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- West Bank/Gaza, 06/05: Kafa Kids Get a New School
[pdf, English
/ Arabic]
- Egypt, 05/05: First Lady Laura Bush Meets Egypt's
Alam Simsim Muppets [html]
- West Bank/Gaza, 05/05: USAID Invests $6 Million
in Job Creation [pdf, English
/ Arabic]
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September 2, 2003: Vietnamese Independence Day
Legal Reform in Vietnam
On September 2nd, Vietnam celebrates its Independence Day.
This marks the 58th anniversary of its Declaration of Independence
from France in 1945 and comes at a time when Vietnam is striving
for a new and greater role in the world. One of the world's
lower-income countries, Vietnam is working hard to make the
transition to a market economy. Unfortunately, the world's
recent economic woes have not helped. Foreign direct investment
in Vietnam has dwindled. The fact that Vietnam's legal and
commercial systems need to be overhauled magnifies the problem.
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Handicraft shops, tour
operators, and other small businesses line many of Hanoi's
bustling streets
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A Look at the Legal Profession
In the past, lawyers in Vietnam played a limited role. "People's
advocates" were allowed to represent defendants during
court trials if the court approved. The theory was that anyone
with common sense could handle the cases. Consequently, defendants
often entered trials at a disadvantage. The system was and
remained for many years biased towards prosecutors and police,
so much so, that citizens tended to avoid the courts as much
as possible.
Times have changed. Today, at Hanoi Law University, training
lawyers is a priority. Economic and commercial law courses
are the most popular, with students hoping to use their degrees
to enter the more lucrative private sector. However, many
of the professors are Eastern-bloc trained, so many serious
students leave the country to complete their studies. As one
student said, "a Marxist-Leninist teaching commercial
law seems to defeat the purpose."
Building an Independent Legal System
The need for an independent legal system is great for a country
that wants to increase foreign direct investment and speed
up its entry into the international trading system. Lawyers
with commercial expertise are in high demand. Even the Ministry
of Trade has no qualified practicing trade attorneys.
This is where USAID has been able to help. Through its Support
for Trade Acceleration (STAR) project, USAID is working with
Vietnam's Ministry of Justice to revise the 1998 decree that
regulates foreign law firms and lawyers in Vietnam. This will
help bring Vietnam into closer harmony with international
law and with the Bilateral Trade Agreement (BTA) it has signed
with the United States. In the 2002 fiscal year alone, USAID
held training workshops and policy seminars for more than
1000 local legal and judicial officials and 900 business and
government leaders on the BTA. USAID also provided assistance
in drafting new policies on transparent processes, intellectual
property rights and settling investment disputes. Now USAID
is exploring how it can complement the efforts the U.S.-Vietnam
Trade Council is making to design a modern legal curriculum
for the Hanoi Law University.
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