporarily occupied by the enemy, a court may be established called the People's Court of the temporarily occupied area. The jurisdiction of this court may be a province, a number of districts in a province or a number of communes in a district or in many districts". The People's Court of the occupied area has the same jurisdiction as the district, provincial and military courts. All judgments are executed immediately.

On November 17, 1950, the President of the Democratic Republic of Vietnam issued Decree No. 158/SL on the appointment of worker-peasant cadres to the Judges' rank and the promotion of District People's Court Judges to Provincial People's Court Judges. Article 1 of the Decree stipulates: "Worker-peasant cadres with achievements and experience can be appointed to a suitable Judges' rank upon the recommendation of a Selection Council"; and Article 2 stipulates: "District People's Court Judges with capacity and service spirit can be promoted to the Provincial People's Court Judges' rank upon the recommendation of the Selection Council". The issuance of this Decree aims to strengthen the cadres working in the trial with a steadfast revolutionary stance in their work, meeting the requirements of democracy, creating conditions for building a truly People's Court.

The Inter-zone People's Court system was established by Decree No. 133-TTg dated November 26, 1951 of the Prime Minister on the establishment of Inter-zone People's Court 5 and Decree No. 134-TTg dated November 26, 1951 on the establishment of Inter-zone People's Court 3.

To ensure the good implementation of the land reform policy, punish illegal landlords, maintain social order and consolidate the people's government to bring the resistance to victory, on April 12, 1953, the President of the Democratic Republic of Vietnam issued Decree No. 150 establishing the "Special People's Court". The Special People's Courts do not try criminal and civil cases of the regular People's Courts; when their tasks are completed, the Special People's Courts are dissolved. For complicated counter-revolutionary cases that require a long trial, the Inter-zone Administrative Resistance Committee decides to transfer them to the regular People's Court for trial.

At the 8th session in April 1958, the 1st National Assembly passed a Resolution to establish the Supreme People's Court and the Central People's Procuracy. According to Decree No. 256 dated July 1, 1959 of the Government guiding the implementation of the Resolution of the National Assembly, the Procuracy agencies were separated from the People's Court into an independent system from the Central to the grassroots level; the People's Court and the Procuracy system were separated from the Ministry of Justice and under the management of the Government Council.

Thus, in the period from 1946 to 1959, the judicial agencies in general and the judicial system in particular made a very important contribution to consolidating and maintaining the revolutionary government, resolutely and promptly punishing those who committed acts of infringement.

violating the independence of the Democratic Republic of Vietnam, violating the fighting strength of the army. “From 1955 to 1960, the military courts investigated and tried thousands of cases. In 1955, the military courts accepted 634 cases, opened 49 trials, and tried 482 cases…” [42 p. 16].

Research on the formation and development process of the TA system in the period 1945

– 1959 can draw some of the following observations :

First: The system of the People's Court was established immediately after the founding of the Democratic Republic of Vietnam. The People's Court assumed the function of adjudication and exercised the right to prosecution, but there was a clear division of labor between the trial judge and the prosecution judge. It was not until 1958 that the system of the Public Prosecution was separated from the system of the People's Court and established from the central to local levels under the management of the Government.

Second: The organization and operation of TA is based on democratic and progressive principles, which are:

- The court system is organized according to the principle of two-level jurisdiction of first instance and appeal, ensuring timely, quick and convenient trials for the people, ensuring the principle of independent adjudication of judges and the People's Court.

- The principle of the Court being independent from the administrative agency: “Judges only respect the law and justice. Other agencies are not allowed to interfere in judicial affairs” (Article 47 of Decree 13/SL).

- All trials must be public, with the participation of the People's Court.

- The defendant's right to defense is guaranteed.

Third: The management of the organization of the judiciary in general and the court system in particular are under the authority of the Government. Judges are appointed by the Government. The Government assigns the management of the court to the Ministry of Justice.

However, during this time, the organization and operation of the TA system also revealed the following limitations :

- In the same territory, there are many types of courts (judicial courts, military courts, military courts, special courts), so there is overlap in jurisdiction between the courts.

- The TAQS, TA Binh, TA Special have only one level of trial, scope of application.

The single-instance trial procedure is very broad, these types of courts have the authority to hear the first-instance trial, so the defendant has no opportunity to exercise his right to appeal.

- The Courts exercise both the right to adjudicate, the right to prosecute and the right to execute judgments. Some Courts have only one Judge, so they take on the entire litigation process from investigation, prosecution, trial and execution. In some localities that do not have the conditions to establish a Court, the Administrative Resistance Committee also takes on the adjudication function of the Court. 2.1.2- The period from 1959 to 1980.

