Leaders of the Supreme People's Procuracy of Viet Nam received the US Department of State delegation

Attending the meeting were Mr. Nguyen Quang Dung, Deputy Prosecutor General of the Supreme People's Procuracy of Vietnam; Mr. Nguyen Duc Bang, Chief of Office of the Supreme People's Procuracy; Ms. Vu Thi Hai Yen, Director of the Department of International Cooperation and Mutual Legal Assistance in Criminal Matters; Comrade Ngo Thi Quynh Anh, Deputy Director of the Department of International Cooperation and Mutual Legal Assistance in Criminal...

On the side of the US Department of State were Mr. Thomas Lyons, Program Manager of the ILN, Department of State; Mr. Jonathan Gandomi, Coordinator of the INL Section and other diplomatic staff.

Speaking at the meeting, Mr. Le Minh Tri, Prosecutor General of the Supreme People's Procuracy of Viet Nam expressed his pleasure to welcome Mr. Todd D. Robinson to visit the Supreme People's Procuracy of Viet Nam. At the same time, he affirmed that the cooperation relationship between Viet Nam and the US was never as good as it is now and has made great progress since the two countries established diplomatic relations in July 1995.

Recently, the outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic has affected all economic, political and social aspects of life, causing many obstacles to the implementation of international cooperation activities between countries. At a time when Viet Nam is facing the most difficulties, the US Government through the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) has supported Viet Nam in the fight against the Covid-19 pandemic. The support of the US Government has actively contributed to Viet Nam's initial success in fighting the epidemic, gradually restoring economic and social activities and bring life back to normal.

Currently, between Viet Nam and the United States, the implementation of requests for mutual legal assistance in criminal matters is still based on the principle of reciprocity; The two sides haven’t signed the Agreement on mutual legal assistance in criminal matters yet, so requests for entrustment of mutual legal assistance still face difficulties and obstacles in practice, especially sending requests through diplomatic channels takes a lot of time and fail to meet the requirements of the time limit for settling criminal cases involving foreign elements of the two parties. Mr. Le Minh Tri hopes that the Assistant Secretary of State will act as a bridge and promote the focal point of the US side (DOJ) to consider so that the two countries can soon come to negotiate and sign the Mutual Legal Assistance Agreement. thereby creating an effective legal framework for criminal legal assistance activities between the two sides.

In the coming time, the two sides will actively discuss issues related to the criminal justice system and criminal procedure, especially experience in the functions and duties of protecting the state's interests of the United States Prosecutor's Office and also organizes training courses for Vietnamese prosecutors on experience in investigating and prosecuting crimes using high technology, drug crimes, money laundering and virtual currency-related crimes.

Mr. Le Minh Tri believes that with the support of Mr. Todd D. Robinson and colleagues at the US Embassy, ​​the relationship of cooperation and coordination between the Supreme People's Procuracy of Vietnam and the law enforcement agencies of the United States will continue to be promoted, thereby contributing to strengthening the strategic partnership cooperation between Viet Nam and the United States.

Speaking at the meeting, Mr. Mr. Todd D. Robinson, Assistant Secretary for the INL Bureau thanked the enthusiastic and respectful reception of the Leaders of the Supreme People's Procuracy of Viet Nam. He affirmed that, in his position, he will do his best to cultivate the special relationship between the two countries in general and the law enforcement agencies of the two countries in particular