VIETNAM ACADEMY OF SOCIAL SCIENCES
GRADUATE ACADEMY OF SOCIAL SCIENCES

TRAN HUY DUC

CRIME OF CORRUPTION UNDER VIETNAM’S
CRIMINAL LAW FROM THE REALITY
OF DA NANG CITY

Major: Criminal and Criminal Law
Code: 9380104

SUMMARY OF LAW PHD THESIS

HANOI, 2019


The work was completed at
GRADUATE ACADEMY OF SOCIAL SCIENCES

Scientific Supervisor: Assoc. Prof. PhD. Ho Sy Son

Reviewer 1: Prof. PhD. Duong Minh Gioi
Reviewer 2: Assoc. Prof. PhD. Cao Thi Oanh
Reviewer 3: Assoc. Prof. PhD. Tran Huu Trang

The dissertation will be defended before the thesis review
council of the Academy at the Graduate Academy of Socil Sciences
at 17 o'clock on April 12, 2018

The thesis can be found at:

4.1. Methodology of the research
The thesis is based on the methodology of dialectical materialism and
historical materialism of Marxism-Leninism; Ho Chi Minh Thought;
Vietnamese Communist Party's views, policies and the State's criminal law
policies on crimes, penalties, judicial reforms and anti-corruption. The thesis is
also made based on multidisciplinary and interdisciplinary approaches to law,
especially the approaches of criminal law, social studies of criminal law,
criminal studies...
4.2. Methods of the research
In order to achieve the purpose of research, the thesis also uses a
specific research method as follows:
- Specific historical methods, analysis, induction, systematization,
and comparisons are used primarily to study cases in chapter 2.
- Methods of analysis, synthesis, statistics, comparisons and
sociological surveys are applied to study the issues in Chapter 3, thereby
drawing advantages, limitations and causes as a premise for proposing
solutions in chapter 4 of the thesis.
- Analysis methods and systems are mainly used in Chapter 4.
5. The new contributions of the thesis
5.1. Meaning of the thesis
- Theoretical significance: The research results of the thesis contribute
to enriching the theory of anti-corruption in general, corruption crimes in
particular; at the same time, contributing to the dissemination of the popularity
and specificity of corruption acts, the handling of corruption acts.
- Practical significance: The research results of the thesis contribute to
equipping practical knowledge for relevant agencies, especially agencies
conducting legal proceedings to improve the effectiveness and efficiency of the
trials of corruption crimes in our country in general and in Da Nang city in
particular.
With the above research results of theory and practice, the thesis can

Chapter 4: Solutions to ensure proper application of Vietnam's
criminal law on corruption crimes.
CHAPTER 1
OVERVIEW OF THE RESEARCH
1.1. Overview of the researches in the world
- The article "Corruption, integrity and law enforcement" by
Fijnaut was published in the publication of C.J.C.F.Fijnaut, & L. Huberts
(Eds.), Page 3 -37), 2001.
- The article "Public Corruption" gathered by Brian Whittaker and
Jordan Hicks in 45 Am. Crim. L. Rev. 825 2008 and posted by Ashley
Kircher in American Law Review and the HeinOnline database page in
2008.
- The book "Corruption and misuse of public office" (Corruption
and violation of public authorities) by authors Colin Nicholls QC, Timothy
Daniel, Alan Bacarese, and John Hatchard published by Oxford University
Press in 2011.
- Lenny Roth's book "Corruption offences", presented on the
electronic version of New South Wales Parliamentary Research ServiceAustralia, 11 /2013.
- The book "Corruption: economic analysis and international law" by
Borlini & Leonardo S published by Edward Elgar Publishing Ltd in 2014.

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- The book "Canada's Corruption of Foreign Public Official Act
and Secret Commissions Offense", cited: 29 Am.U.Int'l L. Rev. 2013-2014
369 by Stuart H. Deming.
- The book "Corruption and conflicts of interest: a comparative law
approach" by the group of authors, Jean-BernardAuby, Emmanuel Breen
and Thomas Perroud, 2014.


