At the seminar on draft laws drafted by the Ministry of Public Security on the afternoon of June 13, delegates shared comments related to the proposal to abolish the death penalty for 8 crimes.
Mr. Nguyen Cong Long - full-time member of the National Assembly's Committee on Law and Justice - said that the death penalty is the most severe punishment in the legal system.
According to Mr. Long, the Penal Code not only has the function of punishment but also is a tool to express criminal policies, playing a role in preventing and deterring crimes.
"S lowering the death penalty does not mean the law becomes weak. It is important to synchronously complete other legal tools, especially enhancing the ability to prevent and suppress crimes early" - Mr. Long said.
Giving an example of the crime of producing counterfeit goods and medicine, Mr. Long said that to prevent and handle this type of "non-violent crime", it is necessary to improve the effectiveness of the State management system, not just rely on punishment in the Penal Code.
With mixed opinions on the death penalty for the crime of "Illegal transportation of drugs", Mr. Long gave a case of a drug transportator with low legal awareness, poor or for temporary gain, being taken advantage of. If the most severe form of punishment was applied to these people, according to Mr. Long, perhaps criminals would not be differentiated.
"According to the summary, specialized agencies consider abolishing the death penalty for this crime, but not being lenient, but focusing on handling drug dealers and illegal drug producers" - Mr. Long emphasized.
For the crimes of Embezzlement and Receiving bribes, Mr. Long said that the highest sentence is the death penalty with a very high deterrent effect.
However, delegate Nguyen Cong Long said that up to now, there has never been a case of death due to embezzlement or corruption because the criminals have all shown remorse, repentance and remedied the consequences.
The National Assembly Standing Committee gave its opinion on the reception, explanation, and revision of the draft Law amending and supplementing a number of articles of the Penal Code (amended) on the afternoon of June 10.
Deputy Minister of Public Security Le Quoc Hung said that in this amendment, the Government proposed to remove 8 crimes with the death penalty based on careful research and assessment of the issues.
The Government finds that abolishing the death penalty for 8 crimes as in the draft law submitted to the 15th National Assembly at the 9th Session is appropriate in the current conditions of our country.
This is partly to meet the requirements of fighting against crime, while also meeting the process of continuing to reduce the death penalty, as well as the requirements of cooperation and expanding international relations to develop the country.
As for the crimes of Embezzlement and the crime of Receiving bribes, after the death penalty is abolished, to ensure the recovery of assets obtained from the crime, and at the same time encourage the offender to actively declare during the process of handling the case.
The draft law has amended and supplemented the regulation that people sentenced to life in prison for Embezzlement and Bribery can only have their prison term reduced if they have proactively returned at least 3/4 of their Embezzlement and Bribery assets and have actively cooperated with competent authorities in detecting, investigating, handling crimes or making major contributions during the investigation, prosecution and trial period.
