Inheriting history and the aspiration for international integration
At the workshop, lawyer Nguyen Van Hau - Member of the Central Committee of the Vietnam Fatherland Front (VFF), Head of the Media Agency of the Vietnam Bar Federation - relieved concerns that the robe is a borrow of Western culture. Lawyer Nguyen Van Hau cited historical documents from the anti-French resistance period, the black robe is the professional attire of Vietnamese lawyers. At the same time, sharing from a working trip at the Hong Kong (China) Bar Association Conference before that with the participation of 200 countries and territories, lawyer Hau realized that the black robe is a "common language" of international character, helping to clearly define the independent and equal position of lawyers with Judges or Prosecutors.
Going deep into practice, lawyer Hau recalled the suffocation at major trials such as the case of Truong My Lan recently. With hundreds of attendees, wearing multi-layered vests becomes a major health barrier. The lawyer emphasized that new clothing needs to prioritize high-quality satin silk material, with elasticity and especially absolute anti-wrinkle features so that lawyers can easily roll it into briefcases, ensuring convenience and durability in the working process.
Notably, lawyer Hau proposed applying identification technology to clothing to help verify professional information quickly, contributing to effectively preventing the situation of impersonating lawyers in court.
Wishing for early synchronous application nationwide
Lawyer Vo Hong Nam - Deputy Chairman of Gia Lai Provincial Bar Association - noted that costumes need to be designed with anti-wrinkle materials, fast and neat wearing operations to suit the special mobility of local lawyers. At the same time, he emphasized that the unification of pure black has great symbolic meaning. This is the only color that cannot be mixed or dyed by any other color, symbolizing steadfast, objective bravery and absolutely not being affected or bribed.
Bringing to the conference a humane and nostalgic perspective, lawyer Truong Thi Hoa (Ho Chi Minh City Bar Association) expressed her emotion when considering this the 2nd time in her life she has worn back the traditional robe. Under the lens of a long-time female lawyer, the robe brings absolute equality. When worn, all distances in title or seniority are erased, all carrying a common mission to protect justice.
The female lawyer believes that, in addition to using appropriate materials, each detail on the shirt carries a profound symbolic meaning. Typically, the white bow standing straight in front of the chest symbolizes the lawyer's "tongue", being straightforward in defense language, absolutely not to twist or bend the truth. The design of closed buttons reminds each lawyer to always be careful, not to miss any small details of the client. Along with that, the high shoulders of the shirt are a metaphor of the balance of justice....
To make the project truly go into life, delegates expressed high agreement with changing costumes, wishing to apply it soon. However, instead of only piloting in Ho Chi Minh City and Hanoi from July 2026 as initially planned, many lawyers suggested that the Vietnam Bar Federation should have a flexible roadmap but must ensure synchronous application nationwide to ensure fairness and unity for the national team of lawyers, avoiding creating differences in image between localities.
