When will Decision to prosecute a criminal case after resolving a crime report be issued in Vietnam?

When will Decision to prosecute a criminal case after resolving a crime report be issued in Vietnam? (Illustrative image)

In Article 16 of Circular 28/2020/TT-BCA, it is stipulated that on the basis of the verification and investigation results, the assigned Investigator or Investigation Officer in Vietnam has the following responsibilities:

1. In case there are signs of a crime and there are grounds for prosecuting a criminal case, a draft Decision to Prosecute a Criminal Case along with the Report on the conclusion of the verification of crime reports, together with the related file and documents shall be reported to the direct leadership for comments before being submitted to the Head or Deputy Head of the assigned (or authorized) Investigating Agency; the Head or Deputy Head of the agency assigned the task of conducting certain investigative activities of the People's Police, for approval and signing to promulgate. Within 24 hours from the issuance of the Decision to Prosecute a Criminal Case, the Investigating Agency and the agency assigned the task of conducting certain investigative activities of the People's Police must send that Decision along with related documents to the same-level Procuracy or the competent Procuracy for examination of the prosecution decision in Vietnam.

2. In case it is determined that there are no signs of a crime or for crimes specified in paragraph 1 of Articles 134, 135, 136, 138, 139, 141, 143, 155, 156, and 226 of the Penal Code, where the victim or the representative of the victim does not request prosecution, a draft Decision not to Prosecute a Criminal Case along with the Report on the conclusion of the verification of crime reports, together with the related file and documents shall be reported to the direct leadership for comments before being submitted to the Head or Deputy Head of the assigned (or authorized) Investigating Agency; the Head or Deputy Head of the agency assigned the task of conducting certain investigative activities of the People's Police, for approval and signing to promulgate. Within 24 hours from the issuance of the Decision not to Prosecute a Criminal Case, the Investigating Agency and the agency assigned the task of conducting certain investigative activities of the People's Police must send that Decision along with related documents to the same-level Procuracy or the competent Procuracy.

3. Suspend the resolution of crime reports and petitions for prosecution in Vietnam

- In case the time limit for resolving crime reports, petitions for prosecution has expired but there are not enough grounds to issue a Decision to Prosecute a Criminal Case or a Decision not to Prosecute a Criminal Case, and there are grounds to temporarily suspend the resolution as stipulated in paragraph 1, Article 148 of the 2015 Criminal Procedure Code, a draft Decision to Temporarily Suspend the resolution of crime reports along with the Report on the conclusion of the verification of crime reports, together with the related file and documents shall be reported to the direct leadership for comments before being submitted to the Head or Deputy Head of the assigned (or authorized) Investigating Agency; the Head or Deputy Head of the agency assigned the task of conducting certain investigative activities of the People's Police, for approval and signing;

- In case the time limit for resolving crime reports, petitions for prosecution has expired but there are not enough grounds to issue a Decision to Prosecute a Criminal Case or a Decision not to Prosecute a Criminal Case, and there are no grounds to temporarily suspend the resolution of crime reports and petitions for prosecution as stipulated in paragraph 1, Article 148 of the 2015 Criminal Procedure Code, report to the direct leadership to propose that the Head or Deputy Head of the assigned (or authorized) Investigating Agency; the Head or Deputy Head of the agency assigned the task of conducting certain investigative activities of the People's Police coordinate with the same-level procuracy or competent procuracy to unify the direction of settlement. This coordination must be documented in writing, specifically outlining the results of the verification of crime reports and petitions for prosecution; the evaluation of the collected evidence; hindering issues that obstruct clarification of case details that are not stipulated by law as grounds to issue a decision to temporarily suspend the resolution of crime reports and petitions for prosecution; the direction of settlement (viewpoint of temporary suspension of the resolution of crime reports). After the procuracy has a written exchange agreeing on the direction of settlement, a draft Decision to Temporarily Suspend the Resolution of Crime Reports, accompanied by the related documents, shall be reported to the direct leadership for comments before being submitted to the Head or Deputy Head of the assigned (or authorized) Investigating Agency; the Head or Deputy Head of the agency assigned the task of conducting certain investigative activities of the People's Police, for approval and signing;

- If the procuracy does not agree and issues a request for further investigation, verification, the Investigative agency, and the agency assigned the task of conducting certain investigative activities of the People's Police must comply with the request of the procuracy for investigation and verification;- If the procuracy does not agree and does not issue a request for investigation and verification, the lead Investigator or Investigation Officer must report to the leadership to propose that the Head or Deputy Head of the assigned (or authorized) Investigating Agency; the Head or Deputy Head of the agency assigned the task of conducting certain investigative activities of the People's Police, coordinate in issuing a document requesting the Procuracy to convene a meeting between the two judicial sectors to unify the viewpoint. If no consensus is reached, report and request direction from the superior judicial departments;

- Within 24 hours from the date of issuance of the Decision to Temporarily Suspend the Resolution of Crime Reports, the Investigative Agency and the agency assigned the task of conducting certain investigative activities of the People's Police must send that Decision along with related documents to the same-level Procuracy or the competent Procuracy for examination;

- When the grounds for temporary suspension of the resolution of crime reports and petitions for prosecution no longer exist, the lead Investigator or Investigation Officer must report clearly outlining the grounds for resuming the resolution of crime reports and petitions for prosecution and submit it to the Head or Deputy Head of the assigned (or authorized) Investigating Agency; the Head or Deputy Head of the agency assigned the task of conducting certain investigative activities of the People's Police to issue a Decision to Resume the resolution of crime reports and petitions for prosecution as stipulated in Article 149 of the 2015 Criminal Procedure Code and propose a subsequent resolution plan. Within 03 days from the date of issuance of the Decision to Resume the resolution of crime reports and petitions for prosecution, the competent authority must send the Decision to Resume to the same-level Procuracy or the competent Procuracy, the organization, and individual who reported the crime, and proposed prosecution in Vietnam (except when the reporter declined to provide personal information).

For detailed content refer to Circular 28/2020/TT-BCA, which comes into force in Vietnam from May 15, 2020.

Le Vy

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