The Law on Mutual Judicial Assistance has created a legal framework for
the fields of civil law, criminal law, extradition, and the transfer of
convicts over the last six years, a conference heard in Hanoi on
September 30.
The law, the first act on mutual legal assistance
drafted by the National Assembly, came into effect in 2008. It is
regarded as an important step in Vietnam’s international cooperation
efforts on law and justice, participants in the conference to review the
law’s implementation said.
Ministries and sectors handled an
increasing amount of complex judicial mandate cases.From January 2008 to
the end of June 2014, the Ministry of Justice received 14,842 legal
mandate orders from Vietnamese agencies to other countries, and 5,193
replies. Out of the replies, 540 came from countries with mutual
judicial assistance agreements with Vietnam.
Statistics show that
replies from countries with legal agreements with Vietnam accounted for
39 percent, while replies from nations without bilateral agreements
accounted for 34.5 percent.
A total of 2,876 foreign judicial
mandate orders were received, including 1,229 from countries with mutual
judicial assistance agreements. Half of the received orders have
been processed so far.
According to Deputy Minister Nguyen Khanh
Ngoc, the low level of responses to mandate orders can be attributed to
the poor linkages between litigation regulations, including civil legal
procedures, and stipulations in the Law on mutual Judicial Assistance.
Additionally,
the law on civil legal procedures does not mention specific regulations
for cases with international elements or cases requiring legal
mandates, Ngoc said.
In the short term, a hotline will be
set up at the central level between Vietnam and countries that signed
mutual judicial assistance agreements with Vietnam. This will enable
courts to directly notify the Government of Vietnam or Vietnamese
overseas representative offices, helping to shorten procedures and boost
coordination between relevant ministries, sectors and agencies.
Participants
suggested the development of separate laws to regulate different
aspects in mutual legal assistance in the long run. The Law on Mutual
Judicial Assistance should be revised and supplemented to ensure it
addresses Vietnam’s international commitments. It must meet the
realistic demands of crime prevention and control, settle civil cases
that arise as a result of the country’s international integration and
legal reform, and clarify the areas covered by the Law on Mutual
Judicial Assistance and other laws on legal procedures.-VNA