Unresolved Dilemmas in Prosecuting Transnational Cybercrime

Insights from Vietnam’s Legal System

Abstract

This study examines the dilemmas of prosecuting transnational cybercrime through the case of Vietnam, where sovereignty concerns intersect with the realities of a borderless cyberworld. Based on the structural case study approach, the analysis draws on Vietnam’s 2015 Criminal Code, the Palermo Convention (2004), and diverse scholarly sources to examine three interrelated challenges, such as jurisdictional conflicts, evidentiary obstacles, and international cooperation. The results indicate that traditional territorial jurisdiction poses significant challenges for Vietnam when crimes occur outside the country or are committed over a distributed digital infrastructure. There is doubt due to the overlap of jurisdiction with other States, which hinders investigation and prosecution. Furthermore, enforcement is also undermined by evidentiary problems, such as cross-border evidence collection obstacles, mutual legal assistance delays and inconsistent standards for authenticating digital records. International cooperation also remains limited since Vietnam has not ratified the Budapest Convention, while ASEAN lacks binding legal norms for cybercrime. Domestically, persistent fragmentation among agencies and limited judicial capacity undermine effective prosecutions, which can be seen in recent cases of scam-related fraud against Vietnamese citizens. Despite the reforms and codification in Vietnam, the country’s legal system is challenged to reconcile sovereignty and the requirement for international cooperation. The research highlights a requirement for synchronized jurisdictional rules, common evidentiary practices, and wide-reaching cooperative structures. Accordingly, Vietnam’s experience offers valuable lessons for other developing countries.