19 April 2004 :

The justice sector in Vietnam would consider reviewing the list of offenses subject to the death penalty, especially economic crime, following public concern over the large number of executions in Vietnam. The idea was put forward during a two-day conference on judicial reform held in Hanoi, and was met with agreement by many senior officials in the field.
"Abandoning capital punishment for economic crime will show a humane side to the law, while creating opportunities for the offenders to make up the losses they created," said Truong Vinh Trong, head of the ruling Communist Party's Home Affairs Commission.
Minister of Justice Uong Chu Luu also supported the plan, saying economic sanctions were better than a death sentence as they could help the State, the Government and victims to retrieve part of the losses they incurred.
He also said that such a harsh penalty was ineffective in deterring future crime, as more corruption cases had been uncovered in recent years, with State losses reaching thousands of billions of Vietnamese Dollars.
"Longer imprisonment periods of between 30-40 years should be used instead," lawyer Pham Hung, former chairman of the Vietnam Lawyers Association, proposed.
Trong and his deputy Tran Dai Hung were also in favor of plans to eliminate death penalty for other offences, but said the matter needed carefully study.