Separation of Powers in Pre-modern Western Political Thought and the Building of the State of Law in Vietnam

Among the signs of a state of law, there is one that is widely recognized by researchers in the world, which is that the power of the government is operated according to the principle of separation of powers as an internal control method to avoid the abuse/manipulation of power.In the organization of governing systems in many countries, the separation of powers principle has been applied in different ways.The birth of the separation of powers principle and the fact that this concept is used widely in the political life of humankind is a proof of its value.The Constitution of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam (amended in 2013) 1 states that the Vietnamese state is a socialist state of law, of the people, by the people and for the people.All the power of the state belongs to the people based on the alliance between the working class, the peasantry and the intellectuals.State power is united, and at the same time is entrusted to state agencies that collaborate with and monitor one another in the implementation of legislative, executive and judicial powers.Thus, technically, the Vietnamese state is not constructed based on the separation of powers principle.Nevertheless, it cannot be denied that the useful values of the separation of powers principle have been applied in organizing and exercising Vietnamese state power, thereby establishing the principle of "division, collaboration and mutual monitor-