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LAOS - Luxembourg grants EUR 9 million to continue supporting the legal and judicial sector
Under the 5th Indicative Cooperation Programme 2023-2027, the Government of Luxembourg is continuing its support for the Lao legal and justice sector, with a grant of EUR 9 million to carry out its support programme for "Rule of law, access to justice and good governance in Lao PDR" (LAO/037, 2023-2027).
The extension of support by Luxembourg was reported during a Project Steering Committee meeting held on 14th July 2023, between the Embassy of the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg in Laos, LuxDev, the Luxembourg Development Cooperation Agency, the Ministry of Justice, the Ministry of Sports and Education and the National University of Laos, Faculty of Law and Political Science (FLP).
The meeting was co-chaired by the Vice-Minister of Justice, Mr Ketsana Phommachanh, the Chargé d’Affaires of the Luxembourg Embassy in Laos, Mr Sam Schreiner, and Associate Professor Dr. Saykhong Saynasine, Director General of Department of Higher Education of the Ministry of Sports and Education.
Participants reviewed the positive accomplishments and outcomes of the previous project “Legal teaching and training and promotion of the rule of law concept in Lao PDR” (LAO/031, 2017-2022) funded with just under EUR 9 million 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 FLP 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 LAO/037 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 strengthening the good governance and rule of law as a whole in the Lao PDR.
The programme will continue to support the current institutional partners, mainly the FLP 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 Sports and Education, the project continues to support the FLP and the Faculty of Law and Administration of Champasak University 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 the FLP, the University of Luxembourg (Uni.lu) will, through the Inter-University Project, engage in strengthened cooperation with LuxDev to ensure that support provided becomes even more efficient and coherent.
The Institute for Legal Support and Technical Assistance, 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, the Anti-Money Laundering Intelligence and Customs Office under LAO/037.
The LAO/037 project is financed by the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg and implemented by LuxDev, the Luxembourg Development Cooperation Agency.
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