Many wards and communes in Ho Chi Minh City have proactively revamped legal education efforts by establishing counseling teams, strengthening grassroots mediation, organizing mock trials, and applying artificial intelligence (AI) to design awareness materials, helping make the law more accessible to residents.
Grassroots free legal aid empowers local residents
In early September, resident Ngo Xuan Dung visited the free legal counseling and legal aid team in Xom Chieu Ward to learn about procedures for declaring inherited assets.
Legal consultant Truong Thanh Lam personally guided him through preparing the required documents, including paperwork related to the deceased, proof of family relationships, and identification documents. Dung highly praised the ward's free legal aid model, saying it provides residents with detailed and easy-to-understand explanations.
Local Dao Thi Hanh learned about the ward's free legal counseling and aid team through community legal awareness events and sought advice on procedures for resolving an inheritance dispute. After reviewing her documents, team members explained the litigation process, mediation procedures, and court filing deadlines.
According to legal consultant Truong Thanh Lam, residents often seek guidance on legal procedures involving housing and land, marriage and family matters, loans, and property disputes. Team members help resolve specific issues while explaining legal regulations in the simplest way possible, enabling residents to better understand and address their situations.
Giang Hai Yen, a specialist at the Vietnam Fatherland Front Committee of Xom Chieu Ward, said the free legal counseling and legal aid team has been operating since August 2025, following the implementation of the two-tier local government model. The team has seven members who rotate duty shifts on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays.
To date, it has organized three legal awareness conferences, provided consultations for more than 570 cases, and delivered legal aid to 10 particularly disadvantaged individuals.
In Thu Duc Ward, a free legal counseling center jointly operated by the Ward Youth Union and the Ho Chi Minh City Bar Association Youth Union continues to provide services every Thursday. After more than a year in operation, the center has organized more than 160 sessions and assisted more than 1,200 people.
In addition to operating fixed counseling centers, legal counseling teams also visit residential areas and work with local communities to resolve conflicts and disputes that arise.
According to Phan Ngoc Phat, Vice Chairman of the People's Committee of Cho Quan Ward, mediators carefully analyze each case and help the parties overcome disagreements while explaining relevant legal regulations, allowing residents to better understand their rights and obligations.
From classrooms to communities, HCMC turns courtrooms into teaching tools
In recent years, many localities in Ho Chi Minh City have coordinated the organization of mock trials that recreate specific cases, helping audiences more easily understand and remember legal regulations.
In July 2026, the Vietnam Fatherland Front Committee of Binh Thanh Ward organized a mock trial on domestic violence prevention and control, dramatizing a real case. After attending the event, Nguyen Xuan Hai said the mock trial helped him better understand the consequences of domestic violence and reminded him to remain calm when dealing with everyday conflicts.
Chairwoman Hoang Mai Quynh Hoa of the Vietnam Fatherland Front Committee of Binh Thanh Ward said that as AI and short-video platforms become residents' primary sources of information, mock trials continue to play an important role in legal communication, awareness, and education. Recreating actual cases through vivid mock trials helps strengthen public awareness of legal compliance.
The mock-trial format has also been organized by the Thu Duc Ward Youth Union in coordination with the Ho Chi Minh City Bar Association Youth Union at four high schools and vocational-continuing education centers, providing legal education to more than 5,000 youth union members and young people.
Local authorities have also used mobile court hearings as a tool for legal awareness campaigns. In late July, the People's Committee of Tan Nhut Commune coordinated with area People's Court No. 10 of Ho Chi Minh City to hold two mobile hearings involving drug-related crimes at a school. The sessions were aimed at educating students, individuals under post-rehabilitation supervision, and people receiving substitute drug treatment in the locality about drug prevention and control.
Resident Duong Bao Minh of Tan Nhut Commune, who attended a court hearing in person for the first time, said the visual and practical approach helped viewers better understand the consequences and legal penalties associated with drug crimes, thereby raising public awareness of prevention and avoiding social vices.
