BỘ TƯ PHÁP

TRƯỜNG ĐẠI HỌC LUẬT HÀ NỘI

BÀI TẬP HỌC KỲ

MÔN: TIẾNG ANH PHÁP LÝ 1

ĐỀ BÀI: A COMPARISON BETWEEN BRITISH

AND VIETNAMESE LAWYERS

NHÓM : 07
LỚP : TAPL 1 - N03

Hà Nội, 2021
 MỤC LỤC

A. INTRODUCTION:............................................................................................1
B. BODY:..............................................................................................................1
1. Definition, position and roles of lawyers in Vietnam and Britain.................1
1.1. Definition of lawyer:...............................................................................1
1.2. An overview of lawyers in Britain...........................................................2
1.3. An overview of Vietnamese lawyers:.......................................................3
2. Comparison between Vietnamese and British lawyers.................................4
2.1. Similarities:.............................................................................................4
2.2. Differences:.............................................................................................4
3. Remarks.........................................................................................................6
C. CLOSING:........................................................................................................7
DANH MỤC TÀI LIỆU THAM KHẢO.................................................................8
A. INTRODUCTION:
Lawyers, which is an important legal profession, are increasingly asserting
their position and important role in today's social life. Lawyers have a positive
influence on social life, with the most important role being legal aid, shown
through the following activities: To protect the lawful rights and interests of
agencies, organizations and individuals in and out of proceedings. Not only does
legal practice vary from country to country, but also the position and roles of
lawyers. Given our interest about this, group 7 has chosen “A comparison
between British and Vietnamese lawyers” as our topic. This presentation is a
brief research of us combined with what we have learned in class.

B. BODY:

1. Definition, position and roles of lawyers in Vietnam and Britain

1.1. Definition of lawyer:

Lawyers are who trained and licensed to prepare, manage, and either
prosecute or defend a court action as an agent for another and who also give
advice on legal matters that may or may not require court action. Lawyers must
meet the standards and conditions for professional titles, which are distinct
among countries. 1
Lawyers apply the law to specific cases. They investigate the facts and the
evidence by conferring with their clients and reviewing documents, and they
prepare and file the pleadings in court. At the trial, they introduce evidence,
interrogate witnesses, and argue questions of law and fact. If they do not win the
case, they may seek a new trial or relief in an appellate court.
In many instances, lawyers can bring about the settlement of a case without
trial through negotiation, reconciliation, and compromise. In addition, the law
gives individuals the power to arrange and determine their legal rights in many

1
“Lawyer: Definition, Responsibilities and Facts”, https://www.britannica.com/topic/lawyer

1
matters and in various ways, as through wills, contracts, or corporate bylaws,
and lawyers aid in many of these arrangements. Since the 20th century a rapidly
developing field of work for lawyers has been the representation of clients
before administrative committees and courts and before legislative committees.
Lawyers have several loyalties in their work, including loyalties to their
clients, to the administration of justice, to the community, to their associates in
practice, and to themselves. When these loyalties conflict, the standards of the
profession are intended to effect a reconciliation.
In addition, there are nonprofessional legal counselors who give advice on
various legal problems and are often employed by business firms. In almost all
civil-law countries, there are notaries, who have exclusive rights to deal with
such office work as marriage settlements and wills.

1.2. An overview of lawyers in Britain

Together with the US, Britain is one of those countries which has a well-
developed judicial system in the world with a rich history. From 13th century,
the legal profession in England and Wales has been divided into two groups,
barristers and solicitors, the latter usually being called attorneys until 1875. A
solicitor cannot be a barrister and speak at the bar, and a barrister cannot be
enrolled as a solicitor.
 Barristers: They have two professional functions: giving legal opinions
and appearing in Court to represent their clients. The word originates
from the days when there was a wooden bar or railing in court which
marked off the area where the judge sat and the lawyer had to stand next
to the bar when pleading his case. The expression “to be called to the bar”
is commonly used in England to indicate someone who has become
qualified to act as a barrister. Although the word barrister is not used in
the USA, all lawyers in America have to be members of the “bar” and to
register with the Bar Association in order to practice.

