Vietnam - Cuba: Fostering traditional friendly cooperation in the field of law and justice

Visit and work with the Cuban Ministry of Justice
Receiving and working with the delegation were all the leaders of the Cuban Ministry of Justice, including Minister Oscar Manuel Silvera Martinez and 03 Deputy Ministers. At the meeting, Minister Oscar Manuel Silvera Martinez expressed his pleasure to welcome Deputy Minister Dang Hoang Oanh and the delegation of the Vietnamese Ministry of Justice, affirmed his deep affection for Vietnam in general and the Ministry of Justice in particular; thanked the goodwill and determination of the Vietnamese Ministry of Justice in supporting and sharing useful experiences with the Cuban Ministry of Justice. Minister Oscar Manuel Silvera Martinez shared information about the difficulties Cuba has encountered in the process of socio-economic development, the role of the Cuban Ministry of Justice in implementing the new Constitution of 2019 and expressed his wish to continue receiving support and sharing experiences from the Vietnamese Ministry of Justice.
Deputy Minister Dang Hoang Oanh congratulated the achievements that the Cuban people have made in recent times under the leadership of the Communist Party of Cuba, expressing his joy that the special, traditional, and close-knit cooperative relationship between Vietnam and Cuba in general, and between the Ministry of Justice of Vietnam and the Ministry of Justice of Cuba in particular, has been increasingly consolidated, strengthened, and expanded. The Deputy Minister shared information on the results of the Ministry of Justice's work in the first 6 months of 2024, emphasizing that the Ministry of Justice has issued and is actively implementing the Ministry of Justice's Action Program to implement Resolution No. 27-NQ/TW dated November 9, 2022 of the 13th Party Central Committee on continuing to build and perfect the socialist rule-of-law state of Vietnam in the new period (issued together with Decision No. 764/QD-BTP dated May 22, 2024 of the Minister of Justice).
Regarding legal and judicial cooperation between the two ministries, Minister Oscar Manuel Silvera Martinez and Deputy Minister Dang Hoang Oanh highly appreciated the fact that the two countries' Ministries of Justice are actively coordinating to effectively implement the 2024-2025 Cooperation Program through flexible forms, suitable to practical conditions and situations. Minister Oscar Manuel Silvera Martinez emphasized his wish that the Vietnamese Ministry of Justice would pay attention to supporting and sharing experiences with the Cuban Ministry of Justice in applying information technology, digital transformation in law-making and management of judicial work, and experience in inspecting and reviewing legal documents. Deputy Minister Dang Hoang Oanh affirmed that the Vietnamese Ministry of Justice will do its best to support and share experiences with the Cuban Ministry of Justice, and also informed that the Vietnamese Ministry of Justice is actively coordinating with the Cuban Ministry of Justice and relevant Vietnamese agencies to develop a Project Document to provide technical assistance to the Cuban Ministry of Justice on enhancing capacity for law making and enforcement.
At the end of the working session, Minister Oscar Manuel Silvera Martinez and Deputy Minister Dang Hoang Oanh signed a Memorandum of Understanding on cooperation between the Judicial Academy under the Ministry of Justice of Vietnam and the Ramal School under the Ministry of Justice of Cuba. Speaking at the signing ceremony, Minister Oscar Manuel Silvera Martinez and Deputy Minister Dang Hoang Oanh agreed that this Memorandum of Understanding is an important legal basis for implementing specific cooperation activities in the field of training legal staff and training judicial positions between the two training institutions. Minister Oscar Manuel Silvera Martinez suggested that on the basis of the signed Memorandum of Understanding, the Judicial Academy and the Ramal School study and coordinate to organize short-term training and development programs, including training and development courses for the Cuban legal team.
