Ministry of Public Security proposes to abolish the death penalty for 6 crimes

In the afternoon of August 18, the National Assembly Standing Committee gave opinions on the draft Penal Code (amended).

Presenting a summary report on the project, Senior Lieutenant General Le Van Tuyen, Member of the Party Central Committee, Deputy Minister of Public Security, said that the draft expands the scope of criminal liability for acts of preparing to commit crimes for 13 charges, focusing on groups of crimes of economic management order; public order and safety.

This expansion is aimed at early handling of acts that are still in the preparation stage but have clearly revealed the will to commit crimes, are organized, have tools, means, and specific goals to improve the effectiveness of prevention and prevention of consequences;

Expanding the scope of criminal liability of commercial legal entities for 20 crimes, focusing on the fields of tax, finance, securities, insurance, land, labor, and labor safety to meet the requirements of practice, improve deterrence, prevention and create a safe and healthy business environment.

The draft law also adds 9 new charges, focusing on the fields of: economic management order, network security, high technology, environment, public safety, proliferation of weapons of mass destruction.

At the same time, adding to the constituent elements of current crimes are some new objective acts, especially crimes in the fields of information technology, telecommunications networks, economy, commerce, and intellectual property to overcome gaps in criminal law and avoid letting criminals escape.

Senior Lieutenant General Le Van Tuyen clearly stated that the draft has also amended and supplemented regulations on penalties.

In which, it is proposed to narrow the scope of application of the death penalty for 6 crimes, only keeping the death penalty for 4 crimes including treason, murder, terrorism, and illegal production of narcotics.

This reduction, according to Senior Lieutenant General Le Van Tuyen, aims to institutionalize the Party's policy, in line with the progressive legislative trend, and enhance Vietnam's position in criminal justice cooperation, extradition, and judicial assistance.

Presenting the appraisal report of the draft law, Member of the Party Central Committee, Chairman of the Law and Justice Committee Phan Chi Hieu clearly stated that the Committee agreed with the direction of amending the Penal Code in the direction of further narrowing the scope of application of the death penalty.

Many opinions in the Committee suggested cautiously considering the abolition of the death penalty for some crimes including illegal drug trafficking, rape of people under 16 years old, crimes against humanity and war crimes.

This is to avoid causing adverse effects on the effectiveness of deterrence, prevention, and handling of crimes and needs to be placed in relation to the dangerous nature of crimes as well as the effectiveness in the overall measures to prevent and combat particularly dangerous crimes, in accordance with international law.

Giving opinions on this content, Politburo Member, National Assembly Chairman Tran Thanh Man highly appreciated the proactiveness and urgency of the drafting agency in amending the law in great detail. According to the National Assembly Chairman, this law is related to human rights, so it needs to be done carefully, discussing each article and clause to ensure clarity.