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* Fun fact: There is a tradition in the UK that judges and barrister wear wigs in
court because it is considered a sign of formality, while solicitors are not
required to do so.
 Solicitors: They handle wills and conveyancing (the transfer of property)
and generally perform other legal tasks at their offices. They are not
allowed to appear in Court, except in certain cases conducted in the
lowest (magistrates’) courts.

1.3. An overview of Vietnamese lawyers:

Lawyers first appeared in Vietnam since before 1945. At that time, they were
only paralegals or support staff for the French lawyers. These early Vietnamese
lawyers were the pioneers of the legal market in Vietnam. On the 10th of
October, 1946, president Ho Chi Minh signed the decision to set up the
Vietnamese legal organization. Through about 60 years of developing until
2006, Vietnam started to integrate more into the international community and in
2007, they joined the World Trade Organization (WTO). The policy of the
government was to upgrade all ordinances to law, so the law on lawyers was
born in an effort to bring the service of Vietnamese lawyers up to international
standards. This Vietnamese lawyers’ law was amended and supplemented to the
latest version in 2012.
Generally, legal services provided by lawyers are classified into four main
groups, including participation in legal proceedings, legal consultancy,
extrajudicial representation for clients, and other legal services.
In Vietnam today, the image, role and position of lawyers have been improved
with each passing day. Over the past years, Vietnamese lawyers has developed
both in quantity and quality. According to Vietnam Bar Federation’s statistics,
there are more than 8,000 lawyers and 3,000 law practice organizations
nationwide, providing a wide range of legal services to meet people’s and
businesses’ demands.2
2
Le Phan Thuy Anh, “The role of lawyers in arbitration”, Vietnam Law & Legal Forum Magazine, 1/10/2013,
https://vietnamlawmagazine.vn/the-role-of-lawyers-in-arbitration-3465.html
3
 Thanks to the rapid development of the number of lawyers as well as their
practice, the use of legal services has become increasingly popular in all fields
of the social life in Vietnam. Not only people and businesses but also procedure-
conducting and state management agencies have grown accustomed to the
presence of lawyers in various socio-economic activities, especially commercial
transactions involving foreign parties.

2. Comparison between Vietnamese and British lawyers

2.1. Similarities:
- Lawyer is an important and indispensable job in both countries’ judicial
system.
- Both countries have its own Rules of Conduct for lawyers and a federation
which regulates lawyers’ activities.
- Lawyers help solving a lot of problems and conflicts related to various field of
law such as marriage, civil, property, banking....

2.2. Differences:

 Classification of lawyers
Britain follows the Common Law system and there are only two forms of law
practice here: Consulting lawyers - solicitors and defense lawyers – barristers.
The solicitors has direct relationship with the client, performing the tasks at the
request of the client. Barristers may not contact clients directly but only at
courts. Barristers have exclusive rights in protecting the rights and interests of
the litigants.
In Vietnam, there is not a clear separation into two types of lawyers like in
the Britain. A lawyer can do advocacy for his client in courts and consultancy
together. Regarding the scope of professional practice, according to the
provisions of the Ordinance on Lawyers, lawyers are allowed to participate in
legal proceedings and provide legal advice and other legal services. Participating
in legal proceedings is the main practice of lawyers today. The Law of Lawyers
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2006 (amended and supplemented 2012) has expanded the scope of law practice
with the provision that lawyers are represented outside the proceedings for
clients. In addition, legal advice is also an important practice area of lawyers,
especially in the event that the demand for legal advice in society is increasing
rapidly.
 Training
In Britain, to become a solicitor, you must complete a vocational 1-2 year
course called the Legal Practice Course (LPC) after your Bachelor of Laws
degree or Graduate Diploma in Law (GDL), followed by a two-year training
contract. From 2021, you will have to take the Solicitors Qualifying Exam in
order to qualify. A barrister must take a one-year Bar Professional Training
Course in place of the Legal Practice Course, and then they are ‘called to bar’ at
one of the four Inns where they do a year’s pupillage shadowing a senior
barrister and undertaking some court work. They can then join a set of
Chambers as a fully-fledged self-employed barrister
To become a lawyer in Vietnam, you must meet the requirements stated in
Article 10 of Laws of Lawyers such as be a Vietnamese citizen, loyal to the
Fatherland, complying with the Constitution and laws and having good moral
qualities. You must also have a Bachelor's degree in Laws. Currently, in our
country, there are law schools, law departments that train bachelors in law for
students wishing to work as a lawyer or other branches in the Vietnamese
judicial system. It may take a period of at least more than 6 years (or
longer) because it is necessary to complete courses, programs, academics,
inspections as prescribed. After 04 years of college, you will meet the minimum
and mandatory requirements of the school to be granted a bachelor's degree in
law. Then, you will participate in a lawyer training class at the Judicial
Academy, undergo a law practice apprenticeship, the Ministry of Justice shall
combine with a lawyer's organization to examine the results of a practicing
apprenticeship, after passing the exams, you will be granted a law practice
certificate.
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  Management
British lawyers are managed by lawyers ' organizations. Inns of Court
regulates barristers’ activities and Law Society is for solicitors. Whereas in
Vietnam, lawyers will be controlled both by the states, to be particular the
Ministry of Justice and the Lawyers’ Association in every local area.

