Influence of civilisational factors on the development of Vietnam's law in the colonial period

¹ Lobachevsky State University of Nizhny Novgorod, Faculty of Law, Department of Theory and History of the State and Law, Nizhny Novgorod, Russia
² Lobachevsky State University of Nizhny Novgorod, Faculty of Law, Department of Civil Law and Procedure, Nizhny Novgorod, Russia
³ Volga State University of Water Transport, Institute of Economics, Management and Law, Department of Civil Law Disciplines, Nizhny Novgorod, Russia

¹ Corresponding author: Vera_borisovna@mail.ru

Abstract

Purpose of the research is to study the influence of the traditional norms and customs on the formation of the Vietnamese law in the pre-colonial period, to show their influence on the legal consciousness of its residents during the French protectorate, to substantiate the fact that this influence prevented the French colonial administration from establishing its rules without regard for the local specifics. The basic approach to studying the law of Vietnam in the colonial period is the civilisational approach which is based on the idea of correlation of law and economy, with a predominant consideration of spiritual, moral and cultural factors of the social development. The general methodological basis is presented by the dialectical method which enabled the authors to study the object of research in development, to establish the relevant cause-and-effect relations. The result of the work is the conclusion that one of the main elements of the Vietnamese culture, that had a noticeable impact on legal regulations, is the cult of ancestors. Folk beliefs are an integral part of the national history, culture, law, worldview of the Vietnamese; they have much influenced the formation of civil legislation of the colonial and present-day Vietnam. The novelty of the work is determined by the fact that the influence of spiritual and cultural factors on the attempts to introduce the new laws on the territory of Tonquin (North Vietnam) is considered for the first time.