Ensuring better access to legal aid for vulnerable groups

Supplementing certain categories of persons eligible for legal aid

According to the draft Submission, the development of the Law amending and supplementing a number of articles of the Law on Legal Aid aims to address certain limitations and inadequacies of the 2017 Law on Legal Aid; to amend and supplement certain provisions in order to better ensure citizens’ access to legal aid, in line with the socio-economic situation and conditions of the country; to enhance the professionalism and effectiveness of legal aid work; and to ensure the consistency and uniformity of the legal system, meeting the requirements of judicial reform, administrative reform, and the implementation of the current two-tier local government model.

The draft Law supplementing certain categories of persons eligible for legal aid aims to maximize the right of access to the law and legal aid for vulnerable groups, in line with international practices and international treaties to which Viet Nam is a party. Specifically, it amends and supplements the categories of persons eligible for legal aid under the Law on Prevention and Combat of Human Trafficking and the Juvenile Justice Law to ensure consistency and uniformity within the legal system.

The phrase “victims in domestic violence cases” is amended to “persons subjected to domestic violence in cases related to domestic violence” to align with the provisions of the Law on Prevention and Combat of Domestic Violence; the phrase “persons with disabilities experiencing financial difficulties” is amended to “persons with disabilities.” Expanding persons with disabilities as eligible for legal aid (without requiring the condition of financial difficulty) is appropriate and contributes to the domestic implementation of commitments under the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities.

The draft Law also supplements the category of “foreign nationals entitled to legal aid in accordance with international treaties to which the Socialist Republic of Viet Nam is a party” to implement the international treaties that Viet Nam has signed and will participate in; at the same time, it adds “other subjects as prescribed by law” to comprehensively cover all persons entitled to legal aid under the law.

Draft Law expands the scope of persons eligible to become legal aid collaborators

To attract qualified individuals to participate in legal aid implementation and to expand the legal aid network, the draft Law broadens the scope of persons who may become legal aid collaborators in the following direction: Vietnamese citizens with good moral character; holding a bachelor’s degree in law or higher; having sufficient health to perform legal aid; and not falling into any of the cases of being disciplined, criminally prosecuted, or convicted but not yet expunged, may become legal aid collaborators. Thus, the draft Law does not limit eligibility to only certain groups as currently, which include: legal aid providers; judges, judicial examiners in the Court sector; prosecutors, inspectors in the Procuracy sector; investigators; enforcement officers and judicial examiners in civil judgment enforcement; and specialists in legal work at State agencies who have retired.

The draft Law also supplements provisions allowing legal aid collaborators to handle legal aid cases, participate in proceedings, and represent clients outside proceedings in accordance with the law. At present, as the demand for legal aid among citizens increasingly rises, allowing legal aid collaborators to participate in proceedings and represent clients outside proceedings will help expand human resources, attract and utilize qualified individuals capable of providing legal aid, and facilitate timely access to legal services for citizens, especially in the context of many localities having merged, with larger territorial areas and significantly increased populations.