The Canadian government and the European Union have pledged respectively CAD15 million ($14.4 million) and $9.8 million for Vietnam to boost the Southeast Asian country’s judiciary reform. Vietnamese Deputy Minister of Justice Hoang The Lien signed a memorandum of understanding on National Legislative Development (NLD) program with Canadian Ambassador Deanna Horton and a financial agreement for the Judicial Partnership Program (JPP) with EU Ambassador Sean Doyle in Hanoi June 23. The NLD will focus on helping Vietnam to implement targets and tasks in its strategy of building and completing the law system from 2005 to 2010 and a vision for future development till 2020, the Phap Luat Vietnam cited Lien as saying. The JPP, totaling EUR18.7 million ($23.04 million), was approved by the Prime Minister in 2009 with the participation of the EU and governments of Denmark and Sweden. The Vietnamese side contributes $1.85 million to the project.
The project, the largest of its kind in financial terms, aims to help Vietnam develop a capable, ethical, democratic justice sector, said Ambassador Doyle, adding he expects to see the project’s initial results in next five years.
