The JuSTICE Project has launched a new partnership with the École de Formation professionnelle des Barreaux du ressort de la cour d’appel de Paris (EFB)/Paris Bar School to support the Lao Bar Association (LBA) in strengthening the training of trainee lawyers in Lao PDR. This initiative aims to enhance the LBA’s curriculum, improve the quality of its trainers, and promote a more practical, skills-based approach to legal training.
From 17 to 21 February 2025, Mr Gilles Accomando, Director of the EFB, and Ms Barbara Clauss, Head of International Cooperation, conducted the first mission to Laos. The mission, structured as an exploratory mission, included a series of consultations and interviews of key partners, including the Ministry of Justice, the LBA leadership, the National Institute of Justice (NIJ), private law firms, independent lawyers, and development partners such as UNDP and JICA.
The mission focused on assessing the current LBA training framework, sharing international best practices, and identifying areas for improvement. Discussions highlighted the need to revise the 45-day training curriculum for trainee lawyers, strengthen the practical components of legal training, develop a core set of professional competencies for new lawyers, and enhance the training capacity of LBA trainers.
Following this first mission, the EFB experts have prepared an inception report presenting a comprehensive set of recommendations. These include aligning training objectives with professional practice needs, integrating active learning methods such as case studies and simulated hearings, and building a cohort of trained trainers to deliver practical, skills-based training. Particular attention was also given to strengthening the linkages between the LBA’s training programme and the NIJ’s one-year judicial training programme, which is a prerequisite for lawyer qualification in Lao PDR.
The next steps will focus on working closely with LBA trainers to revise and enrich the curriculum, define a common competency framework for the legal profession, and design a training-of-trainers programme to be implemented later in 2025.
The JuSTICE Project looks forward to continuing this collaboration with EFB and the LBA to support the development of a more professional, modern, and practice-oriented legal training system in Lao PDR.
