In a Vietnamese criminal case the decisive question is often not what the defence argues at trial but how early the defender got in. The Criminal Procedure Code fixes that moment precisely, and it is earlier than most people assume: where someone is arrested, defence participation begins the moment the arrested person arrives at the investigating authority’s office, or when the detention decision is issued.
This note explains how criminal defence works under Vietnamese law, for people under investigation in Vietnam, their families, and foreign nationals and companies facing a Vietnamese criminal process. It does not deal with the criminal law of any other country.
The framework is the Criminal Procedure Code No. 101/2015/QH13, amended by Law No. 02/2021/QH15 (in force 1 December 2021) and Law No. 99/2025/QH15 (in force 1 July 2025), read with the Penal Code No. 100/2015/QH13 as amended.
When a defender may enter the case
Article 74 gives three timings, and the difference between them matters enormously:
- Normal course: from the moment the person is charged as an accused (khởi tố bị can).
- Arrest or detention: from the moment the arrested person is present at the office of the investigating authority or the body assigned to carry out certain investigative activities — or from the moment the detention decision is issued. This is the early door, and it is the one families most often miss.
- National security offences where investigative secrecy is required: the head of the competent procuracy may decide that the defender participates only from the close of the investigation.
The practical consequence: in an ordinary case, instructing a defender on the day of the arrest rather than after the charge decision changes what the file looks like by the time it reaches the procuracy.
Who may act as defender
Under Article 72 a defender is someone the accused person asks to defend them, or whom the competent authority appoints, and whose defence registration has been accepted. It may be:
- a lawyer;
- a representative of the accused person;
- a people’s defence counsel (bào chữa viên nhân dân) — a Vietnamese citizen aged 18 or over nominated by the Fatherland Front or one of its member organisations to defend a member of that organisation;
- a legal aid officer, where the accused person qualifies for legal aid.
Article 72.4 also lists who may not act as defender — a point worth checking before instructing someone connected to the case.
Registration is compulsory
Article 78 is blunt: in every case of participation, the defender must register the defence. A lawyer registers by producing the lawyer’s card with a certified copy, together with the written request for a lawyer signed by the accused person or by their representative or close relative. A representative produces identity documents plus confirmation of the relationship; a people’s defence counsel produces the Front’s nomination; a legal aid officer produces the assignment document and their card.
Where the defender is appointed rather than chosen (Article 76), the lawyer produces the card plus the assignment from the law practice or the bar association. Getting the paperwork wrong is a common reason defence access is delayed at the very stage where it is most valuable.
What a registered defender can actually do
Article 73 sets out the rights, and they are more concrete than the phrase “right to a defence” suggests:
- meet and question the accused person;
- be present when statements are taken from a person arrested or detained and when an accused is interrogated — and where the officer taking the statement agrees, put questions during it; in any event, after each session ends the defender may question the person;
- be present at confrontation, identification and voice-recognition procedures and other investigative activities provided by the Code;
- be notified in advance of the time and place of statement-taking, interrogation and other investigative activities;
- inspect the records of procedural activities they attended and the procedural decisions concerning the person they defend.
The advance-notification right is the one that keeps a defence real rather than nominal: without it, a defender learns about an interrogation after it happened.
What a family should do on day one
- Establish whether the person has been arrested, detained, or charged — the answer sets which limb of Article 74 applies.
- Sign the written request for a lawyer immediately; a close relative can sign it where the person themselves cannot.
- Have the defender file the registration under Article 78 the same day, with certified copies ready.
- Ask, in writing, to be notified of interrogation times under Article 73.1(d).
- Keep a dated log of every contact with the authorities and every document handed over.
- Do not let the person give substantive statements before the defender has registered, unless there is a reason to.
Where a defence lawyer changes the outcome
Four places, in order of value: getting registered at the arrest stage rather than the charge stage; being present at interrogations and using the post-session questioning right; inspecting the procedural records early enough to challenge how a statement was taken; and, where the charge involves a national security offence, testing whether the Article 74 secrecy restriction has been properly invoked rather than assumed.
This note is general and reflects the position at the date of writing; it is not advice on a particular case. Where the accused person is under 18, the Law on Juvenile Justice No. 59/2024/QH15 also applies and changes parts of the procedure.
Legal basis: Criminal Procedure Code No. 101/2015/QH13, amended by Law No. 02/2021/QH15 and Law No. 99/2025/QH15 (in force 1 July 2025) — Articles 72, 73, 74, 76, 78. Neither amending law altered Articles 72, 73, 74 or 78.
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