International law moot court competition
April 2013
Vu Thu Hang
What we will discuss today:
 The importance of legal analysis technique;
 The concept of sources of law;
 Basic concepts of the common law system and the civil
law system;
 The difference between sources of law and law;
 Quotation and legal basis;
 Legal analysis technique;
 How to apply law to a specific question?
1. The importance of legal analysis
techniques
 Importance?
- Enable to indentify and acquire the legal knowledge
needed for competent representation for clients.
- Enable to address unfamiliar areas of law and to
respond to changes in the laws;
 Practicing is the only way to master legal analyzing
techniques;
 With legal analysis technique, law
students/mooters/lawyers shall develop their research
skills (capacities to understand the complexities of the
legal system, to use to secondary sources and to be
efficient, keeping in mind that sources need to be fully
referenced and strategically/appropriately chosen).
2. Sources of law
 The concept:
 The sources of law are multiple, but:
 For civil law system: Court judgment (Jurisprudence)
shall not be considered as such (see table p.6);
 For common law system: court decisions set
“precedent” and are referred to as a source of law (i.e.,
to be used in future cases of similar nature). Precedent
can be overruled by new laws, or statutes, passed by
the appropriate government .
 International treaties: [to which (Vietnam) is party] are
also sources of law and have precedence over
domestic legislation.
 Domestic sources:
Legal instruments
Issuing bodies
The Constitution,
Laws (and Codes),
Resolutions
National Assembly
Ordinances and resolutions
Standing Committee of the National
Assembly
Decrees, regulations and resolutions
The Government
Decisions and directives
The Prime Minister
Circulars
Ministries
Decisions
Ministers
– Primary vs. secondary sources of law:
 Primary: in appropriate circumstances, binding or
determinative of the outcome of a legal dispute.
Examples: international treaties, laws, regulations,
court orders, ect.
 Secondary: not binding, merely viewpoints of
writers or research aids. Examples: course books,
publications, articles, research papers, ect.
3. Common law system vs. civil law system

Common law system:
 Those legal systems have adopted the historical
English legal system;
 Case-centered, judged centered
 Law can be developed on a case-by-case basis.
 Civil law system:
 Those have adopted the European continental system
of law;
 Codified body of general principles which control the
exercise of judicial diiscretion.
– The difference between sources of law and laws:
 Sources of law: the origin from which rules/laws
come into existence. Examples would be precedents,
customs, legislation, international treaties, etc.
 Laws are defined as binding, general and abstract
rules of conduct meant to enforce justice and
prescribe duty or obligation. It is imposed on
everybody.
4. Quotation of law/legal basis: how and why
quotation of law is important to a legal
writing/legal opinion?
 To support an argument;
 To justify a reasoning;
 To avoid plagiarism;
 To make the case easier to be understood, more
transparent and more easily monitorable.
→ Lawyer, judge… are not competent to create new rules!
 How to quote case law, legislation, journal articles, book,
internet materials… etc?
 Books:
Author, title of the book (publisher, edition number, year of
publication)
 Case:
Case name (year) volume number, report series, page or Case
name (year) Court, judgment number
 Legislation:
Title of the act, year, jurisdiction
 Article:
Author, title of the article, year, volume of journal, title of the
journal, page
 Internet materials:
Author, document title (date) website page
5. Legal analysis technique
The basis of legal analysis is simple but fundamental,
this is to identify the issues presented through some
factual events and to determine the relevant law and
how it should be applied to the particular case.
From case to case, the application of a same rule may
vary depending on the elements of the case, the
interpretation of the rule and the legal analysis
technique chosen.
 Question of law and question of fact.
 Question of law = issue which pertains to interpretation
of the law and can only be decided by the judge. The
judge, weighting the available information, will consider
his or her knowledge of the law and issue a ruling on
the matter.
 In opposition, a question of fact concerns the
factual events which occurred. A question of fact
may be resolved by a judge but also by people’s
assessors (similar to the jury in the Anglo-American
system).
Example:
In a murder trial, the question “Did the defendant kill the
deceased?” is a question of fact when the question “ Did
the crime was premeditated?” is a question of law.
 Methods of analysis?
Several methods of legal analysis may be used…
 Rule based analysis: consists in breaking a legal rule
in separate elements, and matching those elements
of the rules with the facts and circumstances of the
problem to be solved.
 Reasoning by analogy: consists in showing direct
factual similarities between the case’ facts and the
law/case law. (often used)
- Textual analysis: As in the rule based reasoning a
legal rule is broken in several element but the words
must be strictly interpreted. The terms used are
central.
- Policy based reasoning: permits to analyze which
answer would be the best for the society at large.
Focus on the interpretation’s consequences.
- Tradition based analysis: in the vein of common law,
consists in applying the solution used for past
cases.
6. How to apply law to a specific question?
 Steps:
 Identify the issue or legal question;
 Identify the rule or law which governs the previous
question of law;
 Decide how the law applies to the legal question;
 Conclusion or summary of the legal analysis.
THANK YOU
Vu Thu Hang
HPLaw, Ho Chi Minh City
thuhang.vu@hplaw.com.vn