Visit and work with the Faculty of Law, University of Havana
At the meeting, Mr. Matilla Correa, Dean of the Faculty of Law, University of Havana, introduced the Faculty of Law, University of Havana, the role of the Faculty in training lawyers, legal officers as well as participating in the process of building laws in Cuba. Deputy Minister Dang Hoang Oanh expressed his impression of the history of formation and development of the University of Havana in general, the Faculty of Law in particular, emphasizing that Vietnam is promoting the development of high-quality legal human resources, building a team of legal experts through the implementation of important projects issued by the Prime Minister: "Project to build Hanoi Law University and Ho Chi Minh City Law University into key schools for training legal officers", "Project to build the Judicial Academy into a major center for training judicial positions". The Deputy Minister expressed his hope that the Faculty of Law of the University of Havana will strengthen cooperation with law training institutions under the Ministry of Justice such as Hanoi Law University and the Judicial Academy, including the early signing of a framework Memorandum of Understanding between Hanoi Law University and the University of Havana to create a legal basis, laying the foundation for the implementation of diverse, effective and practical cooperation activities in the future. The representative of the University of Havana agreed with the Deputy Minister's opinion and affirmed that they will promote the early signing of the Memorandum of Understanding in the coming time, and will discuss with Hanoi Law University specific cooperation programs and activities to effectively implement the Memorandum of Understanding after it is signed.
Visit and work with the Constitutional and Legal Committee of the Cuban National Assembly
Speaking at the meeting, Chairman of the Cuban Constitutional and Legal Affairs Committee Jose Luis Toledo Santander and Deputy Minister Dang Hoang Oanh both expressed their delight at the continuous development of cooperation between the two Parties and States , and shared the view of continuing to foster the special friendship between Vietnam and Cuba that President Ho Chi Minh and President Fidel Castro worked hard to build. Comrade Jose Luis Toledo Santander informed about the situation of building and perfecting Cuba's laws, highly appreciated Vietnam's support in the process of building the new 2019 Constitution and amending and perfecting Cuba's laws, highly appreciated and affirmed to always support the legal and judicial cooperation between the two countries' Ministries of Justice, and expressed hope that Vietnam's technical assistance project for the Cuban Ministry of Justice will soon be approved and put into practice to contribute to supporting the work of building and perfecting Cuba's laws. For his part, Deputy Minister Dang Hoang Oanh expressed his impression of Cuba's legislative achievements, informed about the results of the working session with the Cuban Ministry of Justice and said that the Vietnamese Ministry of Justice is ready to share experiences and support the Cuban Ministry of Justice in completing important tasks in implementing the 2019 Constitution.
On the afternoon of October 14, Minister of Justice Nguyen Hai Ninh received Cuban Ambassador to Vietnam Orlando Nicolas Hernandez Guillén.
At the reception for Mr. Orlando Nicolás Hernández Guillén, Cuban Ambassador to Vietnam before the end of his term in Vietnam, Minister Nguyen Hai Ninh highly appreciated the support and cooperation of the Ambassador and the staff of the Cuban Embassy in Vietnam for the Ministry of Justice in the past time. The Minister believes that no matter what position he holds, the Ambassador will continue to support the special traditional friendship between Vietnam and Cuba in general, and the cooperation in the field of law and justice in particular, to continue to be maintained and developed better and better.
The Minister also affirmed that the Vietnamese Ministry of Justice always appreciates and remembers the good feelings that the Ambassador has for the Ministry of Justice and the Ambassador's personal contributions to strengthening and further developing the cooperation in the field of law and justice between the Vietnamese Ministry of Justice and the Cuban Ministry of Justice in particular, and the special traditional brotherly friendship between Vietnam and Cuba in general. In particular, including the implementation of the Memorandum of Understanding signed in 2013; signing and implementing the Cooperation Program for the years 2022-2023 and 2024-2025 and a number of other important Letters of Intent and Memorandums of Understanding.
​Thanking Minister Nguyen Hai Ninh for his welcome, the Ambassador also informed about being awarded the Medal for the Judicial Cause - the highest form of commendation under the authority of the Ministry of Justice for foreign individuals and organizations that have made positive contributions to the development of the Ministry and the Judicial Sector of Vietnam last August. The Ambassador affirmed that no matter what position he holds, he will continue to support and care so that the special traditional friendship between Vietnam and Cuba in general, and the cooperation in the legal and judicial fields in particular, will continue to be maintained and developed better and better.