The Faculty of International Law at VNU University of Law was the first institution in Vietnam to offer International Law as a specialization at the bachelor’s, master’s and PhD levels. Following the shift to a credit-based curriculum, the Faculty now teaches the core courses in the Bachelor of Laws and Bachelor of Business Law programs, including Public International Law, Private International Law, International Trade Law, International Economic Law, International Law of the Sea, International Maritime Law, Resolution of Economic and Trade Disputes with a Foreign Element, and International Human Rights Law. In addition to these two bachelor’s programs, VNU University of Law is developing a proposal for a new bachelor’s program in International Trade Law, to be run by the Faculty of International Law.
At the graduate level, the Faculty oversees the Master’s and PhD programs in International Law, among the longest-running and most established programs of their kind in Vietnam. In 2003, the Faculty became the first and, at the time, only institution in Vietnam to pilot a Master’s program in Law of the Sea and Ocean Management, with its first cohort completed successfully; the program is expected to begin regular admissions from October 2015. Alongside its domestic programs, since 2001 the Faculty’s lecturers have also taught in the Master’s program in International Economic Cooperation and Business Law, an international joint program between VNU University of Law and several French universities, run with the Agence universitaire de la Francophonie (AUF). The program’s students include Vietnamese graduates as well as a large proportion of students from Europe, Asia and Africa.
The Faculty’s training and research activities aim to provide foundational legal knowledge and in-depth theoretical and practical understanding of international law, equipping students with the knowledge and skills to identify and address issues in international law, to conduct research, and to take part in developing and implementing foreign-affairs policy and law, as well as to advise on and carry out transactions in international trade and economics. Graduates of the Faculty’s programs go on to work in a range of roles, including teaching and research at universities, practical work at government ministries and agencies dealing with foreign affairs and international law, positions at intergovernmental and non-governmental organizations in Vietnam or abroad, and advisory, management or business roles at private organizations and enterprises working in economics, trade, investment and international civil matters.
Given the strategic task of protecting national sovereignty and meeting the demands of opening up and deepening international integration, and as part of the broader development of VNU University of Law as a member university of VNU, the Faculty of International Law will continue to receive investment in scale, mandate and the quality of its resources, contributing to the University’s development as one of the country’s leading law training institutions, with growing regional and international integration.
