Number of People Sentenced to Death by the Court of First Instance from 1992 to 2003

Criminal law in recent years shows that: Although the death penalty is prescribed for 22 crimes with 23 criminal elements, in reality, the Courts mainly apply it to some cases of murder such as: "murder for appropriation of property; murder with hooliganism, dangerous recidivism; committing crimes to the end...) and the crime of illegal possession, transportation, trading or appropriation of narcotics (mainly subjects buying, selling, storing large quantities of drugs, organized activities)" [97, pp. 120 - 121] .

Based on the application of criminal law provisions on the death penalty in trial practice in Vietnam, we see that: According to the research documents of Professor, Doctor of Science Le Van Cam, from the beginning of the 2000s onwards (exactly after 2002), the annual data on people sentenced to death in Vietnam is not published, so the author can only access the statistical data of trial practice on the death penalty from 2002 and before. Therefore, the author mentioned the 11-year data (ie 1992 - 2002) with specific data in the practice of applying the provisions of criminal law on the death penalty in the first-instance criminal trial stage of the Court in the late 20th century - early 21st century. The 11-year period (1992 - 2002) that the Supreme People's Court office gave was 1,471 defendants sentenced to death. The analysis of the trial statistics shows that: 1) the ratio of the number of defendants sentenced to death to the total number of defendants brought to first-instance trial can be considered not very high because it has never reached 0.4% annually and is only 2.71% during 11 years; 2) The number of 931 defendants sentenced to death in 5 years (1997-2001) were the years with the highest number of defendants sentenced to death compared to the total number of 1,471 defendants sentenced to death in 11 years, while those sentenced to death were often concentrated in 4 groups stipulated in the 1999 Penal Code: (crimes of corruption, crimes of drugs, crimes of child rape and crimes of murder or

Murder with other crimes); 3) of the 931 defendants sentenced to death in 5 years (1997-2001), 744 defendants committed murder; 4) during 11 years (1992-2002), no defendant was sentenced to death for a series of particularly serious crimes among the 21 criminal elements that have provisions for this penalty, although in those criminal elements there are very important objects such as: (national security, peace and human security) protected by Vietnamese criminal law from the infringement of criminals; 5) through analyzing practical statistical data on trial practice, the author affirmed that this is a reliable basis for lawmakers to perfect legal provisions to be suitable with social relations that exist in the contemporary period and will develop in the future [87, p. 119-201].

In another research content on the practice of applying the death penalty by MSc. Vu Thi Thuy - Ho Chi Minh City University (in the monograph) "Death penalty in Vietnamese criminal law" [72, pp. 130-131] presented statistical reports of the Supreme People's Court from 1992 to 2003 showing that: the death penalty in a period of 12 years (1992-2003), the number of people convicted and executed in Vietnam fluctuated significantly, mainly depending on the provisions of the Criminal Code. For example, from 1992 to 1997, the number of people sentenced to death increased steadily (from 88 to 162 people. Especially from 1998 to 2000, due to the law amending and supplementing a number of articles of the 1985 Penal Code promulgated on May 10, 1997, which stipulated the death penalty in 44 articles (an increase of 15 articles compared to the 1985 Penal Code when it was first promulgated), the number of people sentenced to death increased significantly, always remaining at 200 people or more. From 2001 to 2003, the number of people sentenced to death was unstable (in 2001: 159 people; in 2002: 206 people; in 2003: 169 people)..., due to extremely difficult data sources, because on January 5, 2004, The Prime Minister issued Decision No. 01/2004/QD-TTg on "List of top secret State documents of the People's Court sector"

including "death penalty statistics report", so the author only provides evidence by a table of data on people sentenced to death by the Court of First Instance from 1992 to 2003, specifically as follows:

Table 2.1: Number of people sentenced to death by the Court of First Instance from 1992 to 2003

Year

Number of people tried at first instance	Number of people sentenced to death, %	Number of people executed
1992	39,920	88 (0.22%)	*
1993	47,237	95 (0.20%)	42
1994	47,822	88 (0.18%)	88
1995	54,105	121 (0.22%)	115
1996	62,494	117 (0.18%)	77
1997	42,440	162 (0.38%)	79
1998	75,280	200 (0.26%)	111
1999	76,663	202 (0.26%)	111
2000	61,272	208 (0.34%)	77
2001	58,454	159 (0.27%)	152
2002	61,256	206 (0.33%)	102
2003	68,365	169 (0.25%)	170
TS	695,308	1,815 (0.26%)	1,064

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(*) No data available.

