On the afternoon of 22 September 2026, Ho Chi Minh City University of Law (ULAW) held a ceremony marking the 15th anniversary of the Franco-Vietnamese Joint Master of Laws Program, while also officially welcoming its 15th cohort. A decade and a half after the program was first launched, a model of European-standard legal education has been steadily sustained in Vietnam, bringing together hundreds of Vietnamese and international students in a multilingual academic environment shaped by diverse legal systems and traditions. To mark this significant anniversary, ULAW also held a special conferment ceremony to bestow the title of Honorary Professor upon Professor Laurent Grosclaude, who has been closely associated with the program since its formative years and has played an instrumental role in shaping its academic foundations and strengthening Franco-Vietnamese scholarly ties.
An overview of the 15th-anniversary celebration
The journey of the Franco-Vietnamese Joint Master of Laws Program began in January 2011, when the Master’s Program in International and Comparative Business Law was launched pursuant to Decision No. 344/QĐ-BGDĐT of the Ministry of Education and Training. ULAW, together with Jean Moulin Lyon 3 University, the University of Bordeaux and Toulouse Capitole University, established a collaborative framework through which the academic standards of French universities were brought into the legal education environment of Ho Chi Minh City. At subsequent stages of its development, the program was joined by Université libre de Bruxelles (ULB), Belgium, and initially received support from the Agence Universitaire de la Francophonie (AUF).
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Delegates attending the ceremony
After 15 cohorts, the aspirations first placed on the partnership table in 2011 have translated into tangible outcomes: 417 students have been enrolled in the program, while 374 of the 378 students admitted between 2011 and 2025 successfully completed their studies, representing a graduation rate of 98.9 percent. Notably, more than 300 international students from France and numerous countries across the Francophone community have chosen ULAW as their place of study. A program delivered in Vietnam has thus evolved into a meeting point for multiple nationalities, legal traditions and professional experiences.
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Delegates tour and interact at ULAW’s Top View space
For Vietnamese students, the program offers the opportunity to access a French university-standard model of legal education in Ho Chi Minh City, study with an international faculty, and work intensively in foreign languages within a specialized legal environment—all without having to leave behind their professional foundations in Vietnam. For international students, meanwhile, the program opens up a “classroom” extending well beyond the lecture hall: one in which they can engage directly with the legal system, markets, businesses and economic life of one of Southeast Asia’s most dynamic regions.
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Current students and alumni of the Franco-Vietnamese Joint Master of Laws Program attend the ceremony
The program is taught primarily in French, with part of the curriculum delivered in English. Its academic scope extends from private international law, corporate law, competition law, taxation and intellectual property to international commercial contracts, arbitration and dispute resolution. Its distinctive value lies not simply in assembling a collection of internationally oriented courses, but in the way legal issues are examined comparatively through European, Vietnamese and Southeast Asian perspectives. Students are consequently trained in an increasingly indispensable capability for contemporary legal professionals: the ability to think and practise law beyond the confines of a single legal system.
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A performance of traditional Vietnamese musical instruments at the ceremony
Speaking at the ceremony, Dr. Lê Trường Sơn, Secretary of the University Party Committee and Rector of Ho Chi Minh City University of Law, emphasized that after 15 cohorts, the program no longer merely evokes the place where the Franco-Vietnamese academic partnership first began. It has become an open intellectual space in which differences in culture, experience and legal systems do not create distance; rather, they allow each legal question to be examined from richer and more comprehensive perspectives. According to the Rector, the program’s reputation today has been built not only upon major milestones, but also through the painstaking work sustained year after year—a course rigorously prepared, a professor returning to teach, a student completing a dissertation—as well as through the continuing support of businesses, law firms and professional organizations, ensuring that academic knowledge is constantly tested against real-world problems, professional demands and responsibilities.
