Fairness in criminal procedure is understood not only in terms of the rights of accused persons but also in relation to procedural legality, institutional safeguards, judicial transparency, and public trust. This article conducts a systematic review of international and Vietnamese scholarship to identify the principal approaches to fairness in criminal procedure and draw implications for Vietnam. Of 3,528 publications retrieved from Scopus, 239 were selected for analysis following screening under the PRISMA 2020 framework. The article combines qualitative content analysis with bibliometric analysis using VOSviewer and examines relevant Vietnamese scholarship. The findings reveal three principal approaches: protecting procedural rights of individuals; assuring procedural legality, and safeguarding structures and institutions; and conceptualising fairness as a constitutional principle associated with transparency, legitimacy, and public trust. International scholarship still contains gaps concerning technological developments and cross-regional dialogue. The research in Vietnam remains fragmented around specific procedural rights and has yet to establish a comprehensive framework for fairness in criminal procedural. The article therefore proposes developing an integrated conception of procedural fairness that combines the protection of individuals’ rights, scrutiny of procedural legality, and safeguards appropriate to the digitalisation of criminal justice.
