On the mandatory recording of audio and video of interrogation activities of suspects in the draft revised Criminal Procedure Code

In the draft Criminal Procedure Code (amended), the mandatory recording of interrogation of suspects is stipulated in Clause 6, Article 188: “Interrogation of suspects at detention facilities or at the headquarters of the Investigation Agency or the agency assigned to conduct certain investigation activities must be recorded.

The interrogation of a suspect at another location is recorded by audio or video at the request of the suspect, the agency, or the person with procedural authority; in cases where audio or video recording is not possible due to objective obstacles, this must be clearly stated in the interrogation record.

The Government, the Supreme People's Procuracy, and the Supreme People's Court shall specify the order, procedures, preservation, and use of audio and video recordings in investigation, prosecution, and trial activities.

Delegate Nguyen Dinh Quyen, Vice Chairman of the National Assembly's Judiciary Committee, said that only recording audio and video of interrogation activities of suspects and defendants is allowed for some especially serious crimes with penalties of life imprisonment or death.

We agree with the opinion of many National Assembly deputies who suggested that audio and video recording should only be done in cases where the accused has committed a particularly serious crime, the accused has pleaded innocent or has not pleaded guilty; the mandatory provision of audio and video recording of the interrogation of the accused in Clause 6, Article 188 of the draft Criminal Procedure Code (amended) is not suitable to the current reality and socio-economic conditions of our country, for the following reasons:

Firstly, since this is a mandatory procedure, along with making a record, after the interrogation, the investigator must read it to the suspect, play back the audio and video tape from beginning to end so that the suspect can confirm the statement and sign the record. In reality, criminal cases must be interrogated many times, and when recording audio and video and doing the above procedures, it takes too much time. Not to mention that in case of power outage or other technical reasons, it is impossible to record audio or video, the investigator cannot interrogate the suspect, which affects the quality and progress of the investigation, especially in particularly serious cases where the suspect must be urgently interrogated to arrest the subject and collect documents and evidence related to the case.

Second, we believe that the most important and fundamental measure in preventing and combating injustice and wrongdoing is to promote the sense of responsibility, professional ethics, and awareness of law compliance of investigators, prosecutors, and judges, along with strengthening inspection and examination of compliance with working regulations and working procedures. Inspection work, especially inspection in prosecution, arrest, detention, custody, prosecution, and trial, must be conducted regularly, focusing on early detection of violations, focusing on coordinating to verify signs of injustice and wrongdoing in order to take timely corrective and remedial measures, not allowing them to drag on and cause bad consequences.

Regularly attach importance to political and ideological education, improve the qualifications of law enforcement officers. Focus on educating and training investigators, prosecutors, and judges on the sense of responsibility and professional ethics; strengthen inspection, guidance, and prevention of forced confessions, forced confessions, and torture in the investigation and handling of crimes. Leaders of prosecution agencies at all levels must uphold their sense of responsibility in leading, directing, urging, inspecting, and guiding investigators, prosecutors, and judges to promptly detect and correct loopholes and shortcomings in the work of arrest, detention, investigation, prosecution, and trial; strictly handle violations and resolutely transfer from the prosecution agency individuals who seriously violate the work of investigation, prosecution, and trial; handle the joint responsibility of the head of the prosecution agency if injustice, mistakes, forced confessions, and torture occur. Strengthening the provision of specialized equipment to serve the purpose of recording evidence, checking and supervising the law enforcement of investigators, prosecutors and judges while performing official duties.

Third, the interrogation activities of the Investigation Agency take place in many places, both in cities, rural areas, remote areas, and especially difficult areas. The material conditions of the Investigation Agency in many places cannot meet the requirements, because every year the Investigation Agency handles about 100,000 criminal cases with about 160,000 defendants. If the regulations are implemented correctly, the amount of money that must be spent will be up to tens of thousands of billions of VND, not to mention the number of spare machines, the cost of building storage warehouses, repairs, and the management of audio and video recording machines, tapes, and discs, while our country's economy still faces many difficulties and cannot immediately meet the above regulations of the Criminal Procedure Code (amended).

According to CAND