Experts attend the scientific seminar 'Improving institutions, policies and laws to enhance the effectiveness of legal aid in the new era ' on October 17. — VGP/VNA Photo

HÀ NỘI — Legal aid is a humane policy and a pioneering effort of the Party and State, reflecting the core values of the socialist regime, said Trương Thế Côn, Editor-in-Chief of the Democracy and Law Magazine, at a scientific seminar titled 'Improving institutions, policies and laws to enhance the effectiveness of legal aid in the new era,' held on October 17 in Hà Nội.

The event was organised by the Democracy and Law Magazine in coordination with the Department of Law Dissemination, Education, and Legal Aid under the Ministry of Justice.

Côn affirmed that legal aid aims to safeguard human and citizen rights, helping the poor, vulnerable groups and those in special circumstances access justice and equality before the law.

Since the 2017 Law on Legal Aid came into effect, supported by guiding documents, the sector has grown significantly in scale, quality, and effectiveness.

A network of legal aid organisations has now been established across all provinces and cities, handling tens of thousands of cases annually to protect citizens’ legitimate rights and interests and strengthen public trust in law and justice.

However, challenges persist in legal aid implementation. Some legal provisions have not kept pace with innovation, resources remain limited, coordination among agencies and organisations is still incomplete and the application of information technology and digital transformation has been slow.

The seminar sought to comprehensively assess legal aid issues, focusing on core topics such as the Party and State’s policies on legal aid and innovation to meet national development needs in the new era. It also addressed the need to improve the legal framework to enhance the quality and effectiveness of legal aid services, identify obstacles in implementation and propose practical solutions.

Deputy Director Vũ Thị Hường of the Department of Law Dissemination, Education, and Legal Aid said that as of December 31 last year, Việt Nam had 63 state legal aid centres and 97 branches. Following mergers, there are now 53 centres and 83 branches nationwide.

The country currently has about 1,440 legal aid practitioners, including over 710 legal aid workers, more than 700 lawyers and 22 collaborators under contract with legal aid centres, along with over 460 lawyers and consultants from registered organisations.

The number and quality of legal aid cases are closely monitored to ensure citizen satisfaction with services, particularly for low-income individuals, people with meritorious service to the revolution and other vulnerable groups, enabling them to access justice and protect their lawful rights and interests.

From 2018 to last year, more than 234,569 legal aid cases were handled, including over 139,200 litigation cases (59.4 per cent), 93,260 legal consultations and more than 2,070 out-of-court representations.

Deputy Director Hường emphasised that the 2017 Law on Legal Aid has been implemented consistently and effectively nationwide, achieving notable progress. The legal framework has been continually refined, providing a solid foundation for more substantive legal aid, particularly in case handling and litigation.

Legal aid organisations and practitioners have also improved in quality. Legal aid workers, lawyers and collaborators have been receiving continuous professional training and development, while close coordination among relevant agencies and organisations, including judicial authorities, has supported the effective delivery of legal aid services, according to the justice official.

At the seminar, delegates proposed expanding the network of legal aid collaborators and strengthening the use of technology to connect and exchange expertise among localities through a shared database system.

They also called for continued research and policy improvement, with a focus on specialised training, practical skills, technology use, communication and international cooperation.

In addition, participants recommended creating mechanisms to reward and protect legal aid practitioners, developing fair evaluation methods suited to the profession and investing further in facilities to support legal aid activities.

Enhancing legal aid staff

At the seminar, Phan Thị Thu Trang, Deputy Director of the Hà Nội City State Legal Aid Centre, said that the Legal Aid Law did not specifically stipulate the responsibilities of the commune-level people's committee in legal aid activities.

This is not yet suitable for the requirement to strengthen the role, responsibility and authority of the grassroots government in implementing the current two-tier local government model.

On that basis, she proposed to add specific regulations on the responsibilities of the commune-level people's committee in providing documents related to legal aid; introducing and supporting people to access legal aid, organising education, and coordinating with legal aid centres to improve the effectiveness of legal aid activities at the locality.

A representative of the State Legal Aid Centre No 2 in HCM City said that some administrative procedures in legal aid activities were still cumbersome, unintentionally creating barriers that made it difficult for lawyers to participate or encounter obstacles.

Therefore, it is necessary to digitise the entire process, streamline dossiers, and build an online legal aid portal allowing lawyers to register and update case progress.

To perfect policies and laws to enhance the effectiveness of legal aid activities, Nguyễn Thị Nga, Director of the Lai Châu Province State Legal Aid Centre, proposed increasing investment in infrastructure for legal aid activities, ensuring a stable funding source suitable for legal aid requirements; amending and supplementing legal regulations such as provisions on the number of officials working at each provincial state legal aid centre to have a basis for ensuring human resources for legal aid work.

Accompanying that is improving the quality of the legal aid staff team, such as organising in-depth training classes and professional development regularly for legal aid providers; building reasonable remuneration policies with incentive mechanisms and financial support to increase income for those working in legal aid.

To meet new requirements in the context of digital transformation and international integration, delegates' opinions suggest continuing to research, supplement, and perfect policies on in-depth training and development, especially on professional skills, technology application, communication skills, and international integration for the legal aid staff team. — VNS