If investigator is the fiancé of the victim, is there a need to change in Vietnam?

If investigator is the fiancé of the victim, is there a need to change in Vietnam?

Article 51 of the 2015 Criminal Procedure Code provides for replacement of investigators and investigation officers as follows:

1. Investigators and investigation officers must decline to engage in legal proceedings or submit to replacement in the following events:

a) As per stipulations in Article 49 of this Law;

b) They have engaged in legal proceedings of the lawsuit as procurators, checkers, judges, lay assessors, verifiers or Court clerks.

2. The head or vice heads of the investigation authority shall decide the replacement of investigators and investigation officers.

If the replaced investigator is the head of the investigation authority according to Section 1 of this Article, the superior investigation authority shall directly investigate the case.

At Point e, Clause 1, Article 4 of the 2015 Criminal Procedure Code:

1. In this Law, words and phrases below are construed as follows:

e) Kindred of persons engaging in or commission to institute proceedings is composed of individuals having relationships with persons participating or authorized to conduct proceedings. Such individuals include spouse, biological and adoptive parents, parents in law, biological and adopted children, paternal and maternal grandparents, biological siblings, maternal and paternal great grandparents, biological uncles and aunts, biological nephews and nieces.

According to the current regulations in Vietnam, the case where the investigator is the fiancé of the victim is not in the case of replacement of investigators because he is a relative. However, in cases where it is determined that there are other clear grounds to believe that they may not be impartial while on duty, it may still be subject to change.

What are duties, authority and responsibilities of investigators in Vietnam? 

Article 37 of the 2015 Criminal Procedure Code provides for duties, authority and responsibilities of investigators as follows:

1. Investigators, as assigned to file charges and investigate criminal cases, have the following duties and authority:

a) Directly inspect, verify and document criminal information;

b) Document criminal cases;

c) Request or recommend the designation and replacement of defense counsels, interpreters and translators;

d) Summon and interrogate suspects; convene denouncers, informants, persons denounced or facing position of charges, legal representatives of juridical persons to obtain their statements; take statements from persons held in emergency custody, arrested, temporarily detained; convoke witness testifiers, crime victims and plaintiffs for their statements;

dd) Make decisions on delivering by force persons held in emergency custody, arrested, temporarily detained, suspects; escorting by force witness testifiers, persons denounced or charged, crime victims; make decisions on transferring persons under 18 to entities responsible for supervision; decide changes of supervisors of perpetrators under 18;

e) Enforce emergency custody orders, decisions or orders of arrest, temporary detainment or detention, search, seizure, withholding, distrainment of property, freezing of accounts, handling of evidences;

g) Search crime scenes, unearth and dissect corpses, examine traces on bodies, confront persons involved, facilitate identifications, conduct experimental investigations;

h) Perform other duties and authority of legal proceedings within the powers of investigation authorities as per assignments by the head according to this Law.

2. Investigators shall be held liable under the laws and before the head and vice heads of the investigation authority for their actions and decisions.

According to this Article, investigators have duties, authority and responsibilities in Vietnam as prescribed above.

Will investigators who deliberately disclose their investigative secrets be liable for criminal prosecution in Vietnam?

In Article 361 of the 2015 Penal Code, there are provisions on deliberate revelation of work secrets; appropriation, trading, destruction of work secret documents is as follows:

1. Any person who deliberately discloses, appropriates, buys, sells or destroys work secrets, except in the circumstances specified in Article 110, 337 and 342 hereof, shall face a penalty of up to 03 years' community sentence or 06 - 35 months' imprisonment.

2. This offence committed in any of the following circumstances carries a penalty of 02 - 07 years' imprisonment:

a) The offence is committed by an organized group;

b) The offence has been committed more than once;

c) The illegal profit earned is ≥ VND 50,000,000;

d) The property damage caused by the offence is assessed at ≥ VND 100,000,000;

dd) The offence has a negative impact on the operation of an agency or organization;

e) The secrets are used by another person to commit violations of law.

3. The offender might also be prohibited from holding certain positions or doing certain jobs for 01 - 05 years.

Thus, an investigator who deliberately discloses a secret investigation will be liable for criminal prosecution in Vietnam for the crime of deliberate revelation of work secrets; appropriation, trading, destruction of work secret documents.

Best Regards!