STRENGTHENING INTERNATIONAL LEGAL COOPERATION WITH KAZAKHSTAN, AZERBAIJAN, RUSSIAN FEDERATION AND BELARUS

1. Strengthening legal cooperation with Kazakhstan
Within the framework of accompanying General Secretary To Lam and his wife on a state visit to the Republic of Kazakhstan from May 5-7, 2025, on May 6, 2025, Vietnamese Minister of Justice Nguyen Hai Ninh and Kazakhstan Minister of Justice Sarsembayev Yerlan signed the Cooperation Program between the two Ministries for the period 2025-2027.
At the invitation of the President of the Republic of Kazakhstan Kassym-Jormat Tokayev, from May 5 to 7, 2025, General Secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Vietnam To Lam and his wife Ngo Phuong Ly and a high-ranking delegation of Vietnam paid a state visit to the Republic of Kazakhstan. This is the first state visit to Kazakhstan by a key leader of our country in the past 13 years and the first time at the General Secretary level of Vietnam has visited Kazakhstan. Comrade Nguyen Hai Ninh, member of the Party Central Committee and Minister of Justice, is an official member of the high-ranking delegation. On May 6, 2025, right after the State-level talks between General Secretary To Lam and President of the Republic of Kazakhstan Kassym-Jormat Tokayev, in the presence of the leaders of the two Parties and States, Minister of Justice Nguyen Hai Ninh and Minister of Justice of Kazakhstan Sarsembayev Yerlan presented the Cooperation Program between the two Ministries for the period 2025 - 2027. The development of the Cooperation Program between the Ministry of Justice of Vietnam and the Ministry of Justice of Kazakhstan for the period 2025-2027 is one of the first activities to specify the contents of expanding international cooperation on law and justice in the spirit of Resolution No. 66-NQ/TW dated April 30, 2025 of the Politburo on innovation in law-making and enforcement to meet the requirements of national development in the new era. In addition, the signing of the three-year cooperation program between the two ministries is also a step to concretize and implement the Memorandum of Understanding on cooperation between the two ministries of Justice signed on October 31, 2011, following the signed cooperation programs between the two ministries for the 2015-2017 period and the 2019-2020 period.
The signed cooperation document will facilitate the Parties to focus on promoting cooperation activities and exchanging expertise on the following topics: 1) implementing international treaties on judicial assistance in civil matters to which Vietnam and Kazakhstan are members; 2) issues of transaction registration, collateral, organization of legal aid system and implementation of legal aid in litigation; 3) consulting and exchanging experiences on organizing civil judgment enforcement activities; 4) consulting and exchanging experiences in the field of judicial expertise; 5) exchanging information, documents and publications made public in the legal field. These cooperation contents will support units under the Ministry of Justice of Vietnam in researching, exchanging and referring to experiences in the process of building, perfecting laws, and organizing law enforcement in a number of state management fields in order to promptly and effectively implement Resolution No. 66-NQ/TW dated April 30, 2025 of the Politburo on innovation in law making and enforcement to meet the requirements of national development in the new era.
Legal cooperation with Kazakhstan began with the signing of the Memorandum of Understanding on Cooperation between the two Ministries in 2011 and the Agreement on Mutual Legal Assistance in Civil Law between the two countries in 2011. The two sides have also exchanged delegations at all levels, such as the delegation of the Ministry of Justice of Vietnam to Kazakhstan to attend the International Conference on Administrative Law in 2015, and the delegation of experts from the Ministry of Justice of Kazakhstan visited and worked in Vietnam in 2016... The signing of the Cooperation Program between the Ministries of Justice of the two countries for the period 2025 - 2027 with specific cooperation activities will promote increasingly deeper cooperation in the legal field, especially in the context of the two countries having just upgraded their relationship to a Strategic Partnership.
2. Bringing legal cooperation with Azerbaijan into substantive depth
Within the framework of accompanying General Secretary To Lam and his wife on a state visit to the Republic of Azerbaijan from May 7-8, 2025, on May 7, 2025, Vietnamese Minister of Justice Nguyen Hai Ninh and Azerbaijani Minister of Justice Farid Ahmadov presented the Cooperation Program between the two Ministries for the period 2025-2027.
