Regulations on procedures for granting legal aid collaborators' cards in Vietnam

Regulations on procedures for granting legal aid collaborators' cards in Vietnam (Internet image)

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

1. Who are legal aid collaborators?

According to Clause 2, Article 24 of the Law on Legal Aid 2017, persons who have retired, have full civil act capacity, good moral qualities, good health and wish to provide legal aid may become legal aid collaborators, including:

- Legal aid assistants;

- Judges, inspectors of the court;

- Procurators, inspectors of the procuracy;

- Investigators;

- Enforcers, examiners in civil judgment enforcement;

- Legal affairs specialist at regulatory agencies.

2. Regulations on procedures for granting legal aid collaborators' cards in Vietnam

2.1. Application for a legal aid collaborator's card

Specifically, in Clause 1, Article 16 of Decree 144/2017/ND-CP, an application for a card to work as a legal aid collaborator includes:

(i) Application form to be a collaborator;

(ii) Proof of retirement as prescribed;

(iii) Personal curriculum vitae certified by the People's Committee of the commune, ward, or town where you reside and 02 color portrait photos of size 2 cm x 3 cm.

2.2. Procedure for granting a legal aid collaborator's card in Vietnam

The procedure for granting a legal aid collaborator's card includes the following steps:

- Persons who fully meet the criteria specified in Section 1 if they wish to be legal aid collaborators (hereinafter referred to as collaborators) and agree to the basic contents of the contract to provide legal aid according to the guidance of the Ministry of Justice should send a dossier to the center in the locality where they reside.

The submission of an application to be a collaborator is done as follows:

+ In case of direct submission at the Center's headquarters, the applicant to be a collaborator shall submit the papers specified in (i) and (iii); present the original or submit a certified true copy of the document proving that the person is retired as prescribed;

+ In case of sending dossiers via postal service, the applicant to be a collaborator shall send the documents specified in (i) and (iii), certified copies of papers proving that the person is retired according to regulations. determined;

+ In case of sending via fax or electronic form, the applicant to be a collaborator shall send the documents specified in (i), (ii) and (iii) to the Center.

- Within 04 working days from the date of receiving the dossier, based on the legal aid needs of the people and the actual conditions in the locality, the Director of the Center selects dossiers and submits them to the Director of the Department of Justice for consideration and the grant of a collaborator's card.

In case the dossier is not valid, the dossier shall be returned to the applicant to be a collaborator and clearly notify the reason in writing.

- Within 03 working days from the date of receiving the valid dossier submitted by the Center's Director, the Director of the Department of Justice shall consider and decide to grant the collaborator's card according to the form promulgated by the Ministry of Justice. The Ministry of Justice issues collaborator cards.

In case of refusal, the reason must be clearly explained in writing to the applicant to be a collaborator.

The denied the membership card has the right to appeal against the refusal to grant it. The settlement of complaints shall comply with the provisions of the law on complaints.

(Clause 2, 3, 4, Article 16 of Decree 144/2017/ND-CP)

3. Cases of revocation of legal aid collaborator's card in Vietnam

The Director of the Center requests the Director of the Department of Justice to revoke the collaborator's card in the cases specified in Clause 1, Article 18 of Decree 144/2017/ND-CP, specifically as follows:

- The collaborator does not provide legal aid for 2 consecutive years, except for cases due to objective reasons;

- Collaborators who commit the acts specified in Clause 1, Article 6 of the Law on Legal Aid 2017 or have been administratively sanctioned in legal aid activities but not to the point of having the card revoked, but still continue to commit violations;

- The legal aid contract is terminated if the collaborator fails to sign the legal aid contract with the Center within 30 days from the date of card issuance without a valid reason.

Nguyen Thi Hoai Thuong

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