Bribery offences under Vietnamese criminal law in comparision with Swedish and Australian criminal law

Sammanfattning: There have been attempts, all over the world, to address bribery with recourse to criminal law. As many other countries, Vietnam has been doing activities that show the determination of combating and controlling corruption, including strengthening penal provisions in terms of bribery. However, the situation of bribery in Vietnam is still alarming. For Vietnamese law enforcement authorities, criminal provisions concerning bribery are neither adequate nor clear. Analysis starts with both theoretical and practical issues relating to such offences. The understanding of bribery offences in the light of criminal law is addressed in the idea that the concept of bribery should be perceived in a modern and broad approach to include bribery in the private sector, bribery of foreign public officials; and the criminalization of different types of bribery is dependent on social attitude towards the phenomenon and the need of protecting values concerning not only government system but also private interests. Relevant international standards are analyzed respectively. The research then examines the existing criminal law of Vietnam regarding bribery offences in comparison with that of Swedish and Australia. Domestic laws on bribery indicate the considerable consistency with relevant criminal law theories. However, bribery provisions in Vietnamese Penal Code exist gaps relating to relevant Convention, including lacks of bribery in the private sector and bribery of foreign public officials. Consequently, recommendations both in building comprehensive elements of crimes and setting proportionate sanctions for crimes are made for the amendments of Vietnamese Penal Code.