After concluding the State visit to Kazakhstan, from May 7-8, 2025, General Secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Vietnam To Lam and his wife Ngo Phuong Ly and a high-ranking delegation of Vietnam paid a State visit to the Republic of Azerbaijan at the invitation of President of the Republic of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev. Comrade Nguyen Hai Ninh, member of the Party Central Committee, Minister of Justice was an official member of the high-ranking delegation. On May 7, 2025, immediately after the State-level talks between General Secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Vietnam To Lam and President of the Republic of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev, in the presence of the leaders of the two Parties and States, Minister of Justice Nguyen Hai Ninh and Minister of Justice of Azerbaijan Farid Ahmadov presented the Cooperation Program between the two Ministries for the period 2025 - 2027.
The development of the Cooperation Program between the Ministry of Justice of Vietnam and the Ministry of Justice of Azerbaijan for the period 2025-2027 is one of the activities to concretize the content of the strategic partnership between the two countries that has just been upgraded during the visit to Azerbaijan by General Secretary To Lam. In addition, the signing of the three-year Cooperation Program between the two Ministries to implement the Cooperation Agreement between the Ministry of Justice of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam and the Ministry of Justice of the Republic of Azerbaijan in 2016 was signed on March 8, 2016, following the signed Cooperation Program between the two Ministries for the period 2020-2022.
The signed cooperation document will facilitate the Parties to focus on promoting cooperation activities and exchanging expertise on the following topics: 1) applying digital transformation in civil status registration and management; 2) legal reform, law enforcement and application of information technology in the judicial sector; 3) developing human resources, improving capacity in law-making for officials of the Parties; 4) training judicial positions, focusing on the fields of notary, lawyer, judicial expert and mediation; 5) plans to develop and perfect national laws; 6) exchanging publications, documents and legal information that have been published by the Parties. The signing and implementation of this Cooperation Program meets the requirements of enhancing research and referring to foreign experience in law making and enforcement as well as expanding international cooperation on law and justice in the spirit of Resolution No. 66-NQ/TW dated April 30, 2025 of the Politburo on innovation in law making and enforcement to meet the requirements of national development in the new era.
Legal cooperation with Azerbaijan began with the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding between the two Ministries of Justice in 2016. Both sides are members of the 1965 Hague Convention on the Service Abroad of Judicial and Extrajudicial Documents in Civil or Commercial Matters and the 1993 Hague Convention on the Protection of Children and Cooperation in Respect of Intercountry Adoption. The two sides have also exchanged delegations, such as the visit and working visit of Azerbaijani Justice Minister Fikrat F. Mammadov in March 2016; and the visit of Deputy Minister Toghrul Musayev in January 2017 to share information on the role of the judiciary and to discuss: (i) experience in improving laws and judicial reform; (ii) the possibility of cooperation between the two Parties in training, legal science research as well as improving the qualifications of judicial positions... The signing of the Cooperation Program between the two countries' Ministries of Justice for the period 2025 - 2027 with specific cooperation activities will promote increasingly deeper cooperation in the legal field, especially in the context of the two countries' recent upgrade of their relationship to a Strategic Partnership.
3. Deepen the traditional cooperation in law and justice between Vietnam and the Russian Federation
On the afternoon of May 10, 2025, in the presence of General Secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Vietnam To Lam and President of the Russian Federation Vladimir Putin, Minister of Justice of Vietnam Nguyen Hai Ninh and Minister of Justice of the Russian Federation Konstantin Anatolyevich Chuychenko presented the Cooperation Program for the period 2026 - 2027 between the Ministry of Justice of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam and the Ministry of Justice of the Russian Federation. Before that, the two Ministers had a bilateral meeting.
