Joint Circular 03/2006/TTLT-KSNDTC-TTrCP-BCA-BQP on the coordination relationship in detecting, investigating, and handling cases with signs of criminal offenses proposed for prosecution by inspection agencies issued by the Supreme People's Procuracy, Government Inspectorate, Ministry of Public Security, and Ministry of National Defense.

JOINT CIRCULAR

ON THE RELATIONSHIP AND COOPERATION IN THE DISCOVERY, INVESTIGATION, AND HANDLING OF CASES WITH SUSPICIONS OF CRIMES INITIATED BY AUDITING AUTHORITIES

To ensure close cooperation among auditing authorities, investigative agencies, and the Prosecutor’s Office in the discovery, investigation, and handling of cases with suspicions of crimes initiated by auditing authorities according to the Criminal Procedure Code, the Audit Law, the Organization Law of the People's Prosecutor’s Office, the Anti-Corruption Law, and the Regulation on Investigative Procedures, the Supreme Prosecutor’s Office, Government Auditing Commission, Ministry of Public Security, and Ministry of National Defense hereby jointly issue the following guidance:

1. On the scope of cooperative relationships

This Circular stipulates the cooperative relationship between auditing authorities, investigative agencies, and the Prosecutor’s Office (including auditing authorities, investigative agencies, and the Prosecutor’s Office within the military) in the discovery, investigation, and handling of cases with suspicions of crimes initiated by auditing authorities for criminal prosecution.

2. On the cooperative relationship in the handling of cases with suspicions of crimes initiated by auditing authorities

2.1. During the performance of auditing tasks, if an auditing authority discovers a case with suspicions of crime, it must transfer the case file and the indictment request to the competent investigative agency for consideration of initiating a criminal case within five days from the date of discovering the crime suspicion, and simultaneously notify the same-level Prosecutor’s Office in writing.

If the case with suspicions of crime occurs at an organization or unit under the management of a district, province, or military unit, the indictment request file should be transferred to the corresponding investigative agency; if the case occurs at an organization or unit under the management of a ministry or the government, the indictment request file should be transferred to the Criminal Investigation Department of the Ministry of Public Security or the Investigative Agency of the Ministry of National Defense. After receiving the file and the indictment request, if the investigative agency finds insufficient grounds to initiate a criminal case, it shall request the auditing authority to cooperate in collecting additional evidence to supplement the indictment request file. In the event that the auditing authority has supplemented additional evidence but still lacks sufficient grounds to determine the crime suspicion, the investigative agency shall issue a decision not to initiate a criminal case and return the file to the auditing authority for resolution within its jurisdiction. The handover of files between the investigative agency and the auditing authority shall take place at the investigative agency's office. If the supplementary evidence confirms the crime suspicion and falls within the jurisdiction of the auditing authority that initiated the indictment request, the auditing authority shall be informed. Within twenty-four hours from issuing the decision to initiate or not initiate a criminal case, the investigative agency must send these decisions along with related documents to the same-level Prosecutor’s Office for supervision of the initiation of the case according to Article 104 of the Criminal Procedure Code.

In cases where the violation involves complex circumstances and multiple levels or sectors, if deemed necessary, the auditing authority may convene a meeting of inter-sectoral leaders including the auditing authority, investigative agency, and same-level Prosecutor’s Office to analyze and evaluate the collected evidence. If the inter-sectoral group unanimously determines that the case clearly indicates a crime suspicion, the auditing authority shall promptly establish a file and submit a request to the competent investigative agency to initiate a criminal case.

2.2. Upon completion of the audit, if the auditing authority does not recommend indictment but the investigative agency discovers crime indications in the audited case, it shall issue a decision to initiate a criminal case and send this decision along with related documents to the same-level Prosecutor’s Office for supervision of the initiation of the case. In such cases, if requested by the investigative agency, the auditing authority shall have the responsibility to provide relevant materials collected during the audit process to assist in determining the crime.

2.3. The investigative agency has the responsibility to accept the case file and indictment request transferred by the auditing authority and within twenty days from receipt of the file, the investigative agency must issue one of the following decisions:

a) Decision to initiate a criminal case;

b) Decision not to initiate a criminal case;

c) Decision to transfer the case file of the legal violation to the competent investigative agency to initiate a criminal case.

In cases where the crime suspicion initiated by the auditing authority involves complex circumstances or requires verification in multiple locations, the processing time may be extended but not exceed sixty days; beyond this period, if the auditing authority does not receive a written notification of the processing result from the investigative agency, it has the right to request the same-level Prosecutor’s Office to review and resolve the matter. In cases where it disagrees with the resolution of the competent Prosecutor’s Office, the auditing authority may request the higher-level Prosecutor’s Office to direct and resolve the matter. Lower-level investigative agencies must comply with the operational directives of the higher-level Prosecutor’s Office.

2.4. When the Investigative Agency receives and examines the prosecution recommendation file from the Inspectorate and finds that the criminal act does not fall within its jurisdiction, it shall coordinate with the same-level Prosecution Office before making a decision to transfer that file to the competent Investigative Agency for the initiation of a criminal case, while simultaneously notifying in writing the Inspectorate that made the prosecution recommendation, the Prosecution Office notified by the Inspectorate about the recommendation, and the same-level Prosecution Office with the competent Investigative Agency receiving the file. When the competent Investigative Agency makes a decision to initiate a criminal case or not to initiate a criminal case, it must immediately transfer that decision along with related documents to the same-level Prosecution Office for supervision of the initiation of the case according to Article 104 of the Criminal Procedure Code. At the same time, it must notify in writing the Inspectorate that made the prosecution recommendation.

