International Journal of Management (IJM) Volume 11, Issue 7, July 2020, pp. 544-555, Article ID: IJM_11_07_050 Available online at http://iaeme.com/Home/issue/IJM?Volume=11&Issue=7 ISSN Print: 0976-6502 and ISSN Online: 0976-6510 DOI: 10.34218/IJM.11.7.2020.050

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COMPETENCY OF PROFESSIONAL LAWYERS: AN INNOVATIVE MODEL OF NATIONAL PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT FOR FREE MOVEMENT IN THE ASEAN ECONOMIC COMMUNITY

Paseuth Savangdy Faculty of Business Administration, North – Chiang Mai University, Thailand

Phithagorn Thanitbenjasith Faculty of Business Administration, North – Chiang Mai University, Thailand

ABSTRACT The objective of this study is to examine the competency of professional lawyers in 's Democratic Republic (Lao PDR) nowadays and present the competency model of professional lawyers in the Lao People's Democratic Republic ( PDR) in order to support the ASEAN Economic Community. The population who are informants consists of 2 groups which are the group of people giving information about the competency of professional lawyers in Lao PDR and the group of people giving examination and certification of competency model of professional lawyers in order to support the ASEAN Economic Community. Data were collected by using questionnaires as an in-depth interview tool. The results show that the competency model of professional lawyers in order to support the AEC consists of the core competency, professional competency and AEC perspective competency of professional lawyers. All 3 types of competencies will be an important pattern for the development of professional lawyers in Lao People's Democratic Republic (Lao PDR) to be ready and able to develop themselves appropriately, being in accordance with the needs and necessities as well as being able to professionally work as a lawyer both in the country and in the ASEAN region. Key words: ASEAN Economic Community, Competency Development, Professional Lawyers, Lao PDR Cite this Article: Paseuth Savangdy and Phithagorn Thanitbenjasith, Competency of Professional Lawyers: An Innovative Model of National Professional Development for Free Movement in the Asean Economic Community, International Journal of Management, 11(7), 2020, pp. 544-555. http://iaeme.com/Home/issue/IJM?Volume=11&Issue=7

http://iaeme.com/Home/journal/IJM 544 [email protected] Competency of Professional Lawyers: An Innovative Model of National Professional Development for Free Movement in the Asean Economic Community

1. INTRODUCTION 1.1. Background Background and significance of the modern economic development trend that uses technology and knowledge as the basis for development, causing each country to hurry to prepare and create the mechanism for human resource development in order to be able to adjust and step forward to the new economy system quickly. It is to be a strong foundation for strengthening the competency and competitiveness of the country (Edvinsson & Malone, 1997; O'Sullivan, 2000), not even the 10 ASEAN countries, including Thailand, Singapore, Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, Brunei, Vietnam, Laos, Myanmar and Cambodia who have established an economic cooperation organization in ASEAN which leads to grouping of members called "ASEAN Community" under the cooperation framework of 3 pillars, namely ASEAN Political-Security Community, ASEAN Economic Community and ASEAN Socio-Cultural Community. By integrating these groups, Asia has become one of the 3 important economic regions in the world which has a total population of over 580 million people and gross domestic product (GDP) is more than 1.7 trillion US dollars. At the same time, every member country is alert and develop personnel in every sector to be more prepared because human resources can be considered as an important basic factor and a factor that creates the country's competitive advantage (Roos, Pike & Fernstrom, 2005; Ulrich & Dulebohn, 2015). Lao People's Democratic Republic (Lao PDR) is a member of the ASEAN Community with the economic growth rate of the country that is continuously growing, as the value of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of the country between 2015-2017 was at 7.0 percent while the average inflation rate was at 3.2 percent. It is expected to continue growing in accordance with the country's economic structure (IMF, 2018), which is based on the mining industry, electricity and water power. In addition, the government party of the country has supported foreign investment with a special economic zone, which is an opportunity to expand investment into a wider market for foreign investors. It is to stimulate the country's economy and change it from a resource base to the diversity management for becoming a modern industrial country according to national development strategies in order to liberate the country from being the least developed country by 2020 (IPD, 2018). However, the integration of the cooperation framework within the ASEAN Community results in a region to have high competitiveness as well as the member countries to have the economic, society and culture progress which is created by greater cooperation and trade between them. One of the pillars of cooperation that is important and affecting the now is the ASEAN Economic Community (AEC) (ASEAN, 2012). Although economic integration is based on coordination of member countries for benefits as having the same markets and production bases and there is free movement of goods, services, investments, skilled labor and free capital movements, but the operation is still under the legal process of the country and between countries. It is adopted as a framework for solving business conflicts that may occur (DFDL, 2015). In addition, Lao PDR does not allow foreigners to practice lawyers and with the NO.10 / NA Law on Lawyers, which states that foreign lawyers do not have legal rights to consult the law of Laos and prosecute in the court of Lao (Nichibenren, 2016). However, the foreign law firm that employs Lao lawyers can provide legal advice to Laos and prosecute in Lao courts through Lao lawyers. Therefore, if Lao PDR does not prepare personnel to support economic liberalization, it may affect the credibility of investors who see opportunities from the potential of Lao PDR on the business in many areas. Especially human resources that provide professional services such as a professional lawyer who is involved in carrying out legal activities on the basis of economic integration and free movement in member countries. As a result, those who practice such