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Firstly, the study clarifies the content of the concept and legal signs
of corruption crimes.
Secondly, distinguish corruption crimes from some other crimes,
thereby clarifying their similarities and differences.
Thirdly, generalize Vietnam's criminal legislative history on
corruption crimes before issuing the 2015 Criminal Code, amendments and
supplements in 2017.
Fourthly, analyze and assess the current application of criminal
laws in our country in determining crimes and deciding the penalties of the
Court in Da Nang city for crimes of corruption.
Fifthly, propose solutions to ensure proper application of criminal
law to corruption crimes.
In summary, the thesis will analyze in depth the following contents:
(i) Definition of corruption and corruption crimes; legal signs of corruption
crimes; basis for determining penalties for corruption crimes; the process of
formulating and completing Vietnam's criminal law on corruption crimes;
the trend of fighting against and preventing corruption crimes in the
criminal justice system in the world and in Vietnam. (ii) Research and
evaluate the current situation of criminal law application in adjudication of
corruption crimes in Vietnam in general and in Da Nang city in particular.
(iii) Analyze the requirements of fighting against corruption in Vietnam in
the current period, the orientation in 2030 and solutions to complete
Vietnam's criminal legal system to ensure the effective application of
criminal law to corruption crimes in Vietnam in the new situation.
CHAPTER 2
THEORETICAL ISSUES AND HISTORY OF VIETNAMESE

Dangerous consequences of criminal crimes for society are an
important basis for determining crimes and personalizing criminal liability
for corruption crimes.
The causal relationship between criminal acts and the consequences
of criminal acts is a mandatory sign for corruption crimes, as regarding
principle and logic reasons, the acts of commiting crimes must be the main
cause, the direct cause and the inevitable cause of the consequences.
2.1.2.3. Subject of corruption crimes
For crimes relating to position, (regarding the factor of position,
authority and abusing positions and powers for the sake of the interests), the
subjects of corruption crimes must be individuals. Thus, for corruption
crimes, in addition to the two conditions of age and capacity of criminal
liabilities, the subjects of corruption crimes must be those holding relevant
positions and powers.
2.1.2.4. Subjective aspects of corruption crimes
The subjective side of corruption crimes has signs of mistakes, motive of
guilt, and criminal purposes. For crimes related to corruption, which show signs
of aiming to make mistakes, the people who commit criminal acts clearly show
the motive for other interests or personal motives.
The purpose of the criminal is expressed in the subjective sense of the
results that must be achieved when committing a crime. Therefore, the motive for
profit and the purpose of appropriating property or other interests is a mandatory
sign in the subjective aspect of corruption crimes.
2.1.3. Distinguish corruption crimes from other crimes
In terms of similarities:
Firstly, the subject is a person holding a position and authority.

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on October 21, 1970 by the Standing Committee of the National Assembly.
- Ordinance on punishing crimes of infringing upon private
property of citizens on October 21, 1970 of the National Assembly
Standing Committee.
- Law No. 03 / SL dated March 15, 1976 by the Provisional
Revolutionary Government Council of South Vietnam.
- Ordinance on punishing bribery on May 20, 1981 by the National
Assembly Standing Committee.
By generalizing the above regulations on corruption crimes, it can
be seen that right from the independence, the State's criminal policy has

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shown the attitude of condemning and resolutely struggling with the crimes,
violations of corruption, however, on the legislative aspect, corruption
crimes have not been specified, especially the signs of constituting crimes.
2.2.2. The period from the issuance of the Criminal Code in 1985
to the issuance of the Criminal Code in 1999
The legislative milestone showing the consistent criminal policy of
our State on corruption crimes in the period from 1985 to the issuance of
the 1999 Criminal Code was the Criminal Code in 1985 issued by the
National Assembly on 27th June 1985 (amended and supplemented four
times in 1989, 1991, 1992 and 1997), whereby lawmakers set aside a
separate chapter that regulated corruption crimes and penalties for them that
were suitable to the current situation.
The practical application of the provisions of the 1985 Criminal Code
showed that although it has been completed through the revisions, there have
been still certain shortcomings that required some additional crimes to meet
the requirements of the prevention and fighting against crimes in the new