2.5. Upon receiving the decision to initiate a criminal case or the decision not to initiate a criminal case from the Investigative Agency, the Prosecution Office shall immediately assign a Prosecutor to examine the basis and legality of those decisions and propose in writing to the leadership of the Prosecution Office to make one of the following decisions:

a) If the decision not to initiate a criminal case by the Investigative Agency lacks grounds, then the Prosecution Office shall issue a decision to revoke that decision and issue a decision to initiate a criminal case, transferring it to the competent Investigative Agency to conduct the investigation according to Article 109 of the Criminal Procedure Code.

b) If the decision to initiate a criminal case by the Investigative Agency lacks grounds, then the Prosecution Office shall issue a decision to revoke that decision and request the Investigative Agency to return the file to the Inspectorate that made the recommendation for resolution according to its authority.

2.6. In cases where there is disagreement with the decisions of the Prosecution Office specified in points a and b of Section 2.5 of this Circular, the Investigative Agency must still comply but has the right to recommend to the higher-level Prosecution Office and report to the higher-level Investigative Agency; if it is an Investigative Agency at the central level, it may recommend to the Chief Prosecutor of the Supreme People's Procuracy and the Chief Prosecutor of the Central Military Procuracy for review and decision. Within twenty days from the date of receipt of the recommendation from the Investigative Agency, if the highest-level Prosecution Office agrees with the recommendation of the Investigative Agency, it shall issue a decision to revoke the decision of the lower-level Prosecution Office; if it disagrees, it shall notify in writing the reasons to the recommending Investigative Agency and the lower-level Prosecution Office. The results of the resolution by the higher-level Prosecution Office, the decision of the Chief Prosecutor of the Supreme People's Procuracy, and the decision of the Chief Prosecutor of the Central Military Procuracy are final decisions.

2.7. In cases where the Inspectorate disagrees with the decision not to initiate a criminal case by the Investigative Agency, but the same-level Prosecution Office considers that the decision has grounds and therefore does not revoke it; or the Inspectorate disagrees with the decision to revoke the decision to initiate a criminal case by the Prosecution Office, it has the right to recommend to the higher-level Prosecution Office. If it is the State Inspectorate, it may recommend to the Chief Prosecutor of the Supreme People's Procuracy for review and decision. If it is the Inspectorate under the Ministry of National Defense, it may recommend to the Chief Prosecutor of the Central Military Procuracy for review and decision. Within twenty days from the date of receipt of the recommendation, if the higher-level Prosecution Office agrees with the recommendation of the Inspectorate, it shall revoke the decision of the lower-level Prosecution Office; if it disagrees with the recommendation of the Inspectorate, it shall notify in writing the reasons. The results of the resolution by the higher-level Prosecution Office, the decision of the Chief Prosecutor of the Supreme People's Procuracy, and the decision of the Chief Prosecutor of the Central Military Procuracy are final decisions.

2.8. When the Investigative Agency has initiated a criminal case, but during the investigation process, collecting evidence yields results different from the contents recorded in the prosecution recommendation of the Inspectorate, the Investigative Agency shall request the Inspectorate to cooperate in verifying and clarifying the objective truth of the case to handle it in accordance with the law.

3. Prosecution Recommendation File

3.1. The person issuing the inspection decision is the person authorized to transfer the file and to request the Investigative Agency to consider initiating a criminal case. The documents in the prosecution recommendation file are primary documents; if they are photocopies, the Head of the Inspection Team must sign to confirm, stamp them as true copies, and bear legal responsibility for the file.

3.2. The prosecution recommendation file includes:

a) The prosecution recommendation to the Investigative Agency to consider initiating a criminal case signed by the person issuing the inspection decision, specifying the criminal acts with signs of criminal offenses, the subjects committing violations of the law, the losses caused by the violation of the law, the time and place of the violation.

b) The inspection decision, the verification record of the violation of the law by the Inspection Team or the Inspector, the explanation and report of the inspected subject;

c) The report by the Head of the Inspection Team on the violations of the law by the inspected subject with signs of criminal offenses. In cases where the prosecution recommendation is made after the inspection has ended, the prosecution recommendation file must include the excerpt of the inspection conclusion regarding the violation of the law that the Inspectorate recommends for prosecution.

Along with the prosecution recommendation file, the Inspectorate must transfer all relevant documents, invoices, certificates, ledgers to the Investigative Agency. Any items, money, gold... directly related to the violation of the law obtained during the inspection must be managed and handled according to the law.

4. Transfer and Receipt of the Prosecution Recommendation File

When transferring the prosecution recommendation file to the Investigative Agency, the Inspectorate must prepare a detailed list of all documents and items in the file. The transfer and receipt of the file must take place at the Investigative Agency's office and a handover record must be established, with both the transferring and receiving parties signing the record and clearly stating their names.

5. Implementation organization

The Supreme People's Procuracy, the Government Inspectorate, the Ministry of Public Security, and the Ministry of National Defense shall implement this Circular. Each year, the Supreme People's Procuracy at all levels shall take the lead in organizing meetings with the heads of the inter-sectoral inspection agencies, investigation agencies, and the same-level Supreme People's Procuracy to evaluate and draw lessons from the cooperation in the work of detecting and handling cases involving criminal offenses proposed for prosecution by the inspection agencies, and to discuss subsequent cooperation measures.

6. Effectiveness of the Circular

This Joint Circular shall take effect fifteen days after its publication in the Official Gazette. During implementation, if there are any difficulties or need for additional guidance, the investigation agencies, the Supreme People's Procuracy, and local inspection agencies shall report to the Supreme People's Procuracy, the Government Inspectorate, the Ministry of Public Security, and the Ministry of National Defense for timely explanation and supplementary guidance.