Chương 2 Nghị định 94/2001/NĐ-CP: Điều kiện hành nghề luật sư

Chapter II

CONDITIONS FOR PRACTICE OF LAWYER�S PROFESSION

Article 4.- Conditions for joining the bar associations

1. Persons who wish to practice the lawyer’s profession must join the bar associations of their respective residence places. The residence place of a person is determined according to Article 48 of the Civil Code.

2. Persons who wish to join the bar associations must fully meet the conditions prescribed in Article 8 of the Ordinance on Lawyers.

Persons having the university degree in law prescribed at Point b, Clause 1, Article 8 of the Ordinance on Lawyers are persons who have the bachelor of law diploma or the university graduation diploma in law granted by Vietnamese tertiary education establishments, or the university graduation diploma in law granted by foreign tertiary education establishments and recognized in Vietnam under the regulations of the Ministry of Education and Training and the international treaties which the Socialist Republic of Vietnam has signed or acceded to.

Persons who have graduated from lawyer’s job-training courses prescribed at Point c, Clause 1, Article 8 of the Ordinance on Lawyers are those who possess the certificates of graduation from lawyer’s job-training courses, granted by lawyers job-training establishments in Vietnam or foreign countries. The training duration at the lawyer’s job-training establishments is six months. The Ministry of Justice prescribes the contents, forms and planning for the lawyer’s job-training in Vietnam and recognizes the certificates of graduation from the lawyer’s job-training courses, granted by lawyer’s job-training establishments in foreign countries.

Article 5.- Regime on lawyer’s profession probation

1. The Executive Boards of the Bar Associations recommend probationary lawyers to lawyer’s profession-practicing organizations so that they have conditions to be fully trained with skills of practicing the lawyer’s profession and with the lawyers professional ethics. The lawyer’s profession-practicing organizations are obliged to receive the probationary lawyers and nominate lawyers to guide them.

Where a probationary lawyer has reached an agreement with a lawyer profession- practicing organization on his/her probation, the Executive Board of the Bar Association shall recommend such probationary lawyer to that lawyer’s profession-practicing organization.

The lawyer’s profession-practicing organizations must create conditions for probationary lawyers to practice skills of the lawyer’s profession. The probationary lawyers must abide by the internal regulations of the lawyer’s profession-practicing organizations and perform tasks assigned by such organizations.

Basing themselves on the Ordinance on Lawyers and this Decree, the Bar Associations shall specify the recommendation, reception and probation of probationary lawyers at lawyer profession-practicing organizations.

2. Probationary lawyers may participate in the legal proceedings for cases falling under the adjudicating competence of the district-level People’s Courts and the regional military courts if they are so assigned by the guiding lawyers and agreed upon by clients. When participating in the legal proceedings, the probationary lawyers shall have the rights and obligations like lawyers as provided for by the procedural legislation and the Ordinance on Lawyers. For cases falling under the competence of the provincial-level People’s Courts, the courts martial of the military zones and equivalent level, the probationary lawyers are allowed to study, together with their guiding lawyers, the dossiers, meet with the defendants, the accused and other involved persons, if such persons so agree.

The probationary lawyers may provide legal consultancy and other legal services for clients according to their guiding lawyers assignment when so agreed upon by clients, but must not sign legal consultancy documents and have to take responsibility before the guiding lawyers and the lawyer’s profession-practicing organizations where they are on probation for the quality of the work they have performed.

Article 6.- Procedures for examination of probation completion

1. The Ministry of Justice shall organize the examination of the completion of the lawyer’s profession probation for the probationary lawyers.

The examination of the completion of the lawyer’s profession probation shall be organized according to regions under the regulations of the Ministry of Justice.

The Examination Council is composed of lawyers with professional skills and prestige, representatives of the Ministry of Justice and concerned agencies as well as organizations, who are legal experts knowledgeable about the lawyer’s profession.

The Ministry of Justice shall promulgate the Regulation on examination of the completion of the lawyer’s profession probation.

2. Those probationary lawyers who satisfy the probation-end examination requirements shall be recommended by the Executive Boards of the Bar Associations for the granting of lawyer�s profession-practicing certificates. Those who fail to satisfy the examination requirements may extend their probation duration twice at most and each extension shall be from 6 to 12 months. If after the second extension the probationary lawyers still fail to meet the examination requirements, their names shall be crossed out from the lists of probationary lawyers of the Bar Associations.

Article 7.- Use of lawyer’s profession-practicing certificates

Only persons who hold the lawyer’s profession-practicing certificates and are Bar Association members can use the lawyer’s profession-practicing certificates to practice the lawyer’s profession.