Baokhanh Nguyen Huynh
Corruption continues to be a significant obstacle to national development and undermines the integrity of the public apparatus. Although Vietnam has built a relatively comprehensive anti-corruption legal framework, especially since the 2018 Anti-Corruption Law came into effect, the effectiveness of enforcement remains far from social expectations. The article analyzes the main limitations in legal design and implementation mechanisms, focusing on the following issues: transparency of income and assets is still formalistic, the mechanism for controlling conflicts of interest lacks operational criteria, the protection of whistleblowers is inadequate, the recovery of corrupt assets is limited, and the absence of an independent monitoring institution. Through qualitative analysis and normative approaches, the study shows that current obstacles stem from the gap between regulations and practice, as well as the dependence of enforcement agencies on the current power structure. On that basis, the article proposes a set of solutions to strengthen independent supervision, digitize and connect public databases, standardize the process of handling violations, and improve the accountability mechanism. The research results contribute to supplementing scientific arguments for building a more effective anti-corruption legal system in the context of a socialist-oriented market economy in Vietnam.