At the 11th session (December 1959), the 1st National Assembly of the Democratic Republic of Vietnam passed the 2nd Constitution - the first socialist Constitution of our State. Chapter VIII of the 1959 Constitution stipulates that "The People's Court and the People's Procuracy" become a system of independent State agencies that are no longer under the Government Council but are agencies under the National Assembly.

As an independent agency in the State apparatus, the 1959 Constitution (Article 97) stipulates the functions of the People's Court as: "The Supreme People's Court of the Democratic Republic of Vietnam, local People's Courts, and Military Courts are the judicial agencies of the Democratic Republic of Vietnam".

To institutionalize the provisions of the 1959 Constitution on the People's Court, on July 14, 1960, the National Assembly of our country passed the Law on the Organization of the People's Court - this is the first law regulating the organization and operation of the People's Court sector. According to the 1959 Constitution (Article 97), the 1960 Law on the Organization of the People's Court (Article 2), the system of judicial agencies of the Democratic Republic of Vietnam includes: "The Supreme People's Court, local People's Courts and the Military Court. In case of needing to try special cases, the National Assembly may decide to establish a special court".

Local People's Courts include: People's Courts of provinces, centrally-run cities or equivalent administrative units (provincial-level People's Courts), People's Courts of districts, provincial cities, towns or equivalent administrative units (district-level People's Courts). People's Courts of autonomous regions. In autonomous regions, the organization of local People's Courts is determined by the People's Council of the autonomous region based on Article 95 of the Constitution and the principles of organization of People's Courts stipulated in this Law". The organization of People's Courts will be separately determined by the Standing Committee of the National Assembly, based on the principles of organization of People's Courts stipulated in this Law.

The principles of organization and operation of the People's Court are stipulated by the 1959 Constitution and the 1960 Law on Organization of People's Courts as follows:

Principle: "The People's Court judges according to the principle that all citizens are equal."

before the law, regardless of gender, ethnicity, race, religion, belief, social status and social class" (Article 3).

Principle: “When adjudicating, the People's Court has the right to be independent and only obey the law” (Article 4).

In addition, the 1960 Law on Organization of People's Courts also stipulates the principles of public trials, the principle of ensuring the defendant's right to defense...

Researching the Law on the Organization of People's Courts in 1960, it is found that this law only stipulates in principle the authority of People's Courts at all levels but does not specifically stipulate the organization of People's Courts at each level. In addition, this law also only stipulates in principle the election regime for Judges and People's Councils but does not stipulate the standards of Judges and People's Councils.

According to the provisions of the Law on the Organization of the People's Courts in 1960: "The Supreme People's Court consists of the Chief Justice, Judges and Alternate Judges; The Supreme People's Court has the following organizations: the Supreme People's Court Judicial Committee; specialized Courts of the Supreme People's Court (Criminal Court, Civil Court, Military Court, Court of Appeal); the Plenary Council of Judges of the Supreme People's Court. The duties and powers of each corresponding organization are also specifically stipulated in this Ordinance. According to this Ordinance, there are no specific provisions on the supporting apparatus of the Supreme People's Court, but based on the practice of organizing the Supreme People's Court during this period, it can be seen that in addition to the above structure, there are also supporting apparatus such as the Office, Department of Organization, Synthesis, Legal Research, etc.

Regarding the provincial People's Court (a centrally-run city or equivalent administrative unit), the 1960 Law on the Organization of the People's Court and the Ordinance dated March 23, 1961 stipulate that the organizational structure of the provincial People's Court includes the Chief Justice, Deputy Chief Justices and Judges (Article 9 of the 1960 Law on the Organization of the People's Court). The provincial People's Court does not have specialized courts but only a Committee of Judges. "The Chief Justice, Deputy Chief Justice, Judges of the People's Court and members of the Standing Committee of the provincial People's Court are elected and dismissed by the People's Council at the same level. The term of office of the Chief Justice, Deputy Chief Justice and Judges of the provincial People's Court is 4 years. Members of the Standing Committee of the above-mentioned People's Courts at all levels are elected and dismissed by the People's Council at the same level" (Article 27 of the 1960 Law on the Organization of the People's Court). In addition to the adjudicating function, the provincial People's Court also has the "task of building a local judicial organization, training local court secretaries, and organizing the training of local court secretaries."

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