PROJECT WEB PAGE: Supporting Adversarial Principles of Criminal Justice in Viet Nam

PROJECT SUMMARY

• To achieve SDG16, Viet Nam has committed to reforming its judicial system. For the first time, adversarial principles were introduced in the 2013 Constitution. Then in 2015, Viet Nam adopted the revised Criminal Procedure Code with more rights for lawyers and the accused.
• Ever since 2016, UNDP has partnered with two leading law universities in Viet Nam to raise awareness and support lawyers from bar associations across the country in giving effect to these new provisions, with funding from the U.S. Department of State’s Bureau for International Narcotics and Law Enforcement. A practical skills handbook was developed to help strengthen adversarial skills for lawyers and law students. UNDP and partner in Ho Chi Minh City also piloted a meaningful program to provide legal aid for prisoners and the recently released in the southern provinces.

OBJECTIVES 

1. Improve access to effective legal representation for the criminally accused by ensuring the legal profession fulfills its role in upholding the rule of law.
2. Create a strong network of criminal defense lawyers to share best practices, and provide practical guidance in criminal legal practice for law students.

EXPECTED RESULTS

1. Strengthen the implementation of the provisions related to adversarial principles in the 2013 Constitution and the 2015 Criminal Procedure Code.
2. Increase capacity of criminal defense lawyers and law students in adversarial skills to better represent their clients and give full effect to new changes in law.

KEY ACHIEVEMENTS

• 1600 Prisoners received legal consultation led by teams of students and lawyers
• 500 Lawyers consulted on key practical skills for criminal defense to guide young lawyers
• 50 Lawyers directly interviewed on their experiences with the new adversarial skills in practice 
• 300 Law students received guidance to improve their practical legal skills
• 4 Series of knowledge sharing workshops held across 10 partner bar associations
• 1 Criminal Moot Court for students to practice adversarial skills
• 1 Handbook on criminal adversarial skills to strengthen the practice of criminal defense lawyers
• 1 Handbook for law students introducing practical criminal adversarial skills of defense lawyers

MORE ABOUT THE PROJECT, PLEASE VISIT:

• Project's Web Page: Supporting Adversarial Principles of Criminal Justice in Viet Nam
• Facebook: UNDP Viet Nam 
• Twitter: @UNDPVietnam
• Instagram: @undpvietnam
• Youtube: UNDP Viet Nam