Promoting the core role of legal aid workers

(Chinhphu.vn) - In the legal aid system in Vietnam, legal aid workers play a key role in providing free legal services to people in difficult circumstances, especially in litigation cases.

Legal aid workers play a key role in providing free legal services to the disadvantaged. Illustrative photo

According to statistics, in 2024, each legal aid officer will handle an average of 38.4 litigation cases, a significant increase compared to 32.4 cases in 2023. This is a testament to the constant efforts of legal aid officers in performing their duties.

State legal aid centers have found creative solutions to not only meet their targets but also improve the quality of legal aid work, contributing to protecting the legitimate rights of people, especially vulnerable groups in society.

To achieve this result, one of the important factors is the initiative of the Legal Aid Centers in finding practical and suitable solutions to optimize the implementation of the targets. Legal aid workers not only meet the requirements in terms of number of cases but also focus on the quality of the legal aid they provide.

In that context, assigning litigation case quotas is not only a monitoring tool but also creates opportunities for legal aid officers to improve their capacity, learn and accumulate experience.

According to Ms. Nguyen Tu Anh, Director of the Hanoi State Legal Aid Center, the Center is constantly strengthening and developing the team of legal aid practitioners, especially legal aid assistants, to meet the increasing needs of the people and new requirements in the current situation.

Currently, the Center has 50 legal assistants, an increase of 12 people compared to the period before 2018 due to increased workload. This team has high professional qualifications with 10 legal assistants with master's degrees and 40 legal assistants with bachelor's degrees. Notably, 40/50 legal assistants have 5 years or more of experience, creating a solid core force.

In addition, the Center pays special attention to resource creation, with 9 legal experts being trained, of which 2 are qualified for appointment after the TGPL probationary exam in 2025. This is an important force, ensuring the sustainable development of the legal aid team.

In addition to the internal force, Hanoi also mobilized the participation of 20 socialized organizations with 54 lawyers and 13 legal consultants, contributing to diversifying the network of legal aid service providers. This force not only contributes to diversifying the resources of legal aid service providers but also creates a support network, helping people have more options when they need help. In particular, the Center has built a team of legal reporters from the legal aid workers themselves.

Thanks to human resource development and training, the effectiveness of TGPL activities has changed significantly. From 2019 to now, 100% of cases are handled by facilitators. The number of cases has increased rapidly from 612 cases in 2019 to 1,080 cases (2020), 1,148 cases (2021), 1,854 cases (2022), 2,901 cases (2023) and 3,284 cases in 2024. Many facilitators have successfully handled complex cases.

It can be seen that with the increasing workload, especially when the subjects of TGPL are expanded, it requires legal aid officers to improve their capacity and work quality to meet the increasingly high requirements of the job. The increase in the number of cases not only requires an increase in the number of legal aid officers but also requires investment in training and professional development for this team.

Bich Phuong

Source: https://baochinhphu.vn/phat-huy-vai-tro-nong-cot-cua-tro-giup-vien-phap-ly-10225093012045578.htm