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"Law - Made in Germany" – Talks in Myanmar and Vietnam

Published: June 5, 2014

Since 2011, the Government of the Republic of the Union of Myanmar has been pursuing a reform course and aims at achieving a "disciplined democracy". During the rule of the military junta, which was in power until then, the country sealed itself off, in particular from Western influences, and did not implement any modernisations. Efforts are being made to develop a market economy within the changes of the political system, and the necessary framework conditions are currently being reviewed. Myanmar is the largest country in continental South East Asia and has huge economic potential. These circumstances attract a great deal of international attention and entail an active commitment by foreign players. Legal reforms are of considerable importance in such a period of radical change in order to set up a functioning and enforceable legal system, which is a stability factor and an indispensable prerequisite for economic prosperity.

Against this background, a delegation travelled to Myanmar at the suggestion of the Alliance for German Law and met with different representatives from politics, the judiciary and industry. The German participants were Sabine Leutheusser-Schnarrenberger, former Federal Minister of Justice, Axel Filges, President of the German Federal Bar, its Director Kei-Lin Ting-Winarto, Prof Dr Stephan Wernicke, General Counsel of the Association of German Chambers of Industry and Commerce, and Angela Schmeink of the IRZ. The dialogue partners were the Union Attorney General, the President of the umbrella organisation of the Chambers of Industry and Commerce, international legal advice organisations, German and Myanmar lawyers and the Nobel Peace Prize Laureate and elected Secretary General of the biggest opposition party NLD, Aung San Suu Kyi.

It was stated that there was a great need for legal advice, especially in view of the economic development. Myanmar is attracting many investors who set store by legal certainty and stability. As in many transformation states, the implementation of new laws poses difficulties. At the same time, "law and order" is very much at the forefront of the citizens' legal awareness. Many reforms – such as the new Constitution – are politically controversial and are now being tackled in the light of the Presidential elections to take place in 2015.

Germany has already established close relations with Vietnam, another country in South East Asia, through the German Vietnamese Rule of Law Dialogue, amongst other activities. 

This institutionalised cooperation is of particular importance with regard to Vietnam's efforts to achieve the status of an industrialised country by 2020. Hence, the interdependencies between law and economy were discussed during a meeting of the German delegation with high-ranking Vietnamese Government representatives at the residence of the German Ambassador Jutta Frasch in Hanoi on 31 March. Participants of this exchange of opinions were: Dr Ha Hung Cuong, Minister of Justice, Truong Hoa Binh, President of the Supreme People's Court, Ho Thi Kim Thoa, Vice Minister for Trade and Investments, Dinh Van Cuong, Deputy Head of the Economic Committee in Parliament, Dr Vu Tien Loc, Chairman of the Vietnamese Chamber of Commerce, and Truong Trong Nghia, Vice President of the Bar Association. The delegation also visited the Minister of Justice, the Supreme People's Court (including a criminal trial), the Bar Association and Vietnamese lawyers. The Vietnamese dialogue partners explained the complex reform projects in the legal area, such as the court organisation or the review of laws on their conformity with the new Constitution which entered into force in January 2014. A main discussion point was the orientation to rule of law principles. There was agreement that efforts are necessary to increase legal certainty, in order to ensure that investors will find an attractive environment also in this respect. Insofar there will be sufficient potential for the mutually appreciated German-Vietnamese cooperation, both in the legal and the economic areas, also in the future.