Shared Commitment and Resources for Strengthened Legal Institutions: UNDP and Denmark Work with Viet Nam's Law Makers, Judges and Prosecutors

Shared Commitment and Resources for Strengthened Legal Institutions: UNDP and Denmark Work with Viet Nam's Law Makers, Judges and Prosecutors

June 19, 2013

The Government of Viet Nam, with the support of UNDP and the Danish Government, recently completed the first phase of a unique experiment in international assistance to development of law. These three projects represent the first and most significant technical assistance provided to Viet Nam’s legal development, especially to the Court and the Procuracy since the socialist bloc legal assistance in the 1960s. Three separate, but closely linked projects, were carried out during 1996 – 2000 with Viet Nam’s highest level legislative, judicial and prosecutorial agencies. Two of the projects, with the Supreme People’s Court and the Supreme People’s Procuracy, represented historic “firsts”, as neither agency had been the focus of an internationally sponsored programme of activities, nor had they regularly been visited by western trained specialists and consultants. The projects successfully combined the commitment of the three agencies with shared development resources, and produced a remarkable record of achievements during their initial phase.

This short monograph describes in a more detailed manner the major activities undertaken during the duration of the projects, and also presents certain “Lessons Learned” that may be helpful to similar efforts in the future.