http://iaeme.com/Home/journal/IJM 545 [email protected] Paseuth Savangdy and Phithagorn Thanitbenjasith professions have to be especially skilled in order to enter the fiercer competition in ASEAN (Torraco & Swanson1995; Hassan, 2007). However, from a preliminary study by the Lawyer Council of Lao PDR which considers the fundamental of the operation of lawyers in Lao PDR, was found that lawyers in Lao PDR still have issues that need to be considered urgently which are researching, creating and developing training courses for lawyers that are not yet a true course. Some lawyers lack the knowledge, ability and experience to be a lawyer or lack of professionalism because some of them are not just lawyers, they have only had the justice works (Lawyers Council of Laos, 2017). In addition, professional lawyers lack the development of professional standards comparable to other countries including special characteristics of professions that require language to communicate in order to understand the content and interpretation of the law, domestic legal consultations, international legal consultations and court litigation (Nichibenren, 2016) which must be developed to be equipped with the knowledge, ability and qualification to be professional. Therefore, it is an interesting issue in the study of guidelines to develop competency for professional lawyers in Lao PDR according to the integration of the ASEAN Economic Community. However, the results from the study will enable organizations of lawyers, the institute where is responsible for practicing lawyers as known as the lawyers council, educational institution and relevant agencies in the development of personnel competency of the country to be able to develop competency of professional lawyers in accordance with the needs and necessities which are to increase the potential and upgrade human resources to have higher professional capability and be ready to meet the changing situation. Therefore, it will be able to compete in the ASEAN Economic Community continuously and sustainably.

2. RESEARCH OBJECTIVES The objective of this research is to study the competency of professional lawyers in the Lao People's Democratic Republic (Lao PDR) nowadays and present the competency model of professional lawyers in the Lao People's Democratic Republic (Laos PDR) in order to support the ASEAN Economic Community.

3. LITERATURE REVIEW 3.1. Professional Lawyer Concepts in Lao PDR Professional lawyer concepts in Lao PDR, "Lawyer" is one profession that has a legal role to act as a facilitator for justice, creates fairness and provide service in the matter of conduct a case or defense in a lawsuit that may arise from the operation as well as having the duty to provide justice to the society. The person who has the right to use the term "lawyer" and has the right to conduct a case must be a member of the Lawyers Council and must be licensed by the Lawyers Council to be a lawyer only (Lawyers Council of Laos, 2017a). In the practice, the lawyer must provide legal assistance to the client which is the duty of the professional lawyer to do correctly and straightforwardly according to the law provided. But for the straightforward practice, sometimes it will not benefit the client so the lawyers must maintain justice for society, perform duty with integrity to the law, do not prioritize personal benefits before common benefits including fair use of the law, be knowledgeable in academics, have freedom to operate and also have the courage to express opinions, not under the influence. Therefore, lawyers are people who play an important role in creating justice for those who have to get involved in a lawsuit. The lawyer is an important profession and responsible for maintaining justice and trust of the people resulting in those who practice such profession to be a person who has special professional skills. However, the aforementioned practitioners must have work experience as

