Currently, around 40 countries around the world celebrate "Law Day" or Constitution Day as an annual festival to commemorate the signing and promulgation of their respective constitutions.
In our country, according to Article 8 of the Law on Dissemination and Education of Law No. 14/2012/QH13 dated June 20, 2012, November 9th of each year is the Law Day of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam. Law Day is organized to honor the Constitution and laws, and to educate all members of society about the importance of respecting the rule of law.
The National Assembly chose November 9th as Law Day because 75 years ago on this day, the National Assembly of the Democratic Republic of Vietnam adopted the country's first Constitution – the 1946 Constitution. This was a political and legal event of special significance, marking the beginning of a new path in the constitutional history of the nation. On November 9, 1946, the first Constitution of the Democratic Republic of Vietnam was promulgated. After the 1946 Constitution, Vietnam has had four more Constitutions (1959, 1980, 1992, 2013). The democratic values, human rights, civil rights, and the ideology and model of a state of the people, by the people, and for the people, as enshrined in the 1946 Constitution, have always been the guiding principle throughout all subsequent Constitutions and the entire legal system of Vietnam.
Therefore, the important purpose and significance of Law Day is for the people to express their respect for the values and the particularly important role of the Constitution and laws in the lives of each individual and in the development of the nation and the prosperity of the people. At the same time, it aims to ensure that the spirit of the rule of law truly permeates the consciousness, behavior, and activities of all citizens, agencies, organizations, and the entire society.
Firstly, upholding the Constitution and the rule of law: Law Day is celebrated annually to honor the Constitution and the law, to highlight the value of the Constitution and the law in a rule-of-law state, and to educate everyone in society about the importance of respecting the rule of law. With this in mind, all organizations and individuals should focus on studying and understanding the law, contributing to bringing legal provisions into practice, thereby spreading this awareness widely so that every day of the year becomes Law Day.
Secondly, building trust, affection, and attitudes in accordance with the Constitution and laws: Our country's laws ensure the principles of fairness and transparency, recognizing, protecting, and guaranteeing the rights and interests of each individual and the harmony of various interests in society. Law Day is organized to honor the Constitution and laws; to build trust, affection, attitudes, and behaviors in accordance with the provisions of the legal system, and to foster a sense of law protection among the entire population.
Thirdly, upholding human values and building character creates the sustainability of legal consciousness, discipline, and the rule of law: Law Day is organized to uphold human values and build character; to promote a sense of ownership, respect for discipline, and freedom within the framework of the law; to value good moral values; to foster a sense of responsibility, civic duty, patriotism, and to build a cultured lifestyle; to cultivate awareness and capacity to promote national cultural values and absorb the best of human culture. These are important conditions contributing to the formation of individuals in terms of their soul and character, so that each person is self-aware of themselves, their community, their nation, and their country. This is precisely the factor that creates the sustainability of legal consciousness, discipline, and the rule of law.
Fourth, improve the effectiveness of lawmaking, dissemination, education, and law enforcement, meeting the requirements of building a rule-of-law state of the people, by the people, and for the people.
Fifth, aiming towards building a legal culture: Legal culture is very real, manifested daily in all areas of state, individual, and social activity, in the content, practice, and application of the Constitution and laws, and in all issues related to human beings, their rights, freedoms, and responsibilities. To form a legal culture, it is necessary to build a lifestyle that respects the law. A lifestyle according to the law is a constant, daily state, established from legal behavior at all times, in all places, and in all circumstances; it is not merely a temporary action but becomes a habit. Therefore, Law Day has profound educational significance in upholding the value of law in a rule-of-law state, guiding all organizations and individuals to actively participate with correct legal behavior and attitudes, and emphasizing the rights, responsibilities, and obligations of individual citizens in studying, understanding, and voluntarily complying with the law. This contributes to raising awareness and trust in the law, gradually building and strengthening legal cultural values in social life. At the same time, it serves as a model to mobilize, encourage, and call upon all citizens to work together for the cause of building and perfecting the State, thoroughly promoting the spirit of national unity and actively acting for a prosperous, strong, democratic, just, and civilized Vietnam.
