Summary of some outstanding new points of the Law on Organization of People’s Procuracies of Vietnam

To properly understand and unify the provisions of the law, the Law on Organization of People’s Procuracies of Vietnam clearly defines the categories of "exercising prosecutorial power" and "supervising judicial activities". Exercising the power to prosecute means an activity of people’s procuracies in criminal procedure to make the State’s accusation against offenders. The power to prosecute shall be exercised right upon the settlement of reports and information on crimes and recommendations for prosecution and throughout the course of institution, investigation, prosecution and adjudication of criminal cases. Supervising judicial activities means an activity of people’s procuracies to supervise the lawfulness of acts and decisions committed or made by agencies, organizations and individuals in judicial activities. The supervision of judicial activities shall be conducted right upon the receipt and settlement of reports and information on crimes and recommendations for prosecution and throughout the course of settlement of criminal cases; in the settlement of administrative cases, civil, marriage and family, business, commercial and labor cases and matters; in the execution of judgments and settlement of complaints and denunciations about judicial activities; and in other judicial activities in accordance with law.

Concretize progressive judicial principles stipulated in the 2013 Constitution that are directly related to the activities of the People's Procuracy such as the principle of presumption of innocence, litigation during trial, asking for defense counsel, timely trial, and strict handling of law violators in judicial activities etc. Accordingly, Article 3 and Section 1 of the Law clearly stipulate the role of the prosecutor right from the time of receiving and resolving denunciations, crime reports and recommendations for prosecution: All offenses and offenders shall be detected, charged, investigated, prosecuted and adjudicated in a prompt, strict, accurate, fair and lawful manner, neither let injustice be done on the innocent nor omit offenses and offenders; No person will be charged with an offense, arrested, held in custody or temporary detention or have their human rights or citizens’ rights restricted in contravention of law.

The Law on Organization of People’s Procuracies of Vietnam has clarified the principle of centralization and unified leadership in the Industry (Article 7); clearly specified positions, duties and powers of the General Procurator of the Supreme People’s Procuracy and General Procurators of People’s Procuracies at all levels. Regarding principles on organization and operation of people’s procuracies, a people’s procuracy shall be led by the chief procurator. Chief procurators of people’s procuracies at lower levels shall submit to the leadership of chief procurators of people’s procuracies at higher levels. Chief procurators of people’s procuracies at lower levels shall submit to the unified leadership of the Procurator General of the Supreme People’s Procuracy. People’s procuracies at higher levels shall inspect and strictly handle violations committed by people’s procuracies at lower levels. Chief procurators of people’s procuracies at higher levels may revoke, suspend or cancel illegal decisions issued by chief procurators of people’s procuracies at lower levels. The Law on Organization of People’s Procuracies also adjusts regulations on the role of the Procuracy Committee to ensure compliance with the authority and procedural responsibilities of the Chief Procurator of the People's Procuracy in judicial activities (Article 43).

Regarding functions and tasks, the Law clearly stipulates the object, content, scope, and purpose of each function of exercising the right to prosecute and supervise judicial activities.

Clearly define the basic work and authority of the People's Procuracy in each field, lay the foundation for forming a theoretical basis for the functions of the People's Procuracy, ensuring unified awareness and effective operations in practice; regulations on other tasks the People's Procuracy is carrying out that are not yet regulated by the Law, such as: International cooperation and mutual legal assistance; crime statistics and criminological statistics; scientific research; law making; training and retraining; responsibilities and obligations of agencies, organizations and individuals in implementing requests, recommendations and protests of the People's Procuracy.

Regarding the organizational structure and judicial positions, Procuracies are organized in a unified system, including the people’s procuracy system and military procuracies at different levels. According to Article 40 of the Law on Organization of People’s Procuracies of Vietnam, the people’s procuracy system is specified as in the Conclusion No. 79-KL/TW, including the following 4 levels: The Supreme People’s Procuracy; Superior people’s procuracies; People’s procuracies of provinces and central-affiliated cities (below referred to as provincial-level people’s procuracies); People’s procuracies of rural districts, urban districts, towns, provincial cities and the equivalent (below referred to as district-level people’s procuracies).

According to Article 58 of the Law on Organization of People’s Procuracies of Vietnam stipulating judicial positions in the People's Procuracy, the Law also specifies standards for appointing Procurators, appointing Procurators in special cases and the term of office of Procurators (Section 3, Chapter IV). According to this Law, the initial term of office of procurator is 5 years. For procurators who are reappointed or entitled to rank promotion, the subsequent term of office is 10 years.

The Law on Organization of People’s Procuracies (amended) of Vietnam takes effect from June 01, 2015.

Source: Website of the Ministry of Justice

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