Content of Law Application in Criminal Investigation and Prosecution Activities

It is necessary to consider and fully evaluate the legal events that have occurred, the work that has been handled by the investigation agency, the requests and proposals of the investigation agency for the settlement of the case. Only then can we determine the content of the applicable regulations and the scope of the law violations applied in the investigation activities of the People's Procuracy. The person with the authority to apply the law must study the documents guiding the implementation, study the official and unofficial interpretation of the relevant legal regulations; clarify the ideas; content and meaning of the selected legal regulations.

- Third stage: Issuing legal documents

Issuing legal documents is the process by which the People's Procuracy issues decisions on law application, which is the central and most important stage of the entire process of criminal investigation. Decisions, approval decisions, and disapproval decisions of the People's Procuracy in this field are issued after careful and objective consideration and comparison with all documents and evidence collected in the case file. Because the decisions of the People's Procuracy are directly related to the interests of people, the interests of the state and society, including the right to personal freedom of citizens... it requires the person with the authority to issue legal documents to strictly comply with legal procedures and correctly apply specific legal provisions.

The legal documents of the People's Procuracy must ensure the legality of procedural law and the law of material content. At the same time, the legal documents in the investigation of criminal cases must be expressed in the correct style and language of law, ensuring the seriousness of the law, the role and prestige of the People's Procuracy and ensuring convenience in implementation.

- Fourth stage: organizing the implementation of legal documents

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In general, organizing the implementation of legal documents is the final stage of law enforcement activities. For the investigation activities of the People's Procuracy, decisions, decisions of disapproval, decisions of approval have compulsory effect and must be strictly implemented by the investigation agency. Supervising the implementation of legal documents of the People's Procuracy for all investigation activities is both a function and a task of the prosecution sector as prescribed by law.

strict and complete regulations. The obligation to strictly implement legal documents of the People's Procuracy in investigation activities for investigation agencies has been clearly stipulated in the Criminal Procedure Code and the Law on Organization of the People's Procuracy.

1.4.2. Contents of law application in criminal investigation activities

- Applying the law in the activities of supervising the initiation of criminal cases, supervising investigation activities and the preparation of criminal case files by the Investigation Agency.

In criminal investigation activities, the People's Procuracy has the authority to supervise compliance with the law in the initiation, investigation and preparation of case files by the Investigation Agency, the agency assigned to conduct a number of investigation activities. The content of law enforcement activities in criminal investigation is that the People's Procuracy supervises compliance with the law by competent investigation agencies, supervises the legality of decisions to initiate criminal cases and decisions not to initiate criminal cases (Article 15 of the Law on Organization of the People's Procuracy 2014, Article 113 of the Criminal Procedure Code 2003).

The People's Procuracy shall base on the provisions of the Criminal Procedure Code to supervise compliance with the law and the legality of the decision to initiate criminal proceedings. Article 100 of the 2003 Criminal Procedure Code stipulates that criminal proceedings may only be initiated when signs of a crime have been determined. The purpose of initiating a criminal case is to legally confirm that an incident has signs of a crime in order to conduct an investigation in accordance with the provisions of law. The nature of the criminal investigation supervision activities of the People's Procuracy is to supervise compliance with the law in the judicial activities of the Investigation Agency and other agencies assigned to conduct a number of investigative activities in the process of resolving criminal cases.

The investigation of a criminal case begins when the competent authority issues a decision to initiate a criminal case and ends when the prosecuting agency completes the investigation of the case, transfers the case file and the investigation conclusion to the People's Procuracy to request prosecution or the case is suspended from investigation. The content of this function is to directly supervise all procedural activities of the prosecuting agency and the prosecutor during the investigation of a criminal case.

Determining signs of crime is based on such bases as: citizen denunciations, reports from agencies and organizations; reports on mass media, etc. Article 104 of the 2003 Criminal Procedure Code stipulates:

When determining that there are signs of a crime, the Investigation Agency must issue a decision to initiate a criminal case. The People's Procuracy issues a decision to initiate a criminal case in cases where the Procuracy cancels the decision not to initiate a criminal case of the Investigation Agency and in cases where the Trial Panel requests to initiate a criminal case.

Within 24 hours from the time of issuing the decision to initiate a criminal case, the People's Procuracy must send the decision to initiate a criminal case along with relevant documents to the Investigation Agency for the Investigation Agency to conduct the investigation. The decision to initiate a criminal case along with relevant documents of other Investigation Agencies such as the Border Guard, Customs, Forest Rangers, Coast Guard, other agencies of the People's Public Security, and the People's Army assigned to conduct certain investigation activities must be sent to the People's Procuracy to supervise the initiation of criminal cases by these agencies.

The People's Procuracy shall review the law compliance of the investigating agency with regard to decisions not to initiate criminal proceedings. In case of discovering that the decisions not to initiate criminal proceedings by the Investigation Agency, Border Guard, Customs, Forestry, Coast Guard, other agencies of the People's Public Security, and the People's Army assigned to conduct certain investigative activities are groundless, the People's Procuracy shall issue a decision to cancel the decision not to initiate criminal proceedings and issue a decision to initiate criminal proceedings.

