Guidelines for exercising the right to prosecution in resolving cases of violation of social order by means of high technology in Vietnam

Guidelines for exercising the right to prosecution in resolving cases of violation of social order by means of high technology in Vietnam​ (Image from the internet)

On September 12, 2024, the Supreme People's Procuracy of Vietnam issued Guidelines 18/HD-VKSTC concerning the exercise of the right to prosecute, and the supervision of handling cases involving social order violations using high technology methods, organized crime, and transnational crime.

Guidelines for exercising the right to prosecution in resolving cases of violation of social order by means of high technology in Vietnam

In order to enhance the effectiveness of exercising the right to prosecute and supervising the handling of cases, involving social order violations using high technology methods in the new stage, the Supreme People's Procuracy has issued several guidelines as follows:

(1) During the initiation and investigation phase

- Early access to information sources to ensure objectivity in all evidence collection activities by the Investigating Agency. Carefully study the initial documents, actively grasp the methods and tricks of the offenders to promptly propose verification requirements, focusing on clarifying the characteristics of the formation, operation, and existence of electronic data; focusing on cooperating with the investigating agency to trace the money flow transferred from the victims' accounts; coordinating in apprehending individuals, exploiting initial statements to clarify the methods of crime, and determining the number of offenders.

- Closely supervise the seizure of means and electronic data, ensuring the integrity of electronic devices and data. Strictly supervise the documentation, seizure, sealing, preservation, and unsealing of electronic means.

Pay attention to the requirement of seizing disguised means (such as USBs disguised as keychains or toys...); immediately disconnect the network connection of the device containing the electronic data to avoid remote data deletion and do not shutdown (turn off) the device but instead directly cut the power supply to the CPU or laptop.

- Require the Investigating Agency to quickly copy data, paying attention to data stored on internet platforms, promptly access to exploit administrative accounts (admin) and download data to read-only devices to ensure the original state and integrity of electronic data. After backup, extracted documents should be printed, and the data collection must have witnesses, records written, and confirmation by related parties.

- Strictly supervise the decision to solicit and the conclusion of the examination. Collaborate with the Investigating Agency to propose examination requirements concerning specific contents, objects, and evidence related to criminal acts to organize examinations, focusing on extraction and filtering to avoid prolonging the waiting time for examination conclusions.

In case in-depth data examination takes time to discover hidden or encrypted software, affecting the progress of approving prosecution and investigation timelines, the Procuracy should cooperate with the Investigating Agency for quick extraction of content from devices (especially for simple data like money transfer histories, cryptocurrency, content of messages on social networks like Facebook, Messenger, WhatsApp...) and print them for the involved parties to sign as a basis for approving prosecution.

- Strictly supervise suspect interrogation, focusing on determining crime locations, times, and whether the types of devices and software used match the IP addresses and information in the seized devices.

- Be cautious when applying preventive measures against perpetrators who are outside the crime; strictly supervise the verification and freezing of accounts that have received money from the victim's account to prevent asset transfer; strictly supervise asset inventory, clarifying hiding places and asset dispersion, particularly criminal assets abroad for judicial assistance.

- For temporarily suspended cases because suspects or accused individuals have not been identified, cooperate with the Investigating Agency for regular review and management to prevent loss of case files, objects, and evidence. When new information, documents, or circumstances are detected, quickly identify suspects for arrest and handling, promptly resume investigation for legal action.

(2) During the prosecution phase:

- Prosecutors must re-evaluate evidence and documents in the case file, accurately and objectively assessing both incriminating and exculpatory evidence.

- If necessary, to assess the objectivity of the evidence collected by the Investigating Agency during the investigation phase, Prosecutors may directly interrogate accused individuals, take witness statements, examine traces and physical evidence prior to prosecuting the case.

- In cases with multiple accused and misappropriation of many victims' assets, pay attention to comprehensively assessing incriminating and exculpatory evidence to avoid wrongful prosecution or omission of crime; clearly determine the roles, positions of each accused, and the nature and extent of criminal acts when completing the indictment to ensure the law's strictness.

(3) During the trial phase:

- During the preparation for trial, cooperate with the People's Court at the same level to accelerate case resolution; proactively verify and review collected evidence, especially electronic evidence; prepare questioning outlines, draft indictments, anticipate possible situations when arguing and responding to lawyers, and defending parties to serve prosecutorial activities at trial.

- During the trial, Prosecutors must actively participate in questioning, focusing on clarifying incriminating and exculpatory evidence; use direct evidence and seized electronic evidence to counter defendants' denials; thoroughly argue against lawyers' opinions.

Note that in high-tech related cases, most victims are from different localities and may be absent from hearings. Therefore, closely coordinate with the Investigating Agency in investigative delegation activities to ensure their absence does not affect the case's resolution progress.

More details can be found in Guidelines 18/HD-VKSTC dated September 12, 2024.

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