Take responsibility to voters for the errors of the 2015 Penal Code

Deputy Chairman of the Judiciary Committee: "Through this incident, I personally am also a delegate voting to approve and accept my responsibility to the voters."

On the morning of June 30, the Office of the President held a press conference to announce the President's Order promulgating the National Assembly's Resolution on postponing the enforcement of the Penal Code No. 100/2015/QH13; the Criminal Procedure Code No. 101/2015/QH13, the Law on Organization of Criminal Investigation Agencies No. 99/2015/QH13; the Law on Enforcement of Temporary Detention and Temporary Imprisonment No. 94/2015/QH13 and supplementing the draft Law amending and supplementing a number of articles of the Penal Code No. 100/2015/QH13 and the Law and Ordinance Development Program in 2016.

Mr. Nguyen Van Luat (middle) affirmed that the viewpoint and policy on criminal law in the new Penal Code is not wrong.

Still apply regulations favorable to criminals

Mr. Nguyen Van Luat said that after receiving feedback from voters and many other agencies, the Standing Committee of the National Assembly directed the Judiciary Committee to immediately coordinate with relevant agencies such as the Supreme People's Court, the Supreme People's Procuracy, the Ministry of Public Security, etc. to review the errors of the 2015 Penal Code.

Based on the reports of the parties, it can be affirmed that the errors are technical errors, but the criminal policy viewpoint is not wrong. However, those errors can affect, cause criminals to escape, and cause injustice, so the Standing Committee of the National Assembly has decided to report to the agencies and take action.

More specifically, Deputy Minister of Justice Dinh Trung Tung said that the errors are shown in a number of forms such as some provisions that are duplicated or omit quantitative information; in some articles of law there are two criminal elements; in some articles of law there are provisions that cite other articles of law incorrectly... That shows technical errors but affects the consistency of the law.

The Deputy Minister of Justice further emphasized that the provisions in the Code that are favorable to criminals will continue to be implemented despite the delay in the effective date of the 2015 Penal Code, and this is clearly stated in the resolution.

“That shows the humane and benevolent nature of the new Penal Code. Through the review, there are many things that are beneficial to criminals such as regulations related to age of responsibility, accomplices, concealing crimes, not reporting crimes...” – Mr. Dinh Trung Tung added.

Deputy Minister of Justice: The immediate application of regulations favorable to criminals demonstrates the humanity and benevolence of the new Penal Code.

Regarding the need to postpone the effective date of 3 laws: Criminal Procedure Code No. 101/2015/QH13, Law on Organization of Criminal Investigation Agencies No. 99/2015/QH13, Law on Enforcement of Detention and Temporary Imprisonment No. 94/2015/QH13, Mr. Tran Cong Phan - Deputy Chief Justice of the Supreme People's Procuracy said that the reason is that there are many provisions cited from the Penal Code and related to investigation, prosecution, and trial, but these 3 laws have no errors. In the future, the Supreme People's Court will have instructions on implementing regulations that are beneficial to criminals according to the Resolution of the National Assembly.

Vice Chairman of the Judiciary Committee Nguyen Van Luat also emphasized: “The Standing Committee of the National Assembly has reviewed reports from agencies on the impact of postponing the implementation of 3 related laws to ensure consistency and synchronization, and those laws have no errors. Therefore, the National Assembly voted to add to the 2016 law and ordinance making program only the content of amending a number of articles of the 2015 Penal Code.”

Admit mistakes to voters

“Through this incident, I, as a delegate, personally voted to approve and accept my responsibility to the voters. This also shows that the process of examining and collecting public opinions needs to be more rigorous to ensure quality. The report recently presented also stated the responsibilities of the National Assembly and the delegates,” said Mr. Nguyen Van Luat, Vice Chairman of the National Assembly’s Judicial Committee.

Emphasizing the responsibility of National Assembly deputies when mistakes occur and "feeling sorry towards voters", Mr. Do Manh Hung - Deputy Head of the National Assembly Office said that the National Assembly will evaluate to make necessary decisions, especially clarifying further the responsibilities of relevant agencies, organizations and individuals.

Deputy Head of the National Assembly Office Do Manh Hung: 'I feel sorry for the voters'

“It was the voters, experts and the press who discovered the errors. That once again shows the extremely important supervisory role of voters, people and public opinion in the activities of the National Assembly. The 13th National Assembly is about to end its term, but the 14th and subsequent terms will continue to pay more attention to promoting the supervisory role of voters, people and public opinion to improve the quality of activities, especially in legislation,” Mr. Do Manh Hung shared.

Regarding the publication of the 2015 Penal Code, Deputy Head of the National Assembly Office Do Manh Hung affirmed that they will definitely have to be recalled and handled according to the provisions of the publishing law.

Mr. Dinh Trung Tung - Deputy Minister of Justice added that there is no specific number of copies of the 2015 Penal Code published yet, but relevant agencies will work with the publisher to inform and discuss solutions to this unexpected incident./.

According to VOV