National Assembly (NA) members on April 10 agreed that wrongful verdictsstill occurred despite efforts by all Government agencies and bodies toensure that criminal proceedings were transparent.
According to areport presented to the NA Standing Committee, the NA Committee onLegal Affairs estimated that Government agencies dealt with 220,000criminal cases during 2011-14 involving 330,000 defendants.
Investigationsof more than 4,000 of the cases were suspended, accounting for 1.8percent of cases taken to court. Among these, 71 cases were identifiedas wrongful verdicts, mostly involving murders, robbery, and rape. Thereport also pointed out that 260 people died in this three-year periodduring the investigation and detention process.
The amount ofcompensation given to defendants for these wrongful verdicts was about30 billion VND (1.4 million USD), but the NA admitted the compensationwas disbursed to beneficiaries at a very slow rate.
Currently,some of the main wrongful verdicts include the case of Luong Ngoc Phifrom northern Thai Binh province who was wrongly sentenced to prison for35 months in 1998 for appropriating public property. He asked for 22billion VND (1 million USD) in compensation.
Nguyen Thanh Chanfrom northern Bac Giang province was sentenced to 10 years in prison in2003 for a murder he did not commit. Chan was released when the realculprit gave himself up. Chan is chasing compensation of 9 billion VND(416,600 USD).
The report noted that wrongful verdicts were madedue to errors during the investigation, prosecuting and hearingprocesses. The NA also admitted the number of suspended cases was toohigh, meaning the system might miss the real criminals. It also saidmany people were wrongly detained and arrested.
Huynh Ngoc Son,Vice Chairman of the NA, noted that even though the number of wrongfulverdicts in the past three years seemed low, each case could cause ahuge level of public distrust and outcry.
Agreeing with this,Truong Thi Mai, Chairwoman of the NA Committee on Social Affairs, saidthe supervising role of the NA in this matter was important in restoringtrust.
Other members of the NA agreed that the capacity ofcadres, investigators and prosecutors at all levels was limited and inmany cases, the rush to end a case led to incorrect sentences.
KsoPhuoc, Chairman of the NA Committee on Ethnic Affairs, said authoritiesin areas with a large number of wrongful verdicts must bearresponsibility.
Chairman of the NA Law Committee Phan Trung Lyasked the NA to inspect how Government authorities dealt with wrongfulverdicts and whether there were signs of cover-up.
Other membersof the Standing Committee agreed with the report of the NA Committee onLegal Affairs calling for investigation agencies, prosecuting officesand courts at all levels to uphold Constitution 2013 and otherresolutions of the Party and the NA in criminal proceedings.
It noted that there must be efforts to eliminate torturing for interrogation or during investigation.
NA Chairman Nguyen Sinh Hung said the NA would look into wrongful verdicts and compensation.
"The goal is to ensure that no one suffers from being wrongly convicted," he said.
He said the draft resolution on the matter must clearly identify theresponsibilities of officials who allowed wrong verdicts to happen.
The draft resolution will be discussed at the NA general session meeting at the end of May.-VNA
According to areport presented to the NA Standing Committee, the NA Committee onLegal Affairs estimated that Government agencies dealt with 220,000criminal cases during 2011-14 involving 330,000 defendants.
Investigationsof more than 4,000 of the cases were suspended, accounting for 1.8percent of cases taken to court. Among these, 71 cases were identifiedas wrongful verdicts, mostly involving murders, robbery, and rape. Thereport also pointed out that 260 people died in this three-year periodduring the investigation and detention process.
The amount ofcompensation given to defendants for these wrongful verdicts was about30 billion VND (1.4 million USD), but the NA admitted the compensationwas disbursed to beneficiaries at a very slow rate.
Currently,some of the main wrongful verdicts include the case of Luong Ngoc Phifrom northern Thai Binh province who was wrongly sentenced to prison for35 months in 1998 for appropriating public property. He asked for 22billion VND (1 million USD) in compensation.
Nguyen Thanh Chanfrom northern Bac Giang province was sentenced to 10 years in prison in2003 for a murder he did not commit. Chan was released when the realculprit gave himself up. Chan is chasing compensation of 9 billion VND(416,600 USD).
The report noted that wrongful verdicts were madedue to errors during the investigation, prosecuting and hearingprocesses. The NA also admitted the number of suspended cases was toohigh, meaning the system might miss the real criminals. It also saidmany people were wrongly detained and arrested.
Huynh Ngoc Son,Vice Chairman of the NA, noted that even though the number of wrongfulverdicts in the past three years seemed low, each case could cause ahuge level of public distrust and outcry.
Agreeing with this,Truong Thi Mai, Chairwoman of the NA Committee on Social Affairs, saidthe supervising role of the NA in this matter was important in restoringtrust.
Other members of the NA agreed that the capacity ofcadres, investigators and prosecutors at all levels was limited and inmany cases, the rush to end a case led to incorrect sentences.
KsoPhuoc, Chairman of the NA Committee on Ethnic Affairs, said authoritiesin areas with a large number of wrongful verdicts must bearresponsibility.
Chairman of the NA Law Committee Phan Trung Lyasked the NA to inspect how Government authorities dealt with wrongfulverdicts and whether there were signs of cover-up.
Other membersof the Standing Committee agreed with the report of the NA Committee onLegal Affairs calling for investigation agencies, prosecuting officesand courts at all levels to uphold Constitution 2013 and otherresolutions of the Party and the NA in criminal proceedings.
It noted that there must be efforts to eliminate torturing for interrogation or during investigation.
NA Chairman Nguyen Sinh Hung said the NA would look into wrongful verdicts and compensation.
"The goal is to ensure that no one suffers from being wrongly convicted," he said.
He said the draft resolution on the matter must clearly identify theresponsibilities of officials who allowed wrong verdicts to happen.
The draft resolution will be discussed at the NA general session meeting at the end of May.-VNA