http://iaeme.com/Home/journal/IJM 546 [email protected] Competency of Professional Lawyers: An Innovative Model of National Professional Development for Free Movement in the Asean Economic Community well as continuously develop professional knowledge. Therefore, lawyers must develop themselves to be able to manage or solve problems with morality and ethics so that the lawyer work will be more efficiently and effectively (Draganidis & Mentzas, 2006; Whiddett & Hollyforde, 2003). The "lawyer" profession is one of the judicial processes that is no less important than the magistrate, prosecutor or other professions. The lawyer is therefore an honorable one that is accepted by the people and every profession. According to Article 2 the law of lawyer on Lao People's Democratic Republic (revised version) 2017, the definition of "lawyer" states that "a person who is licensed by the government to have a profession to provide legal services to individual, juristic person and the establishment of associations to protect the rights and legitimate benefits of clients as well as guarantee justice for the parties as provided by law" and regulations within the Lawyers Council have stipulated that a lawyer is a person who is licensed to be a lawyer from the Ministry of Justice and represent the parties to defense in the case which is proceeding in court according to the law of lawyers. Regulations within Lawyers Council as mentioned, means a lawyer who is a professional practitioner involved in court proceedings the right to be a lawyer in order to prosecute, sue with a legal testimony, defend for the litigation parties and represent to defense in the court (The Lawyers Council of Laos, 2017a). Therefore, the lawyers practice according to the legal provisions of lawyers of Laos is mainly conducted in court. However, if we consider the practice of lawyers in reality, will find that in addition to being a representative of the parties in defense of court-related cases, it also include being a legal counsel for the facts and the legal problem, doing various legal transactions in the business between private organizations as well as other activities related to the legal profession. When considering the meaning of a lawyer under the law of lawyers and rules within the Lawyer Council of Lao People's Democratic Republic (Revised Version) 2017 (The Lawyers Council of Lao People's Democratic Republic, 2017a), it can be seen that lawyers practice is not only in the court but also in providing advice and consulting on various issues. Therefore, when considering the scope of work of the lawyer, it can be divided into 2 forms which are 1) the form of legal advisor including consultation, advising or giving an opinion on matters related to the law, drafting and preparing contract for commercial registration, tax planning and accounting, negotiating trade compromise and contract of business such as loan contract, joint venture contract, project management contract, construction contract, franchise contract, agency contract, requesting various licenses that are necessary and related to business and industry, extending various licenses related to business and industry, requesting and extending foreign work permit and visa including negotiating a compromise to end disputes without a case entering the court process, and 2) The form of being a lawyer, such as legal proceedings which are the defense in court as well as proceeding on behalf of other parties as specified by law. This is an act to help the general public. It can be noticed that the performance of duty in the court is considered the true work of a lawyer that requires legal knowledge to help the people.

3.2. Competency Concepts Competency study began in 1970 in the United States and from the McClelland article (1973) on Testing for Competence Rather than for, it is found that in intelligence and knowledge testing alone, it cannot be used to determine or acknowledge whether a person will be high performer or be successful in life. Only competencies can be pointed out to high performers. A study of Boam & Sparrow (1992) was found that the reasons which make the organizations notice the importance of applying competency concepts in management is the failure of the change process that the organizations bring to use, whether it is quality improvement or

http://iaeme.com/Home/journal/IJM 547 [email protected] Paseuth Savangdy and Phithagorn Thanitbenjasith management development, those structures cannot change people's behavior. A better way is to specify desirable behavior first and have more research showing the connection between the performance and the behavior of employees. Therefore, if the organizations want quality performance, the organizations must choose the behavior of employees that correspond to the job. McClelland (1973)defines competency as a characteristic under successful performance while Boyatzis (1982) describes that competency refers to the basic characteristic within an individual that results in that person to perform well. These characteristics include driving force, personality, skill, social role, self-perception and knowledge that various people must use. As for Spencer & Spencer (1993), competency refers to the underlying nature of an individual which has a logical connection with superior performance and can be referenced with benchmarks in a job or situation. From the above statement, it can be concluded that competency refers to characteristic or behavior of an individual with a position which is from knowledge, skills and personal characteristics. It will make that person manifest as a behavior that can perform efficiently resulting in the operation to achieve the success according to the vision and objective set by the organizations. The concept of competency was popularized by being explained with the Iceberg Model, McClelland (1973) which is that the differences between people can be compared to icebergs. With the part that can be easily seen and developed, this is the floating part, described as the knowledge and skills that people have and the most difficult part to see beneath the surface is motivation, behavior, internal image and the role in society. The underwater part has a profound effect on people's working behavior and is a difficult part to develop. The working behavior of a person depends on the characteristics that the person has which is described in the iceberg model, namely knowledge, skills / abilities (the floating part) and other characteristics (the underwater part) of that person. Spencer & spencer (1993) explains that under the definition of the unique characteristics of competency consists of 5 important components which are 1) Motives mean things that people tend to think of all the time or always want which leads to the certain actions of people or specific goals while defining and selecting behaviors to be different from other goals or behaviors. 2) Specific characteristics mean physical characteristics and consistent responses to situations or received messages. 3) Self-concept means self-image, the value of beliefs or attitudes of people. 4) Knowledge means news or information that a person has on a particular subject and 5) Skill refers to the ability to express or perform work, both mental and physical work. According to the description of the components in the definition of competency by the scholars, it can be concluded that the components of competency are divided into two parts: characteristics of people that are easily visible and developed, namely knowledge and skills, and the characteristics of people that are hard to see and difficult to develop which are personal characteristics. McClelland (1973) classifies competency into two groups which are: threshold competency refers to the basic knowledge or skills that a person needs to work in various positions. This basic competency does not cause a person to have different performance from other people or work better than others. Therefore, the competency in this group has not received much attention from scholars. Some scholars agree that knowledge and basic skills are not considered a competency. Another one is differentiating competency which means factors that make a person have a high performance than the standard or better than others. Competency in this group focuses on using knowledge, skills and other characteristics including values, motivation and attitudes to help achieve excellent success in the job. Weiler & Stephen (2018) says there are 3 types of competency: 1) functional competency is a specific competency related to the necessary functions in a career such as finance, engineering or computer systems. This competency is taught in educational institutions or universities. 2) Core competency is an invisible competency group that does not require specific techniques

