In the first half of 2013, the number of corruption-related cases saw an increase of 5.7 percent year on year, the spokesperson of the Supreme People’s Procuracy said at a press conference in Hanoi on July 22.

The number of suspects in corruption cases has also gone up by 21.5 percent from the same period last year, according to the agency.

In the meantime, the crime situation continued to see complicated developments, with rapid increases noted in crimes involving banking, drugs and robbery.

The agency said legal proceedings had been launched for more than 38,000 crimes in the past six months, a year-on-year rise of 0.2 percent.

In the remaining months of this year, the Supreme People’s Procuracy will carry out specific measures to increase the role of prosecutors during investigations, as well as raise the efficiency of debates of procurators at court.

It will also work closely with other authorised agencies to deal with major economics and corruption-related cases.-VNA