New fee regulations for lawyers.
From January 1, 2016, the membership fee for the Unified Lawyers Association is 200,000 VND/lawyer/month. The maximum fee for lawyer apprenticeship is no more than 5 million VND/person, and the fee for joining the Bar Association is no more than 10 million VND/lawyer. These two fee levels are determined by the Bar Associations themselves.
At its second session on December 14th, the National Bar Council (NBC) adopted a resolution on fee levels for legal practice, effective from January 1st, 2016.
Previously, lawyers paid two types of membership fees: one for the Bar Association and another for the Vietnam Bar Federation. This was considered a form of "double charging," putting lawyers under a double burden.
However, revenue from membership fees is still insufficient to cover the regular operating costs of some Bar Associations and Federations of Lawyers. To ensure coverage of recurring expenses, some Bar Associations charge membership fees exceeding 300,000 VND per month.
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| The second session of the National Bar Council adopted a Resolution on lawyer membership fees. |
It is estimated that if the membership fee collection rate of the Vietnam Lawyers Association reaches over 80% during the 3-year period (2012-2014), the membership fee revenue will be sufficient to cover the Association's expenses. However, from 2009 to the present, the Association's members still owe more than 10 billion VND in membership fees.
Annually, the membership fee collection rate only averages 45-55% because some lawyers fail to pay or pay late the two types of membership fees: the Vietnam Bar Association and the Vietnam Bar Federation. Some also fail to pay the Vietnam Bar Federation membership fee.
Therefore, the International Bar Council decided on a unified membership fee (including both Bar Association and Vietnam Bar Federation membership fees) of VND 200,000 per lawyer per month to ensure fairness for all member lawyers of the Bar Associations. Simultaneously, a percentage of the membership fee will be allocated to the Vietnam Bar Federation based on the number of lawyers in each Bar Association.
Accordingly, Bar Associations with 1,000 or more lawyers contribute 50%; Bar Associations with 300-999 lawyers contribute 30%; Bar Associations with 50-299 lawyers contribute 20%; and Bar Associations with fewer than 50 lawyers contribute 10%.
This percentage contribution stems from the spirit of solidarity and mutual support among Bar Associations, allowing Bar Associations with fewer lawyers and insufficient revenue to retain a portion of the fees for their operations. Conversely, Bar Associations with more lawyers and higher revenue will contribute more to the Vietnam Bar Association.
In 2015, six lawyers were disciplined and removed from the Bar Association.
In 2015, the Vietnam Bar Association received 77 letters of complaint and denunciation related to lawyers. The majority of these letters concerned violations of professional ethics and conduct by lawyers, and disputes over fees between lawyers and clients, and were resolved within the scope of authority. As a result, the Bar Associations disciplined and removed the names of 6 lawyers from the register.
According to the Vietnam Bar Association, the phenomenon of obstructing the legitimate right of lawyers to practice in criminal cases still exists in some places and agencies, especially investigative agencies.
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| Lawyers provide advice to citizens at the Nghe An Newspaper editorial office. |
Therefore, the Federation and the Bar Associations have focused on protecting the legitimate rights of lawyers, along with actively participating in the process of creating a legal environment and improving laws to ensure the right to practice law for lawyers.
In 2015, the Federation received 33 requests for the protection of lawyers' rights. Of these, 6 cases were referred to the Bar Association for representation; in 25 cases, the Federation has sent or is currently sending written requests to the prosecuting authorities to respect the lawyers' legitimate right to practice; and 2 cases were outside the jurisdiction of the Vietnam Bar Federation.
Applying advanced training models According to the Vietnam Bar Association, in July 2016, the Vietnam Lawyers Training School will implement its 2016 enrollment and training plan. According to LS. Nguyen Dinh Tho, Chairman of the Committee on Training, Development, and Dissemination of Law, the school will provide 12 months of training, including 9 months of on-campus study and 3 months of professional internship. The target applicants are law graduates nationwide.The training scale in the first year will be 300 trainees, gradually increasing in subsequent years while improving the quality of training. From 2020-2021 onwards, the training scale will be 800-1,000 trainees. The training and professional development of lawyers at the School is carried out on the basis of applying a combination of advanced training models such as dual training and online training to improve the effectiveness and quality of lawyer training and professional development, while reducing training and professional development costs. According to the plan, in December 2015, the Federation will submit to the Minister of Justice for approval the Project for the Establishment and Charter of the School, so that by May 2016, the plan for student recruitment, training, and professional development of lawyers for 2016 will be approved. The first training course of the school is expected to begin in July 2016. |
According to Vietnamese law