http://iaeme.com/Home/journal/IJM 548 [email protected] Competency of Professional Lawyers: An Innovative Model of National Professional Development for Free Movement in the Asean Economic Community or functions but is a fundamental competency for working in the organization as a member and 3) leadership competency is an important competency for executives and supervisors which has a direct relationship with work. The application of competency concepts in the organization also helps support key performance indicator because the performance will be an indicator and shows what needed competency that is able to help and drive to better organization. If employees are always able to adjust their performance to suit the work that the organization needs, in the long run, it will result in a specific competency of that organization and be able to enable the organization to achieve the most effective work.

3.3. ASEAN Community Concept ASEAN Community concept is the goal of the integration of 10 ASEAN member countries (ASEAN, 2012) to increase the bargaining power and competitiveness of ASEAN in the international state in every aspect including the ability to handle new problems at the global level that affects ASEAN, such as global warming, terrorism, etc. The ASEAN Community consists of 3 sub-communities which are like three related pillars (ASEAN Secretariat, 2008; 2009a; 2009b), namely 1) ASEAN Political-Security Community 2) ASEAN Economic Community and 3) ASEAN Socio-Cultural Community. As for the pillar of ASEAN Economic Community (AEC), the objective is to set the ASEAN 2020 vision for Southeast Asia to be stable, prosperous and able to compete with other regions. ASEAN Secretariat, 2008 1) aims at the free flow of goods, services, investment, capital, economic development and the reduction of poverty and social inequality issues by 2020. 2) Aims to establish ASEAN as a single market and production base by initiating new mechanisms and measures in the implementation of existing economic initiatives. 3) Provides assistance to new member countries of ASEAN (Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar and Vietnam or CLMV) to narrow the development gap and help these countries participate in the ASEAN economic integration process, and 4) promotes cooperation in the policies related to finance and macroeconomic, financial markets, capital markets, insurance and tax, infrastructure and transportation development, legal cooperation framework, cooperation and development in agriculture, energy, tourism and human resource development by raising the level of education and skill development. In this regard, ASEAN leaders have agreed to expedite the integration of 11 major products and services into pilot branches such as agricultural products/ fishery products/ wood products/ rubber products/ textiles/ automobiles/ electronics / information technology (E-ASEAN)/ health services/ tourism and air transportation (aviation), resulting in the cooperation framework for this area to be the one that allows member countries to prepare for the free movement of economy because it affects on the country's economic development both in the short and long term.