After concluding his State visit to Azerbaijan, General Secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Vietnam To Lam and his wife, along with a high-ranking Vietnamese delegation, arrived in Moscow, beginning an official visit to the Russian Federation from May 8-11, 2025, at the invitation of Russian President Vladimir Putin. The visit took place in the context of the Russian Federation celebrating the 80th anniversary of Victory Day in the Great Patriotic War. This is the first official visit to Russia by Comrade To Lam in his capacity as General Secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Vietnam. This working trip by General Secretary To Lam is of special significance, taking place in the context of the Russian Federation celebrating the 75th anniversary of diplomatic relations with Vietnam. Comrade Nguyen Hai Ninh, member of the Central Committee of the Party, Minister of Justice, is an official member of the high-ranking delegation.
Within the framework of the visit, on the morning of May 10, 2025, at the headquarters of the Ministry of Justice of the Russian Federation, Minister of Justice of Vietnam Nguyen Hai Ninh and Minister of Justice of the Russian Federation Konstantin Anatolyevich Chuychenko had a bilateral meeting. At the bilateral meeting, the two Ministers highly appreciated the traditional friendly cooperation between the two sides with positive and effective results, especially since the two ministries signed the Cooperation Agreement in 2010 and established the Vietnam - Russia Joint Working Group in 2015. Cooperation and professional exchange activities between the two sides have taken place regularly, both in person and online, even in the context of the complicated COVID-19 pandemic.
The Minister of Justice of the Russian Federation thanked the Ministry of Justice of Vietnam for regularly sending a delegation to attend the Saint Petersburg International Legal Forum. Minister Konstantin Anatolyevich Chuychenko also proposed that the two sides continue to strengthen cooperation in many areas to ensure national security of each side, maintain peace and stability in the region, focusing on a number of areas such as criminal justice, prevention and combat of transnational cybercrime.
Sharing the views of the Minister of Justice of the Russian Federation, Minister of Justice Nguyen Hai Ninh highly appreciated Russia's organization of the parade to celebrate the 80th anniversary of Victory Day in the Great Patriotic War to commemorate and pay tribute to those who sacrificed for peace. Minister Nguyen Hai Ninh also thanked the Russian Federation for supporting and training many generations of leaders and legal experts for Vietnam. In addition, Minister Nguyen Hai Ninh also shared about the revolution of streamlining the apparatus in Vietnam, converting the local government model into two levels as well as the Politburo's new Resolution No. 66-NQ/TW dated April 30, 2025 on innovating the work of building and enforcing laws to meet the requirements of national development in the new era. These policies and orientations pose many important and heavy tasks for the Ministry and the Justice sector of Vietnam. In order to further promote the in-depth cooperation between the two sides, the Vietnamese Minister of Justice suggested that the two sides continue to promote the effectiveness of the Vietnam-Russia Joint Working Group, jointly implement the signed Cooperation Program, increase support for postgraduate training for officials of the Ministry of Justice to meet the requirements of improving the quality of officials in the new period, increase the exchange of law student training in Russian and promote cooperation in legal professions (such as bailiffs, notaries, lawyers, etc.).
The Minister of Justice of the Russian Federation expressed his willingness to promote cooperation activities as proposed by Minister Nguyen Hai Ninh, including cooperation in training and fostering officials at the Russian State University of Justice (under the Ministry of Justice of the Russian Federation ). At the same time, at the invitation of Minister of Justice Nguyen Hai Ninh, the Minister of Justice of the Russian Federation will visit Vietnam in the fourth quarter of 2025.
On the afternoon of May 10, 2025, under the witness of General Secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Vietnam To Lam and President of the Russian Federation Vladimir Putin, Minister of Justice of Vietnam Nguyen Hai Ninh and Minister of Justice of the Russian Federation Konstantin Anatolyevich Chuychenko presented the Cooperation Program for the period 2026 - 2027 between the Ministry of Justice of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam and the Ministry of Justice of the Russian Federation. The Cooperation Program for the period 2026-2027 between the two Ministries of Justice focuses on a number of areas of cooperation such as: 1) exchanging experiences in the field of building, organizing, and monitoring law enforcement; 2) digital transformation in managing and updating legal information, as well as in communicating draft laws; 3) consulting and exchanging experiences in applying information and digital transformation in civil judgment enforcement; 4) consulting and exchanging experiences in the field of judicial expertise; 5) Consult and exchange experiences on laws on handling administrative violations, perfecting laws and practical application of laws on handling administrative violations; 6) Consult each other on lawyer activities, free legal aid for citizens as well as propaganda and dissemination of laws...
