Decree No. 80/2015/ND-CP dated September 17, 2015 of the Government amending the Decree No. 14/2013/ND-CP dated February 05, 2013 of the Government amending the Decree No. 07/2007/ND-CP dated January 12, 2007 of the Government guiding for the Law on Legal Aid

THE GOVERNMENT

Decree No. 80/2015/ND-CP datedSeptember 17, 2015 of the Government amending the Decree No. 14/2013/ND-CP dated February 05, 2013 of the Government amending the Decree No. 07/2007/ND-CP dated January 12, 2007 of the Government guiding for the Law on Legal Aid

Pursuant to the Law on Government organization dated December 25, 2001;

Pursuant to the Law on legal aid dated June 29, 2006;

At the request of the Minister of Justice,

The Government promulgates a Decree on amendments to Decree No. 14/2013/ND-CP dated February 5, 2013 of the Government on amendments to Decree no. 07/2007/ND-CP dated January 12, 2007 of the Government on guidelines for the Law on legal aid.

Article 1. To amend and a number of Articles of the Decree No. 14/2013/ND-CP dated February 5, 2013 of the Government on amendments to Decree no. 07/2007/ND-CP dated January 12, 2007 of the Government on guidelines for the Law on legal aid:

1. To amend Clause 7 Article 1 as follows:

“1. A person who has obtained a Bachelor’s Degree in law, has graduated in lawyer training course, has worked for a legal aid center of the State, and has participated in a refresher course in legal aid shall be issued a certificate of eligibility for legal aid by the Academy of Justice of the Ministry of Justice if he/she is qualified.

 A person who used to work as a lawyer or is not required to participate in a training course in lawyer as prescribed in the Law on lawyer, has worked for a legal aid center of the State, and has participated in a refresher course in legal aid shall be issued a certificate of eligibility for legal aid by the Academy of Justice of the Ministry of Justice if he/she is qualified.

2. The Minister of Justice shall provide guidelines for program and duration of refresher courses in legal aid services for legal aid providers; and issuance of Regulation on organization, examination and issuance of certificates of refresher courses in legal aid.”

2. To amend Clause 8 Article 1 as follows:

“Article 25. Legal aid providers

1. “Legal aid providers hold positions as public employees under regulations.

2. “The Minister of Internal Affairs shall promulgate list, codes and ranks of legal aid providers.

3. “The Minister of Justice shall promulgate professional criteria for legal aid providers with consent of the Minister of Internal Affairs.”

3. To amend Clause 9 Article 1 as follows:

“1. Legal aid providers have their salaries graded and paid according to the salary scale applicable to public employees under regulations.

3. Each legal aid provider is entitled to a professional responsibility-based allowance equal to 25% of their current salary, leadership allowance and extra-seniority allowance (if any).  When participating in legal proceedings, each legal aid provider is entitled to a case-based allowance equal to 40% of the remuneration level applicable to a lawyer providing legal aid as required by the State as prescribed in Clause 4 of this Article. When providing extrajudicial representation or reconciliation, each legal aid provider is entitled to a case-based allowance equal to 20% of the remuneration level applicable to a lawyer providing legal aid as required by the State.”

4. To amend Clause 12 Article 1 as follows:

“2. Collaborators enjoy case-based remuneration calculated according to the number of hours of providing legal counseling and other legal aid services. Working session-based remuneration (a half of a working day) is paid to collaborators who provide legal aid through participating in legal proceedings or extrajudicial representation.

The level of case-based remuneration for collaborators and lawyers providing legal aid as required by the State is set on the basis of the quality of legal aid provided, the time of providing legal aid, the complexity of the legal aid case, and the form and result of legal aid.

If legal aid is provided in the form of participation in legal proceedings, the remuneration level for the lawyer providing legal aid as required is equal to VND 500,000 for a working session or a fixed amount for a case of between 3 months’ basic salary and 10 months’ basic salary (on case-by-case basis). The Ministry of Justice shall provide guidelines for nature and contents of the case, calculation of session and time for determination of payment of fixed amount or remuneration level for lawyer according to their working sessions or working time.

The time of providing legal aid covers the time of studying the dossier of the case and preparing documents in service of the provision of legal aid, the time of meeting legal aid beneficiaries or their relatives, the time of verifying the legal aid case and the time of working at agencies and organizations related to the legal aid case.  The working time of a collaborator or a lawyer is the working time certified by related individuals, agencies and organizations.”

Article 2. Effect

This Decree takes effect from November 10, 2015.

Article 3. Implementation organization

Ministers, Heads of ministerial-level agencies, Heads of Governmental agencies, Presidents of the People’s Committees of central-affiliated cities and provinces shall implement this Decree./.

For the Government

The Prime Minister

Nguyen Tan Dung