Hanoi (VNA) - Althoughthe number of criminal cases has been decreasing, more work is needed to curb socialcrime, heard the National Assembly (NA)’s Judicial Committee at a meeting in Hanoion September 3.

Sen. Lieut. Gen. Le Quy Vuong, Deputy Minister of PublicSecurity, delivered a government report on crime prevention and combat for 2019at the meeting, saying that a total of 14,228 cases relating to economicmanagement have been recorded so far this year, a decrease of 11 percent overlast year’s figure.

During the period, police completed investigations into33,470 criminal cases or 84.2 percent of the total cases. About 2,167 organisedcrimes had been discovered and 137 victims of human trafficking had beenrescued.

The investigation of cases under the direction of the CentralSteering Committee on Anti-Corruption has been accelerated to meet theschedule, Vuong said, adding that difficulties in asset evaluation have beensolved as well as assessment of evidence, identifying crimes and recoveringassets.

However, despite a decline in the number of criminal cases,an increase in complicated crimes and rampant violations in land planning,management and use have become a new challenge for law enforcement across thecountry, he said.

According to the Deputy Minister, the number of murders hasincreased. Many murders or intentional attacks were carried out by people withmental illness or those affected by the use of drugs, causing concern among thepublic. New methods of human trafficking have been recorded, includingsurrogacy or foetus trafficking.

Economic crimes and corruption have become more sophisticatedand occurred in many sectors, with the use of high technology to dodge tax orlengthen toll collection at Build-Operate-Transfer booths.

Petty corruption in settling administrative procedures stilltook place in many localities, causing outrage for residents and enterprises.

Violations relating to land planning, use and management werealso common, he said, saying it was the main reason leading to long-standingdisputes.

While agreeing with the government’s report, NA deputiespointed out shortcomings in crime prevention and combat and made proposals toincrease the effectiveness of the work in the future.

Nguyen Duy Huu, a member of the NA’s Judicial Committee,proposed the Government strengthen the handling of violations of environmentallaws. Although this kind of crime left long-term consequences and took a lot oftime to recover, the criminal penalty was far too lenient. Most of the casesonly received administrative punishments.

Hoang Van Hung, also a member of the NA’s Judicial Committee,said although traffic accidents had declined in the number of cases, injuries anddeaths, about 22 people died each day on average.

Hung suggested the government set forth preventive solutions.The punishments for violations relating to traffic safety regulations should betightened, he said.

Many NA deputies proposed that measures to enhance thecompetence of State management, inspection work in construction, commerce andinformation and technology to restrict violations as well as detect andstrictly deal with crimes in these fields.-VNA