Developing a Program in Vietnam in Collaboration with LERES
The Need
The country of Vietnam faces a crucial point in its road to economic development and modernization. Without adequate laws to implement the government’s intentions of reform and doi moi the country will not continue its road of progress and stabilization.
According to internal and external observations, there are two sets of evident skills needed within the various ministries and bodies that draft including the Office of the National Assembly, the Office of the Government, the Ministry of Justice, and the line ministries. These are policy formulation skills and technical legislative drafting skills both of which require legal research skills.
Project Origins
In June, 2005, Vietnam's Office of Government and The Center for Legal Research and Services (LERES) invited four ICLAD consultants to facilitate a training for the newly formed Legislative Drafting Committee of the Office of Government, drafters from the Ministry of Justice, and several university faculty members involved in drafting advising for the government. During this two week training, ICLAD's Director of Capacity Building engaged in a series of conversations with government officials in the Office of Government and the Ministry of Justice, and the Office of the National Assembly to discuss the needs of drafters in Vietnam in order to produce the quality laws needed for transforming the economy under the doi moi initiative. Similar conversations were held with the Danish Aid Agency (DANIDA) and members of faculty from local universities who were involved in the two week training regarding rule of law strengthening projects and perceived needs in services provided.
Proposed Project
It was clear from these discussions that ongoing training is needed above and beyond what had been currently provided, and that the government needed a local training center to facilitate ongoing trainings in the future. In response to this perceived need, LERES and ICLAD decided to devise a collaborative project to provide legislative drafting training within the various bodies of government to build upon the core skills already developed.
The proposed LERES-ICLAD project aims to provide core support and drafting expertise to the project while building up the capacity of local training skills. In addition to training drafters in both central and local government, this project will result in the development of country-specific training materials, the creation of a research and training center to continue drafting training and provide research assistance in the years to come, and the drafting of a number of bills aimed at transforming the Vietnamese economy according to local needs. This proposal recognizes the fundamental need to train drafters not only in drafting techniques but also in social science research skills.
With the above objectives the project will leave Vietnam after 2 years with a solid team of drafters in place, multiple government officials trained, a training center established and a network of trainers who can continue working with the training center to train more drafters at the central and local level.
Click here for a history of ICLAD's work in Vietnam.
View the agenda for a five-day workshop conducted by LERES in March, 2006.
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