Luxembourg grants 9 million EUR to continue support for Laos’ legal, justice sector

The Government of Luxembourg is continuing its support for the Lao legal and justice sector, with a grant of 9 million EUR (190.5 billion kip) to carry out its “Support Programme for Rule of Law, Access to Justice and Good Governance in Laos” (LAO/037), under the 5th Indicative Cooperation programme for 2023-2027.

Lao and Luxembourg officials join project representatives for a photo after the meeting in Vientiane.

The extension of support by Luxembourg was reported during a Project Steering Committee meeting held recently, between the Luxembourg Development Cooperation Agency (LuxDev), the Embassy of the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg, the Ministry of Justice, and the Ministry of Sports and Education, National University of Laos, and the Faculty of Law and Political Science.
The meeting was co-chaired by the Deputy Minister of Justice, Mr Ketsana Phommachanh; Chargé d’Affaires of the Luxembourg Embassy in Laos, Mr Sam Schreiner; and Director General of the Department of Higher Education of the Ministry of Edducation and Sports, Assoc. Prof. Dr Saykhong Saynasine.
Participants reviewed the positive accomplishments and outcomes of the previous project “Legal Teaching and Training and Promotion of the Rule of Law Concept in Laos” (LAO/031, 2017-2022) funded with just under 9 million EUR and officially closed the latter.
It was noted that the project has been very successful, in spite of challenges encountered during the implementation period, not least due to the impact of Covid-19.
Key results have been the establishment by the Ministry of Justice of 32 provincial and district legal aid offices, and the successful rating of two study programmes at the Faculty of Law and Political Science by the Asean University Network.
In addition, both practitioners and academia have received substantial training and other capacity building, enabling them to perform better in their mandated functions.
Directly following the closure of LAO/031, the first Annual Review meeting of the Project Steering Committee on the “Rule of Law, Access to Justice and Good Governance” (ROLAG, LAO/037, 2023-2027) was opened by its co-chairs.
Under the new project, five main support areas have been defined: strengthening higher education in law, strengthening the justice system, support for the penitentiary service, supporting access to affordable justice and legal aid, and the strengthening of good governance and rule of law as a whole in Laos. 
The programme will continue to support the current institutional partners, mainly the Faculty of Law and Political Science and the Ministry of Justice, emphasising institutional capacity strengthening and legal dissemination.
This will be done in alignment with the Strategy for the Justice Sector (2020-2025 and the Legal Aid Decree 77 (2018)), as well as strategic frameworks for the university institutions. In addition, support will be provided to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Department of Treaties and Laws, and the National Assembly.
Under the Ministry of Education and Sports, the project continues to support the Faculty of Law and Political Science and FLA to strengthen their capacity to deliver high qualitative legal education and research in line with national and international quality standards and responding to the reality and needs of the sector within a broader national and international context.
In terms of support to Faculty of Law and Political Science, the University of Luxembourg (Uni.lu) will, through the Inter-University Project, engage in strengthened cooperation with LuxDev to ensure that the support provided becomes even more efficient and coherent.
The Institute for Legal Support and Technical Assistance (ILSTA), co-implementor of LAO/031, will continue providing technical assistance to the Office of the Supreme People’s Prosecutor, the People’s Supreme Court, the State Inspection Authority, the Ministry of Public Security, and the Anti-Money Laundering Intelligence and Customs Office under LAO/037.
ROLAG, LAO/037 project is financed by the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg and implemented by LuxDev, the Luxembourg Development Cooperation Agency.

By Advertorial Desk
 (Latest Update August 4, 2023)