ON CORRUPTION CRIMES AND APPLICABLE PRACTICE
IN DA NANG CITY
3.1. Current Vietnamese law on corruption crimes.
3.1.1. Crime of embezzling property (Article 353)
- The object of the embezzlement of property:
Crime of embezzlement of property violates the proper operation of
state agencies, social organizations, property rights.
- Objective aspect of embezzlement of property:
Crime of embezzlement of property has mandatory signs: taking
advantage of positions and powers of appropriating property; appropriated
property is the property of the criminal assigned to manage; appropriated
assets valued at between VND 2,000,000 and under VND 100,000,000 or
less than VND 2 million, and has been disciplined for such acts but still
violate or has commited crimes regulated in Index 1, Chapter XXIII, and
not been deleted the criminal record but also violated.
- Subject of crime of embezzlement of property:
Crime of embezzlement is the person with the position and
authority responsible for managing the property. That person may be a
person holding positions and powers in agencies, state or non-state
enterprises.
- Subjective side of embezzlement of property:
Crime of embezzlement is done purposely, directly for the
purpose of committing crimes for a benefit.
In Article 353 of the Criminal Code 2015, amendments and
supplements in 2017, lawmakers set 4 penalties for the embezzlement.
In addition, according to Clauses 5 and 6, the criminals are also
prohibited from holding certain positions for one to five years, may be
subject to a fine of between VND 30,000,000 and VND 100,000,000, whole
or partial confiscation of property. Persons holding positions and powers in
non-state enterprises and organizations that embezzle properties shall be

and may be subject to a fine of between VND 30,000,000 and VND
100,000,000. collect part or all of the property. Persons with positions and
powers in enterprises and organizations outside the State that accept bribes
shall be handled according to the provisions of this Article.
3.1.3. Crime of abusing positions and powers for appropriating
property (Article 355)
- The object of the abuse of positions and powers of appropriating
property:
Crime of abusing positions and powers to appropriate property
infringing upon the proper activities of state agencies, social organizations,
property rights of others.
- Objective aspect of abuse of positions and powers to appropriate
property:
This crime has the following mandatory characteristics: abuse of
positions and powers of appropriation of property. On the objective side of
this crime, it should be noted that the use of positions and powers may be to
carry out acts beyond the scope of the tasks assigned in such forms as
deception or trust abuse....
- Subjects of abuse of positions and powers of appropriating
property:

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Subjects of position and power abuse of appropriation of property
are persons holding positions and powers.
- Subjective side of abuse of positions and powers of appropriating
property:
This crime is made by intentions. The motivation to commit a
crime is rooted from a benefit.

subject to a fine of between VND 10,000,000 and VND 100,000,000.
3.1.5. Crime of abuse of power while on duty (Article 357)
- Object of abuse of power while on duty:

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Crime of abuse of power while on duty violates the proper
operation of the state, the rights and legitimate interests of organizations
and individuals.
- Objective aspect of abuse of power while on duty:
The objective side of crime has three mandatory signs: acts that
exceed the assigned authority in their work; causing damage to the interests
of the State, legitimate rights and interests of organizations and individuals;
causal relationship between behavior beyond the power and damage caused
by that behavior.
- Subject of abuse of power while on duty:
The subject of abuse of power while on duty is a person holding a
position or authority.
- Subjective face of abuse of power while on duty:
This crime is caused intentionally
At Article 357 of the Penal Code 2015, amendments and
supplements in 2017, lawmakers set out 4 penalty ranges for abuse of
power while on duty.
In addition, according to Clause 5 of Article 357, criminals are also
banned from holding certain positions for one to five years, and may be
subject to a fine of between VND 10,000,000 and VND 100,000,000
3.1.6. Crime of abusing positions and powers to influence other
people for personal gains (Article 358)
This crime infringes on the normal operation of the state or

