Illustrative photo (Source: baomoi) Hanoi (VNA) – A project is being carried out in Vietnam to disseminate law and give legal advice to prisoners nearing the end of their sentences, helping them re-integrate into society.
A workshop on the project, implemented by the legal advice centre of the Ho Chi Minh City University of Law and the UN Development Programme (UNDP), was held in Hanoi on June 29.
Scott Ciment, UNDP Policy Advisor on Rule of Law, said prisoners closing to the end of their incarceration encounter different problems relating to identification cards, criminal records and household registration.
Many of these matters can be solved if prisoners access legal aid services, he noted, adding that the project involves law students, lecturers and lawyers who will provide prisoners with basic law information.
Duong Hoan, Deputy Director of the legal advice centre, said the project has been piloted in five prisons in the provinces of Long An, Tay Ninh, Binh Thuan and Thanh Hoa in the first half of 2016, with the participation of 50 students of the HCM City University of Law.
To ensure effective legal assistance, a list of questions about legal aid demand is given to prisoners before law students, lecturers and lawyers analyse and forecast problems that prisoners may ask about at consultations. Information in legal aid sessions will be recorded.
Particularly, those finishing their sentences can seek for more assistance at the legal aid centre, Hoan added.
Lieutenant Colonel Pham Thi Minh Hai from Long Hoa prison in the Mekong Delta province of Long An applauded the project, considering legal assistance necessary to help prisoners nearing the expiration of prison terms prepare for re-integration into society.-VNA
