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| Photo caption: Free legal counseling and aid activities for citizens at a state legal aid centre contribute to enhancing access to law and justice for vulnerable groups_Photo: https://tgpl.moj.gov.vn |
State legal aid centres across the provinces and cities accepted and handled 2,118 drug-related cases in the first half of 2026, including 1,000 cases involving complicated or typical litigations, accounting for approximately 47.2 per cent of all drug-related cases receiving legal aid, according to the Department of Law Dissemination and Education and Legal Aid under the Ministry of Justice.
This outcome marks a significant step forward in implementing the national target programme on drug prevention and control through 2030, helping vulnerable groups, including drug addicts, persons having undergone drug rehabilitation and individuals involved in drug cases nationwide, access pro-bono legal services.
Despite encouraging initial results, the number of people receiving legal aid in drug crime cases remains low compared to the total caseload processed by the courts. In the first six months of 2026, courts at all levels settled 17,887 first-instance trials involving 35,324 defendants charged with drug-related crimes.
This disparity stems from the limited legal awareness among a large section of the population; many eligible individuals. including drug addicts, persons having undergone drug rehabilitation, drug law violators, etc., are unaware of their entitlement to pro-bono legal aid or do not know where to seek assistance. Furthermore, the high proportion of complex cases underscores the urgent requirement to improve the legal aid quality and build the litigation-assisting capacity for legal aid personnel.
To address these difficulties, the Ministry of Justice issued Official Letter 1235/BTP-PB&TG on March 4, 2026, providing guidance on the enhancement of access to and enjoyment of quality legal aid services and legal education in drug prevention and control, and Decision 1506/QD-BTP on June 17, 2026, approving the plan on implementation of the national target programme on drug prevention and control in 2026. Key priorities include raising awareness, enhancing the capacity of legal aid providers, supporting persons involved in complex cases, and strengthening inter-agency coordination.
Following these directives, state legal aid centres in localities have progressively intensified their coordination with public security offices, procuracies, courts, grassroots authorities, and drug rehabilitation facilities in identifying and referring eligible beneficiaries. This coordination is particularly vital in ensuring that information about the right to legal aid reaches intended recipients and promptly connects people in need with legal aid providers.
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| Drug addicts undergoing rehabilitation receive vocational training__Photo: Nguyen Nam/VNA |
Across localities, the coordinated models applicable to specific targets have yielded results. In Dien Bien province, legal aid has been integrated into grassroots mobile hearings; for instance, on May 22, 2026, in Tan Phong village, Si Pa Phin commune, legal aid officers provided defence counsel for two defendants charged with the crime of “illegally using narcotic substances”, combining judicial proceedings with community legal outreach.
In Nghe An province, local plans set a target by 2030 to provide legal aid to all eligible offenders, addicts and persons having undergone drug rehabilitation upon request while ensuring that 90 per cent of legal aid officers receive drug prevention training during 2026-2030 and all legal aid cases undergo annual quality evaluation.
Lang Son province has similarly established specific service accessibility metrics, ensuring that 95 per cent of drug law offenders, illicit drug users, addicts and individuals who have undergone drug rehabilitation access defence or legal representation services upon request.
The hot-spot localities will continue directing communication work and enhance inter-agency coordination down to the grassroots level. Meanwhile, proceeding-conducting agencies, local governments and drug rehabilitation facilities must identify eligible individuals’ needs, explain their legal rights and promptly refer them to state legal aid centres.
Public communication must be carried out in a practical and concise manner, enabling citizens to easily identify eligibility criteria and their rights and know contact points. Combining direct community and school outreach with digital platforms will help establish accessible channels for residents in the aforementioned hot-spot localities, ensuring that legal aid is provided promptly to correct subjects.
According to the Ministry of Justice, legal aid efforts in drug prevention and control in the future will remain focused on improving public accessibility to services and enhancing officers’ capacity for case resolution. Results in Dien Bien, Nghe An and Lang Son provinces show that the Programme’s objectives are steadily being translated from policies and plans into practical legal aid operations at the grassroots level.- (VLLF)
