Improving the quality and effectiveness of law-making and law enforcement in Vietnam in the period of 2021-2025

Implementing the Ministry of Justice's foreign affairs plan, the Ministry of Justice's working delegation led by Deputy Minister Nguyen Khanh Ngoc is visiting and working in Japan from September 16 to September 20, 2024. The working delegation includes heads of the following units: Department of Administrative Violations and Law Enforcement Monitoring, National Registration Department of Secured Transactions, National Center for Judicial Records and representatives of the following units: Department of Legal Document Inspection, Department of International Cooperation.
According to the working program, on the afternoon of September 17, 2024, Deputy Minister Nguyen Khanh Ngoc had a meeting with Mr. KADOYAMA Hiroaki, Permanent Deputy Minister of Justice of Japan to exchange and discuss the contents of legal and judicial cooperation between Vietnam and Japan.
At the meeting, the Permanent Deputy Minister of Justice of Japan sent his congratulations to Comrade Le Thanh Long, member of the Party Central Committee, former Minister of Justice of Vietnam, approved by the National Assembly and appointed by the President to hold the position of Deputy Prime Minister of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam, and Comrade Nguyen Hai Ninh, member of the Party Central Committee, Secretary of Khanh Hoa Provincial Party Committee, approved by the National Assembly and appointed by the President to hold the position of Minister of Justice.
Sharing about the cooperation between the two Ministries of Justice, Mr. KADOYAMA Hiroaki, Permanent Deputy Minister of Justice of Japan, emphasized the long history of legal and judicial cooperation between Vietnam and Japan, which has developed over the past 30 years and has achieved high trust. The Vietnamese Ministry of Justice is the first partner of the Japanese Ministry of Justice in law-making cooperation with projects supported by JICA Japan in the work of building and perfecting laws in the civil field, sending experts to implement projects and training courses to improve the capacity of Vietnamese legal and judicial officials.
The Permanent Deputy Minister of Justice of Japan also highly appreciated the central role of the Vietnamese Ministry of Justice in implementing legal and judicial cooperation projects with Japan. With its leading role and responsibility in implementing cooperation activities, the Vietnamese Ministry of Justice has made important contributions to the successful implementation of legal cooperation projects between Vietnam and Japan and believes in the successful implementation of the Project "Improving the quality and effectiveness of law-making and law enforcement in Vietnam in the period of 2021-2025" funded by the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA Project for the period of 2021-2025).
Sharing the comments and assessments of the Permanent Deputy Minister of Justice of Japan, Deputy Minister Nguyen Khanh Ngoc affirmed that the results of legal and judicial cooperation over the past 30 years between the two sides have made positive contributions to the relationship of "Comprehensive Strategic Partnership for Peace and Prosperity in Asia" which the two sides have just upgraded in 2023, the implementation of legal and judicial cooperation projects between the two sides has achieved many positive results, effectively supporting the completion of Vietnam's civil law policy. Regarding the cooperation orientation between the two Ministries of Justice in the coming time, the Permanent Deputy Minister of Justice of Japan and Deputy Minister Nguyen Khanh Ngoc agreed that the cooperation opportunities between the two sides are very large. The two sides will proactively and actively discuss to effectively implement the Memorandum of Understanding on cooperation on law and justice between the Ministry of Justice of Vietnam and the Ministry of Justice of Japan signed in October 2020 on the basis of suitability with the new situation, needs and conditions of each side; the two sides will summarize and evaluate the results of the JICA Project for the period 2021-2025 in the coming time, in which the needs of the parties are determined, working with relevant agencies to have a specific plan for building a new cooperation project.
Also on the afternoon of September 17, 2024, Deputy Minister Nguyen Khanh Ngoc and the delegation met with Mr. HOSAKA Yasushi, Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of Japan.
At the meeting, Deputy Minister Nguyen Khanh Ngoc shared about the relationship "Comprehensive Strategic Partnership for Peace and Prosperity in Asia" that Vietnam and Japan have just upgraded in 2023, which is in a period of good, strong, substantial and comprehensive development in all fields with increasingly consolidated political trust. In the field of law and justice, Japan has always been a traditional, long-standing, close and trustworthy partner of the Ministry of Justice and legal and judicial agencies of Vietnam. Through the Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of Japan, Deputy Minister Nguyen Khanh Ngoc expressed his gratitude and active and effective support of the Government and relevant agencies of Japan, including the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and JICA Japan, for the Ministry of Justice/legal and judicial agencies of Vietnam from central to local levels in the recent past through the implementation of JICA Projects over the periods (continuously from 1996 to present). At the same time, Deputy Minister Nguyen Khanh Ngoc proposed that the Japanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs continue to support and assist in building new cooperation projects after the JICA Project for the 2021-2025 period ends. The Japanese Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs affirmed that Japan has always attached importance to legal and judicial cooperation with Vietnam over the past 30 years, the results of Vietnamese legal and judicial agencies have contributed to legal cooperation between the two sides, and the strong socio-economic development of Vietnam in recent years is thanks to the important improvement of the legal system, including the role of the Vietnamese Ministry of Justice, especially in the successful implementation of legal cooperation projects with Japan. The Japanese Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs proposed that the Vietnamese Ministry of Justice continue to promote cooperation activities with Japanese legal and judicial agencies, thereby contributing to strengthening cooperation between the two countries.
