On the afternoon of May 27, the National Assembly discussed the draft Law amending and supplementing a number of articles of the Criminal Procedure Code.
Explaining and clarifying some contents at the discussion session, Director of the Supreme People's Procuracy (SPP) Nguyen Huy Tien said that adding authority to the commune police chief and deputy police chief as investigators with the authority to investigate and prosecute is a practical requirement.
Because, after the end of the district-level police, the practical investigation activities are "out of place".
Director Nguyen Huy Tien said that this was the first time an investigation force was organized at the commune level. While previously, the commune police were only assigned some initial tasks.
Agreeing with the delegates' opinion on the need to increase the capacity of the commune police force when assigning authority to investigate and prosecute cases, Director Nguyen Huy Tien said that the upcoming police force in the commune police will be increased from the provincial and district levels.
"According to the report of the Ministry of Public Security, each commune will have 30-40 police officers, even in special areas of Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City, there can be 50-60 police officers. The corresponding number of investigators is 6-7 or 8-10 investigators, informed Director Nguyen Huy Tien.
According to the Chief Justice of the Supreme People's Procuracy, the draft law only stipulates that intermediate investigators and above are deputy police chiefs and commune police chiefs who are authorized to exercise certain powers directly authorized by the heads of provincial-level investigation agencies through law.
"This person was commanded to be an investigator at the commune police station, not that there is only one investigator in the commune," the Director of the Institute reported.
The Director emphasized that such forces will be arranged to prosecute and investigate cases and incidents of a serious nature with a maximum penalty of 7 years in prison.
Regarding the issue of absent trial, Mr. Nguyen Huy Tien emphasized that this is very effective. Through investigation, prosecution, trial in absentia and especially economic crimes and corruption, some subjects after sentencing have returned to serve their sentences. The decision by judgment has legal value for foreign countries.
From there, to carry out the possibility of extradition or we take measures to require a return to serve the sentence. Previously, we had cases in absentia but the investigation and prosecution have not added.
This has been assigned in the draft law to the Minister of Public Security as well as the Chief Prosecutor and Chief Justice to specify. If we stipulate everything in detail in one law, it will be very difficult.
"We will review this issue so that after the law is passed, we will implement the instructions. For example, how to send people, how to send people, how to use the means or widely announce through the mass media so that the subjects can grasp and we will do it in the instructions", said Mr. Nguyen Huy Tien.