4. RESEARCH METHODOLOGY For research methodology, the researcher uses the constructivism as a knowledge claim (Creswell, 2009). The researcher believes that the truth is diverse and appears in people's hearts (Guba, 1990). Therefore, this research uses qualitative research to enable researcher to understand the feelings, insights, experiences, and opinions of informants (Cresswell, 2003; Patton, 2002). In addition, under the research paradigm, the researcher uses the strategies of inquiry to study the phenomenology because this research needs the answer as in-depth description that is specific and suitable according to the characteristics of qualitative research (Creswell & Clark, 2007). The population used in the study is 2 groups which are 1) the group that provides information about the competency of lawyers such as president of the council and the professional lawyer committee in Lao PDR, representative from the Ministry of

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Justice, representative from the Ministry of Trade and Investment, representative from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, president of the government department and business sector that are related to professional lawyers in Laos. The researcher uses 12 purposive samplings, which are in accordance with the size determination method of key informants in qualitative research that uses phenomenology strategy (Kuzel, 1999, cited in B. Marshall et al., 2013). The tools used in the research are interview forms that content validity and language are checked by experts and conducted in-depth interviews. In addition, the researcher has studied and collected additional information about competency development from books, articles, and related research both domestically and internationally so that the research results can be used appropriately with the context. 2) The group that provides examination and certification of competency models of professional lawyers who are representative from the Ministry of Justice, legal scholars in Lao PDR and a professional lawyer committee in Laos. The researcher uses 12 purposive samplings for data collection and examination by using connoisseurship (Eisner, 1985; 1998). As for the analysis of data obtained from interviews, the researcher has organized the system by dividing the categories and summarizing the data (Miles & Huberman, 1984) in order to provide accurate information and be able to lead to conclusions found in research (Corbin & Strauss, 2008). For rigor criteria, the researcher uses a three-dimensional data analysis methodology based on findings and interpretations of collected data for greater credibility (Lincoln & Guba, 1985).

5. RESULTS AND DISCUSSIONS The study results show that the competency of professional lawyers to support ASEAN Economic Community can be divided into 3 categories which are; 1) The core competency of a professional lawyer includes human relations, continuous learning ability, job responsibility, reliability, self-confidence, enthusiasm and agility, having ethics, integrity and sense of service. 2) Professional competency of professional lawyers consists of 2.1) Knowledge: which is legal understanding of the system and working process. 2.2) Skills: such as working with other people and other teams, cooperation, seeking information, being adviser and giving advises, solving problems, persuading and motivating others, making decisions, clarifying, compiling data, listening, understanding and responding, communicating by writing, critical thinking and managing information, systematic thinking, giving and receiving data, negotiation, conflict management, compromising and time management. 2.3) Attributes: which are focusing on success, carefulness, compliance with rules/ regulations, management of urgency, emotional and personality control and tolerance of stress and adverse situations. 3) AEC perspective competency consists of 3.1) Knowledge: which is knowledge of the ASEAN Economic Community. 3.2) Skills: such as change management, vision, networking, cooperation, leadership, personal/ professional relations, and ability to use foreign languages 3.3) Attributes: that are flexibility and adaptation. The results of the examination and certification of the competency model of professional lawyers to support the ASEAN Economic Community by the method based on connoisseurship, found that all experts agree on the principles, objectives, compositions and results of the model which consists of: Principles: Lao People's Democratic Republic (Laos PDR) is a member of the ASEAN Community. By joining the framework of the ASEAN Community Cooperation, it will result in a region to have high competitiveness as well as member countries to have economic, society and culture progress resulting from cooperation and trade between them. The ASEAN Economic Community (AEC) is one of the pillars of cooperation under the framework of the ASEAN Community which is important and affects the economy of the Lao People's

http://iaeme.com/Home/journal/IJM 550 [email protected] Competency of Professional Lawyers: An Innovative Model of National Professional Development for Free Movement in the Asean Economic Community

