How much is the fine imposed upon a lawyer for deceiving clients according to current regulations?
How much is the fine imposed upon a lawyer for deceiving clients according to current regulations?
Pursuant to the provisions at Point d, Clause 6, Article 6 of Decree No. 82/2020/ND-CP as follows:
Violation against regulations on law practice in Vietnam
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6. A fine ranging from VND 20,000,000 to VND 30,000,000 shall be imposed for one of the following acts:
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d) Harassing customers; receive or claim any money or benefits other than the remuneration and expenses agreed in the legal service contract; deceiving customers without reaching the point of criminal prosecution;
Thus, according to the above regulations, the fine applied to lawyers when committing acts of deceiving clients is from VND 20 million to VND 30 million.
How much is the fine imposed upon a lawyer for deceiving clients according to current regulations?
What is the additional penalty imposed upon a lawyer for deceiving clients?
In Clause 8, Article 6 of Decree No. 82/2020/ND-CP on additional penalties for violations in law practice as follows:
Violation against regulations on law practice in Vietnam
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8. Additional penalties:
a) Deprive the right to use a law practice certificate or a foreign law practice license in Vietnam for between 01 and 03 months, for violations specified at Points a, b, c, d, dd and g Clause 3, Point a Clause 5 of this Article;
b) Deprivation of the right to use the law practice certificate or the law practice license in Vietnam from 06 months to 09 months, for the violations specified at Point b, Clause 5, and Points c, d and e of Clause 5 of this Article. 6, Clause 7 of this Article;
c) Confiscate the exhibits being the law practice certificate, the law practice registration certificate, the law practice license in Vietnam of the foreign lawyer, the certificate of participation in the proceedings, the written notice of the foreign lawyer. notify the defense counsel that it has been erased or corrected, falsifying the contents specified at Point a, Clause 4 of this Article.
Thus, according to point b, clause 8, Article 6 of Decree No. 82/2020/ND-CP above, in addition to fines, lawyers who commit acts of deceiving clients will also be deprived of the right to use law practice certificates or licenses to practice law in Vietnam (for foreign lawyers) for a period of 6 to 9 months.
What is the current regulation on prohibited acts for lawyers?
Prohibited acts for lawyers are now specified in Clause 1, Article 9 of the 2006 Law on Lawyers in Vietnam, as amended by Clause 3, Article 1 of the 2012 Law amending and supplementing a number of articles of the Law on Lawyers in Vietnam.
To be specific:
Prohibited acts
1. Lawyers are prohibited to commit the following acts:
a) Providing legal services for clients that have conflicting interests in the same criminal, civil, administrative lawsuit, civil cases, or other cases as prescribed by law (hereinafter referred to as cases);
b) Deliberately providing, or guiding clients to provide, fake exhibits and documents; induce the detainees, suspects, defendants, litigants to provide false information, or induce clients to file illegal complaints, denunciations, or lawsuits;
c) Reveal information about the cases and the clients that they know during their practice, unless such clients concur in writing, or otherwise prescribed by law;
d) Harassing or deceiving clients
dd) Receiving or requesting any amount of money or benefit from clients apart from the agreed amount in the legal service contracts;
e) Cooperate with other presiding officers, litigants, officers, or officials, to violate laws when resolving cases;
g) Misusing the lawyer’s practice to negatively affect the national security and social order, to infringe the interests of the State, the public interests, and the legal interests of other organizations and individuals;
h) Receiving or requesting any amount of money or benefit when giving legal supports to the clients entitled to legal supports by statute; refusing to resolve the cases requested by legal support organizations, by the presiding agencies, except for force majeure as prescribed by law;
i) Insulting or assaulting other organizations and individuals during the proceedings;
k) Committing or helping clients to commit violations of law to delay or obstruct the activities of the presiding agencies and other State agencies.
2. Organizations and individuals are prohibited to obstruct the lawyers’ practice.
Thus, lawyers are prohibited from performing the above acts.
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