Following the instructions of the Prosecutor General of the Supreme People's Procuracy, the Delegation of the Supreme People's Procuracy, led by Mr. Nguyen Quang Dung, Deputy Prosecutor General, attended the Southeast Asia Law Enforcement Conference on Anti-corruption, which was held in Bangkok, Thailand for 3 days, from August 29 to 31, 2022.
The conference was attended by 170 delegates, including: Senior representatives and experts representing Governments ministries, anti-corruption and law enforcement agencies, prosecution agencies, and Financial intelligence agencies from Southeast Asian countries and some countries from other regions of the world.
The Vietnamese delegation included representatives from the Supreme People's Procuracy, the Ministry of Public Security, the Government Inspectorate and the State Bank to participate in the Conference.
At the Conference, Mr. Nguyen Quang Dung, Deputy Prosecutor General of the Supreme People's Procuracy delivered a speech at the Plenary Session. In his speech, he expressed the resolute spirit of fighting against crime in general and crime of corruption in particular of the State of Viet Nam as well as the Vietnamese People's Procuracy. The Deputy Prosecutor General also highly appreciated the meaning and importance of organizing this Conference, and shared Viet Nam's achievements and called on countries to strengthen cooperation in the field of criminal justice.
Comrade Nguyen Quang Dung, Deputy Prosecutor General of the Supreme People's Procuracy
take souvenir photos with delegates attending the Conference
After the Plenary session, the delegation of the Supreme People's Procuracy joined working groups with several countries to discuss various topics related to the prevention and combat of corruption crimes, including:
- Group 1: Strengthening regional and international cooperation to investigate and prosecute corruption cases involving multiple jurisdictions.
- Group 2: Addressing the connection between corruption and other crimes.
- Group 3: Strengthening the legal and institutional framework for recovering stolen assets.
At the end of the Working Session, the Conference Executive Board made a Recommendation for comment in the Final Plenary Session. The official version will be sent to the participating countries by the Organizing Committee after editing.
During the business trip, the Delegation of the Supreme People's Procuracy had cooperation activities on the sidelines of the Conference. At a bilateral meeting with Ms. Noh Kong Lee, First Deputy Minister of Justice of the Republic of Korea, Mr. Nguyen Quang Dung expressed his delight at the close cooperation activities as well as the support of the Ministry of Justice and the South Korean Government for Viet Nam. In the fight against crime, as the Central Authority specified in the 2003 Mutual Legal Assistance Agreement in Criminals between the two countries, the two agencies have actively and responsibly cooperated with each other. The results of mutual legal assistance have reached a high rate. Compared with other countries, the cooperation between Viet Nam and South Korea is considered to be highly effective.
Speaking at the meeting, Ms. Noh Kong Lee expressed her wish to further strengthen cooperation between the two central agencies in mutual criminal justice assistance, specifically by assigning a direct contact point to promptly exchange information and accelerate the progress of mutual legal assistance. The Ministry of Justice of the Republic of Korea will continue to support the Supreme People's Procuracy of Viet Nam in improving the capacity of the Procurator, sharing experiences, providing technical support for digital investigative activities and collect information from electronic data systems. In particular, the First Deputy Minister of Justice of the Republic of Korea wished to continue exchanging high-level delegations to strengthen cooperation and open more activities between the two agencies.
Besides the bilateral meeting with the First Deputy Minister of Justice of the Republic of Korea, the Delegation of the Supreme People's Procuracy also had a meeting with Mr. Shervin Majlessi, Head of UNODC's Department of Economic Crime and Corruption.
At the meeting, Mr. Shervin Majlessi recommended Viet Nam to join the Global Network of Anti-Corruption Law Enforcement Authorities (GlobE Network). The network was established in June 2021. To date, 117 agencies from 65 countries have participated. the Network aims to provide a quick, agile and efficient tool for law enforcement agencies to combat cross-border corruption, and to strengthen communication, exchange and peer learning between agencies while complementing and coordinating with existing international platforms.
During its participation in the Conference, the Vietnamese delegation achieved encouraging results. Firstly, Viet Nam has succeeded in reaffirming its commitment and demonstrating responsibility towards anti-corruption work. Secondly, Viet Nam has the opportunity to contact, connect and understand more about the countries participating in the Conference, especially to have access to good practices in mutual assistance activities of the countries. In addition, through the working sessions, Viet Nam also has a good source of ideas to improve the effectiveness of its own legal assistance activities.