Hanoi Law University was established under Decision No. 405/CP dated November 10^th, 1979 of the Government Council on the basis of merging the Faculty of Law of Hanoi University and Vietnam Legal Studies College. At that time, the University was named “Hanoi Legal Studies University” with the mission of "Developing Hanoi Legal Studies University as a training centre for legal staffs, a legal research centre and a centre for dissemination of legal thoughts " (quoted from the speech by the late Prime Minister Pham Van Dong at the Opening Ceremony of the First LLB Course of Hanoi Legal Studies University now known as Hanoi Law University on November 10, 1979).

In the early years of its establishment and operation, the University encountered many difficulties: The organizational structure was primitive, the facilities were poor, and the location was far from the center of Hanoi (in Duyen Thai commune, Thuong Tin district, former Ha Tay province); The enrollment scale of the University was limited to 3 training levels: intermediate, college and university with a small number of students.

In 1982, in order to foster the training of legal staffs, the Ministry of Justice decided to expand the scale of the University and created a focal point for training human resources by merging the 1^st Judicial Professional High School and Hanoi Court Officers School into Hanoi Legal Studies University.

In the process of innovation and international integration, the University was renamed Hanoi Law University (under Decision No. 369/QD-BTP dated July 6^th, 1993 of the Minister of Justice).

Over the past 40 years of continuous efforts of generations of officials and lecturers, Hanoi Law University has comprehensively and firmly developed, and deserves to be the largest legal training institution over the country with a team of lecturers being scientists with professional qualifications, good capacity and qualities; the facilities have been gradually improved to meet the requirements of training legal staffs for the country in the process of international integration and sustainable development.

On April 4^th, 2013, the Prime Minister issued Decision No. 549/QD-TTg approving the project to develop Hanoi Law University and Ho Chi Minh City University of Law as key universities for training legal officers. Implementing the Project No.549, since 2013, the University has made great progress with a strong team of staffs and lecturers; having an advanced system of programs, curricula, and training methods; acquiring more modern facilities, equipment and libraries with an advanced management model. Thus, the University constantly affirms the leading position in the network of Vietnamese legal training institutions.

During the process of establishment and development, Hanoi Law University has always paid attention to maintaining high training quality, sharing experiences and cooperating with other legal training institutions throughout the country. The University deserves the leading position in the legal training system in Vietnam. On September 21^st, 2019, Hanoi Law University was elected by nearly 70 Vietnamese legal training institutions as the Head of the Executive Board of the network of Vietnamese legal training institutions for the 2019-2022 term.

In 2020, Hanoi Law University issued the University Development Strategy to 2030, in which the University strives to become a research-oriented higher education institution, a key legal training university, a leading center for legal research and dissemination in Vietnam, having a solid reputation in South East Asia and in the world.