Dr. Lê Trường Sơn – Secretary of the University Party Committee and Rector of Ho Chi Minh City University of Law – delivers his remarks at the ceremony
Representing the French side, Mr. Vincent Drapeau, Attaché for Scientific and University Cooperation at the Consulate General of France in Ho Chi Minh City, conveyed, on behalf of French Consul General Etienne Ranaivoson, his congratulations to the program and generations of its students. He described the 15-year milestone as evidence of the strength and quality of academic and legal cooperation between France and Vietnam, a relationship built upon more than three decades of exchanges and dialogue. In his view, developing and sustaining joint academic programs of this kind reflects a shared determination to cultivate highly qualified legal professionals, while at the same time expanding access to high-quality higher education within Vietnam and creating pathways for graduates to maintain enduring connections with France through alumni networks.
Mr. Vincent Drapeau – Attaché for Scientific and University Cooperation at the Consulate General of France in Ho Chi Minh City – delivers congratulatory remarks to the Program on behalf of Consul General of France Etienne Ranaivoson
The anniversary ceremony reached a particularly solemn moment when ULAW formally conferred the title of Honorary Professor upon Professor Laurent Grosclaude, Scientific Director of the Franco-Vietnamese Joint Master of Laws Program. Pursuant to Decision No. 1103/QĐ-ĐHL dated 30 June 2026, the title was awarded in recognition of his significant and effective contributions to the development of academic programs, the enhancement of research capacity and the expansion of the University’s international academic network.
The ceremony conferring the title of Honorary Professor upon Professor Laurent Grosclaude, Scientific Director of the Franco-Vietnamese Joint Master of Laws Program
Professor Laurent Grosclaude’s name has been closely associated with the program since its earliest years. In his capacity as Scientific Director, he has participated in coordinating academic activities, teaching, linking ULAW with its partner universities and helping ensure the continuity of rigorous academic standards across successive cohorts. From study tours in Hong Kong and Singapore to initiatives connecting students with international law firms and professional organizations, his contribution has been evident across multiple dimensions of the program’s internationalization.
The ceremony conferring the title of Honorary Professor upon Professor Laurent Grosclaude, Scientific Director of the Franco-Vietnamese Joint Master of Laws Program
The conferment of the Honorary Professor title on the occasion of the program’s 15th anniversary therefore carries a significance extending well beyond individual recognition. It is also an expression of gratitude to an academic who has devoted many years to nurturing Franco-Vietnamese scholarly relations, accompanying successive generations of students and helping transform a collaborative idea conceived in 2011 into an academic program of enduring vitality.
In his remarks following the conferment ceremony, Professor Laurent Grosclaude described the past 15 years as a deeply meaningful intellectual, human and diplomatic journey. It began, he recalled, with the ambition to establish a model of legal education without precedent in Southeast Asia—one in which the continental European legal tradition and Vietnamese law could engage in meaningful dialogue, while preparing professionals capable of working at the intersection of Francophone, Vietnamese and Asian economies. In his assessment, the success of the program is reflected not only in the hundreds of alumni now holding highly qualified professional positions, but also in the enduring community created among academics, diplomats, legal practitioners and generations of students. The 15-year milestone, he stressed, should therefore be viewed not as an endpoint, but as a platform for the future development of dual-degree programs and joint doctoral training.
Professor Laurent Grosclaude, Scientific Director of the Franco-Vietnamese Joint Master of Laws Program, delivers his remarks following the conferment ceremony
As part of the anniversary program, the University presented commemorative medals to Professor Dr. Mai Hồng Quỳ, Meritorious Teacher; Professor Laurent Grosclaude; and Professor Erik Van Den Haute, in recognition of their respective roles in the establishment and development of the program. The University also presented commendations to the Institute of International Training and two individuals for outstanding achievements in the program’s implementation and administration.
ULAW presents commemorative medals to Professor Dr. Mai Hồng Quỳ, Meritorious Teacher; Professor Laurent Grosclaude; and Professor Erik Van Den Haute – individuals who played important roles in the establishment and development of the Program
ULAW presents letters of appreciation to the organizations and individuals who have supported and accompanied the Program
If the anniversary ceremony offered a moment of reflection on the journey already travelled, the opening of the 15th cohort turned the program’s attention toward the future. For the 2026 intake, the program continues to be delivered over one academic year. Students who successfully complete the program are awarded a Master’s degree in International Law, specializing in International and Comparative Business Law, by the University of Bordeaux.
