THE IMPORTANT ROLE OF THE CENTRAL AUTHORITY IN
DEALING WITH DIFFICULTIES DURING EXECUTION OF
MUTUAL LEGAL ASSISTANCE REQUESTS
Ngo Thi Quynh Anh *In my presentation, I would like to introduce Vietnamese regulations on basic
mechanisms and procedures concerning Mutual Legal Assistance in Criminal Matters(MLA); agencies responsible for these matters; conditions and requirements to request
MLA; some difficulties coped with during the process of execution and some typical cases;
and the crucial role of the Central Authority in dealing with these difficulties.
I. BASIC PRINCIPLES RELATING TO MUTUAL LEGAL ASSISTANCE
The Law on Mutual Legal Assistance of Viet Nam was passed by the National
Assembly and entered into force in July 2008. This law provides for principles,competences and procedures of executing legal assistance in civil and criminal matters,
extradition and transfer of sentenced persons between Viet Nam and foreign countries, andresponsibilities of state agencies of Viet Nam in mutual legal assistance.
A. Competent Agencies
According to Article 64 of the Law on Mutual Legal Assistance, the Supreme People's
Procuracy (SPP) is the Central Authority of MLA activities of Viet Nam. The SPP has
responsibility to receive, send, monitor and urge the execution of requests for mutual legal
assistance in criminal matters; consider and decide on execution and request the appropriate
People’s Procuracy or investigation agency to execute requests for mutual legal assistancein criminal matters; and to refuse or postpone the execution of a request for mutual legal
assistance within its competence. The SPP also has the function of building MLA treaties
between Viet Nam and other countries.
The SPP delegates those functions to its Department of International Cooperation andMLA in criminal matters. The contact details are as follows: The Department ofInternational Cooperation and MLA in criminal matters, the SPP of Viet Nam. Other stateagencies involved include investigation bodies, courts and judgment enforcement bodies atall levels.
B. Scope of Assistance
Under the provisions of this Law (Article 17), forms of mutual legal assistance incriminal matters between Viet Nam and foreign states include: service of documents andother records and documents concerning mutual legal assistance in criminal matters;summoning of witnesses, experts, and persons who have rights and obligations in the case;collection and provision of evidence; criminal prosecution; exchange of information; andother forms of mutual legal assistance in criminal matters.
Deputy Director of the Department for International Cooperation and Mutual Legal Assistance in Criminal
Matters, Supreme People’s Procuracy of Viet Nam.

*- 171 -- 173 -Within its authority and responsibilities provided by law, the SPP, as the Central
Authority, has to directly manage, receive and organize the implementation of those MLAcases.
C. Procedures for an Incoming Request
Requests from the competent authorities of foreign countries will be sent to the SPP ofViet Nam directly under regulations of treaties or through diplomatic channels. After
receiving an MLA request sent by a foreign competent authority, the SPP records it in theregister of requests for legal assistance in criminal matters, checks its validity and transmits
it to the agency conducting the Vietnamese criminal proceedings for execution. If therequest is not valid, the SPP returns it to the competent authority of the requesting State andspecifies the reasons therefor. The SPP also offers translation services for those documentsthat have not been translated into Vietnamese.
If a request is under the executing authority of the Investigation Police Office or theSecurity Investigation Agency of the Ministry of Public Security, the SPP will transfer it to
the appropriate agency of the Ministry of Public Security to execute. If a request is under
the authority of the People's Procuracy at the provincial level, the SPP will transfer it to theprovincial People's Procuracy to implement.
A document containing the results of a request's execution is sent back by the agency
conducting the Vietnamese criminal proceedings; then, the SPP sends it to the competentauthority of the requesting State according to the international treaty to which Viet Nam
and that foreign State are parties, or through diplomatic channels.
If the request cannot be executed, or exceeds the time limit required by the foreigncompetent authority, or needs additional conditions to execute, the agency conducting theVietnamese criminal proceedings shall inform in writing the Supreme People's Procuracyof the reasons therefor so that the SPP can notify the competent authority of the requesting
State.
D. Conditions for Refusal or Postponement of the Execution of a Foreign Requesta) A foreign request will be refused in one of the following circumstances:- It is not in conformity with Vietnamese laws or the obligations of Viet Nam under
the international treaties to which Viet Nam is a party;- The execution of the request may jeopardize the sovereignty or national security ofViet Nam;
- The request is for prosecution of a person for criminal conduct of which that person
has been convicted, acquitted or granted a general or special reprieve in Viet Nam;
- The request relates to criminal conduct for which the statute of limitations has
elapsed according to the Penal Code of Viet Nam;
- The request relates to a violation of law which does not constitute a criminal offence
under the Penal Code of Viet Nam.
b) The execution of a foreign request for legal assistance in criminal matters may be
postponed if the execution of that request would create an obstacle to theinvestigation, prosecution, trial or the enforcement of a judgment in Viet Nam. After- 172 -- 174 -deciding to refuse or postpone the execution of a request, the SPP will inform therequesting State of the reasons therefor and measures to be taken.
II. DIFFICULTIES DURING EXECUTION OF MLA REQUESTS
The MLA requests sought mainly are for serving of documents, providing of evidence
and criminal prosecution. The content of MLA requests is increasingly complicated anddiverse, involving many areas and serious crimes such as murder, drug-related crimes,corruption, fraudulent appropriation of property, money-laundering etc. There is anincreasing trend of not only the number but also the character and nature of requests eachyear.
During the process of executing MLA requests, Viet Nam copes with some difficulties
such as the time-consuming nature of the process, differences of laws and regulations,taking testimony or statements via video link, attendance of foreign officers, death penalty
issues, languages etc.
Specifically, the law on criminal procedure of Viet Nam provides a time limit for eachstage of the investigation, prosecution and trial, while the MLA requests have no time limits
for execution. Some cases took up to a year or longer to resolve; some cases pending foryears are still unresolved. That is the obstacle causing delay to the domestic criminal
procedure of the cases with outgoing MLA requests.
The death penalty is still applied in the Vietnamese system of punishment. Some MLA
requests relating to crimes can be punished with the death penalty, and it is one of theconditions upon which foreign countries may refuse to grant legal assistance. Viet Nam
must ensure in writing that the death penalty will neither be imposed nor executed, and thisdocument must be enclosed with the outgoing request.
Vietnamese laws do not clearly regulate the measure of taking testimony or statements
via video link and the attendance of foreign officers in the process of resolving domestic
criminal cases.
The problem of dual criminality is also an obstacle for accepting an incoming request.
It must be very clear that the committed offence specified in the request for assistance has
the same character as a criminal offence stipulated in the Penal Code of Viet Nam. It is notnecessary for the crime committed in the requesting State to have the exact name of thecorresponding offence in Viet Nam or other related components. When checking theincoming requests, we carefully read the content of the criminal case to figure out similar
characteristics that can meet the requirements of dual criminality. But in some outgoingcases, the requests from Viet Nam were refused for not satisfying the principle of dual
criminality.
The requirements of each country for the form and content of an MLA request aredifferent. Some countries need the Central Authority of the requesting State to make therequest directly rather than the competent authority for the criminal case. Some countries
have their own form for the incoming request. These differences in regulations andprocedure can lead to the return or refusal of requests.

