Duong Thi Than Thuong, LL.M.
Hanoi Law University, Dak Lak branch campus
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| Public security officers disseminate legal information to ethnic minority communities in the mountainous areas of Dien Bien province__Photo: VNA |
Introduction
The right to access to justice is a fundamental component of human rights, reflecting the democratic and progressive nature of the State. In order to guarantee the right to access to justice for everyone, the State provides free legal aid services to designated groups, helping them acquire legal knowledge to exercise their rights and perform their obligations by themselves or appointing lawyers to represent them and protect their lawful rights and interests in legal proceedings. Guaranteeing the right to access to justice is thus one of the essential building blocks in establishing a society based on freedom, equality and justice.
Realization of the right to access to justice through legal aid practice in Vietnam
Legal aid is a form of social welfare activity with a history of more than 500 years, originating from the pursuit of justice to prevent wrongful convictions and to guarantee the right to legal counsel and fair trial. From its inception, lawyers, driven by the duty to uphold justice, voluntarily assisted people, particularly the poor and disadvantaged, on a charitable basis. Legal aid is globally affirmed to be indispensable. It is vital for strengthening the legal system and building a law-ruled state, and serves as an inseparable component of the implementation of justice and the guarantee of the right to access to justice.
From a legal perspective, due to differences among legal systems and legislative techniques, the concept of legal aid is defined in various ways. Generally, definitions across countries converge on two central questions: who is entitled to legal aid, and what goals legal aid seeks to achieve. Contemporary approaches emphasize that the prime objective of legal aid is to ensure fair access to justice. Common features of legal aid can be identified as follows: (i) Legal aid is provided by the State, forming part of social policy for which the State bears responsibility; (ii) Beneficiaries of legal aid are the poor and other vulnerable groups in society; and, (iii) The purpose of legal aid is to promote fairness in access to justice for beneficiaries through the provision of services. Even when such services are not explicitly mentioned in statutory definitions, the design and implementation of legal aid systems are consistently oriented toward this goal.[2]
In Vietnam, the term “legal aid” was officially introduced in the Prime Minister’s Decision 734/TTg dated September 6, 1997, on the establishment of legal aid organizations for the poor and policy beneficiaries.
The most recent Law on Legal Aid of Vietnam, enacted in 2017, defines legal aid as the provision of free legal services to eligible individuals in legal aid cases, thereby contributing to safeguarding human rights and citizens’ rights in access to justice and to ensuring equality before law. This definition reflects the essence, purposes and significance of legal aid in Vietnam, demonstrating how the right to access to justice is embodied in legal aid practices.
It can be said that, legal aid reflects the responsibility of the State toward citizens and of society toward community members, particularly vulnerable groups who are unable to exercise their rights on their own or lack the means to access law. The legal aid system plays an essential role in ensuring the right to access to justice. It serves a dual purpose: helping people acquire legal knowledge and assisting them in pursuing cases through the judicial system in order to obtain remedies or compensation when their lawful rights and interests are infringed upon. Consequently, legal aid has contributed to ensuring equality among social groups, especially the poor and disadvantaged, or those unable to access and use law to safeguard their human rights and citizens’ rights in access to justice, and equality before law.
The categories of legal aid beneficiaries in Vietnam have expanded over the recent years. While the 2006 Law on Legal Aid recognizes only six beneficiary groups, the 2017 Law on Legal Aid broadens this range to 14 groups.
Functional agencies have also issued several documents concerning legal aid in legal proceedings. For example, Joint Circular 10/2018/TTLT-BTP-BCA-BQP-BTC-TANDTC-VKSNDTC of June 29, 2018, of the Ministry of Justice, the Ministry of Public Security, the Ministry of National Defense, the Ministry of Finance, the Supreme People’s Court and the Supreme People’s Procuracy, on coordination in the implementation of legal aid during proceedings; and Joint Circular 05/2021/TTLT-TANDTC-VKSNDTC-BCA-BQP-BTP of December 15, 2021, of Supreme People’s Court, the Supreme People’s Procuracy, the Ministry of Public Security, the Ministry of National Defense and the Ministry of Justice, detailing and guiding the organization of online court hearings. The Law on Legal Aid, together with related laws, and guiding documents, has thus established the legal framework for practicing legal aid, making it more accessible to citizens.
Despite encouraging achievements in providing free legal services to vulnerable groups, many individuals in society remain unaware of the availability of these services and of their entitlement to such support. These include persons who are not classified as near-poor and not entitled to monthly social allowance but have genuine legal aid needs; persons in the process of being identified as victims of human trafficking; persons aged between 16 and under 18 years who are victims in criminal cases; persons with disabilities facing criminal charges; and members of the LGBT community (lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender persons).
