NA Approves New Laws Governing Justice Officials

Source: Vientiane Times

The National Assembly (NA) on Monday approved four amended laws relating to the Supreme People’s Court and the Supreme People’s Prosecutor Office.

The laws spell out specific measures for court officials to follow when handling both civil and criminal cases and are part of the legislative body’s efforts to ensure Laos is governed by the rule of law.

A National Assembly member announced Parliament’s approval of the revisions to the laws, saying that Section 63 of the Law on the People’s Court had been expanded to include the salary indexes of judges, assistant judges, and court clerks.

In addition, the rights, duties, and procedures of district courts when handling criminal, civil, commercial, and juvenile cases have been modified to align with changing economic and social circumstances. They are spelled out in Sections 26 and Section 27.

Another revised law clarifies the roles, rights, and duties of the Supreme People’s Prosecutor Office in following up on trials.

Changes in this law include modifications to 14 sections to bring them in line with current economic and social conditions. 

The third revised law relates to civil law, with Sections 38 and 60 of the existing law to be combined to form a new law.

Under this law, 41 sections and articles have been amended to reflect changing economic and social conditions.

The fourth law to be revised is the Criminal Procedure Law, of which eight existing articles have been expanded to 41 in response to changing economic and social conditions.

The National Assembly instructed the Supreme People’s Court and the Supreme People’s Prosecutor Office to improve their organizational structure at every level, and ensure that staff are imbued with political correctness, a revolutionary spirit, and a strong sense of moral duty.

Justice officials were advised to improve prosecution mechanisms to ensure accuracy, comprehensiveness, transparency, and fairness.

The National Assembly also instructed court officials to shoulder more responsibility in the course of their duties, do more to prevent crime, not to abuse their position for the purposes of personal gain, and to be open about any scandals that occurred, which should be tackled decisively.