In addition, according to the working program, at the working sessions with the Institute of Research and Training, the Department of Civil Law of the Ministry of Justice of Japan, Deputy Minister Nguyen Khanh Ngoc and the working delegation were introduced by Japanese units about some new Japanese regulations on digital transformation in civil proceedings and property registration, the difficulties and challenges in implementing the regulations in practice. The working delegation had exchanges and discussions to better understand the process of promulgating new regulations on digital transformation and their implementation in practice in Japan.
Previously, on the afternoon of September 16, 2024, immediately after arriving in Tokyo, Japan, the delegation of the Ministry of Justice visited and worked with the Vietnamese Embassy in Japan. Mr. Nguyen Duc Minh, Charge d'Affaires of the Vietnamese Embassy in Japan, discussed and informed the delegation about the situation of the Vietnamese community in Japan, the difficulties and problems that Vietnamese citizens encounter when living in Japan. At the same time, the delegation and the Consular Department of the Vietnamese Embassy in Japan had discussions on the expertise and professionalism of the household registration, nationality and authentication work of the Vietnamese Embassy in Japan. Deputy Minister Nguyen Khanh Ngoc affirmed that the specialized units of the Ministry of Justice are always ready to provide professional support to relevant departments of the Vietnamese Embassy in Japan so that the Embassy can better fulfill the requests of the Vietnamese community in Japan regarding matters related to household registration, nationality and authentication.
Within the framework of the working visit to Japan of the Ministry of Justice delegation led by Deputy Minister Nguyen Khanh Ngoc, from September 18 to 19, 2024, Deputy Minister Nguyen Khanh Ngoc worked with the Senior Vice President of the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) to discuss and evaluate the Project "Improving the quality and effectiveness of law making and enforcement in Vietnam in the period of 2021-2025" funded by the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA Project for the period of 2021-2025) as well as the direction of cooperation in the coming time; visited and worked with the General Department of Legal Affairs, the General Department of Digital Affairs under the Cabinet of the Government of Japan, the National Police Agency of Japan, the Center for International Commercial Civil Law and the Legal Affairs Bureau of the House of Representatives of Japan to learn about the work of drafting and reviewing legal documents, the application of artificial intelligence in law-making, and the issuance of judicial records.
At the working session with Mr. ANDO Naoki, Senior Vice President of JICA, Deputy Minister Nguyen Khanh Ngoc shared about the role and importance of the legal and judicial cooperation relationship between Vietnam and Japan over the past 30 years with a starting point of many difficulties and challenges, but with mutual trust, legal and judicial cooperation between Vietnam and Japan, typically the implementation of projects funded by JICA, has developed in depth, making an important contribution to the relationship between Vietnam and Japan, contributing to upgrading the relationship between the two countries to "Comprehensive Strategic Partnership for Peace and Prosperity in Asia" in 2023. Such achievements are thanks to the political trust of the two sides, as well as the extremely important contribution and role of the late Professor Morishima Akiko, who is considered the chief architect of legal cooperation projects between Vietnam and Japan funded by JICA. Agreeing with the comments and sharing of Deputy Minister Nguyen Khanh Ngoc, the Senior Vice President of JICA emphasized that JICA puts the position of legal and judicial cooperation projects with Vietnam first, as a priority of JICA. Legal cooperation is not only about supporting experience and experts but also about cultural and human exchange between Vietnam and Japan. The Senior Vice President of JICA affirmed that Vietnam has had strong socio-economic development in recent years on the basis of Vietnam's legal system being constantly improved, partly due to cooperation between Vietnamese and Japanese legal and judicial agencies. At the meeting, Deputy Minister Nguyen Khanh Ngoc and the Senior Vice President of JICA discussed the direction of cooperation in the coming time, including preparing to build a new project in the context of the JICA Project for the period 2021-2025 about to end.
