Improve the quality of criminal trials and execution

A criminal trial at the Provincial People's Court. Photo: Dong Thanh

With the synchronous and drastic participation of the entire political system and all classes of people, Directive No. 48-CT/TW has achieved many positive results, contributing to creating favorable conditions to attract investment and develop the province's socio-economy. However, Thanh Hoa has a large area, both land and sea borders, divided terrain, difficult transportation, and uneven educational level, especially in the western border area... so it is easy for subjects to take advantage of and commit illegal acts, such as transporting and illegally trading drugs, illegally proselytizing... Meanwhile, criminal activities are increasingly sophisticated and complicated with the emergence of organized crime, high-tech crime... In 2024, the number of criminal cases handled by two-level courts in the province increased by 134 cases compared to 2023. Of these cases, drug crimes accounted for 29.1%, property theft crimes accounted for 10.9%, intentional injury crimes accounted for 9.3%, and usury crimes accounted for 8.2%...

Ms. Nguyen Thi Nga, Chief Justice of the Provincial People's Court, said: In response to the practical requirements of the situation, it is necessary to do a good job in handling and adjudicating all types of cases and matters, meeting the requirements of judicial reform and crime prevention and control, while continuing to carry out the tasks of Party building and rectification. The Party Committee and the leadership of the Provincial People's Court have focused on leading and directing the two-level courts in the province to resolutely and synchronously implement solutions to improve the quality of handling, adjudicating and resolving all types of cases. In particular, it focuses on speeding up the progress, ensuring the quality of handling and adjudicating criminal cases, contributing to deterring, preventing and combating crimes in the spirit of Directive No. 48-CT/TW of the Politburo .

Accordingly, the two-level courts in the province have proactively coordinated closely with the prosecution agencies right from the stage of accepting the case. Through that, they have unified their views on assessing evidence, applying the law, etc., promptly completing the case file, and bringing the case to trial within the time limit prescribed by law. The trial is conducted publicly, focusing on organizing mobile trials in residential areas and schools for cases of public interest, in order to propagate, disseminate, and improve legal understanding for all classes of people.

Notably, the two-level court has focused on implementing solutions to improve the quality of litigation in court in a substantive and equal manner. Adhering to the provisions of the law on litigation, the judges have spent time carefully and thoroughly studying the content, evidence, case files, and indictments of the prosecution agency as a basis for resolving and trying all types of cases. During the trial, the panel of judges does not limit the time of litigation, respects and ensures the rights and obligations of the parties participating in the litigation to present their evidence and opinions. Based on the results of the litigation and comprehensively and fully considering the evidence and opinions of the prosecutor, defense attorney, defendant, etc., the panel of judges makes a judgment on the right person, the right crime, and the right law, which is agreed upon by public opinion.

In addition, the Provincial People's Court has focused on inspection and examination of the trial and case settlement work of district-level courts through legally effective judgments and decisions. At the same time, it has proactively applied software and information technology applications in the case settlement process. It has focused on improving public ethics and the spirit of "serving the public, observing the law, being fair and impartial" of officials and civil servants in the sector. It has organized online court sessions and online court sessions to draw experience to continue improving the qualifications and capacity of the team of judges...

With the synchronous and drastic implementation of solutions, the trial and settlement of criminal cases by the two-level courts in the province always achieves a high rate, exceeding the target assigned by the Supreme People's Court. As of 2024, the two-level courts resolved and tried 2,726 cases with 5,409 defendants, reaching a rate of 97.8%, including 20 corruption cases with 43 defendants. In the cases, the court sentenced 16 defendants to death, 21 defendants to life imprisonment, 2,922 defendants to fixed-term imprisonment, and 1,318 defendants to suspended prison sentences...

During the 6 months of work in 2025 (from October 1, 2024 to March 31, 2025), the two-level courts in the province continued to resolve and try 1,160 criminal cases with 2,320 defendants. The court sentenced 6 defendants to death, 9 defendants to life in prison, 32 defendants to prison terms from 15 to 20 years, 311 defendants to prison terms from 7 to 15 years...

Chief Justice of the Provincial People's Court Nguyen Thi Nga affirmed: "Among the criminal cases that the two-level courts have accepted, resolved and tried in the past, there have been no cases that have exceeded the statutory time limit due to subjective errors. In general, the quality of resolving and trying criminal cases continues to be improved. There have been no cases of wrongful convictions and no criminals have been let go. The penalties that the courts apply to the defendants are guaranteed to be strict, commensurate with the nature, level, behavior and personality of the offender in each case, meeting the requirements of crime prevention and control in the current situation. The sentencing of the defendant to prison but giving the defendant a suspended sentence or non-custodial reform is carefully considered and weighed by the trial panel, ensuring compliance with the provisions of the Penal Code and the guidance of the Supreme People's Court's Judicial Council".

In addition, in order to ensure effectiveness and efficiency in operations, the Party Committee and the leadership of the Provincial People's Court have paid attention to leading and directing the strict implementation of criminal judgment enforcement. The judgments and decisions that have come into legal effect have been promptly and within the time limit issued by the courts at two levels. The postponement, temporary suspension, exemption and reduction of the sentence execution period are all based on law. Thereby, both ensuring the strictness of the law and implementing the humane criminal policy of the Party and State...

Dong Thanh

Source: https://baothanhhoa.vn/nang-cao-chat-luong-xet-xu-thi-hanh-an-hinh-su-248966.htm