Funding for dissemination, legal education and legal aid has not met requirements.

Ms. Lo Thi Kim Ngan - Head of the Ethnic Committee of the Provincial People's Council chaired the meeting. Photo: Minh Chi

Based on actual supervision in the districts of Ky Son, Tuong Duong, Quy Chau, Tan Ky, at the working session, the supervision delegation of the Ethnic Council of the Provincial People's Council raised many issues related to the dissemination, education of law and legal aid for ethnic minorities.

According to a report from the Department of Justice, ethnic minorities account for about 15% of the province's population; living mainly in 11 mountainous districts and towns.

Implementing Directive No. 32/CT-TW, dated December 9, 2003 of the Central Party Secretariat and Directive No. 13/CT-TU, dated July 28, 2003 of the Provincial Party Standing Committee on strengthening the Party's leadership in the work of disseminating and educating the law (PBGDPL), raising the awareness of law observance of officials and people, in recent times, all levels and sectors in the province have really paid attention to the work of disseminating and educating the law in general and for ethnic minorities in particular.

The team of cadres, reporters, and propagandists participating in legal dissemination activities from the provincial to communal levels has been strengthened and improved. The whole province has nearly 4,300 cadres, reporters, and propagandists of legal dissemination and education and has established 2,545 conciliation teams, with 16,684 conciliators in the blocks, hamlets, and villages.

The forms and contents of legal dissemination are quite diverse and rich, such as: training, printing, distributing legal documents; organizing legal competitions, seminars; mobile trials;...

Deputy Director of the Department of Justice Nguyen Cong Hoan said that the team of legal aid workers is not specialized. Photo: Minh Chi

However, through monitoring, Deputy Head of the Ethnic Affairs Committee of the Provincial People's Council Luc Thi Lien said that legal aid activities are still vague, and suggested that in the coming time, the Department of Justice should direct the strengthening of these activities.

Analyzing the reasons for the low effectiveness of legal dissemination, partly due to people's lack of awareness and self-awareness in learning the law, Chairman of the Provincial Red Cross Society Nguyen Luong Hong, a member of the monitoring team, said that the Department of Justice needs to conduct research to come up with appropriate forms of propaganda for people in each locality and region.

Explaining and clarifying many issues that the Provincial People's Council's monitoring delegation was concerned about, Deputy Director of the Department of Justice Nguyen Cong Hoan said that the reason for the low effectiveness of legal dissemination and legal aid for ethnic minorities is primarily due to the large number of ethnic minorities, distributed in many areas.

Meanwhile, with limited funding, on average each year, the whole province only has 900 million VND - 1.2 billion VND for legal dissemination and legal aid activities.

On the other hand, legal documents are overlapping and constantly changing; the team of collaborators participating in legal dissemination activities does not have specialized qualifications....

The Deputy Director of the Department of Justice also said that the Department also really wants to change the form of propaganda and legal dissemination to ensure more effectiveness, such as increasing dramatization; however, this activity requires a very large budget.

Mobile trial of drug case in Ky Son district. Photo: Document

Concluding the meeting, Head of the Ethnic Committee of the Provincial People's Council Lo Thi Kim Ngan acknowledged the efforts of the Department of Justice in legal dissemination and legal aid activities for ethnic minorities in the province in recent times.

To continue to improve the quality and effectiveness of this activity, the Head of the Ethnic Committee of the Provincial People's Council requested the Department to continue implementing Directive No. 32/CT-TW dated December 9, 2003 of the Central Party Secretariat and Directive No. 13/CT-TU dated July 28, 2003 of the Provincial Party Standing Committee; at the same time, continue to develop a plan to inspect the work of legal dissemination and legal aid in localities, ensuring that this activity is strengthened and its effectiveness is improved.

The Department needs to clearly identify the areas, key subjects, and focal points for impact and propaganda, in order to raise awareness and push back social evils in ethnic minority areas in the coming time...