Official proposal to abolish the crime of 'online business punishable by imprisonment'.
The crime of providing illegal services on computer networks and telecommunication networks (Article 292, Penal Code) has just been proposed by the Government to be removed from its submission to the National Assembly.
According to the draft Law amending and supplementing a number of articles of the Penal Code presented by the Minister of Justice, Le Thanh Long, to the National Assembly on the morning of October 21, the draft Law proposed removing Article 292 of the 2015 Penal Code - which stipulates the crime of providing illegal services on computer networks and telecommunication networks.
According to the report, the crime of providing illegal services on computer networks and telecommunication networks (Article 292) is one of the 10 crimes in the field of information technology and telecommunication networks stipulated in the 2015 Penal Code.
However, the definition of this crime does not clearly reflect the danger to public safety; in fact, it constitutes the crime of "illegal business" in the online environment. Essentially, this is an economic crime, yet it is placed under the chapter on "crimes against public safety and public order."
Furthermore, given that the list of conditional business sectors includes 267 professions and occupations, it is unreasonable to only stipulate that online business activities are subject to criminal prosecution."Therefore, there is inequality and inconsistency. Considering that the crime of illegal business has been abolished, Article 292 should also be abolished," Minister Le Thanh Long said.
The Minister of Justice also stated that during the drafting of the Law, there were opinions suggesting that the provisions of Article 292 of the 2015 Penal Code were necessary. However, it is necessary to narrow the scope of this crime to make it more appropriate, at least to cover illegal gold trading or illegal multi-level marketing online that generates large illicit profits.
Regarding the review of this bill, the Chair of the Judiciary Committee, Le Thi Nga, stated that the majority of opinions within the reviewing body agreed to remove Article 292.
However, some have suggested that criminal prosecution be imposed on online gold trading, illegal multi-level marketing schemes, etc., due to their wide-ranging impact, nature, and high level of danger to society.The criminalization of these acts needs careful consideration and should be stipulated in the definition of the crime and the sentencing framework to ensure strict enforcement.
"These are issues related to specialized state management and the review process includes recommendations from the State Bank of Vietnam and the Ministry of Industry and Trade. Therefore, an official stance from the Government is needed," Ms. Nga stated.
According to VNE
