Posted on 30 March 2018
Supreme People's Court in Vietnam
Judicial integrity is essential for enhancing the rule of law, protecting human rights and fighting corruption; the UN Convention Against Corruption in its Article 11 requires States Parties to take measures to strengthen integrity and to prevent opportunities for corruption among the members of the judiciary. ASEAN countries are taking steps to ensure that judiciaries have well-developed ethics frameworks and can operate independently. With a view to support this process the UNODC has recently provided assistance to the Supreme People's Court of Vietnam in the development of a Code of Ethics for Judges.
The Supreme People's Court of Viet Nam (SPC) issued the Code of Conduct for Court personnel in 2008. However, this document is not specific enough, lacking many basic elements of judicial ethics according to international standards. A consultation workshop on the Draft Code of Conduct for Judges was held in Hanoi on 8th March 2018, co-organized by UNODC and SPC, to promote greater understanding of the key issues a Code of Conduct for the Judiciary should cover and to get the input from other stakeholders. Over 150 participants including Chief Justice, Deputy Chief Justices, judges, members of parliaments, academics, researchers, legislators, legal experts, law enforcement officers, government officials and development partners attended. The workshop allowed gathering comments on the existing draft that will be incorporated in a new proposal to be then endorsed by the SPC.
