Vietnamese Minister of Justice Le Thanh Long (R) and German counterpart Marco Buschmann (Photo: VNA) Berlin (VNA) – Vietnamese Minister of Justice Le Thanh Long met his German counterpart Marco Buschmann on November 24 to discuss boosting bilateral ties in the field.
Long told his host that over the past years, Vietnam and Germany have reaped positive results in legal and judicial cooperation. The two countries have maintained the Rule-of-Law Dialogue that caught the attention of many partners with more activities over years. Collaboration in many fields such as civil status, nationality, judicial assistance, training, research, mutual legal assistance in civil matters and trade has also been stepped up. Cooperation deals between the Vietnamese Justice Ministry and the judicial sector of Hessen and Nordrhein-Westfalen states have been regularly updated, contributing to the Rule-of-Law Dialogue.
According to Long, the dialogue was held for the first time in 2009, passed through four phases and has entered the fifth phase, with each lasting three years. In September 2020, the dialogue was mentioned in the Germany’s Indo-Pacific strategy.
Minister Long suggested Buschmann continue directing the effective implementation of the Rule-of-Law Dialogue to match interests of the two countries, strengthen legal and judicial cooperation within the framework of The Hague Conference on international justice, assist Vietnam in studying, acceding to and implementing international conventions on judicial cooperation.
He also asked the German side to regularly update Vietnam about Germany's nationality regulations so that Vietnam could deal with issues related to citizenship of Vietnamese citizens, especially those living in Germany.
Buschmann, for his part, described Vietnam as one of the important partners in Asia-Pacific that Germany prioritises enhancing ties. He said the potential of bilateral legal and judicial cooperation remains huge.
According to him, the Rule-of-Law Dialogue set ambitious goals for 2022-2025 and Germany will actively support this programme.
He also pledged to intensify coordination with Vietnam in personnel training and sharing of experience in law making and enforcement.
During a working session with the Vietnamese minister, State Secretary at the German Federal Ministry of Justice Angelika Schlunck vowed all possible support for German agencies concerned to work closely with Vietnam under the 2022-2025 cooperation programme which was signed virtually in October and covered various cooperation areas, including civil, economic and criminal matters.
Host and guest also exchanged documents of the programme on the occasion.
At the event, Minister Long presented the insignia “For the cause of justice” to former State Secretary at the German Federal Ministry of Justice Christian Lange who is now President of the German Foundation for International Legal Cooperation, and head of the ministry’s Department of German Foundation for International Legal Cooperation Anne Katharina Zimmermann, in recognition of their important contributions to the Rule-of-Law Dialogue and ties between the Vietnamese judicial sector and German partners.
While in Germany, Long held working sessions with the German Academic Exchange Service, the German Judicial Academy, the Hessen State Ministry of Justice, the World University Service of Germany and Goethe University Frankfurt.
He also granted the insignia “For the cause of justice” to Juergen Walter Simon, one of the first German professors to assist the Vietnamese Justice Ministry and contribute to personnel training between the two ministries since 1991./.
