International cooperation and mutual legal assistance in criminal matters in handling with transnational wildlife trafficking crimes in Vietnam

Abstract

Wildlife crimes have been continuously increasing all over the world but particularly in ASEAN countries, and the criminals have employed more and more sophisticated tatics and strategies. Though many countries have introduced their own solutions to enhance the legal response and capacity to investigate, prosecute and adjudicate wildlife-related crimes, the results so far are under expectation. Vietnam has various types of wild, precious and rare flora and fauna; however, these numbers have rapidly decreased due to uncontrolled exploitation and illegal trade. Aiming to conserve and develop the nation’s biodiversity, the Penal Code 2015 (amended in 2017) and the Criminal Procedure Code 2015 have new regulations that incorporate international conventions that Vietnam has acceded to. At the same time, Vietnam has become a transit nation employed by transnational criminal organizations, so that in order to tackle wildlife crimes effectively, it is significant to develop and sustain active international cooperation and mutual legal assistance in criminal matters among Vietnam and other countries in the region, as well as from all over the world. In that spirit, this article will concentrate on analyzing the current situation of wildlife crimes that has international elements; identifying roots of difficulties, challenges in dealing with this type of crimes in Vietnam as well as in the region; then proposing recommendations and solutions to improve the quality of handling transnational wildlife crimes for the sake of species conservation, environment and biodiveristy protection for humankind.