The law of Vietnam on legal aid in criminal procedure

Abstract

This paper analyses and discusses the provisons of the 2006 Law on legal aid, the 2017 Law on legal aid, the 2015 Criminal Procedure Code and the 2015 Law on enforcement of custody and temporary detention relating to legal aid in criminal proceedings. It also offers some recommendations for improving the law on legal aid in criminal procedure such as: extending the scope of legal aid beneficiaries including persons denunciated or facing requisitions for charge, witnesses (when necessary) and persons who are subjected to penalties and/or judicial measures; eliminating the condition in which crime victims from 16 to under 18 years of age must have financial difficulties to be granted legal aid; and supplementing provisions  that allow the accused  to choose either appointed defence or legal aid.