Vietnamese law does not recognize the common law doctrine of attorney-client legal privilege in relation to legal communications and documents prepared by or for lawyers. Under the current regulations, lawyers are obligated to keep the documents and information provided to them by their clients as well as their work product confidential. Specifically, the Law on Lawyers stipulates that a lawyer is prohibited from disclosing information about a case, matter or client that the lawyer obtained during the course of their practice, except where the client agrees to the disclosure in writing or the law stipulates otherwise. Nevertheless, courts and other relevant authorities can compel lawyers to produce work product provided by the client if an action is commenced.

The provisions of the Criminal Procedure Code and the Civil Procedure Code on evidence give judges (in civil cases) and investigating bodies and courts (in criminal cases) broad powers to collect evidence by, among other means, compelling individuals, agencies, or organizations to provide documents and other evidence related to the matter in controversy in order to clarify the issues in the case.

While there are no reported cases in which a lawyer has been required to produce a document received from their client, it must be noted that neither the Criminal Procedure Code nor the Civil Procedure Code exempt lawyers from the exercise of the powers afforded to investigating agencies and courts. Simply put, Vietnamese law does not recognize any concept of privilege that would apply to attorney work product or any documents or evidence provided by clients to their lawyers.

On a related note, the new Penal Code that fully came into effect on 1 January 2018 stipulates an obligation for advocates (including attorneys) to make denouncements upon detection of crimes against national security or other extremely serious crimes. The advocates shall bear criminal responsibility upon failure to adhere to this stipulation. This provision somewhat narrows down the scope of protection of clients' confidential information and is contrary to the provisions of the Law on Lawyers.