Opening of a short course on religious and legal principles.

Professor Wayne Cole Durham, Director of the International Center for Law and Religion at Brigham Young University (USA), is speaking at the opening ceremony.

Attending the opening ceremony from the international side were Professor Wayne Cole Durham, Director of the International Centre for Law and Religion, Brigham Young University (USA); Dr. Chris Seiple, former President of the Institute for Global Engagement (IGE); Mr. John Patrick Gallagher, President of the Institute for Global Engagement (IGE); and Ms. Vu Thi Mai Hien, representative of the Institute for Global Engagement (IGE) in Vietnam, the co-organizer of the event.

Among the domestic guests were Dr. Trinh Ngoc Thach, Deputy Chairman of the Committee on Culture, Youth and Children of the National Assembly; Mr. Duong Van Kha, Chief of the Office of the Government's Religious Affairs Committee; Assoc. Prof. Dr. Pham Quang Minh, Vice Rector of the University of Social Sciences and Humanities, Vietnam National University, Hanoi, along with numerous professors and researchers from across the country...

Today, religion holds an increasingly important position and is always considered a special area in social life. Building a rule of law state regarding religion has become a common and urgent task for all countries in the world, as it is the path and the effective means to resolve the relationship between religion and the state, and between religion and society.

In this context, religious law has become a specialized field within social sciences in general and legal sciences in particular. The Socialist Republic of Vietnam is also on the path to building a socialist rule of law state; therefore, the need to develop a specialized field of religious law has become more urgent than ever. For Vietnam, this must begin with the dissemination, education, and training of researchers and law enforcement officials in this area.

All the course participants took a group photo with the scholars and guests attending the opening ceremony.

Based on that experience, the University of Social Sciences and Humanities has collaborated with Brigham Young University (USA) to offer short-term courses on the rule of law in Vietnam. 2015 marked the fourth year the course was organized under the cooperation of the two institutions.

The course was attended by 70 participants, all of whom were officials with expertise in religious studies, law, political science, social management, philosophy, and cultural studies from various agencies and regions across Vietnam. The instructors were leading professors of religious law from both Vietnam and abroad.