'Poverty eradication' law for people
(Baonghean) - As a province with a large area and a large population, the number of people needing legal aid (legal aid - poor households, meritorious people, ethnic minorities) is relatively large, so legal aid work in Nghe An has always received attention from local authorities and Party committees. However, up to now, this activity has not met the needs...
Help people understand the law
Although the Lunar New Year is approaching, the free legal aid office organized by Nghe An Newspaper, Trong Hai Law Office & Associates is still open to serve the people. Mr. Nguyen Van Truong (Nam Anh, Nam Dan) is one of the last visitors to the consulting office. He shared: although Tet is near, because my family has problems, I came to ask for the help of lawyers to find a solution. After receiving advice, Mr. Truong happily left and did not forget to express his gratitude to the lawyers. "This is the second time I have come to ask for legal aid. Legal consulting activities are really necessary and meaningful for people like us."
Since its inception (2015), the Nghe An Newspaper Legal Aid Office has provided advice to hundreds of citizens. In 2017 alone, the Office directly provided 43 consultation sessions to 100 citizens. In many cases, the lawyers at the office have enthusiastically helped people with related legal procedures to ensure their own rights. Such as the case related to the mistaken HIV test for Mr. HK S (Nghi Thu ward, Cua Lo town). Thanks to the free advice and legal aid of the lawyer, Mr. HK S was supported and partially compensated for his violated honor and dignity.
Or the case related to the process of transporting fireworks and wood by the owner of Khanh Don bus when passing through Bualapha (Kham Muon province) exploded, killing 8 people and injuring 3 others. Lawyers supported the legal representatives of the families of the victims and the victims to participate in the proceedings in Laos. As a result, driver Nguyen Duc Tu was sentenced to 9 years in prison and had to compensate for the damage to the life and health of the victims' legal representatives.
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| Lawyers at Nghe An Newspaper's Legal Aid Office advise people. Photo: Gia Huy |
Similarly, for more than 20 years, the Nghe An Provincial Legal Aid Center has also been a trusted address for people in need of legal advice and assistance. In addition to free mobile legal aid activities to poor communes and especially disadvantaged villages in the province, implementing the project to innovate legal aid work, litigation activities are also given special attention. Ms. Hoang Hang - Head of the General Administration Department of the Provincial Legal Aid Center said: To create favorable conditions for people, the Center has opened 3 more branches in Thai Hoa Town, Dien Chau District and Tuong Duong. The expansion of branches in areas with many subjects eligible for legal assistance has actively contributed to protecting the legitimate rights and interests of people; resolving problems and disputes right at the grassroots level, contributing to reducing petitions and complaints that go beyond the level and are prolonged. The number of part-time collaborators has also increased from 10 people in 1998 to more than 170 people. In addition to the activities of legal aid workers, to improve the effectiveness of legal dissemination and propaganda, the center has established dozens of legal aid clubs, installed hundreds of information boards and message boxes about legal aid in poor communes and especially disadvantaged villages and hamlets in the province.
In 2017, the Provincial Legal Aid Center accepted and handled 707 cases, including 179 consulting cases; 513 litigation cases (472 defense cases, 41 protection cases); 12 verification and recommendation cases.
In addition to the activities of the provincial legal aid center, the legal aid activities of the Nghe An Bar Association also receive support from the government and attention from local people. On average, each year the Bar Association organizes 3-4 free mobile legal aid sessions in localities for hundreds of people. The consulting content is mainly related to the fields of criminal, civil, land, marriage and family, household registration, policy law and many other legal issues.
Difficulties
According to Mr. Nguyen Ngoc Thanh - Director of the Provincial Legal Aid Center: Nghe An is a province with a large area, the subjects eligible for legal aid account for about 50% of the population but are concentrated in areas with complex and rugged terrain, harsh natural conditions, and difficult transportation.
Therefore, legal propaganda and mobile legal aid have not reached many remote, mountainous and mountainous villages. In addition, the legal awareness of the people (especially ethnic minorities living in the 3 poor districts) is still limited, leading to difficulties and prolonged access to and support in terms of law.
The dissemination of legal aid is currently mainly carried out by the Provincial Legal Aid Center and the Inter-sectoral Coordination Council. The process of verifying cases and making recommendations faces many difficulties, so the implementation time does not ensure the timeliness of legal aid, many recommended cases are not effective due to the lack of attention and resolution from competent authorities.
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| Mobile trial in Thai Hoa town. Photo: Document |
In addition, the legal aid network at the grassroots level is currently ineffective and unsustainable because the Management Board of the Legal Aid Club is mostly part-time and has limited capacity. On the other hand, the authorities of some localities have not really paid attention to and created conditions for the Clubs to operate well and currently there are no sanctions in management, so there is a lack of connection between the Center and the Clubs.
Regarding human resources, the force at the legal aid center and branches is still thin, while the team of collaborators at the grassroots level is limited in legal aid expertise and lacks enthusiasm due to part-time activities. The resources of law practice organizations registered to participate in legal aid have not been mobilized, so it is not possible to meet all the legal aid needs of the people in the area. The socialization of legal aid activities is still slow, and the mobilization of social resources to participate is not effective.
In addition, according to Dr. Lawyer Trong Hai, many localities, Party committees and authorities are not interested in the free legal advice and mobile legal aid work of the team of lawyers because of the fear of "drawing a path for deer to run" causing difficulties for the activities of Party committees and authorities. Meanwhile, Decision No. 2090/QD-UBND dated May 11, 2016 of the People's Committee of Nghe An province promulgating the plan to implement the project to innovate legal aid work in the period 2015 - 2025 clearly states: Mobilizing reputable law practice organizations to participate in the implementation of legal aid; Selecting lawyers with experience, ethics and professional courage to implement the State's legal aid.
In practice, legal aid work is a humane policy aimed at raising awareness, "eliminating illiteracy and poverty" of the law for people, especially the poor, policy beneficiaries, and vulnerable people in society. At the same time, it contributes to protecting justice, enhancing awareness of compliance and law observance among officials and people in order to effectively implement the policies and laws of the Party and the State.
Therefore, to improve the quality of this activity, it is necessary to innovate legal aid activities in a professional direction, expand socialization, expand the subjects of legal aid; strengthen the effectiveness of state management in this field to promptly meet the needs of subjects eligible for legal aid.
