Is a lawyer practicing certificate in Vietnam the same as a lawyer’s card? What are the cases when a lawyer practicing certificate is not issued?
Is a lawyer practicing certificate in Vietnam the same as a lawyer’s card?
Pursuant to Article 17 of the 2006 Law on Lawyers in Vietnam (amended by Clause 8, Article 1 of the 2012 Law amending and supplementing a number of articles of the Law on Lawyers) on the issuance of the lawyer practicing certificates as follows:
Issuing the lawyer practicing certificates
1. The person that passes the assessment of the lawyer apprenticeship shall submit a dossier of application for the lawyer practice certificate to the Board of Directors of the bar association.
The dossier includes:
a) The written application for the lawyer practicing certificate in accordance with the form issued by the Ministry of Justice;
b) The judicial résumé;
c) The health certificate;
d) A copy of the bachelor’s degree in law or master’s degree in law;
dd) A copy of the certificate of lawyer apprenticeship assessment.
Within 07 working days as from receiving the complete and valid dossier, the Board of Directors of the bar association shall send the dossier to the Service of Justice, enclosed with the written certification that the applicant for the lawyer practicing certificate is qualified as prescribed in this law.
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3. Within 07 working days as from receiving the complete and valid dossier, the Service of Justice shall check the dossier, verify the validity of the dossier if necessary, and send the written request enclosed with the dossier of application for the lawyer practicing certificate to the Ministry of Justice.
Within 20 days as from receiving the complete and valid dossier, the Minister of Justice shall decide the issue of the lawyer practicing certificate; the refusal must be explained and notified in writing to the applicant and the Service of Justice where the dossier of application is submitted.
The refused person may file complaints or lawsuits as prescribed by law.
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At the same time, according to Article 20 of the 2006 Law on Lawyers in Vietnam (amended by Clause 11, Article 1 of the 2012 Law amending and supplementing a number of articles of the Law on Lawyers) on joining the Bar Association as follows:
Joining the bar association
1. The holder of the lawyer practicing certificate may join a bar association for law practice.
A person that has joined a bar association must work for a law-practicing organization under a labor contract, work as an independent lawyer for a organization under a labor contract, organize, establish, or participate in the establishment of a law-practicing organization as prescribed by this law in the same locality with the bar association.
2. The holder of the lawyer practicing certificate must send an application for joining the bar association to its board of directors. The dossier includes:
a) The written application for joining the bar association in accordance with the form provided by the Vietnam Bar Federation;
b) The judicial résumé, if the dossier is submitted after 06 months as from the date of issue of the lawyer practicing certificate;
c) A copy of the lawyer practicing certificate.
3. Within 07 working days as from receiving the complete dossier, the Board of Directors of the bar association shall consider and decide the participation in the bar association. If the applicant falls into one of the cases prescribed in Clause 4 Article 7 of this Law, the Board of Directors shall reject the participation and notified the reasons in writing. The refused person is entitled to lodge complaints as prescribed in Article 87 of this law.
4. Within 07 working days as from making the decision on the participation in the bar association, the Board of Directors of the bar association shall send a written request for the Lawyer’s card to the Vietnam Bar Federation. The Lawyer’s card shall be issued within 20 days as from receiving the written request from the bar association.
The validity period of a Lawyer’s card is unlimited, and shall be replaced when it is lost or damaged.
5. Within 03 years as from the date of issue of the lawyer’s card, if the lawyer does not work for a law-practicing organization under a labor contract, nor work as an independent lawyer for a organization under a labor contract, organize, nor establish, nor participate in the establishment of a law-practicing organizations as prescribed by this law in the same locality with the bar association, or does not practice law for consecutive five years after the issue of the lawyer’s card, then the Board of Directors of the bar association shall eliminate that lawyer’s name from the list of lawyers, and request the Vietnam Bar Federation to revoke the lawyer’s card.
6. A lawyer that moves to another bar association must send a written request to the bar association, of which he or she is a member, to withdraw from its lawyer list.
Within 05 working days as from receiving the written request, the Board of Directors of the bar association shall make the decision on eliminate the lawyer from its lawyer list, and send a letter of introduction enclosed with the résumé of such lawyer to the bar association which such lawyer is going to join.
The procedure for joining a bar association and replacing the lawyer’s card are specified Clause 3 and Clause 4 this Article. While waiting for the replacement of the lawyer’s card, the lawyer may keep using the old card, and must submit it upon the replacement of the lawyer’s card.
Thus, the lawyer practicing certificate shall be decided by the Minister of Justice when the person who has passed the examination of the results of law practice probation has a dossier of application for the issuance of a lawyer practicing certificate.
A lawyer’s card will be issued by the Vietnam Bar Federation when a holder of a lawyer practicing certificate submits an application to join a bar association to practice law.
According to the above regulations, a lawyer practicing certificate is not a lawyer’s card.
Lawyer practicing certificate is a State certificate of the right to practice law of the Certificate holder.
Lawyer’s card is a certificate of Bar Association membership of the card holder.
Is a lawyer practicing certificate in Vietnam the same as a lawyer’s card? What are the cases when a lawyer practicing certificate is not issued?
What are the cases when a lawyer practicing certificate is not issued?
According to the provisions of Clause 4, Article 17 of the 2006 Law on Lawyers in Vietnam (amended by Clause 8, Article 1 of the 2012 Law amending and supplementing a number of articles of the Law on Lawyers), the cases in which the lawyer practicing certificate is not granted are as follows:
Issuing the lawyer practicing certificates
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4. A person shall not be issued with the lawyer practicing certificate in one of the following cases:
a) Not being qualified as a lawyer as prescribed in Article 10 of this law;
b) Being an officer, official, professional soldier or commissioned officer, national defense worker in an agency belonging to the army; a commissioned or non-commissioned officer, a worker in an agency belonging to the Police;;
c) Not residing permanently in Vietnam;
d) Being liable to criminal prosecution; has been convicted and condemned and criminal record of an unintentional or not serious crime is not expunged; has been convicted of a serious and intentional crime, a very serious and intentional crime, a particularly serious and intentional crime, even the criminal record has been expunged;
dd) Being liable to administrative actions such as compulsory attendance at detoxification centers or educational institutions;
e) Being incapable of civil acts;
g) The people prescribed in Point b this Clause that have been dismissed within 3 years from the decision on dismissal takes effect.
Thus, a person shall not be issued with the lawyer practicing certificate in one of the above cases.
Latest application form for issuance of lawyer practicing certificate in Vietnam in 2023?
The latest application form for issuance of lawyer practicing certificate in Vietnam is Form TP-LS-01 issued together with Circular No. 05/2021/TT-BTP as follows:
Download the application form for issuance of lawyer practicing certificate in Vietnam: Click here.
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