The legal basis for the People's Procuracy to supervise compliance with the law is Article 107 of the 2003 Criminal Procedure Code, which stipulates the grounds for not initiating a criminal case: there is no crime, no conduct constituting a crime; the person committing the socially dangerous act has not reached the age of criminal responsibility; the person whose criminal act has a verdict or a decision to suspend the case has come into legal effect...

- The People's Procuracy conducts supervision of the initiation of criminal cases at the request of the victim.

According to the provisions of the 2003 Criminal Procedure Code, when there is sufficient basis to determine that there are signs of a crime, the competent authority must issue a decision to initiate a criminal case to conduct investigation activities. The 2003 Criminal Procedure Code also stipulates that a number of crimes can only be prosecuted when there is a request to initiate a criminal case from the victim. The victim's request is a request or wish to handle the case by criminal means.

The Procuracy conducts the inspection of the prosecution of decisions to change or supplement the decision to initiate criminal proceedings, based on direct legal regulations such as Article 106 of the 2003 Criminal Procedure Code, which stipulates: when there is a basis to determine that the crime prosecuted is not consistent with the crime that occurred or there are other crimes, the Investigation Agency and the Procuracy shall issue a decision to change or supplement the decision to initiate criminal proceedings. In case the Investigation Agency issues a decision to change or supplement the decision to initiate criminal proceedings, within 24 hours from the time of issuance of the decision, it must be sent to the Procuracy to perform the function of inspecting the prosecution. In case the Procuracy decides to change or supplement the decision to initiate criminal proceedings, within 24 hours from the time of issuance of the decision, it must be sent to the Investigation Agency to conduct the investigation according to general procedures.

- Applying the law in the activities of supervising the prosecution of suspects

Article 126 of the 2003 Criminal Procedure Code states: Prosecution of a defendant is the act by which the investigating agency or the People's Procuracy determines that a person has committed a specific crime by a decision to initiate criminal proceedings against that person as a defendant. The decision to prosecute a defendant must clearly state the specific time, place of decision, full name and position of the person making the decision; full name, date of birth, place of residence or permanent residence registration, occupation, family circumstances of the defendant; what crime the defendant is prosecuted for, under which provision of the Criminal Procedure Code; time, place of crime and other circumstances; if the defendant is prosecuted for many different crimes, each crime and the corresponding applicable provision must be clearly stated. Within 24 hours from the time of issuing the decision to prosecute a defendant, the investigating agency must send the decision to prosecute a defendant and related documents to the People's Procuracy of the same level for consideration and approval. Within three days from the date of receipt of the decision to prosecute the accused,

The Procuracy must issue a decision approving or not approving the decision to prosecute the accused by the Investigation Agency. According to the provisions of the 2003 Criminal Procedure Code, the decision to prosecute the accused by the Investigation Agency will only take legal effect from the time the Procuracy issues a decision approving it. The significance of this provision is to ensure that the Procuracy conducts the investigation right from the beginning, minimizing the possibility of wrongful prosecution; ensuring the prosecution of the right person, the right crime, and the right law.

In addition, during the investigation process of a criminal case or in a case where the investigation has been completed, if it is discovered that a person has committed a crime that has not been prosecuted, the People's Procuracy has the right to request the Investigation Agency to issue a decision to prosecute the accused or issue a decision to prosecute the accused and request the Investigation Agency to conduct an investigation according to general procedures. During the investigation process, if there is a basis to determine that the accused's crime does not fall within the crime that has been prosecuted or there are other crimes that have not been prosecuted, the Investigation Agency shall issue a decision to change or supplement the decision to prosecute the accused and request the People's Procuracy to approve.

- Applying the law in the activities of supervising compliance with the law in the interrogation of suspects.

The People's Procuracy supervises compliance with the law in questioning suspects based on the provisions of the Criminal Procedure Code to ensure that the questioning of suspects is in accordance with the law, ensuring that the questioning is objective, comprehensive, complete and in accordance with the law. According to the provisions of the law, the questioning of suspects must be conducted directly orally and recorded in minutes and must be conducted using methods prescribed by law. It is not allowed to prompt statements, induce statements, or use torture; interrogations must not be conducted at night, except in cases where it is impossible to postpone, but the reason must be clearly recorded in the interrogation minutes; each time an interrogation is conducted, the investigator must make a record according to the unified prescribed form and ensure compliance with the provisions of Articles 95 and 125 of the 2003 Criminal Procedure Code; at the end of the interrogation, the investigator must re-read or let the suspect read the record himself; in cases where the suspect is illiterate or has limited cognitive ability, the presence of another person is required to ensure objectivity....

Supervising the taking of witness statements: Witnesses are people who know the details related to the case. Therefore, taking their statements is to collect

additional information that they know is related to the case to serve the investigation. The taking of witness statements must be recorded in writing and comply with the provisions of Articles 95, 125; 135 and 136 of the 2003 Criminal Procedure Code.

