From 2019-2023, the American Bar Association Rule of Law Initiative (ABA ROLI) implemented the Criminal Trial Advocacy (CTA) program in Vietnam. Funded by the US Department of State Bureau of International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs, the CTA program aimed to strengthen the capacity of Vietnamese judges, prosecutors, and criminal defense attorneys to implement the new adversarial elements in Vietnam’s 2015 Criminal Procedure Code (CPC). While Vietnam has generally followed an inquisitorial system, the 2015 CPC promotes adversarial principles of criminal justice and rights. With this development, criminal defendants and their counsels are granted more rights in criminal proceedings. Through this program, ABA ROLI developed training manuals and provides training for justice system actors including judges, prosecutors, defense lawyers, judicial officials and law students. To achieve this goal, ABA ROLI conducted a series of activities towards three strategic objectives: to increase knowledge and skills of judges, to increase knowledge and skills of prosecutors and defense lawyers, and to develop capacity of law faculties to train jurists in trial advocacy skills.
Pursuant to the three objectives above, ABA ROLI, in collaboration with local partners, held four trial advocacy skills (TAS) training sessions for Vietnamese prosecutors, judges, and law students. These TAS training courses intended to increase the knowledge and skills of justice system actors on adversarial elements of the CPC. The training methodology focuses on developing the skills of justice system actors in terms of how to speak persuasively in a courtroom, be active in conducting a case analysis, handling of physical and digital evidence, and how to effectively cross-examine witnesses, among others. The TAS training for prosecutors attracted 54 (21 female and 33 male) prosecutors from 17 provinces in the Southern part of Vietnam in Ho Chi Minh city in May 2023. The two TAS training sessions for Vietnamese judges, held in Da Nang and in Ho Chi Minh city in September 2023, attracted 100 judges (47 female) drawn from the central and southern parts of Vietnam. The three-day TAS for law students, held from August 2023 in Hanoi, included a capstone Mock Trial Competition on the last day of the training. The training was attended by 115 law students (67 female) from three law schools. Among the three law schools, 20 students participated from the Hanoi Procuratorate University, 75 students from the Vietnam Court Academy, and 20 students from the Hanoi Law School.
Since the program commenced in April 2019, ABA ROLI conducted trial advocacy skills training courses for more than 140 judges, 200 prosecutors, 190 criminal defense lawyers from 32 provinces, and 249 law students from several law schools including the Vietnam Court Academy, Hanoi Procuratorate University, and Hanoi Law School, among others. For each TAS training course organized, ABA ROLI administered a pre- and post-test to assess the knowledge of participants. On average, at least 75% of participants from these training courses have reported knowledge increase.
In August 2023, the Supreme People’s Court (SPC) Justice Council of Vietnam adopted two case precedents on human trafficking cases. This was a result of ABA ROLI’s support to the SPC in 2022 to conduct a review of 13 selected court sentences and recommendations for the adoption of human trafficking cases as case precedents. ABA ROLI and the SPC, in 2022, coordinated to identify, review and select judgments handed down by lower courts to propose for case precedent development. Following the selection of 13 draft cases (out of 300 cases on human trafficking), ABA ROLI and the SPC organized two seminars on “Review of 3-year implementation of Resolution No. 02/2019/HDTP and consultation on draft case precedents on human trafficking in persons and persons under the age of 16” in March and April 2022, in Ha Noi and Da Nang respectively. The goal of these seminars was to seek intensive review and consultation from key stakeholders to make appropriate recommendations for the final selection of judgments to become legal precedent. At the end of both seminars, which brought together 118 judges and officials (47 female), ABA ROLI and the SPC recommended four cases for adoption as case precedent to the SPC Justice Council headed by the Chief Justice.
At the request of the Supreme People’s Procuracy (SPP), ABA ROLI supported the Vietnamese government to conduct a study on plea bargaining. The study, which was finalized in May 2023, was conducted by three Vietnamese consultants identified by the SPP, with technical guidance from a US-based pro bono legal expert, John William Vaudreuil, who is a retired District Chief Prosecutor in the state of Wisconsin. The study presents a complete analysis of the Plea-bargaining institution, examining its origin and development, nature, purpose, role, legal frames, procedures, benefits, and disadvantages through various jurisdictions—such as the US, Japan, Germany, Georgia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, France, Great Britain, Nepal, Kenya, Argentina, Taiwan, and China, among others—and most importantly, recommendations to consider adapting the whole or some aspects of plea bargaining into Vietnam’s criminal system. The SPP has since adopted the study and is taking steps to integrate plea-bargaining in ongoing reforms by the Vietnamese government.
During the months of June and July 2023, ABA ROLI in Washington, DC hosted two separate and significant high-level delegations from the People’s Republic of Vietnam. First in June, the Ministry of Justice Delegation led by Deputy Minister of Justice Nguyen Thanh Tinh, met with ABA ROLI’s hosts, Scott Carlson, Associate Executive Director of the Center for Global Programs, and the Director of ABA ROLI’s Asia and the Pacific Division. ABA’s then President, Deborah Enix-Ross, participated virtually to extend a warm welcome. The focus of the meeting was to explore effective strategies for improving the Vietnamese public’s access to legal information. The discussions fostered mutual understanding and enhanced cooperation. The Vietnamese Embassy referred to the meeting with ABA ROLI as a “standout moment” during the delegation’s US visit.
Two weeks later, in July 2023, by request of the Vietnamese Embassy, ABA ROLI hosted a second delegation. This delegation included distinguished members from Vietnam’s National Assembly, specifically the Committee on Public Petitions, led by H.E. Mr. Duong Thanh Binh, Chair of the Committee. The meeting providing insights into the historical foundations of petition systems in the United States and offered valuable context for our Vietnamese counterparts. The diplomatic exchanges fostered by ABA ROLI hold a crucial role in deepening legal cooperation and promoting access to justice in Vietnam.