Standards of professional competence of legal aid officers in Vietnam

Standards of professional competence of legal aid officers in Vietnam (Internet image)

Regarding this issue, LawNet would like to answer as follows:

1. Professional titles of legal aid officers in Vietnam

According to Article 2 of Circular 05/2022/TT-BTP, legal aid officers have the following titles in Vietnam:

- Class I legal assistant - Code: V02.01.00

- Class II legal assistant - Code: V02.01.01

- Class III legal assistant - Code: V02.01.02

2. Standards of professional competence of legal aid officers in Vietnam

2.1. For Class I legal aid officers

Specifically, in Clause 2, Article 5 of Circular 05/2022/TT-BTP, standards on the professional competence of class I legal aid officers are prescribed as follows:

- Understanding and bing able to apply the party's and the state's laws' guidelines, guidelines, and policies in legal aid work;

- Having knowledge and understanding of the legal system and in-depth knowledge of many assigned legal fields;

- Proficiently performing legal aid operations; preside over the effective implementation of legal aid activities;

- Having been certified by the Legal Aid Department to have successfully participated in at least 02 legal proceedings at the High People's Court, the Central Military Court or higher;

- Capable of providing professional advice, legal aid skills, and other skills to class II, class III, and other legal aid providers; presiding over the quality appraisal of legal aid cases; effectively evaluating at least 20 cases of legal aid participation in proceedings of class II legal assistants or higher; or at least 20 cases of participation in proceedings to be resolved by a provincial-level procedural agency or higher.

- Having basic information technology skills, using foreign languages or using ethnic minority languages for officials working in ethnic minority areas according to job position requirements;

- Officials competing for or considering promotion to the title of class I legal aid must have held the title of class II legal aid or the equivalent for 6 cumulative years (72 months) or more, with at least 1 cumulative year (12 months) held prior to the deadline for submitting the application for examination or consideration for promotion.

2.2. For class II legal aid officers

Standards on the professional capacity of class II legal aid officers are specified in Clause 6, Circular 05/2022/TT-BTP, specifically as follows:

- Firmly grasping and being able to apply guidelines, guidelines and policies of the Party and the State's laws in legal aid work;

- Having knowledge and understanding of the legal system and in-depth knowledge of the assigned legal field;

- Proficiently performing legal aid operations; effective implementation of legal aid activities;

- Being certified by the Legal Aid Department to have successfully participated in at least 01 case;

- Having the capacity to provide professional guidance, legal aid skills to class III legal assistants and other legal aid providers;

- Having basic information technology skills, using foreign languages or using ethnic minority languages for officials working in ethnic minority areas according to job position requirements;

- Officials competing for or considering promotion to the title of class II legal aid must have held the title of class III legal aid or the equivalent for a full nine cumulative years (108 months) or more, with at least one cumulative year (12 months) up to the expiry date of the deadline for submitting the application for registration for examination or consideration for promotion.

2.3. For class III legal aid officers

According to Clause 2, Article 7 of Circular 05/2022/TT-BTP, a class III legal aid officer must meet the following standards in terms of professional capacity:

- Capable of applying guidelines, guidelines and policies of the Party and laws of the State in legal aid work;

- Having knowledge and understanding of the assigned legal aid legal field;

- Capable of guiding the application of legal aid law to lawyers who sign contracts to provide legal aid and legal aid collaborators;

- Having basic information technology skills, using foreign languages, or using ethnic minority languages for officials working in ethnic minority areas, according to job position requirements.

Tran Thanh Rin

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