- 173 -- 175 -Recently, requests for electronic evidence have become more frequent in many MLA
requests, but the methods and procedures to collect electronic evidence are different fromcountry to country. That is a rising challenge for MLA cooperation. For example, the orderfor collecting electronic evidence in Viet Nam is only in force after a decision to commence
an investigation into a criminal case.
The translation of outgoing requests is also an issue to be dealt with. Most countries
require the requests and dossiers to be translated into their national languages. MLA
requests with legal terms are not easy to translate, so it leads to misunderstanding. It isdifficult for the central authorities to ensure the quality of translations into many different
languages, and we have to rely on the translators. Some requests have been returned due tothe poor quality of the translation.
III. THE IMPORTANT ROLE OF THE CENTRAL AUTHORITYThe Central Authority has to have enough capacity to manage all issues and problemsof incoming and outgoing requests. The Central Authority has to stay regularly updated on
the foreign partners’ laws relating to MLA in order to strictly conform with these rules whensending requests. Therefore, accumulating experience of dealing with different types ofMLA with countries that have other legal systems is important work for MLA practitioners.
With domestic competent authorities making requests to foreign countries, the Central
Authority guides them on how to make complete, accurate and clear requests that will
enable the requested State to fully understand the content and purpose of the request so it
can be properly executed.
With domestic competent authorities executing the incoming requests, the Central
Authority carefully explains the foreign regulations, needs and ways in which the request
can be executed within a reasonable time. The aim of developing the spirit of reciprocity
for future cooperation is really important.
With foreign countries, establishing a channel of direct contact between the central
authorities on mutual legal assistance in criminal matters between Viet Nam and othercountries is key. This is an important factor to ensure the transfer and receipt of a request
for assistance, shorten the time for assistance, exchange of legal information and exchangeof difficulties and measures to resolve during execution of requests. Through direct contact,
it is important to build personal relationships with fellow practitioners to strengthen andpromote international cooperation by organizing annual bilateral central authorities’
meetings, visits and MLA experience exchange seminars.
Viet Nam has a very valuable instance of successful international cooperation. It was amatter involving several years of cooperation between Singapore and Viet Nam thatresolved in September 2021. A Vietnamese national was accused of organizing illegal
online gambling activities and was sentenced to imprisonment in Viet Nam. Upon requests
from the Vietnamese authorities for assistance from 2018, the Singapore authorities worked
towards seizing the funds in Singapore belonging to the accused, for the purposes ofreturning them to Viet Nam via the formal asset recovery route. At that time, the Singapore
authorities seized the said funds of the accused pursuant to domestic law. When it came tothe fact that the return of the funds would not be possible via the formal asset recovery- 174 -- 176 -route, Singapore’s central authority invited Vietnamese authorities to participate as victim
claimants in a domestic inquiry convened by the Singapore court for the disposal of thefunds seized by the Singapore authorities (the “DI”) pursuant to their domestic law. The
Singapore authorities then persuaded the Singapore court to hear the accused and therepresentative of the Vietnamese authorities at the DI via video link from Viet Nam due tothe travel restrictions imposed on account of the Covid-19 pandemic. The accusedconsented to voluntarily repatriate funds amounting to over US$2.65 million and
S$126,000 to the Department of Civil Judgment Enforcement of Viet Nam. Then the funds
were returned to Viet Nam in September 2021 pursuant to a disposal order issued by theSingapore court, upon hearing the accused, the Vietnamese authorities, and the Singapore
authorities at the DI.
This is an example of effective cooperation. We had meetings in person, online
meetings, phone calls and emails to exchange information, explain domestic laws, give
advice etc. We had worked together in every step of Singapore’s procedures. Sometimes,
we thought that it was too difficult to go through, but we tried with our best efforts. Our
fellow practitioners in the AGC of Singapore instantly provided updated information andpapers needed to be delivered from the Vietnamese side to the competent court of Singapore.
With the positive help of the Attorney General’s Chambers of Singapore, the sum of moneyfrom that bank account had been transferred to the competent judgment enforcement bodyof Viet Nam.

- 175 -

- 177 -