What Are the Duties and Powers of the Procuracy in Supervising Temporary Detention, Custody, and the Execution of Criminal Judgments?
What are the duties and powers of the Procuracy in supervising detention, temporary detention, and criminal execution?
Based on Article 5 of the Regulations issued with Decision 259/QD-VKSTC in 2023, it is stipulated that when supervising detention, temporary detention, and criminal execution, the Procuracy shall have the following duties and powers:
- Supervision at detention facilities; criminal execution authorities at the same or lower level; agencies or organizations tasked with certain duties in criminal execution.
The provincial People's Procuracy, and the military procuracy at the military zone level shall directly supervise the execution of prison sentences at local prisons, and supervise criminal execution regarding commercial legal entities;
- Supervision of records of detention, temporary detention, criminal execution; files deciding on suspension, exemption from, reduction of term, temporary suspension, or exemption from the remaining time of administrative handling measures, and files on suspension, exemption from the decision for compulsory rehabilitation, temporary suspension, or exemption from the remaining time in the decision for compulsory drug rehabilitation for drug addicts aged from 12 to under 18;
- Meeting and questioning detainees, temporarily detained persons, and sentenced persons regarding detention, and criminal execution; verifying and collecting documents to clarify legal violations of agencies, organizations, and individuals in detention, temporary detention, and criminal execution;
- Receiving and resolving complaints and denunciations in managing, executing detention, temporary detention, and managing and educating prisoners; supervising the resolution of complaints and denunciations in criminal execution;
- Requirements: informing the situation of detention, temporary detention; providing related files and documents; issuing execution decisions and explaining, amending court judgments and decisions; self-inspection and notifying results to the Procuracy; addressing decisions, measures, or actions in violation of the law in detention, temporary detention, and criminal execution as prescribed by law;
- Promptly detecting and handling legal violations according to authority; deciding immediate release for those detained, temporarily detained, or serving prison sentences without basis and unlawfully;
- Proposing and supervising suspension, exemption, temporary suspension, termination of sentence execution; issuing documents expressing viewpoints, participating in sessions, and supervising assessment and decision on sentence reduction, early release, annulment of early release, forcing execution of the suspended sentence, shortening probation period of suspended sentence, shortening probation period of those released early; providing written opinion and supervising statute of limitations advantage in executing judgments and criminal record removal.
Providing written opinions and supervising procedures and processes of the court in considering and deciding suspension, exemption, reduction of term, temporary suspension, or exemption from the remaining time of administrative handling measures, and suspension, exemption from the decision for compulsory drug rehabilitation, temporary suspension, or exemption from the remaining time in the decision for compulsory drug rehabilitation for drug addicts aged from 12 to under 18; participating in sessions and supervising procedures and processes of the court in resolving complaints, recommendations, appeals against these decisions;
- Supervision of the application and execution of judicial measures in criminal execution according to the Law on Criminal Execution and related laws;
- Supervision of amnesty pursuant to the Law on Amnesty;
- Protesting, recommending, or requiring the suspension, amendment, or annulment of unlawful decisions in detention, temporary detention, and criminal execution; requiring to cease violations and handle violators; deciding to protest according to appellate, cassation, and retrial procedures as prescribed by law;
- Initiating criminal cases or requesting the Investigation Agency to initiate criminal cases when detecting cases with criminal signs;
- Performing other duties and powers in supervising detention, temporary detention, and criminal execution as prescribed by law.
*What are the duties and powers of the Procuracy in supervising detention, temporary detention, and criminal execution?*
When shall the measure of temporary detention be applied?
Based on Article 117 of the Criminal Procedure Code 2015, it stipulates:
Temporary detention
1. Temporary detention may be applied to persons held in emergency cases, persons caught in the act of committing a crime, persons confessing, volunteering to surrender, or persons arrested under a wanted decision.
2. Persons with the power to order the arrest as prescribed in Clause 2, Article 110 of this Code have the right to issue the temporary detention decision.
The temporary detention decision must specify the detainee's full name and address, the reason for detention, the start and end time of detention, and the contents prescribed in Clause 2, Article 132 of this Code. The temporary detention decision must be delivered to the detainee.
3. The executor of the temporary detention decision must inform and explain the rights and obligations of the detainee as prescribed in Article 59 of this Code.
4. Within 12 hours of issuing the temporary detention decision, the decision issuer must send the temporary detention decision along with its supporting documentation to the same-level Procuracy or the competent Procuracy. If the Procuracy deems the detention baseless or unnecessary, it shall issue a decision to annul the temporary detention decision and the issuer must immediately release the detainee.
Thus, the measure of temporary detention applies in the following cases:
- Persons held in emergency cases
- Persons caught in the act of committing a crime
- Persons confessing, volunteering to surrender
- Persons arrested under a wanted decision.
What rights does a detainee have?
According to Clause 2, Article 59 of the Criminal Procedure Code 2015, it stipulates:
Detainee
...
2. A detainee has the right to:
a) Be informed of the reasons for detention; receive the temporary detention decision, decision to extend temporary detention, decision to approve the extension of temporary detention, and other procedural decisions as prescribed by this Code;
b) Be informed of, and have explained, his/her rights and obligations as prescribed in this Article;
c) Present statements, present opinions, not be forced to give statements against oneself or to admit guilt;
d) Self-defend, hire a defender;
e) Provide evidence, documents, objects, requests;
f) Present opinions on related evidence, documents, objects and request competent procedural persons to inspect and evaluate;
g) Lodge complaints against decisions, procedural actions of agencies, and competent procedural persons regarding the detention.
A detainee has the right to:
- Be informed of the reasons for detention; receive the temporary detention decision, decision to extend temporary detention, decision to approve the extension of temporary detention, and other procedural decisions as prescribed by this Code;
- Be informed of and have rights and obligations explained as prescribed in this Article;
- Present statements, and opinions, not be forced to give statements against oneself or to admit guilt;
- Self-defend, hire a defender;
- Provide evidence, documents, objects, requests;
- Present opinions on related evidence, documents, objects and request competent procedural persons to inspect and evaluate;
- Lodge complaints against decisions, and procedural actions of agencies, and competent procedural persons regarding the detention.
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