The number of legal aid centers remains modest and has yet to adequately cover all localities. To date, only 63 state-run legal aid centers under provincial-level Departments of Justice have been established at the provincial level, along with 151 branches located in districts or inter-district areas (figures collected for the period before the adoption of the two-tier local government model). This shortage has resulted in difficulties in accessing legal aid services, particularly in large geographical areas and disadvantaged, hard-to-reach regions. Consequently, the right to access to justice and other rights of people in these areas have been compromised when timely access to and resolution of legal issues cannot be ensured.
Recommendations
As recommended by the United Nations Development Program, the following measures can help strengthen systems of legal counseling and legal aid:
(i) Developing a national strategy for counseling and legal aid based on social researches, with particular attention paid to the needs of vulnerable groups; (ii) Promoting new approaches of dispute resolution; (iii) Making use of semi-professional mechanisms and existing grassroots systems to expand equitable access to legal services for the public; (iv) Enhancing coordination between state-run and non-state legal aid institutions in delivering legal services to the public; and, (v) Ensuring the sustainability of legal aid programs by broadening the range of service providers to include bar associations, lawyer associations, private law offices and firms, law schools, as well as other social organizations.[3]
Accordingly, to strengthen access to legal aid and thereby guarantee the right to access to justice in Vietnam, the author proposes several solutions.
Firstly, to intensify public communication about legal aid through diverse and practical forms, ensuring effectiveness and tailoring approaches to different target groups and localities so that more people are aware of and can promptly access legal aid when facing disputes or legal obstacles. In the time ahead, it is necessary to provide information such as addresses, hotline numbers, and dedicated email addresses for receiving and responding to citizens’ questions and requests related to legal aid, particularly for eligible persons, enabling them to reach out when legal problems arise. Traditional communication methods should be combined with modern ones, including social media, online forums, telecommunications networks, radio and television, in Vietnamese as well as widely spoken ethnic minority languages, ensuring accessibility across regions and for different vulnerable groups (such as children, persons with disabilities, and ethnic minorities). At the same time, it is important to improve knowledge and awareness of grassroots officials and community leaders about legal aid so they can effectively assist local people in accessing these services.
Secondly, to improve coordination between state-run legal aid centers and relevant organizations, especially judicial authorities, ensuring that once identified, beneficiaries are promptly referred to legal aid providers for free assistance. In particular, greater efforts must be made to explain the right to legal aid, provide timely notification, and assign legal aid practitioners, thereby addressing the risk of overlooking the needs of beneficiaries, particularly those living in remote and disadvantaged areas where limited legal awareness prevents them from recognizing or accessing available legal aid services.
Thirdly, to expand the range of legal aid beneficiaries in line with the country’s socio-economic conditions, as required under Section 7, Part IV of Resolution 27-NQ/TW dated November 9, 2022, of the 13th Party Central Committee, on continuing to build and improve the socialist law-ruled State of Vietnam in the new era. Specifically, it is proposed to provide free legal aid to individuals in the process of being identified as victims of human trafficking, regardless of financial hardship[4]; persons under 18 years of age; persons with meritorious service to the revolution; members of the LGBT community; persons with HIV; the elderly; members of households classified as near-poor; recipients of monthly social allowance; members of households just escaping poverty; low-income workers; and individuals experiencing sudden financial hardship. The rights of persons with disabilities should also be reinforced to ensure that all persons with disabilities involved in judicial proceedings, regardless of financial status, are entitled to free legal aid.[5]
Alongside these solutions, several complementary measures are also important: further increasing the number and improving the capacity of legal aid practitioners; and intensifying the application of information technology in managing, monitoring, and disseminating information on, legal aid. Particularly, in line with the national digital transformation agenda, it is a need to expand online public services for certain administrative procedures in the field of legal aid, thereby enabling citizens to access legal aid services more quickly, conveniently and effectively.-
[1] The Vietnamese version of this article was published in the Toa an Nhan dan (People’s Court) Journal, No. 12 (the second issue of June 2025).
[2] Thanh Trinh, So luoc mot so noi dung về tro giup phap ly trên the gioi (An overview of some aspects of legal aid worldwide, https://tgpl.moj.gov.vn/Pages/hoi-nhap-phat-trien.aspx?ItemID=159&l=Kinhnghiemquocte, accessed on October 10, 2024.
[3] Vu Cong Giao, Tiep can cong ly và cac nguyen tac cua nha nuoc phap quyen (Access to justice and the principles of a law-rule state), Luat hoc (Law Studies - Scientific Journal of Vietnam National University, Hanoi), issue No. 25, 2009, page 191.
[4] This proposal has been incorporated into the 2024 Law on Human Trafficking Prevention and Combat.
[5] Thanh Ha, Tang cuong quyen tiep can cong ly cua nguoi dan thong qua tro giup phap ly (Enhancing citizens’ right to access to justice through legal aid), https://tgpl.moj.gov.vn/Pages/hoi-nhap-phat-trien.aspx?ItemID=1944&l=Nghiencuutraodoi, accessed on October 10, 2024.