Speaking on behalf of the three French universities in the academic consortium, alongside Université libre de Bruxelles, Professor Olivier Gout, Dean of the Faculty of Law at Jean Moulin Lyon 3 University, observed that the 15-year milestone and the presence of successive generations of students constituted clear evidence of the success of what had once been a bold decision to cooperate. That decision, he noted, has sustained a bridge of academic exchange, friendship and mutual understanding between France and Vietnam.
Welcoming the 15th cohort, Professor Gout emphasized that the new students were both heirs to the achievements of the preceding 14 cohorts and active contributors to the next 15 years of the program. The program, he stressed, does more than provide advanced knowledge of business and international law; it also trains students to think differently, to compare legal systems and methods of reasoning, and to operate within a genuinely international academic environment.
In his view, international cooperation should become part of the very “DNA” of a university, because creating dialogue between legal systems and cultures not only enriches professional competence but also contributes to deeper mutual understanding and friendship among peoples. He expressed the hope that, after one year of study, every student would leave the program not only with a Master’s degree, but also more mature, more open-minded and more confident in their ability to connect different legal systems and cultures.
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Professor Olivier Gout – Dean of the Faculty of Law at Jean Moulin Lyon 3 University – delivers his remarks at the ceremony
Continuing the voices of those who had come before them, Miss Cassamaly Lola – a representative of the incoming 15th cohort, speaking on behalf of students from Toulouse Capitole University, Jean Moulin Lyon 3 University and the University of Bordeaux, expressed gratitude to ULAW for its welcome, its trust and the conditions it had created for their academic journey in Vietnam.
For the incoming students, the program represents far more than a postgraduate course of study. It is also an opportunity to step beyond familiar boundaries, travel nearly 10,000 kilometres and discover a new academic, legal and cultural environment in Ho Chi Minh City—a dynamic metropolis situated within a rapidly developing economy. Studying business law and international law in Vietnam enables them to encounter different legal practices, test their existing knowledge against a distinct socioeconomic context and recognize that there is not always only one way to approach a given problem.
The representative of the 15th cohort expressed the hope that students would leave the program not only with new legal knowledge, but also with lasting memories, friendships, a greater openness to the world and enduring connections among universities, cultures and generations of students.
That spirit of connection was given concrete form during the anniversary ceremony with the official launch of ULAW Link – Alumni du Master DICA, together with an Alumni Liaison Committee comprising 14 representatives from the program’s 14 previous cohorts. More than a decade after studying together in the same lecture halls, former students are now working in law firms, businesses, judicial institutions, arbitration organizations, research establishments and a wide range of international professional environments. Bringing them together within a common network creates an additional layer of value for the program: academic knowledge is extended through professional relationships, accumulated experience and opportunities for intergenerational collaboration.
The launch ceremony of ULAW Link – Alumni du Master DICA and the Alumni Liaison Committee of the Franco-Vietnamese Joint Master of Laws Program
After 15 years, the story of the Franco-Vietnamese Joint Master of Laws Program can therefore no longer be confined to that of a single academic program. It demonstrates an alternative approach to the internationalization of legal education: internationalization does not necessarily require taking students out of Vietnam; it can also mean bringing international academic standards, legal traditions and global conversations directly into a lecture hall in Ho Chi Minh City.
Looking ahead, ULAW intends to incorporate into this collaborative academic environment the issues now reshaping the legal profession—from digital transformation and artificial intelligence in legal practice to sustainable development. The University is also exploring the establishment of a Vietnam–France Corporate Scholarship Fund, while seeking to expand articulation pathways and develop new jointly delivered specializations.
Delegates pose for a commemorative photograph at the ceremony
Fifteen years is long enough for an initiative to demonstrate its enduring vitality, yet recent enough for those who laid its earliest foundations to witness the program entering a new chapter. Perhaps the most meaningful image of this year’s anniversary lies precisely in that convergence: a journey respectfully revisited, a scholar who helped lay its foundations duly honoured, and the doors of the 15th cohort opening for a new generation to carry the Franco-Vietnamese legal bridge forward.
Prepared by: Department of Communications and Enterprise Relations