[Vnbiz] Legal Gambling? [SEC=UNCLASSIFIED]

[Tran Dinh Hoanh]

Dear brother Quang Anh and CACC,

That is interesting.  Now let's do some further legal analysis.

1.  I think we can safely assume that the Prime Minister has the legal
authority to discriminate against foreigners (because "foreigners," by
definition, has no rights under the national law.  This is true in any
country.  So we have to structure the legal argument this way: "The prime
minister is discriminating against foreigners here, by allowing them to
gamble, allowing to sin so that they can go to hell earlier."  :-)

Other than this argument, the fact appears that the Prime Minister is
discriminating against the Vietnamese.  Let's agree that prohibiting the
Vietnamese against gambling is a good thing; that means the prime minister
is doing a good thing for the Vietnamese (as brother Quang anh alluded to in
his message).  Good thing, so what?  Discrimination is discrimination.
The legal question is:  Does the prime minister has the legal authority to
discriminate against his own people?

Why is this question important?  Because in other cases, the discrimination
can be really bad.  Say, if the prime ministers allow foreigners to freely
do demonstration on the street, but does not allow the Vietnamese to
demonstrate on the street, then we have serious problem, haven't we?

I assume, if I am the Prime Minister's lawyer, I may defend him with is
argument:  The Prime Minister is not "discriminating" against the Vietnamese
in this case, he simply "protects" them (following brother Quang Anh's line
of thinking). I think this argument, in this case, is probably good enough
kill the discrimination charge.

But I still would love to know if there is any jurisprudence on this point
out there.

In any event, the discrimination issue is settled.

2.  But here is another problem. The Prime Minister doesn't have the legal
authority to create an exception to a law passed by the National Assembly.
Gambling is a crime in the criminal code.  The prime minister does not have
legal authority to say "If you are a foreigner, you may gamble."  That is an
exception to the criminal law passed by the National Assembly; the NA has to
specifically allow that exception itself (by another law).

Is there a law that allows the Prime Minister to make an exception to the
gambling prohibition?  If there is no such legal basis, then the Pirime
Minister's Decision 32/2003/QĐ-TTg may be unlawful, and therefore null and
void.

Have a great day!

Hoanh


On 6/17/07, QuangAnh.Nguyen at dfat.gov.au <QuangAnh.Nguyen at dfat.gov.au> wrote:
>
> [ Vietnam Business Forum ]
>
> Dear Brother Hoanh and CACC
>
> This is an interesting point on what should be of discrimination and what
> should not.
>
> I would like to contribute to this discussion by attaching the PM's
> decision on this business activity for your reference. According to
> Article
> 7 of this legal document, players of this entertainment shall be
> foreigners
> and OV only.
>
> I assume that the approach of the government was that this entertainment
> is
> legal crime for Vietnamese people, but not a crime in some parts of the
> world (?). Therefore, to attract the guest (tourists/investors, etc.) to
> our country, the government decided to open this entertainment in this
> kind.
>
> It is alike tax applicable for cars imported by (diplomat) foreigners and
> Vietnamese people. The first subject can import tax-free cars, while
> Vietnamese people ought to pay about  150% of the car value additionally.
>
> In some areas, the state is entitled to provide certain incentives or
> limitation, with sound rationals. Of course, we may hope that all of those
> are fair and well-justified...
>
> Regards
>
> Have a good week!
>
>
> ----------------------------------------------
> Nguyen Quang ANH
>
>
>
> --
> Tran Dinh Hoanh, LLB, JD
> Washington DC
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