Legal aid for people with disabilities

ĐBP - In recent years, the State Legal Aid Center of Điện Biên province has proactively brought legal aid activities closer to people with disabilities in the area.

Through appropriate forms of support, many people with disabilities have been advised and guided on specific legal regulations to protect their legitimate rights and interests. Following the 2010 Law on Persons with Disabilities and central directing documents, the Điện Biên provincial People’s Committee issued many plans to implement the support program for people with disabilities. Based on this, the Department of Justice proactively advised the provincial People’s Committee to direct the State Legal Aid Center to concretize tasks and solutions close to reality, ensuring that people with disabilities eligible for legal aid can access and enjoy free legal services according to the law.

In Điện Biên province, legal aid for people with disabilities is integrated with dissemination, education, grassroots-level mediation, and building communes and wards that meet legal access standards. The State Legal Aid Center coordinates closely with departments, sectors, socio-political organizations, and local authorities to deploy legal aid activities in flexible forms. During implementation, remote and especially difficult areas are prioritized to remove barriers for people with disabilities in accessing legal information and services.

Personnel involved in legal aid coordination at communes and wards participate in training on legal aid work, including aid for people with disabilities.

 

During the 2021-2025 period, the State Legal Aid Center of the province performed six legal aid cases for people with disabilities, including four cases involving legal proceedings. It also received and answered 91 requests related to legal procedures and policies for people with disabilities and their relatives. These requests were handled according to regulations, helping to ensure the rights of people with disabilities and limiting long-term complaints or disputes.

Along with resolving specific cases, the Center identifies communication as a key task. In the past five years, the State Legal Aid Center has coordinated with litigation agencies, detention facilities, and local authorities to organize 297 communication sessions across 491 communes and more than 1,200 villages. Content focuses on rights, obligations, free legal aid policies, and procedures, while over 8,000 legal aid leaflets specifically for people with disabilities were distributed. Besides direct forms, the Center also coordinated to issue news boards, information sheets, and USBs containing legal aid content at the grassroots level, as well as posting articles on electronic portals of the Ministry of Justice, Department of Justice, and central and local press agencies.

Lê Thị Diệu, Director of the State Legal Aid Center of Điện Biên province, stated that the Center clearly identifies its core role in implementing legal aid policies for people with disabilities, focusing on bringing activities to the grassroots level and promoting communication so that people with disabilities and their families understand their rights. Every year, training classes are organized to improve the legal knowledge and professional skills of legal aid officers and staff, especially skills for approaching and working with people with various types of disabilities.

Lê Thị Diệu also shared that despite achieved results, legal aid work in Điện Biên still faces many difficulties because most people with disabilities live in remote areas with inconvenient transport and divided terrain. In the coming time, the Center will continue to promote communication on legal aid policies and strengthen coordination between units to grasp legal aid needs at the grassroots level promptly, ensuring that people with disabilities receive support when facing legal problems.

Thùy Trang
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