Public Defender: The missing piece of the Vietnamese judiciary?

Resolution No. legitimate rights and interests of the State, state agencies, organizations in the political system and state-owned enterprises.

Piloting the institution of public lawyer is implemented for a period of 2 years, from October 1, 2026 to September 30, 2028. The pilot scope is selected at 8 ministries: Ministry of National Defense, Ministry of Public Security, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Ministry of Justice, Ministry of Finance, Ministry of Industry and Trade, Ministry of Agriculture and Environment, Ministry of Construction and at 10 People’s Committees of provinces and cities: Hanoi, Ho Chi Minh City, Da Nang, Hai Phong, Can Tho, Dong Nai, Bac Ninh, Quang Ninh, Khanh Hoa and Lam Dong.

The National Assembly’s approval of the public lawyer institution is a remarkable step in the process of judicial reform and national governance. This is not simply the addition of a professional title, but the experiment of a new legal model from practice.

According to data from the Ministry of Justice, in the period of 2020-2024, the pressure to settle administrative complaints is increasing with an average settlement rate of only 52.53%, accompanied by the judgment rate to cancel part or all of the court’s administrative decision. The case is still high. On the other hand, the Government, state agencies and state-owned enterprises are facing many legal risks related to commercial investment activities with foreign elements, as well as in administrative and land relations. This situation poses an urgent requirement for building a professional and intensive legal consulting force right in the public sector.

According to Clause 1, Article 2 of the Resolution No. in state-owned enterprises, if they meet the conditions and standards as prescribed. Public lawyers must have a solid political ideology, clear professional ethics, integrity and fully meet the conditions to be granted a law practice certificate in accordance with the Law on Lawyers. On the other hand, the selected person must have at least 05 years of experience working in the legal field or have experience in litigation, legal advice, and legal cases.

Public lawyers perform legal work in the state sectors of pilot agencies, including: consulting, representing, participating in proceedings, settling cases and international disputes on investment, trade, international public law, international justice, administrative, civil and participating in the process of civil and administrative judgment enforcement according to the provisions of law; Legal advice in the process of building and implementing socio-economic projects; Consulting and participating in the settlement of complicated and prolonged complaints and denunciations; other legal work.

In essence, the pilot of the public lawyer institution is an inevitable trend in the context of global integration, contributing to enhancing the effectiveness of protecting the legitimate rights and interests of state agencies and organizations in the political system, as well as the interests of the State in state-owned enterprises, contributing to the implementation of the judicial reform and streamlining the apparatus. However, in order for this model to operate substantively, it is necessary to urgently solve practical problems: Completing the system of guiding documents, clearly demarcating the functional boundaries between public lawyers and legal forces of ministries and sectors and legal aid, and at the same time ensuring an independent mechanism for professional thinking and Develop a set of criteria for evaluating the pilot effectiveness in a scientific way.

Effective Date:  October 1, 2026