Sweden, Denmark help Vietnam in legal reform

Hanoi (VNA) - A seminar on "bar associations' tasks and roles from an
international perspective" opened in Hanoi on Nov. 3, offering an
opportunity for Vietnamese lawyers to learn about basic international
principles on the regulation of the lawyer's profession.

The two-day seminar was attended by representatives of Swedish and Danish
bar associations, Swedish and Danish ambassadors to Vietnam ,
officials of Vietnam 's Ministry of Justice, including Vice Minister
Hoang The Lien, delegations of lawyers and law firms across the country.

Sweden and Denmark have been assisting Vietnam over the last three
years in establishing a Vietnamese Federation of Bar Associations,
particularly in drafting a charter, gathering comments, and providing other
technical supports, under the Legal and Judicial Reform Assistance Programme
sponsored by the two countries.

According to Mr. Vuong Trong The, vice chairman of the Hanoi Bar
Association, it is an urgent need to establish a federation of bar
associations in Vietnam as the existing bar associations are operating
separately without a system to monitor lawyers' professional conducts, which
is provided for in the Lawyers Law that came into effect on January 1,
2007.-Enditem