Vietnam’s Penal Code has been amended to become more stringent against individuals caught polluting the environment, now making them subject to jail terms instead of mere cash fines for offenses.
The updated Penal Code which went into effect starting January 1, states that people found guilty of dumping waste and causing damage to the environment will be fined up to VND3 billion (US$132,159) or jailed for up to seven years, according to Tuoi Tre.
The last Penal Code which was put into effect in 2009 held owners of manufacturing facilities or businesses that cause “severe or particularly serious consequences” to the environment responsible for violations. That law did not specify parameters to determine the severity of offenses.
Hoang Van Thuc, deputy head of the General Department of Environment explained to Tuoi Tre why the original law failed to provide environmental protection. “As it was impossible to rule that a business has severely polluted the environment, most of the individuals responsible were able to avoid criminal charges.”
For example, the proprietor of Pacific Crystal, a Chinese-owned textile factory in Hai Duong Province, only bore a mere administrative fine of VND672 million (US$30,000) for being caught dumping untreated wastewater into the environment last February.
Thuc elaborated that the amended 2015 Penal Code, which is effective this year, includes more specific and measurable parameters for enforcement, such as the volume of wastewater or the mass of dumped solid waste, as well as the number of violations accumulated, which makes charging violators less challenging.
He explained: “This means from now on, businesses that pay little attention to technology or waste treatment systems are more likely to face jail terms.”
The General Department of Environment inspected nearly 1,000 businesses in 2015 and 2016 and found that up to 30% of them were in violation standards set to protect the environment.
Thuc added: “These violators may have been able to avoid criminal charges but the new law now has measurable parameters to file criminal charges against them.”
[Photo via Tuoi Tre]
