Justice ministry to upgrade sentencing enforcement officials

The Ministry of Justice plans to train and supply more legal specialists to assist local authorities in the enforcement of court sentences, according to a senior ministry official.
Speaking at the Lao National Conference yesterday, Minister of Justice, Mr Xaysi Santivong said the ministry will continue to provide local authorities with training courses on the enforcement of court sentences over coming years.

The human resource development initiative aims to empower local justice officials with new knowledge, skills and procedures so they will be able to enforce court sentences.
At present, there are about 30,000 court sentences, which nationwide justice officials need to implement. 
In 2017, the Lao National Assembly issued a notice demanding the Ministry of Justice work harder to address court sentences that have not been enforced in order to restore the people’s trust in the Lao legal system.
Mr Xaysi said in addition to training course provision, the Ministry of Justice would continue supplying qualified justice officials to move provinces so they can help local authorities enforce court sentences more effectively.
At present, 26 justice officials have been assigned to the capital, as well as Champassak, Savannakhet, Khammuan, Vientiane and Luang Prabang provinces to provide back up to legal authorities to address court sentences that have not been enforced.
According to Mr Xaysi, one of the lessons learnt was that since the deployment of the qualified justice officials to local authorities, a number of the court sentences have been implemented.
Since the National Assembly issued a resolution to the Justice Ministry to address the enforcement of court sentences in 2017, the ministry and local authorities have been able to impose more court sentences.
Some 3,126 cases have been resolved; most of them relating to contract law, according to Mr Xaysi. He said the total value of the resolved cases was 45 billion kip, 82 Thai baht and US$1 million. The resolution of the court cases generated 11 billion taxes for the government, he added.
Mr Xaysi said the Ministry of Justice was planning to amend the legal enforcement law and hoped to finalise that next year.

By Ekaphone Phouthonesy
(Latest Update June 12, 2019)