Resolving the Contradiction Between the Relatively Low Educational Level of Many Prisoners and the Requirements for Acquiring Legal Information and Knowledge

115

Thus, solving the relationship between the requirement to teach new legal content according to the provisions of the law and the shortage of quantity and limitations in professional qualifications and skills of the legal education staff for women in the regions is a problem that requires the State and the Ministry of Public Security to find a satisfactory solution.

3.3.4. Resolving the contradiction between the relatively low educational level of many prisoners and the requirement to acquire information and legal knowledge to serve the process of serving prison sentences and reintegrating into the community

The educational level of prisoners has a profound impact on their ability to absorb, comprehend, and remember legal information and knowledge when participating in legal studies; thereby, significantly affecting the quality and effectiveness of legal education for prisoners in prisons in Vietnam. Statistics on the educational level structure of prisoners show that the number of illiterate prisoners accounts for 4.39%, the number of prisoners who have completed primary school (grades 1-5) accounts for 23.06%, and the number of prisoners who have completed secondary school (grades 6-9) accounts for 44.85%. In total, the number of prisoners currently serving prison sentences in prisons in our country who are illiterate, have completed primary school and secondary school accounts for 72.30% - a fairly high rate . It can be affirmed that the educational level of many prisoners in prisons in Vietnam is relatively low . Meanwhile, the amount of information and legal knowledge according to the current legal education program for prisoners (newly arrived in the world to serve prison sentences, currently serving prison sentences and about to finish serving prison sentences) is relatively large and heavy ; requiring prisoners to have a minimum educational level of high school graduation (grades 10-12) or higher to be able to absorb, understand and apply during the process of serving prison sentences as well as reintegrating into the community.

Maybe you are interested!

This reality creates a contradiction between the relatively low educational level of many prisoners and the requirement to acquire a relatively large amount of legal knowledge to serve the process of serving prison sentences and reintegrating into the community. This is really a huge difficulty, negatively affecting the results and effectiveness of legal education for prisoners; at the same time, it is also one of the issues being raised in the work of legal education for prisoners in the world in our country today; requiring the authorities to have appropriate solutions to overcome - to classify by level and have appropriate curriculum.

116

Chapter 3 Conclusion

Based on data collected from 23 representative regions in the North, Central and South, the thesis assessed the structure of the PN situation according to the following criteria: the increase and decrease of PN in the regions; gender, age, ethnicity, occupation before committing the crime, cultural/educational level, vocational training level, crime and sentence. The PN situation has a strong impact, causing considerable difficulties for legal education for PN in the regions.

Based on the results of processing the opinion collection forms distributed and collected in 24 regions, the thesis analyzed and evaluated the successes, achievements and limitations and shortcomings in the work of legal education for women in regions in Vietnam; clearly indicating the causes of that situation.

Legal education for women in the countries of Vietnam in recent years has been strengthened and achieved important results, reflected in the aspects of objectives, subjects, contents, methods, forms and facilities serving legal education; relatively well meeting the requirements and needs of legal knowledge of women. Besides, legal education for women in the countries of Vietnam today still reveals limitations and inadequacies stemming from many causes, of which six basic causes are pointed out in the thesis.

From the analysis and assessment of the current situation of women's education and training for women in the world in Vietnam, the thesis has identified and pointed out some basic and urgent issues that are being raised in women's education and training.

117

Chapter 4

VIEWPOINTS AND SOLUTIONS TO IMPROVE THE EFFECTIVENESS OF LEGAL EDUCATION FOR PRISONERS IN PRISONS IN VIETNAM TODAY

4.1. GUIDING VIEWPOINTS ON LEGAL EDUCATION FOR PRISONERS IN PRISONS IN VIETNAM

4.1.1. Thoroughly grasp the Party's viewpoints and guidelines on the dissemination and education of law to social subjects.

Since its inception, the Communist Party of Vietnam has always played a comprehensive leadership role in all aspects of the State and social activities; therefore, legal education activities in general and legal education for specific social subjects in particular must always adhere closely to the viewpoints and guidelines and be closely linked to the Party's leadership. In the process of leading the construction of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam's rule of law state, our Party has always paid attention to and attached importance to legal education for all classes of people and each group of social subjects because legal education is an effective measure to bring legal information and knowledge to the people in general and to the contingent of civil servants and public employees in particular; on the other hand, it affirms that our State always ensures respect for human rights and civil rights, and that everyone is equal before the law.

The Resolution of the 6th Congress determined: “Taking importance to the work of education , propaganda , and legal explanation ... Managers at all levels, from the central to grassroots units, must have knowledge of administrative management and understanding of the law. It is necessary to use many forms and measures to educate and raise legal awareness” [22, p.121]. The goal of legal education work is determined by our Party: “Strengthening legal education, raising understanding and respect for the law, living and working according to the Constitution and the law, ensuring that the law is enforced strictly, uniformly and fairly” [28, p.225]. The subject and form of legal education have also been mentioned very specifically by our Party in the Document of the 8th National Congress of Delegates:

Strongly deploy propaganda and legal education work. Mobilize mass, political, social, professional forces, and mass media to participate in campaigns to establish order, discipline, and regular activities, build a lifestyle and work according to the law in state agencies and society [24, p.241].