Supervision of crime scene examination: crime scene examination is conducted by the agencies conducting the proceedings according to the provisions of Article 150 of the 2003 Criminal Procedure Code. When examining the crime scene, there must be witnesses, the investigator must take photos, draw diagrams, measure or build a model of the crime scene; collect and examine on-site traces of the crime, objects, related documents and record the results in the crime scene examination record.

Supervision of autopsy: The autopsy is presided over by the investigator, with the participation of the forensic examiner; witnesses and in all cases, the prosecutor must participate in supervision. When performing the autopsy, depending on the results, the forensic examiner can decide to conduct an external or internal examination or a general examination of the corpse.

Prosecution of temporary suspension of criminal investigation

The Criminal Procedure Code stipulates that in cases where the accused suffers from mental illness or a serious illness certified by the Forensic Examination Council, the investigation may be temporarily suspended before the expiration of the investigation period for criminal cases. In cases where the accused has been identified but the accused has fled or his whereabouts are unknown, when the investigation period expires, the Investigation Agency must issue a decision to temporarily suspend the investigation and issue a wanted notice for the accused.

In cases where there are many defendants in a case and the reason for the temporary suspension of investigation is not related to all defendants, the investigation can be temporarily suspended for each defendant. This is the case where the criminal acts of each defendant have been clearly identified, with sufficient grounds for prosecution and trial, but when there is a basis, the Investigation Agency shall issue a decision to temporarily suspend the investigation of that defendant. The decision to temporarily suspend by the Investigation Agency must be immediately sent to the People's Procuracy of the same level to perform the function of supervision and must be immediately sent to the defendant and the victim so that they know and comply.

- Supervise the suspension of criminal investigation

The People's Procuracy supervises the law enforcement of the investigation agency regarding the decision to suspend the criminal case by the investigation agency. When the time limit for investigating a criminal case expires and the collected documents are determined to not have sufficient elements to constitute a crime or the conclusion is that the crime is not a crime as prescribed in the 1999 Penal Code, the investigation agency must issue a decision to suspend the investigation of the criminal case. The conclusion must clearly state the content of the investigation process, the reasons and grounds for suspending the investigation according to specific provisions of the Criminal Procedure Code and the Penal Code. If the decision to suspend the investigation is found to be unfounded or illegal, the People's Procuracy must cancel the decision to suspend the investigation and request the investigation agency to resume the investigation of the case. If the accused has sufficient grounds for prosecution, the People's Procuracy cancels the decision to suspend the investigation and issues a decision to prosecute.

Decision to prosecute (Article 166, Article 167 of the 2003 Criminal Procedure Code).

Prosecution is a stage of criminal proceedings, the People's Procuracy conducts necessary activities to prosecute the accused before the Court by an Indictment or other Prosecution Decision (Decision to prosecute under the simplified procedure). The Indictment of the People's Procuracy is a legal document expressing the viewpoint and attitude of the prosecution agency towards the offender in the criminal case. The content of the Indictment must clearly show the issues that need to be proven in the criminal case and must comply with the provisions of Article 167 of the 2003 Criminal Procedure Code. Article 166 of the 2003 Criminal Procedure Code stipulates: "Within twenty days, for less serious crimes and serious crimes and within thirty days for very serious and especially serious crimes; from the date of receiving the case file and the investigation conclusion, the People's Procuracy must issue one of the following decisions: prosecute the accused before the Court by an Indictment; Return the file for further investigation; Suspension or temporary suspension of criminal cases.

According to legal regulations, in addition to the above activities, the People's Procuracy also conducts law enforcement in other procedural activities such as: supervising the taking of statements from victims; civil plaintiffs, civil defendants; persons with rights and obligations related to the case; supervising confrontation and identification (Articles 136, 137, 138 of the 2003 Criminal Procedure Code); supervising the examination of traces on the body.

body; investigative experiment, appraisal (Article 152, Article 153, Article 155 of the 2003 Criminal Procedure Code)...

1.5. Factors affecting and ensuring the application of law in the investigation and prosecution of criminal cases

1.5.1. General overview of factors affecting and ensuring the application of law in the investigation and prosecution of criminal cases by the People's Procuracy

ADPL in the investigation and prosecution of criminal cases by the People's Procuracy is affected to varying degrees by many objective and subjective factors, related to many subjects, many different institutions and mechanisms. Understanding and identifying these factors is extremely important to correctly assess the current situation of advantages, limitations, weaknesses and inadequacies of ADPL in the investigation and prosecution of criminal cases carried out by the People's Procuracy and thereby propose new solutions that are correct, feasible and convincing.

Generally speaking, ADPL in the investigation activities of criminal cases of the People's Procuracy is affected to different degrees by the following basic factors:

- Legal factors

- Organizational factors, personnel work

- Factors of awareness, responsibility, qualifications, professional capacity, and professional ethics of prosecutors

- Factors regarding policies, recruitment, employment, management, treatment, and protection from the state, and the concern and proper awareness of society towards prosecutorial staff.

- Factors regarding policies, regimes, and working conditions of the team of prosecutors

- Factors of facilities, techniques, technology, and organizational information

- Factors regarding the relationship between judicial agencies and other state agencies in investigating and supervising criminal cases

- Factors of state and social inspection and supervision of criminal investigation activities and criminal investigation activities