Objective aspects of crime are reflected in the position and authority of
people holding positions and powers to abuse their positions and powers to
perform one of the following acts: correcting and falsifying the contents of
papers and documents; making and issuing fake papers; forging signatures of
persons holding positions and powers.
- The subject of forgery at work:
The subject of this crime is the person who has the position and
authority and in certain cases the subject must be responsible for making or
granting papers and documents.
- Subjective side of forgery crime at work:
The subjective side of this crime is done intentionally.
In Article 359 of the Criminal Code 2015, amended and
supplemented in 2017, lawmakers set out 4 penalty ranges for forgery crime
at work.
In addition, according to Clause 5, Article 359, the criminals are also
banned from holding certain positions or doing certain jobs for one to five
years, and may be subject to a fine of between VND 10,000,000 and VND
100,000,000.
Based on the analysis of the above specific crimes, it can be seen
that basically, crimes of corruption in the Criminal Code 2015,
(amendments and supplements in 2017) were similar to corruption crimes
in the Criminal Code in 1999 on the number of crimes, criminal names and
basic components of crime. However, compared to the 1999 Criminal Code,
the Criminal Code 2015 (amendments and supplements in 2017) have been
amended and supplemented for this type of crime, notably:
Firstly, adding the concept of criminals to positions, according to
which acts of infringement work properly by agencies and organizations
performed by people holding positions not only during the performance of
public duties but also the current task (Article 352). This means that the
scope of acts of dangerous behavior for society is considered a crime not only

In addition, in case of not applying the statute of limitations for the
retention of penal liabilities
Accordingly, to limit the application of the death penalty in
practice, the Article 40 of the Criminal Code 2015, (amended and
supplemented in 2017) stipulated that "people who are sentenced to death
on embezzlement of property, and taking bribes and after being sentenced,
actively return at least three-fourths of the embezzlement property, bribes
and voluntarily cooperate with authorities in detecting, investigating,
handling crimes or doing a big work" will not be sentenced to death and
changed to penalty for life imprisonment.
From the above analysis, it can be seen that it is the social life that
decides to regulate corruption crimes in certain stages in the development of the
Vietnamese revolution. The impact of social life, the Party's policy and
guidelines, and the State's criminal policy on the regulation of corruption

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crimes is shown not only in term of the content but also regarding the legal
techniques.
3.2. Practical application of criminal law provisions on
corruption crimes in Da Nang city
According to the report of Da Nang People's Court, within 10 years
(from 2007 to December 30, 2017), the People's Courts in Da Nang city tried
13 cases with 26 defendants on corruption crimes according to the provisions
of the 1999 Criminal Code, amended and supplemented in 2009, of which,
there were 08 cases with 10 defendants being tried and sentenced of
embezzlement of property under the Article 278 of the Criminal Code; 02 cases
with 08 defendants were tried and sentenced for accepting bribes according to
the Article 279 of the Criminal Code; 01 case with 03 defendants were tried

9
10
11

Defendants
(22)

Crimes

Penalty ranges

Nguyen Dinh Chien
Tong Viet Toai
Le Dac Minh
Le Tan Minh Tri
Ha Ngoc Thach
Ho Van Men
Tran Phuoc Hung
Nguyen Dinh Than

a, k3, Đ 278
a, k3, Đ 278
K1, Đ 278
K1, Đ 278
a, k4, Đ 278
K2, Đ 280
K2, Đ 278
c, k2, Đ 278

Bui Manh Hung

04 months in prison

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Pham Phu Cuong
Đ 279
04 years in prison
Ho Tan Hai
Đ 279
02 years in prison
2016
Thuy Ngoc Trong
Đ 279
18 months in prison
Nguyen Van An
Đ 279
18 months in prison
12
Ly Thanh Tung
Đ 279
12 months in prison
Nguyen Van Nhung
Đ 279
06 months in prison
Dinh Ngoc Ban
Đ 279
09 months in prison
2017
13

an additional penalty.
Secondly, corruption acts and corruption crimes occur in a wide
range of levels, sectors and areas of social life; The acts of corruption are
increasingly complicated and serious with increasingly sophisticated tricks.

