Legal and professional challenges confronting practising lawyers in contemporary Vietnam

Abstract

The policy of developing a market economy and of international integration as well as the major impetus to seek to build a law-based state and engage in judicial reform, are bringing practising lawyers (luat su) in Vietnam more opportunities than ever before, and the role of luat su is much improved. Given the importance of luat su in the period of transformation, attention should be paid to the enormous challenges encountered by them, as they are affected by a number of issues involving cultural, social, and legal aspects. This thesis tries to identify the professional and legal challenges that luat su face which directly and specifically affect their role: notably widespread devaluing of the potential and role of law, and the role of luat su in society, the inappropriate attitude of some government officials towards practising lawyers, the inadequacy of many lawyers' qualifications, the inferior position of luat su in the judicial system, the use of 'connections' (quan he) as a substitute for legal services, and especially substantial degree of inconsistencies, overlapping, uncertainty and unpredictability of the legal system, which prevent luat su from being able to render useful and practical advice. There is a causal relation between those issues and the marginal role of practising lawyers in contemporary Vietnam.

This study also uses comparisons to draw experiences from other countries to see whether their experience can be made use of in Vietnam, The thesis makes a number of recommendations and concludes that in order to overcome difficulties and to improve the role of lawyers it is critical to create a good infrastructure for lawyers, including ensuring a closer approach to the rule of law in practice, Lawyers do not live and function in their own isolated world, but closely relate to the operation of other organs administering law and exercising justice. It is therefore concluded that the degree of improvement in the legal profession largely depends not only on the reform of the legal profession itself, but also on the success or failure of the current judicial and legal reforms.