With the signing of this Program, the two Ministers expect that the cooperation contents will support units under the Ministry of Justice of Vietnam in researching, exchanging and referring to experiences in the process of building, perfecting laws, and organizing law enforcement in a number of state management areas in order to promptly and effectively implement Resolution No. 66-NQ/TW dated April 30, 2025 of the Politburo on innovation in law making and enforcement to meet the requirements of national development in the new era.
4. Opening a new stage of legal cooperation with Belarus
On May 12, 2025, under the witness of General Secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Vietnam To Lam and President of the Republic of Belarus Alexander Lukashenko, Minister of Justice of Vietnam Nguyen Hai Ninh and Minister of Justice of Belarus Kovalenko Evgeny Iosifovich presented the Cooperation Program between the two Ministries for the period 2025 - 2027.
After successfully concluding his official visit to the Russian Federation, General Secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Vietnam To Lam and his wife Ngo Phuong Ly, along with a high-ranking Vietnamese delegation, paid a state visit to the Republic of Belarus from May 11 to 12, 2025 at the invitation of President of the Republic of Belarus Alexander Lukashenko. This is the first visit by the General Secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Vietnam to the Republic of Belarus in 11 years. Minister of Justice Nguyen Hai Ninh is an official member of the high-ranking delegation.
Within the framework of this visit, on May 12, 2025, immediately after the State-level talks between General Secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Vietnam To Lam and President of the Republic of Belarus Alexander Lukashenko, in the presence of the leaders of the two countries, Minister of Justice Nguyen Hai Ninh and Minister of Justice of Belarus Kovalenko Evgeny Iosifovich presented the Cooperation Program between the two Ministries for the period 2025 - 2027. Determining that expanding international cooperation in law and justice is an important task in foreign affairs, the Ministry of Justice has proactively coordinated with the Ministry of Justice of the Republic of Belarus to develop a Cooperation Program between the Ministries of Justice of the two countries for the period 2025 - 2027. The signing of the three-year Cooperation Program between the two Ministries is a step to concretize and implement the Cooperation Agreement between the Ministry of Justice of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam and the Ministry of Justice of the Republic of Belarus signed on September 10, 1999.
The signing of this cooperation document will facilitate the Parties to focus on promoting cooperation activities and exchanging expertise on many topics such as drafting legal documents of state agencies at different levels, developing legal regulations by sector and appraising legal documents; notarization and implementation of notarization activities; civil status registration; innovation and digitalization of the judiciary; strengthening cooperation in the legal field and implementing international treaties on judicial assistance in the civil field to which Vietnam and Belarus are members... The active and substantive development and implementation of the Cooperation Program will contribute to promoting the substantive implementation of the requirement to improve the effectiveness of international cooperation as set out in Resolution No. 66-NQ/TW dated April 30, 2025 of the Politburo on innovating the work of building and enforcing laws to meet the requirements of national development in the new era.
Legal and judicial cooperation with Belarus began with the signing of the Cooperation Agreement between the Ministry of Justice of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam and the Ministry of Justice of the Republic of Belarus on September 10, 1999. Subsequently, Vietnam and Belarus signed many documents to deepen the legal cooperation between the two sides, such as the Agreement on mutual legal and judicial assistance in civil, family, labor and criminal matters on September 14, 2000, and the Memorandum of Understanding between the Ministry of Justice of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam and the Ministry of Justice of the Republic of Belarus on cooperation in the field of judicial expertise on November 29, 2011. In the context of the two countries upgrading their relations to a Strategic Partnership, with the foundation of friendly relations proven by history and nurtured by generations of leaders and people of Vietnam and Belarus, the signing of the three-year cooperation program between the two countries' Ministries of Justice has practical significance, contributing to creating new impetus to promote increasingly deeper cooperation in the legal field, thereby contributing to realizing the set development goals; actively contributing to the socio-economic development of each country.