06 Rules of Conduct for Legal Aid Recipients

Code of conduct with legal aid recipients (Illustrative image)

Currently, legal aid is a specialized profession, providing pro bono legal services for the poor and policy beneficiaries who are eligible for legal aid. Legal aid providers have the duty to best protect the legitimate rights and interests of legal aid recipients, thus contributing to ensuring human rights, and citizen rights in accessing justice, and equality before the law.

In addition to complying with the law, legal aid providers must also adhere to the principles of legal aid operations. To enhance responsibility, ethics, professional reputation, professionalism, and exemplary conduct of legal aid providers, the Minister of Justice issues the Legal Aid Professional Code of Conduct stipulating the standards of behavior and conduct for legal aid providers.

Circular 03/2020/TT-BTP prescribes that legal aid providers must conduct themselves with legal aid recipients according to the following principles:

- Respect, politeness, friendliness, and enthusiasm towards the legal aid recipients, demonstrating professionalism, and creating trust with the legal aid recipients; using simple, easy-to-understand, and concise language and signs suitable for the legal aid recipients.- Explain the rights and obligations of the legal aid recipients so that they are aware of and can exercise them.- Must not display arrogance, nor have any contemptuous behavior, or discriminate against legal aid recipients.- Must not harass, delay, cause difficulty, or inconvenience for legal aid recipients; or make prior promises about the results of the case or legal aid matter.- Must not suggest, demand, impose conditions, or receive any material benefits or other related benefits from the legal aid recipients or others.- Must not incite or incite legal aid recipients to engage in unlawful or unethical behavior.

More details can be found in: Circular 03/2020/TT-BTP which takes effect from June 15, 2020.

Thu Ba

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