(According to: Summary report of the Court sector's work from 1992 to 2003; Master. Vu Thi Thuy , p. 131) .

Thus, according to the data provided by the author according to the data provided by the Court, the ratio of the number of defendants sentenced to death over the total number of defendants brought to trial at first instance can be considered not very high, because the highest year was only 0.38% and the average rate of people sentenced to death was 0.26%. When studying the current situation of applying the death penalty according to each group of crimes, we see: 1) Crimes against national security are regulated in Chapter XI with 14 articles, of which 7 articles stipulate the death penalty. That shows the special danger to society of criminal acts.

infringing on national security. However, in reality, with a high sense of vigilance, resolutely opposing the plot of peaceful evolution and other sabotage activities of hostile forces; along with the correct policy of our Party and State on this issue, plots to infringe on national security have been discovered and handled promptly. Therefore, in recent years, although hostile forces have still tried to carry out acts of opposition, but with the humane criminal policy of the State with the motto of education and persuasion as the main, the number of people sentenced to death for crimes against national security is not much. According to statistics of the Supreme People's Court, from 1997 to 2001, the Court only sentenced to death 3 cases of crimes against national security (mainly terrorism). Thus, although accounting for a high proportion of the 9 groups of crimes with the death penalty, the number of people sentenced to death for this group of crimes accounts for a very small proportion. That proves that: although hostile forces are still trying to oppose, the security and political situation in the country is still stable. Therefore, the number of legal provisions is large, but in reality we do not apply this penalty and still ensure social security; 2) Crimes against human life, health, dignity and honor are regulated in Chapter XII with 2 legal provisions, however, in recent years, the number of death sentences for these crimes accounts for the majority of cases. The defendants sentenced to death are mainly those who have committed brutal crimes, blatantly hired killers, despicable thugs, organized criminals, dangerous recidivists...; 3) Crimes of property infringement stipulated in Article 133 (Crime of property robbery). In recent years, the number of people sentenced to death for this crime is not much. From 1997 to 2001, the Courts at all levels sentenced 2 defendants to death for the crime of property robbery. As for the crime of producing and trading in counterfeit goods such as food, medicine, and disease prevention medicine, according to the report of the Court, from 1998 to 2002, we did not apply

In which cases is the death penalty applied; 4) The group of drug crimes has 2 provisions for the death penalty (Article 193 Crime of illegal production of narcotics and Article 194 Crime of illegal storage, transportation or appropriation of narcotics). According to the assessment from 1997 to 2001, drug crimes have tended to increase, the number of people sentenced to death is second, after the groups of violations of life, health and dignity. Among the crimes related to drugs, we mainly only apply the death penalty to the act of illegal trading of narcotics, the rest have never been subject to the death penalty. For the crime of illegal storage, transportation and trading of narcotics, the Court only sentences to death the commanders, leaders and stubborn people in the illegal drug trafficking ring. In the case of drug-related criminals, although they are sufficiently qualified to be sentenced to death according to the guidance in Resolution 01/2001/NQ-HDTP of the Supreme People's Court, but play a secondary role, honestly confess, help the competent state agency to discover the case... are usually not sentenced to death. Normally, the Court applies the death penalty to those who illegally buy and sell drugs; it almost never applies the death penalty to those who only illegally store or transport drugs. Even when the Court has sentenced to death, the sentence has legal effect, but before the execution of the sentence, if the convict repents and honestly confesses to the crimes of his accomplices, he can also be pardoned; 5) the group of crimes against public safety and public order has only 2 articles stipulating the death penalty, which are (the crime of terrorism, article 230a, and the crime of destroying important works and means of national security, article 231). Over the years, there have been a number of defendants tried for acts such as cutting off power lines, telephone lines, etc., but the danger is not high, so they are often sentenced to a fixed term of imprisonment. Almost no defendants have been sentenced to death.; 6) groups of crimes related to positions in essence

