HANOI - A VIETNAMESE court rejected legal action against the communist country's prime minister filed by a lawyer seeking to halt a controversial bauxite mining plan, the government said Tuesday.

The head of the court decided not to hear the complaint against Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung alleging the mining project would violate environmental, defence and cultural heritage laws because there was no 'legal basis' for it, according to a government website.

Cu Huy Ha Vu submitted the court complaint June 11 in an attempt to get a decision on the mines signed in 2007 by Dung nullified.

The major mining operations would be run by a state-owned company in the Central Highlands.

In a one-party state where public protest is rare, the move triggered a public outcry from scientists, intellectuals and former soldiers.

Critics said the environmental and social damage from the mines would far outweigh any economic benefit, and pointed to security concerns because a Chinese company has been granted a contract to build one of the projects.

Vietnam's most powerful ruling body, the Politburo, in April endorsed the bauxite mining but said it must be carried out with respect for the environment and local residents.

The court in its decision defended the government's policy on the mines, saying it was 'just'.

Vu questioned the court's decision and said he wanted 'to be told which court was competent to hear his complaint'.

He said the publication of the decision was however positive as it made his legal action, which has been ignored by the state-controlled Vietnamese media, 'very official'. -- AFP