“Discrimination Law in Vietnam and the ASEAN” (King’s at VNU-Law) is a partnership between the Dickson Poon School of Law at King’s College, London and the School of Law of the Vietnam National University (VNU) Hanoi. It was launched in May 2014 to bring together scholars, students and administrators of the two leading law schools in the UK and Vietnam to collaborate in the areas of higher education and legal education.
With a total funding of 37,800 GBP including matching funds from King’s College London for two phrases, the British Council has significantly contributed to forge deeper collaborations in research, teaching and policy impact among academics in the both institutions. More importantly, it has helped enhance the profile and visibility of UK legal scholarship, teaching and the international reputation of King’s in Vietnam as well as the internationalisation of higher education and transnational education of the host country.
The first phrase of the partnership project was carried out between January and July 2015, which resulted in key achievements as following:
- Appointment of a UK academic and a Vietnamese PhD scholar on a two year visiting fellowship in VNU School of Law and KCL respectively
- Regular teaching of MA Human Rights on Discrimination law by UK academic in Vietnam
- A historic lecture on Magna Carta to Vietnam National Assembly by Lord Nicholas Phillips – the first President of the UK Supreme Court
- A Seminar at Vietnam Ministry of Justice chaired by Deputy Minister Nguyen Khanh Ngoc with the presence of high-level officials within the ministry
Lord Phillips, former President of the UK Supreme Court and Visiting Professor at King’s said: “I welcome the launch of King’s at VNU-Law. It is a sign of co-operation between the UK and Vietnam in the areas of law and International Higher Education, and will build important relationships for our two countries' judges, lawyers, academics and students. This is a vital step in enhancing the capability of both the UK and Vietnam to learn more about their respective legal systems.”
Mark Fletcher, Political Secretary at British Embassy stressed: “Lord Phillips’ presentations to both the Ministry of Justice and National Assembly underscored the importance of the rule of law, supporting the British Embassy’s activities around the Magna Carta celebrations. He touched on a number of specific issues around criminal procedures and human rights, giving helpful and frank views on why the death penalty was both ineffective and defective.”
The Kings’ at VNU-Law project in October 2015 entered into the second phase to a more advanced level with an additional focus on Quality Assurance and University Governance.