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Conditions for provision of legal services for foreign investors
Legal services play an important role in ensuring legal compliance, minimizing legal risks, and protecting clients’ rights and interests. In order for foreign investors to provide legal services, they need to comply with legal conditions & regulations. So what are the conditions for providing legal services for foreign investors? Please join Siglaw to find out details in the article below.
What are legal services?
Legal services are a type of service that aims to provide legal solutions and support to individuals, organizations or businesses. These services are provided by legal professionals, such as lawyers, to help clients understand and comply with legal regulations, solve legal issues in the course of business or personal activities.
Currently, according to the Law on Lawyers 2006: “Legal services of lawyers include participation in proceedings, legal advice, extra-judicial representation for clients and other legal services.”
Legal services may include activities such as providing legal advice, carrying out legal proceedings, drawing up contracts, defending legal rights and interests, representing litigation, resolving legal disputes, reviewing and preparing legal documents, and assisting in compliance with legal regulations.
Laws governing investment, provision of legal services
When foreign investors need to invest in providing legal services in Vietnam, the law governing this relationship will include provisions from international commitments to which Vietnam is a party such as WTO, FTAs, AFAS; laws on investment of the country of which the investor is nationality and the laws of Vietnam. Some documents governing investment, business and legal services relations for foreign investors must be mentioned as the Investment Law 2020, the Law on Lawyers,….
Conditions for provision of legal services for foreign investors
General investment conditions
According to Article 3 of the 2020 Investment Law, market access conditions are stipulated as follows: “Market access conditions for foreign investors are conditions that foreign investors must meet to invest in industries and trades on the List of industries and trades restricted from market access for foreign investors specified in Clause 2, Article 9 of the Investment Law 2020.”
Investors should note the industries prohibited from doing business in Vietnam, however, legal services are not on the list of industries prohibited from doing business in Vietnam.
Conditions under international law
Legal services under CPC code 861, for persons providing these services in Vietnam will not be allowed to sell and operate services including participating in proceedings as advocates or representing their clients before Vietnamese Courts. In addition, foreign lawyers are not allowed to provide legal paperwork services or notary services related to Vietnamese law.
For foreign lawyer organizations, when wishing to invest in providing legal services in Vietnam, they can only choose one of the following forms:
– Establishment of a subsidiary of a foreign lawyer organization.
– Establishment of branches of foreign lawyer organizations.
– Establish a partnership between a foreign lawyer organization and a Vietnamese partnership law firm.
– Establishment of FDI enterprises in the field of law.
Note: If a foreign lawyer organization wants to conduct commercial activities and provide legal consultancy services in Vietnam, there are some conditions that need to be complied with. According to regulations, the commercial presence of a foreign lawyer organization is only allowed to provide Vietnamese law advice if the consulting lawyer has completed a law training program at a law university in Vietnam and fully meets the requirements applicable to foreign lawyers when operating in Vietnam.
This means that foreign lawyers must have graduated from a law university in Vietnam and have a solid knowledge of the Vietnamese legal system. In addition, lawyers need to comply with regulations and legal regulations related to practicing law in Vietnam.
The setting of these requirements is to ensure that foreign lawyers have sufficient knowledge and mastery of Vietnamese legal provisions when providing legal consultancy services. This helps ensure that people and organizations can trust and receive accurate and proper legal advice from foreign lawyers.
Conditions for foreign investors to provide legal services under Vietnamese law
According to Vietnamese law, the current Law on Lawyers 2006 sets conditions for each specific subject as follows:
Organizations practicing foreign lawyers
First, they must commit to and ensure compliance with the Constitution and laws of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam. This ensures that the activities of the foreign lawyer organization do not violate the country’s regulations and laws.
Second, to be allowed to practice in Vietnam, the foreign lawyer organization needs to have at least two foreign lawyers, including the head of a branch and the director of a foreign law firm. It is worth noting that both of these lawyers must be present and operating in Vietnam for a continuous period of at least 183 days out of twelve months. This ensure that the foreign lawyer organization has a presence and active presence in Vietnam for a long enough period of time to master the country’s legal regulations and practices.
Finally, the Head of Branch and Director of a foreign law firm in Vietnam must have at least two consecutive years of practicing law. This ensures that they have accumulated sufficient experience and understanding of the legal field and Vietnamese practice. This experience is the basis for foreign lawyer organizations to provide quality and accurate legal consultancy services to clients in Vietnam.
Foreign Lawyers
Foreign lawyers may only be granted a license to practice law in Vietnam when they fully meet the following conditions:
- Have a valid Legal Practice Certificate: Foreign lawyers need a valid Legal Practice Certificate issued by a competent foreign agency or organization. This ensures that they have completed their training and are recognized as full-fledged lawyers in the country where they have practiced.
- Experience in legal consultancy: Foreign lawyers need to have experience in providing legal advice in foreign fields and international law. This ensures that they have in-depth knowledge and understanding of regulations and legal rules applicable to the international business environment.
- Commitment to comply with legal regulations: Foreign lawyers must commit to comply with the Constitution and laws of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam and the Code of Ethics and Professional Conduct of Vietnamese lawyers. This ensures that they operate in accordance with the law and adhere to the ethical principles of the legal profession.
- Appointed or recruited by a foreign lawyer organization: Foreign lawyers need to be appointed by a foreign lawyer organization to practice in Vietnam or approved by their branches, foreign law firms in Vietnam or Vietnamese law practice organizations to work at such organizations. This ensures that there is approval and support from legal practice organizations already operating in Vietnam.
Consultancy services for foreign investors providing legal services in Vietnam
| Incentives | Support dedicatedly, effectively and meet all needs of foreign investors in the process of investing in legal services in Vietnam |
| Experience | Over 10 years of experience, regularly update and grasp the latest legal situation, helping customers make accurate and quick decisions. |
| Siglaw Team | Lawyers, legal experts with high qualifications and long experience in solving legal issues related to all fields |
| Cost | Reasonable, competitive cost. In order to set out the cost of consultancy, investment, business, legal services, we need you to provide more detailed information: |
Above is information on the topic “Conditions for providing legal services for foreign investors” from the staff of Siglaw Law Firm. If you still have any problems to solve, please contact Siglaw for completely free support in the fastest way.
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