Despite resolute handling, corruption crimes are still increasing, why?

The prevention and combating of corruption and economic crimes was one of the issues that many delegates were interested in during the discussion session on September 15 of the National Assembly Standing Committee. Some delegates asked why, despite the fact that we have resolutely dealt with this type of crime in the past, the number of cases and the number of criminals have not shown any signs of decreasing?

According to the Government report, corruption crimes are still increasing and becoming more complicated. In 2022, 637 cases were handled with 1,366 defendants for corruption crimes, an increase of 107 cases and 311 defendants compared to the same period last year.

Why is it still increasing despite being determined to handle it?

Mr. Hoang Thanh Tung - Chairman of the Law Committee of the National Assembly suggested that the Government should assess more deeply the reasons why we are determined to handle and handle very strongly but this type of crime is still increasing. This is due to loopholes in legal regulations, due to the organization of law enforcement or due to the awareness of officials leading to contempt for the law. There needs to be a deep analysis and assessment to have orientation and solutions to overcome in the coming time.

Chairman of the Law Committee Hoang Thanh Tung.

Mr. Hoang Thanh Tung also pointed out that in the fields of securities, bidding, and asset auctions, especially in asset auctions, there are illegal acts such as: price appraisal, bid appraisal, collusion in dividing bid packages to designate bidders, using "blue and red troops" to manipulate bid prices, and round-trip buying and selling to increase prices many times.

“These are very typical acts that have occurred in a series of cases, especially those related to land and land auctions for land use rights in recent times. In addition, we also request a report to clarify the reasons why in recent times many large and dangerous corruption and economic cases have been handled very resolutely and strictly, with a very high deterrent effect, but this type of crime has not shown any signs of decreasing but has increased relatively high. Especially cases such as the case of Viet A Joint Stock Company, the case of the Consular Department, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and the FLC Group, so we request a deeper analysis and effective solutions to control and repel this type of crime,” the Chairman of the National Assembly’s Law Committee emphasized.

Promote solutions to prevent corruption

Regarding solutions, Mr. Hoang Thanh Tung said that the work of propaganda, dissemination and legal education in the field of anti-corruption law must take into account the very specific subjects of this type of crime.

“The main violators here are officials, civil servants, and public employees with positions and powers, so in reality, the awareness of these subjects is not low. Therefore, the work of propagating, disseminating, and educating about the law needs to be invested in appropriate forms to make it substantial and effective, avoiding the same propaganda and dissemination as for the general public, which is not appropriate,” the Chairman of the National Assembly’s Law Committee stated.

In addition, Mr. Tung also suggested increasing the application of information technology and implementing well the work of publicizing information, especially information on regimes and policies on land use planning, urban planning, etc. to limit opportunities that people do not fully understand, leading to the situation of having to "do this and that" to solve their problems. Not having a firm grasp of legal regulations is also a risk leading to an increase in corrupt acts, especially petty corruption.

Second, regarding the implementation of corruption prevention measures, the Chairman of the National Assembly's Law Committee suggested actively implementing early and remote preventive measures against this type of crime so that it can be prevented from the beginning, without having to wait until the act occurs before we deal with it.

In addition, the leader of the Law Committee also requested that the Government report clarify the handling measures for the violations mentioned in the report, specifically 98 cases of agencies, organizations and units violating the transparency of organization and operation; 283 cases, 386 people violating the implementation of norms, standards and regimes; 74 cases subject to asset declaration but incorrect declaration; 19 leaders lacking responsibility for corruption. The report lists very complete information and data but it is unclear how it was handled, this needs to be supplemented.

The representative of the Law Committee suggested that the report emphasize more on the role and responsibility of specialized agencies in charge of preventing and combating corruption, and of officials and civil servants performing anti-corruption tasks because this is an extremely important force and needs to prevent and combat corruption in the very agencies responsible for preventing and combating corruption./.