President Truong Tan Sang called on the court sector to uphold the highest standard in carrying out legal proceedings and rulings, thus ensuring justice for the people.
Speaking at a conference yesterday to review the sector's work in 2014 and set targets for 2015, President Sang praised the court sector for fulfilling its duties last year and improving the quality of legal proceedings. He particularly noted handling of major corruption cases in 2014 and co-operation with law enforcement agencies to handle criminal cases where the original verdicts were not justified.
According to the Supreme People's Court, some of the major corruption cases handled in 2014 included sentencing Huynh Thi Huyen Nhu, a former manager at the Vietnam Joint Stock Commercial Bank for Industry and Trade, to life in prison for embezzling nearly VND4 trillion (US$189.78 million); bank tycoon Nguyen Duc Kien to 30 years in prison for tax evasion and other financial fraud; and Vu Viet Hung, former director of the Vietnam Development Bank branch for Dak Lak and Dak Nong, to death for taking bribes, swindling property and violating credit regulations.
The number of lawsuits resolved in 2014 increased by 20,000. There were also more complicated cases dealing with new types of violations, according to Bui Ngoc Hoa, Deputy Standing Chief Judge of the People's Supreme Court.
The sector resolved more than 385,000 lawsuits in 2014. About 1.16 per cent of decisions were amended or canceled, due primarily to the court's mistakes. President Sang also pointed out that many court decisions were vague and difficult to implement. Moreover, many cases were allowed to pass the statute of limitations.
The President called on the court sector to continue implementing the 2013 Constitution, the amended Law on People's Court and all National Assembly resolutions on judicial work and judicial reform. Sang also asked the sector to improve the quality of proceedings, ensure transparency and improve the professional level of staff while reforming administrative procedures in court activities at all levels. He particularly stressed the need to refrain from giving the wrong verdicts and sentencing the wrong people while missing the real criminals.
