VietNamNet Bridge – The Ministry of Justice (MOJ) has submitted to the Government their project to urgently train lawyers and legal experts to serve Vietnam’s global economic integration.

Vietnam has become the official member of the World Trade Organisation (WTO). In the future, Vietnamese enterprises may get involved in many international trade disputes, and Vietnam needs good lawyers who have deep knowledge about international laws

Under the project, Vietnam will need VND108.9bil or $6.809mil to produce 50 lawyers and 50 legal experts, who can meet international standards.

MOJ, after considering the situation, has decided that from 2008-2010, Vietnam will have to produce 100 lawyers and legal experts, who have a deep understanding of domestic law and international trade practice and good skills in foreign languages. These lawyers and legal experts need to be able to practice as international lawyers and become certified as practicing lawyers in the countries where they are trained.

After following intensive training courses, lawyers and legal experts will be used as the consultants in big Government projects, or in cases where Vietnamese enterprises take legal action to protect themselves and Vietnam. These lawyers and legal experts, after being trained, will become the core of professionals that will help develop their own force of lawyers that meet international standards.

According to MOJ, the trainees will have to pass exams to be selected for training under the ministry’s project. The trainees will be sent to training establishments in the UK, US and Australia, where they will follow training course and do practising at international law firms in these countries. In other words, trainees will have to experience two periods, studying at schools and do practising at law firms for 3-12 months.

Those, who have experienced law training courses or have the MA degree granted by the UK, US or Australia may be sent directly for practising without having to study at schools. Meanwhile, those, who have not experienced training courses will have to study at schools first, and then do practising.

Explaining why the US, UK and Australia have been chosen for training Vietnamese lawyers, MOJ said that these countries have developed legal consultancy services, and have the world’s leading law firms. By studying in these countries, Vietnamese lawyers will be able to use standardized English in international trade. The laws applied by the countries are recognized as the standards in international trade.

After completing training courses abroad, lawyers and legal experts will still be able to return to Vietnam and work for the law firms and institutions they worked for before pursuing an additional education. However, these lawyers and legal experts will be managed by MOJ, which has the right to ask for their participation in the Government’s and enterprises’ work, as they will promise to do in exchange for educational support. Meanwhile, the returned trainees will be recruited to work for state run organs.

MOJ asserted that it is very necessary to train lawyers with international standards, and this work must be implemented right now. Vietnam has become the official member of the World Trade Organisation (WTO). In the future, Vietnamese enterprises may get involved in many international trade disputes, and Vietnam needs good lawyers who have deep knowledge about international laws, who can give advises to the Government and enterprises on how to act in these cases. Meanwhile, Vietnam is now seriously lacking good lawyers.

Phuoc Ha