A team of lawyers aiming for the common good of society

After 35 years of construction and development, Ho Chi Minh City Bar Association has affirmed its position and role in society.

Today, December 27, the Ho Chi Minh City Bar Association held a ceremony to celebrate its 35th anniversary. The event is expected to be attended by leaders of the Ho Chi Minh City Party Committee and the Vietnam Bar Federation .

Constantly growing

With 68 members since its establishment on October 24, 1989, up to now, the Ho Chi Minh City Bar Association has had 8,300 lawyers working in more than 2,000 practicing organizations and 650 lawyers practicing as individuals. With the number of lawyers accounting for 40% of the total number of lawyers nationwide, the team of lawyers in Ho Chi Minh City has gradually grown, with enough prestige and capacity to meet the needs of legal advice and diverse legal services of society.

Lawyer Nguyen Van Trung, Chairman of the Ho Chi Minh City Bar Association, informed that the Ho Chi Minh City lawyers are trained from many sources - such as from domestic and foreign schools and currently have about 40 PhDs and 400 masters. Some lawyers are capable of participating in resolving many international disputes, are members of foreign bar associations or international arbitration organizations.

The Ho Chi Minh City Bar Association also performed well the tasks assigned by the city, and at the same time actively contributed to the development of laws. In the face of the trend of international integration, the Ho Chi Minh City Bar Association maintained cooperative relationships and exchanged experiences in professional activities with bar associations of many countries. One of the many events in 2024 was the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding with the Busan Bar Association (Korea).

Lawyer Nguyen Van Trung - Chairman of the Ho Chi Minh City Bar Association. Photo: NGOC QUY

More and more perfect

Regarding the points that need to be overcome, according to lawyer Nguyen Van Trung, with a very large and diverse number of lawyers practicing nationwide, it is inevitable that there will be cases of individuals falling. He said that in 2024, 11 lawyers were disciplined - from warnings to removal of names, due to violations of professional ethics. Compared to 8,300 lawyers of the association, the rate of disciplinary action is 0.13%.

"To minimize disciplinary violations, the Executive Board of the Ho Chi Minh City Bar Association advocates promoting professional ethics training while strictly handling violations, regardless of who they are," Mr. Nguyen Van Trung emphasized.

The Chairman of the Ho Chi Minh City Bar Association said that the current law has provisions that create favorable conditions for lawyers to practice. Lawyers can choose to practice in many different forms, participate in litigation from the time of prosecution, including cases of arrest and detention; protect the legitimate rights and interests of the accused, the person being recommended for prosecution... However, there are still some provisions that restrict the practice of lawyers and the Ho Chi Minh City Bar Association has organized a workshop to contribute opinions on the draft of the new Law on Lawyers on these issues.

Share with the community

Regarding social activities, for many years, the "Volunteer Lawyer Campaign" has become an annual traditional activity of the Ho Chi Minh City Bar Association. Lawyers have propagated and disseminated the law directly to people in remote areas and given gifts to people in difficult circumstances. Participating in the volunteer campaign creates opportunities for the team of lawyers to sympathize with the difficult and deprived lives of their compatriots, thereby raising their sense of responsibility to serve the community.

In 2023, the Ho Chi Minh City Bar Association will organize a "Volunteer Lawyer Campaign" in 3 Central Highlands provinces and in 2024 in 5 Mekong Delta provinces. In addition, recently, the Ho Chi Minh City Bar Association donated 1 billion VND to support the Northern people affected by storm No. 3 as well as many times supporting the Central people to overcome difficulties and natural disasters.

Ho Chi Minh City Bar Association participates in the 2024 volunteer campaign. Photo: HANH NGUYEN

Of the total 8,300 lawyers, the Ho Chi Minh City Bar Association has 3,690 people under 40 years old. In the digital transformation era, the young lawyer force is considered a decisive factor.

Therefore, according to Mr. Nguyen Van Trung, young lawyers need to constantly study and cultivate their political ideology; regularly improve their professional ethics; update their knowledge and improve their foreign language skills, especially English. They also have to be steadfast in the face of all temptations in life, say no to negativity; always aim for the common good of society and the country in the era of development.

Confident in practice

Lawyer Trieu Quoc Manh said that after 1975, when he was working at the Fatherland Front of Ho Chi Minh City, he was transferred to the Legal Department of the Ho Chi Minh City People's Committee and then wanted to become a defense attorney. When the Ho Chi Minh City Department of Justice was established, he was transferred to be the Head of the Defense Attorney Department.

Seeing that the word "defense attorney" was unfamiliar to the people, he boldly proposed to change the name of the Defense Attorneys Association to the Bar Association. Nearly 2 years after the proposal, in 1989, this idea was accepted and he became the first director of the Ho Chi Minh City Bar Association until 1995.

Lawyer Trieu Quoc Manh said he was very happy that the Ho Chi Minh City Bar Association was established, helping to make litigation fairer and defendants in court protected according to procedural regulations. He affirmed that the Ho Chi Minh City Bar Association is very helpful in the judicial system.

Looking back over the past 35 years, lawyer Trieu Quoc Manh feels that the Ho Chi Minh City Bar Association has always received support and attention from the Ho Chi Minh City Party Committee. Therefore, the lawyers are confident in practicing their profession.

"The Ho Chi Minh City Bar Association has carried out legal aid activities for the people, raising the value of the association. When entering the era of the country's development, the team of young lawyers needs to be ready with posture and knowledge in the period of rapid economic development, creating a widespread ripple effect in society" - lawyer Trieu Quoc Manh confided.

Source: https://nld.com.vn/doi-ngu-luat-su-huong-toi-loi-ich-chung-cua-xa-hoi-196241226204304804.htm