Chương 5 Nghị định 94/2001/NĐ-CP: Đoàn luật sư

Chapter V

BAR ASSOCIATIONS

Article 28.- Charter of the Bar Association

1. Basing themselves on the provisions of the Ordinance on Lawyers, this Decree and other law provisions on socio-professional organizations, the Bar Associations shall issue their own charters to regulate their internal relations.

2. The charter of a Bar Association shall include the following major contents:

a) The Bar Association’s guiding principles and aims;

b) The procedures for joining the Bar Association; the procedures to apply for exit from the Bar Association;

c) The regulation on lawyer’s profession probation;

d) The rights and obligation of members of the Bar Association;

e) The organization and operation principles as well as the tasks and powers of the plenary meeting of the Bar Association;

f) The organization, operation principles as well as tasks and powers of the Executive Board of the Bar Association;

g) The organization, operation principles as well as tasks and powers of the Commendation and Discipline Council;

h) Forms of commendation and discipline applicable to lawyers, probationary lawyers;

i) The membership fee;

j) The Association’s finance;

k) Settlement of complaints and denunciations within the Association;

l) Relations with lawyer’s profession- practicing organizations;

m) Relations with other agencies and organizations.

3. Within 7 days as from the date the Bar Association’s Charter is adopted, the Executive Board of the Bar Association shall forward the Charter to the Ministry of Justice. Within 30 days after receiving the Bar Association’s Charter, the Ministry of Justice shall approve it. The Bar Association’s Charter shall take effect as from the date it is approved by the Ministry of Justice. Within 10 days as from the date the Bar Association’s Charter takes effect, the Executive Board of the Bar Association shall send a copy of the Charter to the provincial/municipal Justice Service.

Article 29.- The Bar Association’s membership

1. The Bar Association’s members shall be lawyers. The probationary lawyers are not yet the full-fledged members of the Bar Association but have the rights and obligations like members of the Bar Association, except the rights to elect people and to be elected to the Executive Board, to the Commendation and Discipline Council and the right to vote on affairs of the Bar Association.

2. The Bar Association’s members have the following rights:

a) To elect people and to be elected to the Executive Board, the Commendation and Discipline Council;

b) To discuss and vote on affairs of the Bar Association, to propose to the plenary meeting and/or the Executive Board of the Bar Association matters related to the organization and operation of the Association;

c) To be professionally fostered by the Bar Association;

d) Other rights prescribed by the Charter of the Bar Association.

3. The Bar Association’s members have the following obligations:

a) To report to the Executive Board of the Bar Association on the setting up of profession- practicing organizations or their places of contractual work and professional activities;

b) To participate in all courses on legal updates and professional fostering, organized by the Bar Association or the Ministry of Justice;

c) To pay membership fee;

d) Other obligations prescribed by the Bar Association’s Charter.

4. Members of the Bar Association shall be granted by its Executive Board the lawyer’s cards made according to set form issued by the Ministry of Justice.

Article 30.- The Lawyers’ Plenary Meeting

1. The Lawyers’ Plenary Meeting is the supreme body of a Bar Association, which is convened regularly at least once a year or can be convened extraordinarily at the request of the Executive Board or at least of half of the number of the lawyers of the Association.

The Lawyers’ Plenary Meeting shall be considered valid if it is participated by at least two-thirds of the members of the Bar Association.

In cases where a Bar Association has 100 or more members, it may organize the congress of lawyers delegates as provided for by the Bar Association’s Charter. The delegates congress has the tasks and powers of the Lawyers Plenary Meeting.

2. The Lawyers Plenary Meeting has the following tasks and powers:

a) To elect and dismiss the Executive Board, the manager as well as the Commendation and Discipline Council of the Bar Association;

b) To adopt the Charter and the Rule on lawyers professional ethics;

c) To adopt the membership fee levels, other contributions of the lawyers as well as the financial revenue and expenditure regime;

d) Other tasks and powers prescribed by the Bar Association’s Charter.

A resolution of the Lawyers Plenary Meeting is passed when it is voted for by more than half of the number of the Association’s members.

Article 31.- The Bar Association’s Executive Board

1. The Bar Association’s Executive Board is the executive body of the lawyers plenary meeting, which is elected by the lawyers plenary meeting for a three-year term.

The list of members of the Bar Association’s Executive Board shall be forwarded to the Ministry of Justice and the provincial/municipal Justice Service.

The Bar Association’s Executive Board is composed of the manager, the deputy-manager(s) and possibly a number of members. The numbers of deputy-managers and members of the Bar Association shall be decided by the Lawyers Plenary Meeting based on the Bar Association’s Charter.

A decision of the Executive Board of a Bar Association shall be passed when it is voted for by more than half of the members of the Executive Board.

2. The Bar Association’s Executive Board has the following tasks and powers:

a) To decide the approval or refusal of the application for membership of the Bar Association; to approve the application for exit from the Bar Association;

b) To supervise and evaluate the results of probation of the probationary lawyers and propose the Ministry of Justice to grant them the lawyer’s profession-practicing certificates;

c) To supervise the observance of the Rule on the lawyers professional ethics;

d) To propose the Ministry of Justice to withdraw the lawyer’s profession-practicing certificates in cases where the lawyers are handled with the disciplinary form of crossing their names from the lawyers lists;

e) To supervise the operation of lawyer’s offices or law partnership companies; to request lawyer’s offices or law partnership companies to put an end to their acts of law offenses and, when necessary, to propose the competent State bodies to handle them;

f) To reconcile disputes related to the lawyer’s profession practice between lawyers, probationary lawyers and lawyer’s offices and/or law partnership companies; among lawyer’s offices or law partnership companies; between clients and lawyer’s offices or law partnership companies;

g) To organize work reviews, experience exchanges and/or professional fostering and apply other measures, aiming to raise the professional levels of lawyers;

h) To organize gathering of opinions and sum up comments and proposals of lawyers on the elaboration of State policies and laws;

i) To organize the lawyers participation in law popularization and education;

j) To conduct international cooperation on lawyers;

k) To report to the Ministry of Justice, the provincial/municipal justice Service on the Bar Association’s organization and operation as well as the list of the Association’s members biannually and annually;

l) Other tasks and powers prescribed by the Bar Association’s Charter.

3. The Bar Association’s Executive Board has the responsibility to send to the Ministry of Justice, the concerned provincial/municipal Justice Service the regulations, decisions and resolutions of the Association.

Article 32.- Commendation and Discipline Council

1. The Commendation and Discipline Council is composed of the members of the Executive Board and a number of lawyers of the Association elected by the Lawyers Plenary Meeting according to the Executive Board’s term of office. The number of members of the Commendation and Discipline Council shall be decided by the Lawyers Plenary Meeting based on the Bar Association’s Charter. The Bar Association’s manager shall act concurrently as the president of the Commendation and Discipline Council.

2. The Commendation and Discipline Council decides on forms of the Bar Association’s commendation for lawyers and probationary lawyers and reports to the Lawyers Plenary Meeting for decision on the proposals on forms of the State commendation for lawyers, the Bar Association, lawyer’s offices and/or law partnership companies.

3. The Commendation and Discipline Council shall consider and decide on the application of a number of the following disciplinary forms to lawyers, probationary lawyers:

a) Reprimand;

b) Warning;

c) Crossing names from the Bar Association’s lists of lawyers, probationary lawyers.

4. The Commendation and Discipline Council shall work on the principle of collectivity and make decisions by majority.