'Reducing legal poverty' through legal aid

(Chinhphu.vn) - Legal aid in Vietnam is affirmed as an important policy belonging to the group of "legal poverty reduction" policies, part of the strategy to eradicate poverty and ensure social security, helping the poor and vulnerable groups access justice, protect their legitimate rights, thereby improving their quality of life and socio-economic development.

Legal support and social security for the poor have always been priorities for the Party and the State. Photo: VGP/DA

In a letter dated December 20, 1995, sent to officials and staff of the Justice sector on the occasion of the 50th anniversary of the sector's establishment, former General Secretary Do Muoi emphasized: "The State must soon study the establishment of a system of free legal counseling organizations for the poor, families under social welfare policies, and ethnic minorities."

These directives have guided a shift in thinking regarding the provision of legal services, marking a milestone in a profound and comprehensive transformation in awareness, and creating the political and legal foundation for the emergence and development of legal aid in the next phase.

At the 3rd session of the 8th Central Committee of the Communist Party of Vietnam on June 18, 1997, for the first time, a resolution of the Central Committee directed the implementation of legal aid work in the following direction: "Organize forms of legal consultation for agencies, organizations and the people, creating conditions for the poor to receive free legal consultation services."

This is an important political and legal basis, further affirming the Party's political determination to ensure the right of the poor and vulnerable groups to access the law. Based on this, the Prime Minister issued Decision No. 734/TTg dated September 6, 1997, on the establishment of legal aid organizations for the poor and policy beneficiaries. Implementing this Decision, a system of legal aid organizations has been established nationwide…

On June 20, 2006, the 10th National Assembly enacted the Law on Legal Aid, marking a new development in legal aid activities. On June 20, 2017, the 14th National Assembly, at its 3rd session, passed the 2017 Law on Legal Aid. The promulgation of the 2017 Law on Legal Aid once again affirms that the Party and State continue to recognize the position and role of legal aid, marking an important milestone in perfecting the State's institutional framework for the legitimate rights and interests of those receiving legal aid, particularly the poor and vulnerable groups in Vietnam.

The Legal Aid Law has yielded several positive results. Specifically, the awareness of the public and even government officials, including legal agencies, has undergone many positive changes to ensure that those eligible for legal aid can access services easily, conveniently, and without paying any fees.

Furthermore, the quality of legal aid is constantly improving as legal aid providers equivalent to lawyers maintain the minimum number of mandatory legal aid cases handled annually and a mechanism for evaluating the quality of legal aid is in place. Despite budget constraints, the Government has prioritized resources for legal aid; integrating legal aid into poverty reduction programs to prioritize resource mobilization for this work…

According to the Ministry of Justice, legal aid has been affirmed as a policy of "legal poverty reduction" within the overall poverty reduction policies of the Party and the State. After many years of formation and development, the policy on legal aid for the poor and vulnerable groups is now quite comprehensive, and the provisions on legal aid have been synchronized in various laws and implementing guidelines.

The results of legal aid activities have had a positive impact in ensuring the quality of litigation at court trials, and in guaranteeing the protection of the legitimate rights and interests of citizens, especially vulnerable groups in society.

The team of legal aid assistants has been standardized and regularly receives training to improve their skills. To date, this is the core team handling most legal aid cases in the form of participation in litigation.

However, this work still has some limitations, such as a shortage of legal aid personnel, especially in mountainous provinces where the poverty rate and ethnic minority population are high, transportation is difficult, and many people are still unaware of legal aid services and their rights to request legal assistance when facing legal issues…

In the coming period, it is necessary to enhance people's access to legal aid services; strengthen the capacity to provide quality legal aid services; integrate legal aid with the State's poverty reduction policies; attract social resources; and promote the application of information technology in legal aid...

Dieu Anh

Source: https://baochinhphu.vn/giam-ngheo-ve-phap-luat-thong-qua-tro-giup-phap-ly-102251211170150066.htm