Minister Lenert took part at the official launch of the Lao Penal Code together with H.E Mr Xaysy Sativong, Lao Minister of Justice and H.E Mr Neven Mimica, EU Commissioner for International and Development Cooperation.
” Allow me first to congratulate the Lao Government, in particular the Ministry of Justice for the work undertaken. This Penal Code is an important milestone for the Lao PDR to become a Rule of Law state. The country is now equipped with a comprehensive Code and a modern criminal law. “, she said. Minister Lenert reaffirmed Luxembourg’s long-term commitment to support good governance and well-functioning institutions in Laos.
The Minister added that “Training law practitioners like judges, lawyers, prosecutors and police officers about this new penal code is indispensable and I am delighted to inform you that this important task is already ongoing here in Laos, through Luxembourg development cooperation, where ILSTA is training law professionals throughout the country.”
The event marks the publication of the first Penal Code of the Lao PDR, which was adopted by the National Assembly in May 2017 and took effect as of November 2018. It aims at ensuring that penalties for offences are duly harmonised providing more clarity and predictability for the relevant authorities, such as investigative officials, prosecutors, and judges, to refer to and enforce the relevant laws.
More than 100 participants attended this landmark event hailing from embassies, development agencies, national and local authorities, as well as civil society.
The Minister of Development Cooperation and Humanitarian Affairs in Luxembourg is in Laos for a two weeks visit, accompanied by members of the Luxembourgish Parliament, and besides taking part in this very important event in Laos, will be visiting projects supported by Luxembourg and meeting with her Lao Government.
Luxembourg development cooperation has been active in the legal education sector in Laos for the past 10 years and reiterated that they stand ready to upscale these important activities across the sector in the coming years.
Laos is one of the seven target countries on which Luxembourg is concentrating its bilateral cooperation and at present is benefiting from substantial support for developing projects from Luxembourg.
Comments are closed.