Besides overseeing the Council of Ministers, the assembly's Standing Committee nominally supervised the Supreme People's Court, the chief organ of the judiciary.

The assembly's executive side nominally decided on national economic plans, approved state budgets, and acted on questions of war or peace.

The 1980 Constitution was drafted when Vietnam faced a serious threat from China, and political and economic dependence on the Soviet Union had increased.

Perhaps, as a result, the completed document resembles the 1977 Soviet Constitution,[2] which is evident in the principle of dictatorship of the proletariat, the exclusive leadership of the Communist Party, the centrally planned economy, the citizen's duties and statist rights, and the Leninist constitutional structure consisting of the supreme National Assembly, the collective presidency called the Council of State, the subordinate government called Council of Ministers, the procuracies, and the courts.

In keeping with the underlying theme of a new beginning associated with reunification, the constitution also stressed the need to develop a new political system, a new economy, a new culture, and a new socialist person.

[2] Among the innovative features of the 1980 document is the concept of "collective mastery" of society, a frequently used expression attributed to the late party secretary Le Duan (1907 - 1986).

On paper, these organizations, to which almost all citizens belong, play an active role in government and have the right to introduce bills before the National Assembly.

[2] The 1980 Constitution comprises 147 articles, in 12 chapters, dealing with numerous subjects, including the basic rights and duties of citizens.