118

A practical solution to promote the role of GDPL and raise awareness of law compliance among all classes of people is: “The promulgated laws need to ensure feasibility, ease of understanding, and specific regulations to reduce the situation of having to wait for too many guiding documents before they can be implemented. Strengthen propaganda, explanation, and legal education so that people understand and voluntarily comply” [25, p.48]. The 9th Congress continued to affirm: “Promoting democracy goes hand in hand with maintaining discipline, order, strengthening the rule of law, managing society by law, and propagating and educating the entire population to raise awareness of law compliance” [26, p.135].

The most important milestone marking the strong interest and leadership of the Party in the work of disseminating and educating the law is Directive No. 32-CT/TW dated December 9, 2003 of the Secretariat on strengthening the leadership of the Party in the work of disseminating and educating the law, raising the awareness of law observance of cadres and people . The goal and consistent requirement of this Directive is: the work of disseminating and educating the law in our country in the current period needs to be strengthened regularly, continuously and at a higher level, in order to make cadres and people understand the law and strictly comply with the law, through which to check and supervise the implementation of the law; at the same time, contributing to improving the effectiveness and efficiency of the law in regulating fields and social relations.

Thoroughly grasping the Party's viewpoints and guidelines on popularizing and educating the law is the basis for building feasible and suitable solutions to ensure the education of the law for different social groups; at the same time, applying those viewpoints and guidelines to the education of the law for women in the world in Vietnam today.

4.1.2. Strictly implement legal regulations on legal education in general and legal education for prisoners in prisons in particular.

On the general level of legal education , the important change, marking the strong interest and close direction of our State towards the dissemination and education of the law in general, is Directive No. 02/1998/CT-TTg of the Prime Minister dated January 7, 1998 on strengthening the dissemination and education of the law in the current period ; Decision No. 03/1998/QD-TTg on promulgating the Plan for implementing the dissemination and education of the law from 1998 to 2002 and establishing the Coordination Council for the dissemination and education of the law . These two legal documents have created an important legal basis and created

119

favorable conditions to deploy dissemination and education work more strongly and effectively.

Since 2003, the development and promulgation of legal documents on dissemination and education of the law has continued to be strengthened. On January 17, 2003, the Prime Minister issued Decision 13/2003/QD-TTg approving the Program on dissemination and education of the law from 2003 to 2007. On March 12, 2008, the Prime Minister issued Decision 37/2008/QD-TTg approving the Program on dissemination and education of the law from 2008 to 2012 , which sets out the general goal of continuing to create a strong change in the awareness of respecting and complying with the law of officials and people; innovating the method of organizing the dissemination and education of the law and improving the quality of human resources doing the work of dissemination and education of the law; promptly and regularly propagating legal content suitable for each subject and locality; Effectively organize the dissemination and education of the law, contributing to the implementation of a lifestyle and work according to the law...

In order to create a tool with higher legal value to regulate the field of dissemination and education of law, our State has developed and promulgated the Law on Dissemination and Education of Law in 2012 , which "stipulates the right to information about law and the responsibility of citizens to learn and study the law; the content and form of dissemination and education of law; the responsibilities of competent agencies, organizations and individuals and the conditions to ensure the dissemination and education of law" [65, Article 1]. This Law consists of 5 chapters and 41 articles, effective from January 1, 2013.

Regarding legal education for women in the world , our State has also issued specific and clear legal regulations.

The 1999 Penal Code (amended and supplemented in 2009) stipulates: “For those sentenced to imprisonment, they are required to serve their sentence in prison, work and study to become useful people for society; if they have made much progress, the penalty will be reduced” [61, Clause 4, Article 3]. That means that studying, including studying the law through legal education in the TG, is one of the mandatory requirements for prisoners.

The 2010 Law on Criminal Enforcement stipulates: “1. Prisoners must study law, civic education, and receive cultural and vocational training... 2. Prisoners are provided with information about current events, policies, and laws of the State”.

120

Article 21 of the 2012 Law on Dissemination and Education of Law stipulates the dissemination and education of law to people serving prison sentences...; which clearly states:

Dissemination and education of law to people serving prison sentences, people being subject to measures of being sent to reform schools, compulsory education facilities, compulsory drug rehabilitation facilities, depending on each subject, focuses on legal provisions on the rights and obligations of citizens, criminal law, execution of criminal sentences, handling of administrative violations; laws on prevention and control of drugs and social evils [65, clauses 1, 2, 3, Article 21].

