August 23, 2014

Vietnam to Have 20,000 Lawyers by 2020, up 2.3-Fold from June: VBF

by • Cu Huy Ha Vu, Le Cong Dinh, Le Quoc Quan, Le Thi Cong Nhan

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by Vu Quoc Ngu, Aug 22, 2014
Vietnam is striving to have between 18,000 and 20,000 lawyers by 2020, up 2.3-fold from June this year, said the Vietnam Bar Federation (VBF).
images (1)The ratio of lawyers in the whole population should be one in 4,500 by that time compared to 1/10,300 now, the federation said.
In communist Vietnam, lawyers have limited power in protecting their clients. In many cases, especially political ones, lawyers face difficulties in meeting with their clients in privacy and their defense statements have little impact on the jury’s final decisions in trials.
Many political trials ended after a few hours of hearing and the accused are often given heavy sentences. Many senior lawyers, including Sorbonne-trained Cu Huy Ha Vu, Le Cong Dinh, Le Thi Cong Nhan and Le Quoc Quan, have been jailed with long-term sentences for their human rights activities and calls for multi-party democracy.
Recently, the Ministry of Public Security issued Circular 28 under which lawyers and legal assistants may be subject to disciplinary measures for “carrying out activities that prevent or cause difficulties to investigation work such as preventing people from giving a statement, disclosing secrets or filing baseless complaints or petitions.”

According to the circular, police investigators are also allowed to “collect evidence and documents that prove the act of causing difficulties to their investigation work” by making use of all methods at their disposal including “sound and video recordings and other means” while the lawyers are banned to use cameras, recorders or other device.

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