Cybercrime in Legislative Perspectives: A Comparative Analysis between the Budapest Convention and Vietnam Regulations

Main Article Content

Hai Thanh Luong

Abstract

As one of the emergent countries in the Southeast Asia region facing to practical threats and potential risks from various types of cybercrimes, Vietnam has been continuing to improve their responsibilities and legislations to prevent, control and combat cyber-related crimes. The new Criminal Law of Vietnam (CCV) took effects in January 2018 with a number of specific points to legalize and penalize cybercrime’s activities. Although this code is expected to be more effective than its precedence in combatting the impact of cybercrime, we are yet to ascertain whether the new code appropriately define cybercrime as per the common minimum standards stipulated by the Council of Europe’s Convention on Cybercrime. This paper uses the comparative legal research to compare the definition of cybercrime with its related regulations in CCV with that of European Convention. Findings pointed out although CCV 2015 has sufficiently criminalised several criminal acts committed online such as illegal access, system interference, and computer related fraud; it has failed to criminalise other equally dangerous criminal acts committed using its cyberspace. The acts of data interference, computer – related forgery, misuse of device and child pornography are still not coded properly under the CCV to create massive loopholes in Vietnam’s legal framework. Some practical recommendations also call for further updates and researches.

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Author Biography

Hai Thanh Luong, School of Global, Urban and Social Studies Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology (RMIT) University

Dr. Hai Thanh Luong graduated Bachelor of Law in Vietnam’s University since 2004 and spent continuously around ten years in law enforcement agencies with both lecturing and practicing’ activities. In 2010, he awarded Australian scholarship and achieved Master for Transnational Crime Prevention at University of Wollongong, New South Wales, Australia before achieved Doctoral tittle at School of Global, Urban and Social Studies, RMIT University. His interests of areas are focus on border crime, transnational organized crime in Asia, drug trafficking, cybercrime, cybersecurity, policing and police training. The sole book - 'Transnational Drug Traficking across the Vietnam-Laos Border', has been published by Palgrave Macmillan (2019). At the current time, Dr Hai hold an Honorary Principal Research Fellow at the Social and Global Studies Centre, RMIT University.

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