On August 20, continuing the First Extraordinary Session, the National Assembly listened to a summary report on the draft Criminal Procedure Code (amended).
Presenting the report, Member of the Party Central Committee, Director of the Supreme People's Procuracy Nguyen Huy Tien said that after more than 8 years of implementation, the 2015 Criminal Procedure Code (BLTTHS) has revealed some limitations, especially in terms of complicated procedures, shortened procedures have not fully promoted effectiveness, regulations on electronic evidence and legal proceedings in the digital environment have not met practical requirements.
The draft law is built in a streamlined, modern, and effective direction, while ensuring human rights, citizen rights and strengthening power control. The draft focuses on 6 major groups of issues.
Including innovating procedural procedures in a streamlined and effective direction. Simplifying some procedures, reducing unnecessary paperwork and certification requirements, and standardizing procedural procedures.
In particular, innovate and expand shortened procedures, including regulations on mandatory shortened procedures, shortened procedures in the appellate trial phase and supplementing cases where defendants voluntarily admit guilt and accept punishment to enjoy leniency policies.
The application must ensure voluntariness, be fully explained about rights, obligations and legal consequences; confession must be consistent with other objective evidence and must not be the only evidence to indict or convict.
The draft law also strengthens differentiation and implements a policy of leniency. Typically, the draft supplements the principle of differentiating procedural procedures, allowing the selection of procedures suitable to the nature and severity of the act, personal background, declaration attitude, level of cooperation and remedy of consequences.
At the same time, supplement cases of prosecution at the request of the victim, cases of non-prosecution, exemption from criminal liability and supplement procedures for temporary suspension of criminal prosecution, ensuring synchronization with the policies of the Penal Code (amended).
The draft also continues to clearly define the authority between agencies, levels of prosecution and between heads and investigators, prosecutors, judges; linking authority with responsibility and power control.
Along with that is the conditional expansion of the authority of intermediate and senior investigators who are Heads and Deputy Heads of commune-level police in investigating a number of very serious cases with simple nature and clear evidence occurring in commune-level areas, thereby promoting resources at the grassroots level and reducing the burden on provincial-level investigating agencies.
Another new point is that the draft for the first time stipulates the concept of "electronic prosecution" and the principle of ensuring the implementation of procedural activities in the electronic environment in accordance with the law.
This is the legal basis for strongly shifting from traditional litigation methods to modern litigation on a digital data platform.
