Chief Justice of the Supreme People’s Court Nguyen Hoa Binh speaks at the training programme (Photo: VNA)Da Nang (VNA) – A training programme seeking to improve the capacityof judges and people’s court personnel for judging cases related to crimesagainst protected wildlife as stipulated in the 2015 Penal Code (amended in2017) took place in the central city of Da Nang on July 11.
The event was jointly held by the US Agency forInternational Development (USAID), the Vietnam Supreme People’s Court, and theUnited Nations Office on Drugs and Crime.
It offered a chance for judges to contribute their ideas toa draft resolution of the Council of Judges on guiding the implementation ofnew wildlife-related regulations of the amended Penal Code.
Chief Justice of the Supreme People’s Court Nguyen Hoa Binhsaid new clauses and heavier penalties of the 2015 Penal Code (amended in 2017)show Vietnam’s stronger resolve to fight crimes against wildlife, and itscommitment to implementing the Convention on International Trade in EndangeredSpecies of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES).
Delegates to the event delivered reports on and discussed violationsrelated to wild animals in Vietnam, while sharing difficulties in prosecutingand judging several related cases in the country.
Pham Quy Ty, former Deputy Minister of Justice, said that asthe trading of wild animals brings about high profits, violators use a lot ofsubtle measures to avoid inspections of authorised offices.
Hiring transporters is the most common way, so authorisedoffices often arrest only transporters, not instigators, leading to thesuspension of many cases, Ty noted.
He stressed the need for the Supreme People’s Court to soonpromulgate the Council of Judges’ resolution guiding the implementation ofArticles 234 and 244 of the 2015 Penal Code on how to differentiate an animalentity and parts of animal body.
Nguyen Chi Cong, deputy head of the Department ofLegislation and Science Management under the Supreme People’s Court, cited thecourt’s statistics as saying that the court handled 40 cases related thesmuggling of wild animals with 60 defendants involved in 2015. The figures roseto 92 cases involving 130 defendants in 2016 and 99 cases and 149 defendants in2017. Of the total, 207 cases with 303 defendants involved went on trial, equalto 89.6 percent.
In the past three years, financial punishments were imposedon two persons, while 16 received non-custodial re-education, 181 got asuspended sentence, 96 were sentenced to below 3 years in prison, and eight gotsentences of 3-7 years in jail, Cong stated.
Katelin Maher from the USAID in Vietnam said that thetraining programme is the follow-up of assistance provided by the USAID for theSupreme People’s Court through its Governance for Inclusive Growth programme(GIG) to determine challenges and gather responses on judgment of wildlife-relatedcases.
Through the GIG programme, USAID will continue providingtechnical assistance for the Vietnamese Government, National Assembly and judicialsector, and coordinating with the business community and civil organisations tosupport sustainable economic growth in the country, she added.-VNA
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