Viet Nam Human Rights
»
Analysis-Comment
»
home
»
Right to silence completes a law system for human rights
Right to silence completes a law system for human rights
23/2/16
The right to remain silent is a legal right recognized,
explicitly or by convention, in many of the world's legal systems. The right
covers a number of issues centered on the right of the accused or the defendant
to refuse to comment or provide an answer when questioned, either prior to or
during legal proceedings in a court of law. This can be the right to avoid self-incrimination or the right to remain silent when
questioned. The right usually includes the provision that adverse comments or
inferences cannot be made by the judge or jury regarding the refusal by a defendant to answer questions before or during a
trial, hearing or any other legal proceeding.
So, to review this right in Vietnam, we should find
out why the right to remain silent is important?
The
right of a person to defend herself or himself during criminal proceedings
against them is undoubtedly a basic right. This right is enshrined in different
regulations: a suspect has the right to submit evidence to prove his innocence,
the right to have lawyers and legal assistance, the right to ask for a change
in the jury panel if she/he deems (and can prove) that the panel is prejudiced
against her/him, and most importantly, the right to remain silent.
In
the proceedings involving investigating authorities and the investigated
person, there is an inherent inequality. The investigators have the means to
gather evidence and are not obliged to inform the suspect of the information
that they have gathered. The investigators also have adequate knowledge of
legal proceedings as well as interrogation techniques. On the other hand, the
investigated person is often at a disadvantage. She/he is isolated, might not
have enough knowledge of legal proceedings, and might not know if the
interrogation techniques deployed are legal.
The
persons being investigated can defend themselves in many ways, but irrespective
of this, they need to have certain knowledge and skills. Of all the possible
ways, remaining silent until they get the assistance of a lawyer is the most
simple one that can be availed of by anyone in any circumstance.
Therefore,
in countries where many conditions are underdeveloped, like Viet Nam, the right
to remain silent is even more important and essential, because it's the
simplest protection tool for everyone. This is vindicated by the fact that this
right has been applied since the 16th century in many countries at a much lower
stage of economic development and people's awareness than Viet Nam at present.
In
reality, the right to silence has been brought up for many times at sessions of
the National Assembly Standing Committee. National Assembly Chairman Nguyen
Sinh Hung stressed the need for a detainee or defendant to remain silent until
his lawyer is present to avoid coercion and torture.
Although this right is supported by lawyers, it is not
backed by investigation agencies for fear of obstructing the investigation
process, stressing the need to harmonize the adversarial right and state power. Investigation agencies held that prompt interrogation
of detainees, particularly in cases of dangerous or organized crimes, would
facilitate investigation as until a lawyer came, other accomplices might all
run away.
Though agreeing with
recognition of the right to silence of the accused, an experienced investigator
said this was not the right time to apply it given currently few people could
afford inviting a lawyer while procedures for lawyers to participate in
procedural activities remained very complicated.
But
for human rights of our country, it’s agreed that the right to silence should
be enforced to ensure human rights and prevent torture which might lead to
unjust punishment for detainees and defendants.
This
right should be recognized to ensure the country’s implementation of treaties
to which it is a contracting party, including the 1966 International Covenant
on Civil and Political Rights and the 1984 Convention against Torture and Other
Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment. Also, as a member of the
United Nations Human Rights Council, Vietnam needs to enact regulations on human
rights and establish mechanisms to ensure strict enforcement of these
regulations.
This was to
materialize the 2013 Constitution under which a person who is arrested, held in
custody, temporarily detained, charged with a criminal offence, investigated, prosecuted
or brought to trial has the right to defend himself or herself in person or
find a defense counsel or another person to defend him or her.
So we can see clearly that the benefits of this
right outweigh the disadvantages. It will be likely more challenging for the
police, however it's a good thing to try. Avoiding wrongful convictions of
innocent people must be a priority and it's a goal that a civilised society
should have./.
Popular Posts
-
Religion is a part of the spiritual life in society, this phenomenon of the superstructure has been strongly changed with economic - social... -
Vietnam has just done well for the second cycle of Universal Periodical Review (UPR) in Geneva, Switzerland. So, what’s the UPR? an... -
Thai people in Shutdown Bangkok protests Not until this crisis, we have realized the ne... -
Representatives from foreign countries congratulate Viet Nam on its election to the Human Rights Council for the first time on November ... -
A street flowers vendor in Hanoi Another new spring has come to Vietnam, bring... -
If nothing changes, there will be a preferential credit program with hundreds of thousands billion of capital for agriculture and r... -
Recently, several anti-governmental individuals have established series of illegal groups and organizations in the name of civil soci... -
Radio Free Asia (RFA) is a private, nonprofit international broadcasting agency of the United States government that broadcasts and...
All comments [ 0 ]
Your comments