The justice ministers of Vietnam and Italy held talks in Rome on July 9 to discuss ways to foster cooperation between the two ministries in the near future.

Vietnamese Justice Minister Ha Hung Cuong, along with representatives from his agency, the Vietnamese National Assembly’s Judicial Committee, Social Affairs Committee, and the Government Office, are currently on a working visit to Italy from July 8-11.

During the talks, Italian Minister of Justice Andrea Orlando stressed that the Vietnam-Italy relations had developed substantially in recent times.

He expressed his approval for the basic content of the draft Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on cooperation between the two countries’ justice ministries, adding that the MoU would be signed soon.

The Minister took the occasion to thank the Government of Vietnam for its support for Italy’s bid for non-permanent membership of the UN Security Council.

On his part, Minister Cuong concurred with his Italian counterpart on the sound development of bilateral ties, stressing that Italy was one of Vietnam’s most important partners in the European Union.

Briefing his host on the Vietnamese context, Cuong introduced the country’s renewal process over nearly three decades, and the reform of law and justice over the last 15 years, praising the approval of the new Constitution in 2013 as an example of the efforts made to date.

He informed his host that Vietnamese authorities would work to institutionalise the regulations stated in the 2013 Constitution.

The guest expressed his hope that the two ministries sign the MoU on cooperation as soon as possible. He suggested the negotiation of a civil judicial assistance agreement between the two agencies in order to protect citizens and investors in the two countries.

Minister Andrea Orlando agreed with the proposal and the two sides pledged to assign the relevant agencies to the negotiation of a draft.

After the talks, a round-table seminar was held between the two sides, focusing on the organisational and operational structure of judicial agencies in the two countries, as well as their experience in judicial reform and training.

In the afternoon, the Vietnamese delegation worked with representatives of the Italian Senate’s Legal Committee.

VNA