Border provinces’ courts bolster co-operation with Chinese counterparts

Nguyen Hoa Binh, chief justice of the Supreme People's Court, and the chief judges of the People's Courts of seven provinces bordering China attended the event.

As part of his address at the occasion, Binh said that the conference offered plenty of opportunities for border provinces to share experience in the fight against cross-border crimes and settlement of civil disputes whilst enhancing co-ordination to better implement the 1998 Agreement on Mutual Legal Assistance Agreement in Civil and Criminal Matters between the two countries.

The provinces’ courts will also seek to establish and further strengthen the relationship with Chinese courts.

Some of the main topics at the conference were the application of information technology in court, building collaboration between provincial-level courts of border provinces of the two countries, and the transfer of procedural documents related to criminal cases and cross- border civil disputes. 

Currently, the areas along the northern border are seeing complicated development of transnational crimes such as drug-related crimes, human trafficking, smuggling, and illegal entry and exit, all of which requires the competent agencies of the two countries. This includes courts to boost co-operation in dispute settlements and crime prevention and control.

Vietnam and China share a border of almost 1,450 km, including 1,065.6 km on land and 383.9 km over water. It covers seven Vietnamese provinces; Dien Bien, Lai Chau, Lao Cai, Ha Giang, Cao Bang, Lang Son, and Quang Ninh; and China’s Yunnan province and Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region.