The Vietnam Lawyers’ Association (VLA), the Center for Community Support Development Studies (CECODES), with United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) released Vietnam’ s first ever empirical justice index released on October 3.

The 2012 Justice Index is an important initiative which reflects people’s aspirations of a just and democratic society being pursued by the State of Vietnam, said CECODES Director Dr Dang Ngoc Dinh.

The index was built on the actual experiences of more than 5,000 people from a cross-section of society living in 21 provinces and cities across the country. The index captured people’s opinions and assessment of State institutions’ performance in ensuring justice and fundamental rights for citizens.

Addressing the launch, Bakhodir Burkhanov, Deputy Country Director of the United Nations for Development Programme (UNDP) in Vietnam, said the Justice Index introduces a new approach to the assessment of legal and judicial reform process.

The UNDP Deputy Country Director also expressed his hope that the index could provide a useful reference for further reforms towards making the legal and judicial system more effective and responsive to the needs and aspirations of the people.

The Justice Index 2012 looks into five dimensions of the administration of justice and rule of law as perceived and experienced by the people, in particular accessibility, equity, integrity, reliability and efficiency along with a guarantee of fundamental rights.-VNA