Crime of illegal possession of drugs from the practice of District 7, Ho Chi Minh City - 1

LIST OF CHARTS

Table 2.1. Developments in the situation of illegal drug possession crimes compared to the group of crimes of illegal drug possession, transportation, and trading in the area

District 7 Ho Chi Minh City from 2016 to 2020 40

Table 2.2. Number of cases and defendants in the group of illegal possession, transportation and trading of drugs in District 7, City

Ho Chi Minh from 2016 to 2020 41

Table 2.3. Percentage of crimes in the group of crimes of illegal possession, transportation, and trading of drugs in District 7, Ho Chi Minh City from

2016 to 2020 42

Table 2.4. Statistics on the level of punishment that the People's Court has imposed on the crime of possession

Illegal drugs from 2015 to 2020 43

Table 2.5. Statistics on the number of cases subject to appeal, review, and retrial

Cancellation and correction of the crime of illegal possession of narcotics 55

INTRODUCTION

1. Urgency of the topic

For a long time, drugs have always been a fear of the people, a concern of society, a pain and concern of the authorities when facing difficulties in the fight against prevention, because of the serious consequences it brings. The fight against crime in general, drug crimes in particular, has always been of interest to the Party, the State and society.

Ho Chi Minh City, along with the capital Hanoi, is one of the two most developed economic poles in the country, with a large population, high residential density, complex population structure with many ethnic groups and countries in the world, an ideal location for all types of crime, including drug crimes. In recent years, drug crimes in Ho Chi Minh City have become extremely complicated, with sophisticated, organized, and transnational methods, causing difficulties for the prosecution agencies in the fight against and prevention. Through review and statistics over the years (from 2017 to 2019), the total number of drug addicts with records in Ho Chi Minh City increased by an average of more than 5.7% per year. New addicts tend to be younger, have an increased criminal record, and use many types of drugs. More dangerously, drug crimes have infiltrated schools, destroying the young generation who are also the future owners of the country.

Drug crimes in the city do not stop at the level of illegal buying, selling, transporting, and storing of drugs, but have also appeared as crimes of researching and producing drugs from small models to large industrial scales. Drug crimes with foreign elements have not shown any signs of decreasing, most of the large drug lines discovered by the prosecution agencies are organized, transnational, trading both heroin and synthetic drugs. As one of the inner-city districts of Ho Chi Minh City, District 7 is also one of the markets that drug crimes target due to certain geographical and population characteristics of this area, seriously affecting the political security, social order and safety of District 7 in particular, Ho Chi Minh City in general because drug crimes

Drugs are the source of other crimes such as murder, robbery, theft, ...

Faced with that situation, the judicial system has implemented many plans to resolutely combat drug crimes, focusing on promoting and improving the effectiveness of determining crimes and deciding on penalties for the crime of illegal possession of drugs in Ho Chi Minh City, including District 7.

However, compared to the requirements of the practical work of drug prevention and control, which must ensure control and complete elimination of drug crimes from the social life of the city in general, and District 7 in particular, the activities of determining crimes and deciding on penalties for crimes of illegal possession of drugs are still limited, leading to the effectiveness of suppressing drug crimes and the effectiveness of propaganda for the people not being as expected. Therefore, enhancing the effectiveness of determining crimes and deciding on penalties for drug crimes to ensure strong fight and timely suppression of drug crimes in Ho Chi Minh City in general, and in District 7 in particular, is an important and urgent requirement in the current context.

2. Research status of the topic

To have a theoretical basis for the implementation of the assigned topic, the student has referred to the following related scientific works: Le Van De (2005), Determining crime names and deciding on punishment in Vietnamese criminal law, People's Police Publishing House, Hanoi; Duong Tuyet Mien (2007) Determining crime names and deciding on punishment (monograph book)

– second edition, with revisions and additions), Labor – Social Publishing House, Hanoi; Dinh Van Que (2006), Scientific commentary on the Criminal Code (Part on crimes, volume IV), National Political Publishing House; Vo Khanh Vinh (2013), General theory of crime designation, Social Sciences Publishing House; Nguyen Xuan Yem (2001), Drug prevention and control – An urgent fight for the whole society, Labor – Social Publishing House; Nguyen Xuan Yem and Dr. Phan Dinh Khanh, Nguyen Thi Kim Lien (2003), Prostitution, drugs, gambling, modern crimes, People's Police Publishing House, Hanoi; and other reference sources such as books, newspapers, including articles on the internet. In addition, the author also consulted other theses

Master's thesis related to, or providing content for, the crime of illegal possession of drugs, may include the following:

- Master's thesis " Crime of illegal possession, transportation and trading of narcotics in Vietnamese criminal law " by author Pham Hong Thuy, Hanoi National University, 2016.

- Master's thesis " Application of criminal law on drug crimes from practice in District 8, Ho Chi Minh City " by author Nguyen Quang Duyet, Academy of Social Sciences, 2018.

- Master's thesis " Crime of illegal possession of narcotics under Vietnamese Criminal Law from the practice of Go Vap district, Ho Chi Minh city " by author Tran Thi Thu Huong, Academy of Social Sciences, 2018.

The above scientific documents are the general theoretical basis of the crime of illegal possession of narcotics, however, there has been no research on the crime of illegal possession of narcotics from the practice of District 7, Ho Chi Minh City. Therefore, through this thesis, the author wants to delve into the practical study of the crime of illegal possession of narcotics, the difficulties and obstacles in determining the crime and deciding the punishment for the crime of illegal possession of narcotics. From the inheritance of the works of previous authors, this thesis will propose solutions with the aim of perfecting and ensuring the correct application of the provisions of Vietnamese criminal law on the crime of illegal possession of narcotics.

Through research and study, the author affirms that the topic: "Crime of illegal possession of narcotics from the practice of District 7, Ho Chi Minh City" does not overlap with any topic that has been published as of March 9, 2021.

3. Research purpose and tasks

The aim of the thesis is to propose the improvement of criminal law and solutions to ensure the correct application of criminal law provisions on the crime of illegal possession of drugs.

To achieve this goal, the thesis needs to perform the following tasks:

- Analyze the concepts and legal signs of the crime of illegal possession of drugs according to criminal law in Vietnam.