The draft Criminal Procedure Code (amended) allows secret audio and video recording; secret phone listening; secret collection of electronic data.

Opinions in the National Assembly Standing Committee unanimously agreed that the provision of special criminal investigation measures is necessary to ensure respect for human rights and citizens' rights as required by the Constitution; at the same time, to create conditions for the Investigation Agency to proactively collect evidence as a basis for prosecution and investigation of complex, organized, and especially serious cases.

However, how to regulate to avoid widespread application is still a matter of differing opinions.

When is it okay to secretly record and listen to phone calls?

Chairman of the Judiciary Committee Nguyen Van Hien said that the agency examining the draft law proposed that only 3/5 special investigative measures proposed by the drafting agency should be regulated that are directly related to the restriction of human rights and civil rights, including: secret audio and video recording; secret phone listening; and secret collection of electronic data.

The draft stipulates that the Investigation Agency, on its own or at the request of the Chief Prosecutor of the Provincial People's Procuracy or higher, may apply special investigative measures in one of the following cases: Crimes against national security, drug crimes, corruption crimes, terrorism crimes, money laundering crimes; Other organized crimes that are particularly serious; At the request of the person reporting the crime or the victim to apply them to themselves.

Chief Justice of the Supreme People's Procuracy Nguyen Hoa Binh

Nguyen Hoa Binh, Chief Prosecutor of the Supreme People's Procuracy, said that the criminal procedure codes of many countries have 11 different measures. The five measures chosen by the drafting agency are the most universal and are applied by many countries, including the United Nations. The drafting agency has consulted the Ministry of Public Security in writing and received agreement on these measures.

Mr. Nguyen Hoa Binh also said that the secret base measure (using secret collaborators) is a regular measure of the police, attacking criminal organizations, those who have contributed can also be considered for exemption from criminal liability, so the removal of this measure needs further consideration.

Regarding the time of applying special investigative measures, according to Chief Justice Nguyen Hoa Binh, it should not be determined from the time of initiating a case but should be carried out from the time of verifying information about the crime in order to have grounds to prosecute the crime.

“In reality, the police have applied this method in the process of fighting a special case before initiating a prosecution. For example, a person who was blackmailed reported to the police that his son had been kidnapped, and the subject made an appointment to go to the park tomorrow to pay the money so that his son would be released. The case has not been prosecuted yet, but now they are not allowed to secretly record audio and video, so it is clear that the criminal cannot be caught. If this method is only allowed after the case has been prosecuted, it will cause difficulties for the investigation process,” Mr. Binh analyzed.

Should not be expanded because it is easy to abuse

Emphasizing that the above measures limit human rights and civil rights, they should be carefully reviewed and limited in some cases. Chairman of the Law Committee Phan Trung Ly said that secret recording, video recording or listening to phone calls should not be widely practiced.

Chairman of the Law Committee Phan Trung Ly

Mr. Ly proposed that special investigation measures should only be carried out after applying other measures prescribed in this law.

Ms. Le Thi Thu Ba - Deputy Head of the Central Steering Committee for Judicial Reform also agreed that the Criminal Procedure Code (amended) stipulates special investigation measures, because we are building a rule of law state with the principle that state agencies can only do what the law allows.

“People say this has been done for a long time, but that is a thing of the past. Now, building a rule-of-law state, important issues, especially those related to human freedom and citizen rights, are clearly stipulated in the Constitution in accordance with the law. Only with laws can agencies act and from there have a basis for monitoring and inspection. Without regulations, how can we monitor or inspect?”, Ms. Le Thi Thu Ba raised the issue.

How special investigative measures are regulated and how many measures there are, according to the Deputy Head of the Standing Committee of the Central Judicial Reform Commission, must be carefully considered.

“There are cases where monitoring, recording, filming, and secret phone calls are not allowed, making it difficult to detect crimes early in order to prevent and handle them promptly. However, permission also needs to be specific to each case, and should not be opened too widely, as this can easily lead to abuse,” Ms. Ba commented./.

According to Vov.vn