This chapter discusses the challenges that lawyers face in promoting justice and the rule of law in Vietnam. The chapter argues that these challenges currently stem primarily from the principle of democratic centralism, the backbone of the Vietnamese government, which in some ways contradicts the state’s aspiration to be a ‘rule of law state’. Democratic centralism subordinates the role of courts and the government to that of the National Assembly by giving the latter power to make the final decision with absolute obedience from the former, notwithstanding the ‘democratic’ discussion before the decision is made. Although changes have been introduced, this orientation continues to shape the role of courts and lawyers in Vietnam. Legal aid has been implemented, but it focuses primarily on law dissemination, and legal aid to persons in court is hampered by the small number of legal aid staff. Practising lawyers face a number of difficulties and challenges in supporting access to justice, particularly when providing criminal defence, as lawyers’ services are still considered obstacles to the operation of state agencies. However, in the Vietnamese system, lawyers could accelerate the assurance of equality before the laws and access to justice.