During the working sessions with a number of Japanese legal agencies, Deputy Minister Nguyen Khanh Ngoc and the delegation had discussions with the Director General of the General Department of Legal Affairs under the Japanese Government Cabinet on the role and functions of the General Department of Legal Affairs in reviewing draft legal documents and their implementation in practice. Sharing with the delegation of the Vietnamese Ministry of Justice, the Director General of the General Department of Legal Affairs under the Japanese Government Cabinet said that all projects and draft documents drafted by the Ministries under the Japanese Government Cabinet before being submitted to the Cabinet for approval to submit to the Japanese House of Representatives must be reviewed by the General Department of Legal Affairs. The review will focus on constitutionality (whether the draft document violates the constitution or not), consistency and synchronization of the draft document with current legal regulations, etc. Deputy Minister Nguyen Khanh Ngoc and the delegation had discussions with the General Department of Legal Affairs to clarify the criteria for reviewing documents and the value of review opinions. Regarding the law-making activities of the Japanese House of Representatives, at the Legal Department of the Japanese House of Representatives, Deputy Minister Nguyen Khanh Ngoc and the delegation were introduced by the Director of the Legal Department of the Japanese House of Representatives about the role and functions of the Legal Department in assisting the House of Representatives and Senators in law-making work. Deputy Minister Nguyen Khanh Ngoc and the delegation exchanged and discussed with the Legal Department of the Japanese House of Representatives about the difficulties and challenges of the Legal Department in the law-making activities of the Japanese House of Representatives as well as exchanged about the content of training and fostering cadres to improve the quality and effectiveness of law-making work.
Regarding the application of artificial intelligence (AI) and digital transformation in law-making, at the working sessions with Japanese legal and digital agencies, Deputy Minister Nguyen Khanh Ngoc and the working delegation exchanged and discussed the opportunities and challenges in applying AI and digital transformation in law-making. Japanese legal and digital agencies are currently researching and initially applying AI in certain stages of the law-making process. At the same time, these Japanese agencies also identified and evaluated the advantages and limitations of applying AI and digital transformation in law-making.
In addition, according to the working program, on the morning of September 19, 2024, at the headquarters of the Japanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Deputy Minister Nguyen Khanh Ngoc awarded the Medal "For the Cause of Justice" to Mr. YAMADA Takio, former Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Japan to Vietnam. At the Medal Awarding Ceremony, Deputy Minister Nguyen Khanh Ngoc affirmed that during his term as Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Japan to Vietnam, Mr. YAMADA Takio made important contributions to legal and judicial cooperation between Vietnam and Japan, including promoting the signing of the Memorandum of Understanding on legal and judicial cooperation between the Ministry of Justice of Vietnam and the Ministry of Justice of Japan in October 2020, supporting the approval of the JICA Project for the period 2021-2025, contributing to the formation of a legal and judicial cooperation mechanism between ASEAN and Japan,... Speaking at the Ceremony, Mr. YAMADA Takio expressed his honor when the Minister of Justice of Vietnam decided to award the Medal "For the Cause of Justice" and wished that the legal and judicial agencies of the two countries would continue to strengthen and further promote cooperation activities to contribute to promoting the cooperative relationship between the two countries.
On the sidelines of the working visit to Japan, the Deputy Minister and the delegation of the Ministry of Justice visited the final resting place of the late Professor MORISHIMA Akio at the Tokyo City Cemetery. Here, Deputy Minister Nguyen Khanh Ngoc personally handed over the condolence letter of Deputy Prime Minister, former Minister of Justice Le Thanh Long to Ms. MATSUO Yukiko, daughter of the late Professor MORISHIMA Akio. The Deputy Minister and members of the delegation were deeply moved when remembering the late Professor - who had made great contributions to training and fostering generations of cadres and civil servants of the Ministry and the Justice Sector of Vietnam through training and fostering programs at Nagoya University, Japan. In addition, the valuable experiences and sharing of the late Professor in conferences, seminars, talks, and trainings within the framework of JICA Projects in the field of law and justice from the early 1990s to the present have been and are a valuable source of documents for the legal and judicial reform of Vietnam in particular and the work of law-making, organization and enforcement of law according to the functions and tasks of the Ministry of Justice in general. The important contributions of the late Professor MORISHIMA Akio - the great architect of the JICA Law Project through 07 stages - have been and are contributing to fostering and deepening the Comprehensive Strategic Partnership for peace and prosperity in Asia and the world between Vietnam and Japan. Sharing with the Deputy Minister and the delegation of the Ministry of Justice, Ms. MATSUO Yukiko, daughter of the late Professor MORISHIMA Akio, expressed her emotion with the affection of the Vietnamese Ministry of Justice for the family of the late Professor. Ms. MATSUO Yukiko also shared with the Deputy Minister and the delegation about the wish of the late Professor MORISHIMA Akio in his final days to continue legal cooperation projects with the Vietnamese Ministry of Justice.