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Bribery mediation is a legal violation that interferes with the normal operation of agencies and organizations. How is the crime of bribery mediation punished?
What is bribery mediation?
Bribery mediation is the act of acting as an intermediary to facilitate the connection between the bribe giver and the bribe receiver to carry out the act of giving and receiving bribes.
Examples of the crime of bribery mediation
– In the “Rescue Flight” case, Mr. Nguyen Anh Tuan acted as an intermediary to communicate between Nguyen Thi Thanh Hang (BlueSky) and Hoang Van Hung (Investigator) to request leniency for Hang, and therefore was prosecuted and convicted of the crime of bribery mediation.
– Mr. A built an unauthorized house on a 100 square meter piece of land. Fearing that the state authorities would force him to demolish it and knowing that Mr. B was an acquaintance of the commune official, A contacted B to ask him to bribe to prevent the demolition of his house. Mr. B acted as an intermediary for Mr. A to contact the commune official and offer a bribe. After being discovered, Mr. B was prosecuted for the crime of bribery mediation, Mr. A for giving bribes, and the commune official for receiving bribes.
Elements of the crime of bribery mediation? Comments on the crime of bribery mediation
1/ Regarding the subject:
The offender of the crime of bribery mediation does not necessarily have to be a person with authority or power. They only use personal relationships to act as intermediaries between the person with authority and power and the person giving bribes. However, there are cases where the person mediating bribery has authority and power and they exploit their working relationships to contact the person with authority and power to handle the case for the person giving bribes. The offender of the crime of bribery mediation must be at least 16 years old.
2/ Regarding the object
The object of the crime of bribery mediation is the legitimate activities of agencies and organizations. The criminal act damages the trust of the people in the agencies and organizations.
3/ Objectively
The act of the crime of bribery mediation is acting as an intermediary between the person giving bribes and the person receiving bribes. The intermediary act can be manifested through the following signs:
– Meeting with the bribe receiver to gauge their attitude, suggest giving bribes to help the bribe giver.
– Receiving a promise or commitment from the bribe giver that they will meet and make requests to the bribe receiver.
– Arranging a time and place for the bribe giver and the bribe receiver to meet directly.
– Participating as an intermediary in delivering material benefits from the bribe giver to the bribe receiver.
The property used for bribery must be at least 2 million VND. If the bribe is non-material, the value does not need to be considered.
4/ Subjectively
The offender of the crime of bribery mediation commits the act with deliberate intent. The mediator is aware of their actions, foresees the consequences, and desires for those consequences to occur or knowingly allows them to happen.
The crime of bribery mediation under the 2015 Criminal Code
According to the provisions of Article 365 of the 2015 Criminal Code (amended and supplemented in 2017), a person who mediates bribery will be fined up to less than 200 million VND, subject to non-custodial reform for up to 03 years or imprisonment for up to 03 years if it falls into one of the following cases:
- Bribery mediation involves money, assets, or other material benefits worth from 2 million VND to less than 100 million VND.
- Bribery mediation with non-material benefits (no need to determine the value).
The offender of the crime of bribery mediation may be imprisoned for up to 07 years if it falls into one of the following cases:
- Bribery mediation is organized.
- Bribery mediation is of a professional nature.
- Using artifices to mediate bribery.
- Bribery mediation when knowing that the bribe is state property.
- Exploiting one’s position and power to mediate bribery.
- Repeated bribery mediation.
- Committing bribery mediation with property used for bribery worth from 100 million VND to less than 500 million VND.
The offender of the crime of bribery mediation may be imprisoned for up to 10 years if the property used for bribery is worth from 500 million VND to less than 1 billion VND.
The offender of the crime of bribery mediation may be imprisoned for up to 15 years if the property used for bribery is worth from 1 billion VND or more.
Additionally, the offender of the crime of bribery mediation may also be subject to a supplementary fine of up to 200 million VND. A person who mediates bribery but repents, voluntarily confesses, and reports to the competent state authority before being detected may be considered for exemption from criminal liability.
The crime of bribery mediation applies not only to violations within state agencies and state-owned enterprises but also to violations within private enterprises and organizations.
