Proposed 7 main policy groups in the Law on Dissemination and Education of Law (amended)

On the afternoon of December 10th, Deputy Minister of Justice Nguyen Thanh Ngoc worked with the Department of Legal Dissemination, Education and Legal Aid (Department of Legal Dissemination, Education and Legal Aid) on the draft policies in the amended Law on Legal Dissemination and Education.

Reporting at the meeting, Deputy Director of the Department of Legal Education and Dissemination Phan Hong Nguyen stated that, over the 13 years of implementing the Law on Legal Education and Dissemination , the work has received attention and guidance from Party committees, governments, and various sectors at all levels, from the central to the local level. Annually, ministries, central agencies, and People's Committees at all levels issue plans and directives to implement this work according to their functions and scope of management. Guidance on disseminating and developing materials introducing new points and basic contents of newly enacted laws and ordinances has been implemented promptly and has become a regular practice. Resources for legal education and dissemination, from funding to personnel, have received more attention. The content and forms of legal education and dissemination are diverse and rich, closely aligned with social needs, and the application of information technology and digital transformation in legal education and dissemination has been emphasized...
Furthermore, a review of the practical implementation of the Law on Dissemination and Education of Legal Knowledge reveals several limitations and difficulties, specifically: The responsibilities of agencies, organizations, and individuals in managing and implementing the dissemination and education of legal knowledge have not been clearly defined. In reality, some target groups still face difficulties in accessing and understanding the law, but the Law has not designated them as special, priority groups for legal education and dissemination, thus lacking appropriate mechanisms, policies, and resource allocation. The Law also fails to clearly stipulate the mandatory dissemination, provision, and timely updating of legal knowledge for officials and civil servants, given the limited legal understanding, awareness, and discipline of a segment of this workforce, especially at the grassroots level.
The purpose of developing the revised Law on Dissemination and Education of Law is to: (i) Address the limitations, difficulties, and obstacles caused by the provisions of the Law that have been reflected by Ministries, agencies, and organizations at the central and local levels during the preliminary and final reviews of the Law's implementation; (ii) Innovate and improve the effectiveness of policy communication, draft legal documents, and dissemination and education of law, creating favorable conditions for officials, civil servants, citizens, and businesses to access and understand the law; contributing to building and perfecting the socialist rule of law state of the people, by the people, and for the people.
Accordingly, the Department of Legal Education and Dissemination proposed seven main policy groups in the Law on Legal Education and Dissemination (amended), including: Policy 1: Clearly defining the responsibilities of agencies, organizations, and individuals in state management and implementation of legal education and dissemination; Policy 2: Improving the organizational and operational mechanisms of the Council for Coordinating Legal Education and Dissemination; Policy 3: Adjusting the target groups and improving policies on legal education and dissemination for specific and vulnerable groups to ensure no one is left behind; Policy 4: Legal education and dissemination for officials and civil servants; reforming legal education in educational institutions and vocational training institutions; Policy 5: Building human resources to meet the requirements of reforming legal education and dissemination; mobilizing lawyers, legal experts, legal consultants, and legal aid assistants to participate in legal education and dissemination; Policy 6: Linking policy communication with legal education and dissemination; innovating methods of legal education and dissemination through the application of information technology and digital platforms; Policy 7: Adjusting the financial mechanism and social mobilization policies for legal education and dissemination.
Speaking at the meeting, Deputy Minister Nguyen Thanh Ngoc agreed with the seven main policy groups proposed in the draft Law on Dissemination and Education of Legal Knowledge (amended).
Commenting on policy groups, the Deputy Minister stated that regarding policies clearly defining the responsibilities of agencies, organizations, and individuals in state management and the implementation of legal education and dissemination, this is an important content and therefore requires specific regulations on the responsibilities of all parties from the central government, ministries, and sectors; local governments; the Vietnam Fatherland Front and professional social organizations.
Regarding the policy to improve the organizational and operational mechanisms of the Council for Coordination of Law Dissemination and Education, the Deputy Minister stated that, to ensure compatibility with the organization and operation of the two-tiered local government model, it is necessary to focus on evaluating the advantages and disadvantages of each solution to make appropriate choices, ensuring feasibility and effectiveness.
In addition, the Deputy Minister suggested researching special mechanisms to enhance the effectiveness of legal education and dissemination for specific and vulnerable groups so that no one is left behind; developing appropriate criteria to improve the quality of the legal education and dissemination workforce; supplementing regulations on policy communication and the responsibilities of policy advisory agencies in policy communication and legal education and dissemination; adjusting and perfecting regulations to manage and establish databases and information systems for legal education and dissemination; promoting the effectiveness of new forms of policy communication and legal education and dissemination such as digital platforms, social networks, online legal learning platforms, digital documents, etc.; and ensuring that funding for legal education and dissemination is commensurate with its position and role.