Vietnam’s current regulation on public judicial expertise institutions

According to Article 12 of the Law on Judicial Expertise 2012 of Vietnam, in case of necessity, ministers, heads of ministerial-level agencies or chairpersons of provincial-level People's Committees may consider and decide to establish or propose competent agencies to establish public judicial expertise institutions in other areas after reaching agreement with the Minister of Justice.

Public judicial expertise institutions in forensic medicine include:

- The National Institute of Forensic Medicine under the Ministry of Health;

- Provincial-level forensic medicine centers;

- The Army Institute of Forensic Medicine under the Ministry of National Defense;

- The Forensic Medicine Center of the Criminological Institute, the Ministry of Public Security.

Public judicial expertise institutions in psychiatric forensic medicine include:

- The Central Institute of Psychiatric forensic medicine under the Ministry of Health;

- Regional psychiatric forensic medicine centers under the Ministry of Health.

Based on psychiatrically forensic expertise requirements of legal proceedings and practical conditions of regions and areas nationwide, the Minister of Health shall consider and decide to establish regional psychiatric forensic medicine centers after reaching agreement with the Minister of Justice.

Public judicial expertise institutions in criminological techniques include:

- The Criminological Science Institute under the Ministry of Public Security;

- Criminological technique Division of provincial-level Police Departments;

- The Criminological Technique Expertise Division of the Ministry of National Defense.

Based on local needs and practical conditions, the criminological technique sections of provincial-level Police Departments may have forensic medicine experts to perform forensic examination of corpses.

Besides, the Law on Judicial Expertise 2012 also stipulates non-public judicial expertise institutions, according to which judicial expertise offices are non-public judicial expertise institutions established in the areas of finance, banking, construction, antiques, relics and copyright.

- A judicial expertise office established by one judicial expert shall be organized and operate as a private enterprise.

- A judicial expertise office established by two or more judicial experts shall be organized and operate as a partnership.

The legal representatives of judicial expertise offices are their heads, who must be judicial experts.

A judicial expert may establish a judicial expertise office when fully satisfying the following conditions:

- Having worked as a judicial expert for at least 5 full years in the field in which he/she wishes to establish a judicial expertise office;

- Having an establishment scheme specified at Point d, Clause 2, Article 16 of this Law.

Cadres, civil servants, public employees, army officers, people's public security officers, professional soldiers and defense workers are prohibited from establishing judicial expertise offices.

This is the contents specified in Articles 14 and 15 of the Law on Judicial Expertise 2012 of Vietnam.

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