Vietnam: What is the administrative penalty for a legal consultant instigating individuals who request legal consultancy to supply untruthful information?
- Is it prohibited for a legal consultant to instigate individuals who request legal consultancy to supply untruthful information?
- How much is the administrative penalty for a legal consultant instigating individuals who request legal consultancy to supply untruthful information?
- In what cases is the legal consultant card in Vietnam withdrawn?
Is it prohibited for a legal consultant to instigate individuals who request legal consultancy to supply untruthful information?
Pursuant to the provisions of Clause 1, Article 4 of Decree No. 77/2008/ND-CP, the prohibited acts are prescribed as follows:
Prohibited acts
1. Legal consultancy organizations and legal consultants are strictly prohibited from committing the following acts:
a/ Instigating individuals or organizations that request legal consultancy to supply untruthful information and documents, lodge complaints or denunciations or initiate lawsuits in contravention of law;
b/ Taking advantage of legal consultancy activities to seek personal benefits;
c/ Taking advantage of legal consultancy activities to cause public- disorder or social insecurity, badly affect national ethics, fine traditions and customs, and infringing upon interests of the State, rights and legitimate interests of individuals and organizations;
d/ Providing legal consultancy to parties with interests contrary to each other in the same case, disclose information on cases, individuals and organizations that request legal consultancy, unless these individuals and organizations so consent or otherwise provided for by law.
Thus, according to regulations, it is strictly prohibited to instigate individuals or organizations that request legal consultancy to supply untruthful information and documents, lodge complaints or denunciations or initiate lawsuits in contravention of law.
Vietnam: What is the administrative penalty for a legal consultant instigating individuals who request legal consultancy to supply untruthful information? (Image from the Internet)
How much is the administrative penalty for a legal consultant instigating individuals who request legal consultancy to supply untruthful information?
According to the provisions of Article 10 of Decree No. 82/2020/ND-CP, violations against regulations on legal consultancy activities in Vietnam are prescribed as follows:
Violation against regulations on legal consultancy activities in Vietnam
1. A fine ranging from VND 1,000,000 to VND 3,000,000 shall be imposed for erasing, correcting and falsifying contents of papers and documents issued by competent agencies, organizations or persons in the application for issuance of a legal consultant card.
2. A fine of between VND 3,000,000 and 7,000,000 shall be imposed for one of the following acts:
a) Erasing, correcting, falsifying contents of legal consultant's cards;
b) Receive or demand money or other benefits other than the remuneration that the legal consulting center or branch of the legal consulting center has collected;
c) Taking advantage of the name of a legal consulting center, branch of a legal consulting center, legal consultants, lawyers, legal collaborators to provide legal advice for personal gain.
3. A fine ranging from VND 7,000,000 to VND 10,000,000 shall be imposed for one of the following acts:
a) Inciting individuals and organizations to request legal advice to provide untruthful information and documents;
b) Inciting individuals or organizations to request legal advice to lodge illegal complaints, denunciations or initiate lawsuits;
c) Providing legal advice to parties with opposing interests in the same case;
d) Disclosure of information about the case, individual or organization requesting legal advice, unless the individual or organization requesting legal advice agrees or otherwise provided for by law;
dd) Not being a legal consultant but providing legal advice in the name of a legal consultant.
4. Additional sanctioning forms:
a) Deprive the right to use the legal consultant card or law practice certificate for between 3 and 6 months, for the violations specified at Point c, Clause 2 of this Article;
b) Deprive the right to use the legal consultant card, the law practice certificate from 06 months to 09 months, for the violations specified at Points a, b, c and d, Clause 3 of this Article;
c) Confiscate material evidences which are papers and documents that have been erased or modified to falsify contents, for violations specified in Clause 1 and Point a, Clause 2 of this Article.
5. Remedial measures:
a) Proposing competent agencies, organizations or persons to consider and handle the issued papers and documents due to violations specified in Clause 1 of this Article; papers and documents have been erased, corrected or falsified the contents specified in Clause 1 of this Article; the legal consultant's card has been erased or modified, falsifying the contents specified at Point a, Clause 2 of this Article;
b) Forcible return of illegal profits obtained from committing violations specified at Points b and c, Clause 2, Point dd, Clause 3 of this Article.
Thus, according to regulations, a legal consultant instigating individuals who request legal consultancy to supply untruthful information and documents may be subject to an administrative fine of up to VND 10,000,000. In addition, legal consultants who commit violations will also be deprived of the right to use legal consultant cards and law practice certificates from 6 to 9 months.
In what cases is the legal consultant card in Vietnam withdrawn?
According to the provisions of Clause 2, Article 20 of Decree No. 77/2008/ND-CP, the holder of a legal consultant card in Vietnam who falls into one of the following cases will have his/ her legal consultant card withdrawn:
- He/she no longer satisfies the conditions specified in Clause 1, Article 19 of this Decree:
- He/she is recruited to work as a public employee in a state administrative agency, people's court or people's procuracy;
- He/she commits an act of violation in one of the cases specified at Point a, b or c, Clause 1, Article 4 of this Decree.
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