Closed trial for Vu case permissible under lawVietNamNet Bridge – Vietnam News Agency talks to Dinh The Hung PhD, Head of the Criminal Law Department at the Institute of State and Law, Vietnam Academy of Social Sciences, about cases in which the court may permit a closed trial instead of an open (or public) trial in light of the upcoming trial of Phan Van Anh Vu. A closed trial is a trial in which not everyone can be present, as opposed to a public trial. The court granted the request of the victim’s family (the victim was a minor at the time of the trial) for a closed trial. In reference to the upcoming trial of Phan Van Anh Vu, who was charged with leaking State secrets, a closed trial was permissible under Clause 1 of the State Secret Protection Act. A closed trial in this case was necessary to protect State secrets, which were deemed not beneficial or not yet appropriate to be divulged.

Source: VietNamNet News July 30, 2018 08:15 UTC