3. Remarks
As we have seen, both lawyers in Britain and Vietnamese have similarities
and differences. Firstly, while Britain have a clear differentiation between
solicitors and barristers, a Vietnamse lawyer can do both in and out of court.
This is because each country has its own way of organizing judicial system as
well as the law system applies on, Common Law in the Britain and Civil Law in
Vietnam. Some people feel that this is a great chance for a lawyer to improve
their skills in both fields, but some said that it is so heavy for a lawyer since this
may cause more stress, tension as well as the pressure on lawyers and a lawyer
should only capable of working on a particular field of law so they can be at
their best. Secondly, the compulsory study period in Vietnam is one-year longer
than Britain. However, the course in both countries share a great deal of
similarities in terms of the required subjects (Criminal law, land law,
administrative law, …). Law faculty in England have full authority to design
curriculum and exam regime within the framework of professional association
regulations (professional bodies) of teaching quality assurance agencies, which
is a great thing because the universities can be independent on what to teach in a
course. In Vietnam, the curriculum’s contents have to followed the requirements
of the Ministry of Education and Training, so the lecturers also have to fix their
lesson plan. This sometimes lead to the low quality of studying and
understanding some subjects. Thirdly, the requirements to be a lawyer in
Vietnam is stricter than those in the UK. To begin with, Vietnamese law-
majoring students have to undergo a 6-year training period in school, then after
graduation they are obliged to participate in a law practice apprenticeship before
6
being granted a practice certificate whereas in Britain, a bachelor’s degree is
optional as practicality is deemed more essential than certification. Lastly, in
Vietnam, individual lawyers can practice in many specific fields at the same
time, opposed to Britain where law fields and law specialization are often
divided into different categories.

C. CLOSING:
That is the end of our presentation about the similarities and differences
between British and Vietnamese lawyers. If you want to pursue this career, you
should start by having a big passion for it, not money. Lawyers is a hard job
which requires a lot of qualities such as great communcation skills, willingness
to listen, perseverance, bravery, punctuality as long as professional skills like
strong knowledge of law and writing skill. Considering that together with having
an insight about pros and cons of this job will be useful too: you can earn a lot of
money and high reputation if you are an experienced lawyers and you have
worked for many years but this job can be so stressful and challenging. Having a
big love and understanding helps you to undergo challenges as well as be at your
best to perform greatly.

DANH MỤC TÀI LIỆU THAM KHẢO

1. “Lawyer: Definition, Responsibilities and Facts”,
https://www.britannica.com/topic/lawyer

7
2. Le Phan Thuy Anh, “The role of lawyers in arbitration”, Vietnam Law &
Legal Forum Magazine, 1/10/2013, https://vietnamlawmagazine.vn/the-role-of-
lawyers-in-arbitration-3465.html
3. “Difference Between Solicitor and Barrister”, The Lawyer Portal
https://www.thelawyerportal.com/free-guides/difference-between-solicitor-and-
barrister/
4. Gillian D. Brown, Sally Rice, “Professional English in Use Law”, Cambridge
University Press, 2019
5. “Advantages & Disadvantages of Being a Lawyer”, https://environmental-
conscience.com/being-a-lawyer-pros-cons/
6. Quốc hội, Luật số 65/2006/QH11 của Quốc hội : Luật Luật sư (sửa đổi, bổ
sung năm 2012).