Pursuant to the Law on Enforcement of Criminal Judgments 2010 and related legal documents, on February 6, 2012, the Ministry of Public Security, the Ministry of National Defense, the Ministry of Justice, and the Ministry of Education and Training issued Joint Circular No. 02/2012TTLT-BCA-BQP-BTP-BGDDT Guiding the organization of cultural teaching, legal education, civic education, dissemination of current information, policies and implementation of living and entertainment regimes for women ; in which Chapter II (from Article 8 to Article 11) is devoted to regulating the program, content, time, form, subjects of legal education, civic education for women and the organization of legal education, civic education for women who are foreigners.

The above-mentioned legal documents are an important legal basis for the Government to implement legal education for prisoners; contributing to equipping prisoners with necessary legal information and knowledge during the process of serving their prison sentences as well as when returning to normal life, becoming useful citizens for society.

4.1.3. Compliance with basic principles in legal education for prisoners in prisons

Legal education for women in the world is a purposeful and organized activity that follows plans outlined by the legal education subject; therefore, this activity must comply with the following basic principles:

4.1.3.1. Principles of socialist legality

The principle of socialist legality is a fundamental principle that runs through the entire process of building, implementing and applying laws, including GDPL. “Socialist legality is a special regime of political and social life, in which all state agencies, economic organizations, social organizations, state employees, employees of social organizations and all citizens must respect and implement the law seriously, thoroughly and accurately” [89, pp.508-509]. In implementing

121

Criminal enforcement law, the principle of legality requires competent authorities and all relevant individuals to seriously comply with legal provisions on criminal justice for women in the world.

In that spirit, legal education for women in the regions must not only comply with the legal regulations stated in the Penal Code, the Law on Enforcement of Criminal Judgments, and the Law on Dissemination and Education of Law; but must also ensure compliance with the regulations on content, methods, forms, and duration of legal education for women in the regions stated in the guiding documents of the competent agencies under the Ministry of Public Security. In addition, legal education for women must also ensure that it meets the legitimate and legal rights and interests of women; avoiding imposition and voluntarism.

On the part of the prisoners, the legal principle requires each prisoner to absolutely comply with legal regulations on the content, methods, forms and duration of legal education for prisoners serving prison sentences in prisons; must have a spirit of self-awareness and a sense of responsibility in studying the law to both directly serve the process of serving prison sentences and prepare legal knowledge to reintegrate into the community after the end of the sentence.

4.1.3.2. Humanitarian principles

The principle of humanity is a major and common principle in the policies and laws of our State and is widely applied in legal life. The Penal Code sets out the principles of humane handling:

3. For first-time offenders of less serious crimes who have repented, a lighter penalty than imprisonment may be imposed, and they may be handed over to agencies, organizations or families for supervision and education; 4. For those sentenced to imprisonment, they shall be forced to serve their sentences in prison, to work and study to become useful to society; if they make much progress, consideration shall be given to reducing their sentence; 5. Those who have completed their sentences shall be given the opportunity to work, live honestly, and integrate into the community; when they meet all the conditions prescribed by law, their criminal records shall be erased [61, Clauses 3, 4, 5, Article 3].

Forcing convicts to serve their sentences in prison is not intended to humiliate their honor, dignity or cause them physical pain; but to educate and reform them to return to the path of honesty, become useful citizens to society, and prevent them from committing new crimes. That demonstrates the spirit of humanity and humanity in our State's policies and laws towards convicts.

122

The fact that the law stipulates that legal education must be organized for women in prisons itself proves the humane and humane nature of the law , that legal education for women in prisons is to equip women with knowledge and understanding of the law, helping them realize their mistakes and crimes committed in the past, and now need to proactively and voluntarily study the law to accumulate knowledge to serve their future reintegration into the community. Therefore, in the work of legal education for women, it is necessary to adhere to the principle of "ensuring socialist humanism; respecting the dignity, rights, and legitimate interests of those serving sentences" [64, Clause 3, Article 4].

4.1.3.3. Principle of close coordination between prisons, relevant agencies, prisoners' families and each prisoner himself

In principle, implementing the work of legal education in general is not only the responsibility of individuals, agencies or functional units, but also the common responsibility of the whole society, requiring the participation of the Party, the State, all levels of government from central to local, organizations, agencies, social organizations, schools, families and the efforts of each individual. However, legal education here does not mean "everyone does it on their own", but must comply with the principle of close coordination between relevant parties. Legal education must be systematic, with unified management, close cooperation between functional agencies, social organizations, mass organizations and individuals in terms of content, methods and forms of legal education. Close coordination between relevant parties ensures the effective operation of legal education for social subjects.

According to that principle, legal education work for women in prisons requires close coordination between the prisons, relevant agencies, the families of women and each woman herself. The prisons play the main role, directing, organizing and operating the legal education work according to the determined program and plan; the leading role belongs to the legal education staff of the prisons who are assigned to prepare lessons, directly teach the content of legal education to women; the prison officers are responsible for actively supporting this activity. Relevant agencies play a coordinating role in sending experts to teach classes, organizing activities that integrate education and legal propaganda for women when requested; checking and supervising the implementation of the legal education program for women. The families of women play the role of encouraging women to voluntarily and actively study the law, comply with the rules and regulations through visits or conversations.

Comment