Tiếng Việt
Table of Contents
1. What are the conditions for practicing law?
2. Can a civil servant or public employee practice law?
3. If a person is granted a Law Practice Certificate but is later appointed as a civil servant or public employee, will the Certificate be revoked?
1. What are the conditions for practicing law?
According to Article 11 of the 2006 Law on Lawyers, amended and supplemented in 2011, it is stipulated that:
“Article 11. Conditions for law practice
A person who meets all the criteria specified in Article 10 of this Law, if wishing to practice law, must possess a law practice certificate and join a bar association.”
Accordingly, Article 10 of the 2006 Law on Lawyers, amended and supplemented in 2011, stipulates the standards for lawyers as follows:
“Article 10. Criteria of lawyers
Vietnamese citizens who are loyal to the Fatherland, observe the Constitution and law, have good moral qualities, possess a law bachelor diploma, have been trained in legal profession, have gone through the probation of legal profession and have good health for law practice may become lawyers.”
Pursuant to the above provisions, Vietnamese citizens who are loyal to the Fatherland, comply with the Constitution and the law, have good moral qualities, have a bachelor’s degree in law, have been trained as a lawyer, have completed the internship period to practice law, have good health to practice law and have been granted a Lawyer Practice Certificate can practice law.
2. Are civil servants or public employees allowed to practice law?
Pursuant to Clause 4, Article 17 of the 2006 Law on Lawyers, amended and supplemented in 2012, the following cases are not eligible for a Lawyer Practice Certificate:
“4. Persons falling in one of the following cases are not granted law practice certificates:
a/ Working as cadres, officials or civil servants; as officers, professional personnel or defense workers in agencies or units of the people’s army; as commanding or professional officers or non-commissioned officers in agencies or units of the people’s security forces;
b/ Not permanently residing in Vietnam;
c/ Being examined for penal liability; having been sentenced for unintentional crimes or less serious intentional crimes and their criminal records have not yet been remitted; having been sentenced for serious, very serious or particularly serious intentional crimes;
d/ Being confined to a medical treatment establishment or reformatory as an administrative sanctioning measure or to administrative probation;
e/ Having lost their civil act capacity or having a restricted civil act capacity;
f/ The persons defined at Point a of this Clause who have been dismissed for under three years, counting from the date the dismissal decision takes effect.”
According to the above provisions, if they are civil servants or public employees, they cannot practice law.
3. Will a person who is granted a Law Practice Certificate and is appointed as a civil servant or public employee have his/her Certificate revoked?
Pursuant to Article 18 of the 2006 Law on Lawyers, amended and supplemented in 2012, it is stipulated that:
“Article 18. Withdrawal of law practice certificates
1. The law practice certificate granted to a person shall be withdrawn if he/she falls in one of the following cases:
a/ Working as a cadre, official or civil servant; as an officer, professional personnel or defense worker in an agency or unit of the people’s army; as a commanding or professional officer or non-commissioned officer in an agency or unit of the people’s security force;
b/ No longer residing in Vietnam;
c/ No longer satisfying lawyers’ criteria specified in Article 10 of this Law;
d/ Being disciplined in the form of having his/her name deleted from the list of lawyers of a bar association;
e/ Being deprived of the right to use the law practice certificate;
f/ Having been sentenced and the sentence has taken legal effect.
2. The Justice Minister has the power to withdraw law practice certificates and stipulate procedures for the withdrawal of those certificates.”
Thus, according to the above provisions, in case a person has been granted a Certificate of Practice of Law and is then appointed as a civil servant or public employee, the previously granted Certificate of Practice of Law will be withdrawn.