These are corruption crimes including: (crime of embezzlement Article 278, bribery Article 279), for this group of crimes, our Party and State are determined to prevent this group of crimes, because in recent years the crime situation has become complicated, posing challenges to the development of the country. Therefore, fighting corruption is a hot, urgent issue that needs to be thoroughly resolved, to clean up the state apparatus and strengthen people's trust in public agencies. During the period 1997-2001, the Courts at all levels sentenced 24 defendants to death. However, recently, the number of people sentenced to death for corruption is not much. Some people sentenced to death for corruption, after the verdict comes into legal effect, if the defendant or the defendant's family partially remedies the consequences, have been pardoned by the President to life imprisonment (For example: defendant La Thi Kim Oanh, former Director of the Agricultural Investment and Rural Development Marketing Company, was sentenced to death for the crime of "Embezzlement of property", on October 12, 2006, the defendant was pardoned by the President to life imprisonment). 7) The group of crimes that violate the duties and responsibilities of military personnel are stipulated in Article 316 (Crime of disobeying orders) and Article 322 (Crime of surrendering to the enemy). Although these crimes are stipulated in both the 1985 Penal Code and the 1999 Penal Code, in reality, for many years there have been almost no cases of people being sentenced to death by the Courts at all levels. 8) The group of crimes of undermining peace, crimes against humanity and war crimes are stipulated in Articles 341 (Crime of undermining peace, waging aggressive wars), 342 (Crimes against humanity), 343 (War crimes). However, since the provisions of these crimes in the Vietnamese Penal Code, no one has been tried and sentenced to death for these crimes [72, pp. 130-146].

Also discussing this issue, in the workshop on perfecting the Criminal Code organized by the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) and the Ministry of Justice

organized in November 2014, the Drafting Committee of the Revised Penal Code stated that: the rate of 22/272 crimes with the death penalty, accounting for 8% of the total number of crimes in the current Penal Code of Vietnam, is high, so it needs to be narrowed down. At the conference to collect opinions on the revision of the Penal Code organized by the Judicial Committee of the National Assembly in Ho Chi Minh City on December 25, 2014, experts also focused on a number of issues such as abolishing the death penalty for some crimes, completely abolishing many crimes that have never been applied in practice, and narrowing the acts in some crimes. Specifically: according to Mr. Tran Cong Phan - Deputy Chief Justice of the Supreme People's Procuracy, who has many years of experience in the field of litigation, and has experienced many practices, he also said: "Currently, there are 22 crimes with the highest penalty being the death penalty. Through the summary of the implementation of the Penal Code, it can be seen that there are some crimes that the court rarely imposes the death penalty for, and there are crimes that the court has never applied this highest penalty" [57] . In particular, at this conference, Associate Professor, Dr. Trinh Quoc Toan - Acting Dean of the Faculty of Law - Hanoi National University, an expert in the field of legal research, including the practical application of the death penalty in the Penal Code, gave specific and convincing evidence about crimes that have the death penalty but have never been applied in practice, namely:

Crimes against national security (Treason against the Fatherland; Crime of activities aimed at overthrowing the people's government; Crime of rioting; Crime of bandit activities; Crime of destroying the material facilities of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam); Crime of organizing illegal use of narcotics; Crime of hijacking aircraft and ships; Crime of disobeying orders; Crime of destroying military weapons, means and military techniques; international crimes. Therefore, the author believes that for Vietnam in the current period, maintaining the death penalty is necessary, but consideration should be given to continuing to eliminate this penalty for a number of other crimes, including crimes that in practice from 1993 to 2010

The following crimes have not been subject to the death penalty (which has been abolished in practice): Crime of destroying material facilities of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam (Article 85); Crime of robbery (Article 133); Crime of counterfeiting and trading in counterfeit goods such as food, medicine, and disease prevention medicine (Article 157); Crime of illegal production of narcotics (Article 193); Crime of illegal appropriation of narcotics (Article 194); Crime of destroying important national security facilities and means (Article 231) [87, pp. 122-123].

From a practical perspective on the application of the death penalty in the Penal Code, there are many different views. However, we must look at the overall aspect of the problem to ensure that in practical application, it ensures both effectiveness in social management, avoids cross-fertilization, and still ensures external factors and promotes socio-economic development, because socio-economics is the foundation for legal policy making. Because if a country has a poorly developed socio-economy, people's awareness of law enforcement is often limited, and bad guys often take advantage of this factor to entice and incite crime. On the contrary, when the socio-economy develops, people's awareness of law enforcement and legal awareness will be enhanced. This issue has not only been proven by practice in recent years in Vietnam but also in other countries around the world, such as countries in Europe and America, where the socio-economy developed early, so the issue of abolishing the death penalty was also mentioned early and after many years of debate, the complete abolition of the death penalty has been carried out.

In the current period in our country, when discussing the issue of reducing and eventually abolishing the death penalty, there are still many different opinions or opinions agreeing to abolish the death penalty for some crimes but still have concerns (For example, when mentioning the abolition of the death penalty for the crime of child rape, embezzlement, and bribery). However, from the perspective of researching this issue, I

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