It is impossible to distort the nature of the socialist rule of law state in our country today

 Taking advantage of the "Strategy to build and perfect the socialist rule of law state in Vietnam to 2030, with orientation to 2045", some people argue on social networks that the implementation of such Scheme is impractical. This need to be rejected.

Firstly, the view that the rule of law state is the product and achievement of capitalism is a completely false, speculative and volitional view. The idea of the rule of law has been formed and expressed long ago by old thinkers, such as Guan Zhong and Han Fei in the East; Socrates, Aristotle, John Locke, Montesquieu, J. Rousseau, Immanuel Kant, Hegel in the West. In addition, many other great jurists and thinkers have also contributed to the development of the rule of law, such as: Thomas Jefferson (author of the American Declaration of Independence in 1776), Thomas Penn, John Adams, etc.

Thus, the idea of the rule of law state came very early, predating capitalism; hence it is a product of mankind. The thought of the rule of law state is not only contributed by pre-bourgeois philosophers, but also by the classics of socialism. Although K. Marx, F. Engels and V.I. Lenin did not refer to the rule of law as one of the main contents of their doctrines, they always paid attention to the state and the revolution, the state and the law. The point of view of K. Marx and F. Engels was expressed in the works: "The Poverty of Philosophy", "Critique of Hegel's philosophy of right", etc. K. Marx pointed out the social basis as the material foundation of the law and held that "democracy does not mean that people exist because of the law, but the law exists because of the people". F. Engels wrote “For us… what is immutable is that the relationship between those in power and those being led must be established on the basis of law”. Lenin absorbed and developed the ideas of Marx and Engels and brought their doctrine to a more complete level. In the construction of the Soviet State, V.I. Lenin repeatedly demanded that the government really belong to the working people, truly guarantee democracy, and use the law (Soviet law) to fight against laxity, bureaucracy, and bribery (i.e. upholding the law, putting the law first), etc. Thus, the classics of socialism, though they did not consider the rule of law as part of their doctrine, expressed their views on the elements of the rule of law, contributing to enriching ideas about the rule of law state and setting out seed ideas about building a socialist rule of law state.

Humankind history proves that the rule of law state, besides the common values, also includes specific values of each country and nation. The specificity of the rule of law state is determined by a number of factors. These factors are, in nature, very diverse, rich and complex, determined by the history, tradition - culture, socio-psychology of each nation, political regimes, economic regime, culture and geographical environment. Therefore, it is not possible to adopt a general rule of law state as a unified model for all nations and peoples. Each country and ethnic group, depending on its historical, political, socio-economic conditions and development level, builds for itself an appropriate model of the rule of law state. Therefore, the view that the rule of law is the product and achievement of capitalism is completely wrong.

Second, the socialist rule of law state in Vietnam was formed and developed in association with solid theoretical and practical foundations. Our Party's view on the rule of law state and building a socialist rule of law state in Vietnam is the process of summarising and selectively inheriting the ideology of the rule of law in the history of human thought and is the creative application of Marxism-Leninism, Ho Chi Minh's thought on the new type of state to specific conditions in our country. In Ho Chi Minh's ideological legacy, the issue of law and state is of special importance and great significance to the cause of building a new type of state of the people, by the people, for the people. According to his thought, people are the supreme and sole subject of State power. All state power comes from the people. Article 1 of the 1946 Constitution affirmed that: “Vietnam is a Democratic Republic State. All power in the country belongs to the entire Vietnamese people, regardless of race, gender, rich or poor, class or religion”.

Our Party's position on the socialist rule of law state is reflected throughout the process of revolutionary leadership. That is to build a rule of law state of the people, by the people, for the people, closely associated with the people and serving the interests of the people and the nation. The Platform for National Construction in the Transitional Period to Socialism (supplemented and developed in 2011) affirms: "The socialist rule of law state of the People, by the People, for the People, under the leadership of the Communist Party" is specified in Clause 1, Article 2 of the 2013 Constitution: "The State of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam is a socialist rule of law state of the People, by the People, for the People". The Resolution of the 13^th National Party Congress continued to emphasize: "Building and perfecting a socialist rule of law state that is clean, strong, lean, effective and efficient, serving the people and for the sake of the people and the development of the country is the central task of the reform of the political system...”

The building a socialist rule of law state has been specified in the Constitutions of Vietnam. In the 1946 Constitution, constitutionalism and human rights from ideological values became real legal values in the specific historical conditions of Vietnam. The provisions of the 1946 Constitution were the first constitutional standards for building a rule of law state in Vietnam. Over the past 75 years, 5 Constitutions have respectively corresponded to the development stages of our country's revolution. Despite all the ups and downs of the times, each Constitution is an important milestone in the process of building and consolidating our socialist rule of law state.

Third, the practice of building a socialist rule of law state in Vietnam has achieved positive results and made new developments. In particular, the effectiveness and efficiency of state management has been improved; the contents and methods of state management are gradually adjusted in accordance with the requirements of national development and international practices; the organisation of the state apparatus has gradually been consolidated, initially achieving important results; disciplines and rules in state administrative agencies have been strengthened; exercisise and uphold democracy, transparency and accountability; conduct dialogue, reception, settlement of complaints and denunciations; respect, protect and ensure human rights and citizen rights.

Vietnam's unique characteristics, including Party leadership, national traditions and experience, and the ability to respond to challenges are key factors for Vietnam to overcome unprecedented global challenges. The implementation of the "dual" goal of both economic development and effective prevention and control of the Covid-19 pandemic has proven the superiority of the regime, good national governance. The bravery and response to the pandemic and challenges of our Party and State have contributed to clarifying both in theory and practice that we are on the right track in building a socialist regime with Vietnamese characteristics, while refuting all distortions by hostile forces about the nature of our regime, the effectiveness and efficiency of our Party and State.

From the above theoretical and practical issues, it can be seen that: The socialist rule of law state is fundamentally different from that of the bourgeois. The capitalist rule of law is essentially a tool to protect and serve the interests of the bourgeoisie, while that of socialism is the tool to express and exercise people's right to mastery, protect the interests of the majority of the people. Through law enforcement, the socialist rule-of-law state demonstrates that people are the subject of political power, performing dictatorship with all actions that infringe upon the interests of the Fatherland and the People.

Currently, our country is implementing the Resolution of the 13^th National Party Congress aiming to turn our country into a socialist-oriented high-income developed country by the middle of the twenty-first century. Therefore, the implementation of the Project of "Strategy to build and perfect Vietnam socialist rule of law State by 2030, with orientation to 2045" under the leadership of the Party is an objective trend, bringing about consensus and gathering the strength of great national unity to strive for "rich people, strong, democratic, equal and civilised country".