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Thirdly, the level of corruption is growing, the consequences of
corruption crimes are becoming more serious.
CHAPTER 4
SOLUTIONS TO ENSURE THE PROPER APPLICATION
OF VIETNAMESE CRIMINAL LAW ON CORRUPTION CRIMES
4.1. Requirements to apply criminal law regulations on
corruption crimes
4.1.1. The application of criminal law regualtions on corruption
crimes must be followed up with objectives, viewpoints of our Party on
judicial reform and anti-corruption
On the principle of Criminal procedure law, no one is considered to
be guilty when no conviction of the Court has come into effect. However,
the fight against crimes can not be seperated from political, economic and
cultural-social tasks. Therefore, it is important to follow up the viewpoints
of our Party on judicial reform and anti-corruption in order to ensure
transparency, publicity and judgements on the right people, right cases of
corruption crimes.
4.1.2. The implementation of criminal policies on corruption
crimes is to be ensured properly on the practice of law-based judgements
- The application of criminal law on corruption crimes is always
influenced by the quality of criminal law regulations.
- The application of the law on dealing with corruption cases of the

4.1.6. Applying criminal law to corruption crimes must pay
attention to the characteristics of corruption cases
- Subjects of corruption crimes are those with positions and powers;
- In corruption crimes, persons in charge of abusing positions and
powers are assigned to carry out acts contrary to their duties and tasks;
- Corruption crimes violate the proper activities of state agencies;
infringing upon the State's property and interests, infringing upon legitimate
rights and interests of organizations and individuals.
- Corruption criminals have a beneficial purpose.
In Da Nang city only, the study of corruption cases over the past
time has shown that of all the corruption crimes, the criminals of
embezzlement of property (Article 278) and crimes of accepting bribes
(Article 279) of the Criminal Code in 1999, amendments and supplements
in 2009 accounted for the highest proportion. This requires proceedingconducting agencies in general, the Court in particular to pay more attention
to properly assess the characteristics of corruption crimes in order to
properly apply legal provisions to investigate criminal liability for
corruption crimes in each specific case.
4.1.7. Applying criminal law to corruption crimes must meet the
requirements of international integration
Ensuring a favorable, transparent and safe legal environment is an
especially important condition for the implementation of international
integration. One of the important requirements is to build a complete and
secure legal system that is compatible with international standards, in line
with the bilateral and multilateral international treaties that Vietnam is a
member of (notably Viet Nam's commitments when joining the United
Nations Convention on Anti-Corruption and international experiences on
anti-corruption.
4.2. Solutions to ensure proper application of criminal law on
corruption crimes
Some basic solutions need to be focused on:

units.
In addition, to ensure effective handling of corruption crimes, there
must be a mechanism to ensure the integrity of judges and mechanisms to
prevent judges from violating the law.
4.2.2. Some other solutions
- The Court of all levels regularly reviews and evaluates the quality
of trial cases of corruption cases.
- Courts at all levels should coordinate closely with agencies
conducting legal proceedings in adjudicating corruption cases. In addition,
the Court should implement a mechanism of close coordination with
relevant agencies such as: Internal Affairs Committee at all levels,
inspection agencies, auditing agencies, investigating agencies, inspection
agencies, etc…
- Need to further strengthen the inspection and supervision of party

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committees, both political systems and the whole society; bring the anticorruption work into the annual inspection and supervision program.
- In addition, the relevant authorities need to respect and promote
the role of journalism and public opinions in anti-corruption work.
CONCLUSION AND SOLUTIONS
1. Research, conceptual interpretations, characteristics of corrupttion
behavior, corruption crimes as well as anti-corruption mechanisms are
important issues for research to effectively prevent and fight against
corruption.
2. Studying the laws of the countries in the world and the current criminal
law in Vietnam leads to the definition of the concept "Crime of corruption
is a dangerous behavior for the society prescribed in the Criminal Code by
people holding positions and powers while performing official duties, tasks