This article analyses the challenges of implementing transplanted laws, with a specific focus on the principle of changed circumstances in the 2015 Vietnamese Civil Code. The application of this principle necessitates judicial discretion on a case-by-case basis, which is incompatible with Vietnam’s socialist legal system which does not allow for the generation of rules through court proceedings. Through a case study of the judicial application of the principle of changed circumstances, this paper highlights the challenges of enforcing this principle under Vietnamese domestic legal conditions. The paper argues that modifying domestic legal formants, especially the function of courts in adjudication, is indispensable to the effective implementation of the doctrine of changed circumstances.

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