Democratic Republic (Lao PDR). The competency model of professional lawyers in Laos to support the ASEAN Economic Community is developed to provide lawyers with guidance in preparation and self-development in accordance with their needs and necessities (Daicoff, 2012) as well as the professional organization of lawyers can develop and encourage professional lawyers in Lao People's Democratic Republic (Lao PDR) to have the potential to work appropriately in order to support the ASEAN Economic Community (Corrall, 2005). Objectives: 1) It is an important pattern for the development of professional lawyers in Lao People's Democratic Republic (Lao PDR) to be able to work efficiently. 2) It is to be able to bring details of each competency to determine as a guideline for the development and promotion of professional lawyers in Lao People's Democratic Republic (Lao PDR) to have the potential to work both at the national and ASEAN levels. Compositions: 1) Core competency is a common characteristic of every professional lawyer that is required in order to create behavior and values that should be shared. It is to maximize the benefit of the organization, people and the nation (Silver, 2006), such as human relations, continuous learning ability, job responsibility, reliability, self-confidence, enthusiasm and agility, having ethics, integrity and sense of service. 2) Professional competency of professional lawyers is an important characteristic for every professional lawyer that is required to perform duties in order to be able to achieve the objectives for the highest benefit of the clients (Marsden & Buhler, 2018) including 2.1) Knowledge: which is legal understanding of the system and working process. 2.2) Skills: such as working with other people and other teams, cooperation, seeking information, being adviser and giving advises, solving problems, persuading and motivating others, making decisions, clarifying, compiling data, listening, understanding and responding, communicating by writing, critical thinking and managing information, systematic thinking, giving and receiving data, negotiation, conflict management, compromising and time management. 2.3) Attributes: which are focusing on success, carefulness, compliance with rules/ regulations, management of urgency, emotional and personality control and tolerance of stress and adverse situations. 3) AEC perspective competency is a characteristic that professional lawyers need in order to be able to provide services to promote and develop cooperation in the ASEAN Economic Community with the policies related to finance and macroeconomic, financial markets, capital markets, insurance and tax, infrastructure and transportation development, legal cooperation framework, cooperation and development in agriculture, energy, tourism and human resource which consists of 3.1) Knowledge: which is knowledge of the ASEAN Economic Community. 3.2) Skills: such as change management, vision, networking, cooperation, leadership, personal/ professional relations, and ability to use foreign languages 3.3) Attributes: that are flexibility and adaptation. Based on this study, the all 3 competency components can be called "Professional Lawyer of Lao PDR - Delta Model" as figure 1

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Professional Competency

1 2 Lawyer of Lao PDR Core AEC Competency Perspective Competency

Figure 1 Professional Lawyer of Lao PDR - Delta Model Model Outcomes: The results of the model: competency model of professional lawyers in Lao People's Democratic Republic (Lao PDR) to support the ASEAN Economic Community has the main objective that is an important pattern for the development of professional lawyers in Lao People's Democratic Republic (Lao PDR) to be able to work effectively both at the national and ASEAN levels as well as to increase human resource capabilities at national and international competitions (Corrall, 2005). The study examines the details of competency that can be defined as a professional lawyer development guideline which will be useful to lawyers, professional organizations and countries including 1) Professional lawyers have guidelines for appropriate preparation and self-development that are consistent with the needs and necessities to support the ASEAN Economic Community (Polden, 2012). 2) Professional organization, the Lawyers Council of Lao People's Democratic Republic (Lao PDR) has the tools to develop and upgrade the professional lawyers with standards and suit the national context (Corrall & O'Brien, 2011). 3) Educational institutions in Lao People's Democratic Republic (Lao PDR), which are related to the teaching and development of personnel, gain knowledge about professional competency and lead to the development and further knowledge and 4) There is confidence in the professional competency of Lao People's Democratic Republic (Lao PDR) in the private and business sectors that operate locally and internationally at ASEAN level.

6. CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATIONS The key of national development in an era of change and competition as in the present, is to develop human resources to be ready for changes in the economic situation which must take into account the preparation especially human resources who are the skilled labors and also the specific profession that must prepare to enter the international competition that has an intense tendency continuously. In order to develop professional lawyers to reach standards and be ready for competition in the ASEAN level, the development of a competency model for professional lawyers in Lao People's Democratic Republic (Lao PDR) to support the ASEAN Community is therefore an important issue. Key competencies include core

http://iaeme.com/Home/journal/IJM 552 [email protected] Competency of Professional Lawyers: An Innovative Model of National Professional Development for Free Movement in the Asean Economic Community competency, professional competency and AEC perspective competency. The 3 characteristics of competency will be an important pattern in the development of professional lawyers in Lao People's Democratic Republic (Lao PDR) to be ready and able to develop themselves appropriately in accordance with the needs and necessities in order to be able to work professionally at both the national and ASEAN levels as well as to increase the capability of human resources of the country to compete at the national and international level. In addition, professional organization or the Lawyers Council of Lao People's Democratic Republic (Lao PDR) has tools that can develop and upgrade professional lawyers with standards and suit the country's context. This will lead to the development and upgrade the capability of professional lawyers in Laos to be quality human resources and ready to handle the future changes in the international level.

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http://iaeme.com/Home/journal/IJM 554 [email protected] Competency of Professional Lawyers: An Innovative Model of National Professional Development for Free Movement in the Asean Economic Community

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