Vietnam, Laos look to settle free migration, undocumented marriages

Vientiane (VNA) – Authorities from the Vietnamese and Lao provinces along their shared border gathered in Vientiane on July 3 at a conference, seeking ways to foster judicial cooperation between the two sides to ensure legal rights and the interests of people living in the border region.

The conference, the fourth of its kind, was chaired by Vietnamese Minister of Justice Le Thanh Long and his Lao counterpart Saysi Santivong, and attended by judicial officials from the two ministries as well as 16 Vietnamese and 18 Lao provinces.

Since the last judicial conference, the management of household registers and citizenship-related issues in the provinces along the shared border has been strengthened with a number of encouraging results, as heard at the event.

The two sides have both been actively working together to implement the 2013 Vietnam-Laos agreement in addressing free migration and undocumented marriages in their shared border areas while, at the same time, making many efforts in the enforcement of civil judgments under a bilateral treaty on mutual legal assistance signed in July 1998.

For the near future, the two sides agreed to effectively implement the bilateral agreement in free migration and undocumented marriage along the border, which had its validity extended to November 14, 2019.

The two ministries will propose a roadmap for revising and amending the mutual legal assistance treaty, adapting it to real circumstances for more effective cooperation in civil judgment enforcement between the two sides.

They also agreed to continue enhancing legal dissemination and education, raising people’s awareness of legal aids and reconciliation at a local level.

In addition, the ministries and their training institutions on both sides will bolster their partnership in capacity building for Lao judicial personnel, as part of a Vietnam-funded project to support the Lao judicial academy.

Speaking at the meeting, the two ministers expressed their confidence that the important results achieved at this event will further nurture the time-honoured friendship and comprehensive partnership between Vietnamese and Lao judiciary sectors and maintain good relations between the two nations for peace, stability, development, and prosperity of Southeast Asia and Asia.

They also agreed to hold the fifth judicial conference between provinces along the Vietnam-Laos shared border in Vietnam next year.

A number of agreements between the Departments of Justice of provinces from the two countries were inked after the event. -VNA