PRESS RELEASE

Vietnam-U.S. Legal Center to Hold Workshop on Access to Justice in Vietnam

June 21, 2007

The Vietnam-U.S. Legal Information and Consultancy Center (VULC) will hold a workshop titled "Access to Justice in the Legal System of Vietnam" on June 21-22 in Hanoi.  Mr. Pham Quoc Anh, President of the Vietnam Lawyer Association and Director of VULC, and Mr. Jonathan Aloisi, U.S. Charge d'Affaires, opened the workshop on June 21.

The workshop is the final phase of a research project on the right of access to justice in Vietnam, which aims to review Vietnamese legal provisions relating to judicial independence and the right of access to justice.  The project commenced in June 2006 and was funded by the U.S. Embassy-Hanoi with a US$19,909 grant.

During the two-day workshop, researchers and officials from various Vietnamese research institutes, ministries of justice and public security, and the National Assembly Office, as well as Hanoi-based United Nations offices and USAID-funded STAR Vietnam Project will deliver and discuss presentations on the following three major issues: fundamental rights of Vietnamese citizens under the Vietnamese law, with comparisons with the legal system of the U.S. and relevant international standards; the legal framework that allows citizens access to information, legal documents and State agencies; and the legal framework that protects citizens' right of access to justice.

The Vietnam-U.S. Legal Information and Consultancy Center was established in June 2005 and began operation in November 2005 under the auspices of the Vietnam Lawyers' Association.  Established in 1955, Vietnam Lawyer Association is the professional non-governmental organization representing lawyers and legal officers throughout the country.