Can inmates who comply with the regulations at detention facilities in Vietnam be rewarded with money?

Hello, Lawnet would like to provide answers as follows:

1. Can inmates who comply with the regulations at detention facilities in Vietnam be rewarded with money?

According to Article 41 of the Vietnam Criminal Enforcement Law 2019, the regulation on rewarding inmates is as follows:

- During the period of serving a prison sentence, inmates who adhere well to the detention facility’s regulations, have achievements in labor, study, or make merits will be rewarded in one or more of the following forms:

+ Commendation;

+ Monetary or material rewards;

+ Increase in the number of phone calls, family visits, and the amount of gifts received.

- The warden of the prison, the warden of the detention center under the Ministry of Public Security, the warden of the detention center under the Ministry of National Defense, the head of the provincial criminal enforcement authority, and the head of the military region criminal enforcement authority will decide on the reward for the inmate.

- The reward must be documented and recorded in the inmate’s file.

- An inmate who is rewarded may be considered for a sentence reduction according to the law.

Thus, according to the above regulation, inmates who adhere well to the regulations in the detention facility can be rewarded with money or material items. Additionally, they may be considered for a sentence reduction according to the law.

2. What are the procedures to request a reduction in the prison sentence term for rewarded inmates in Vietnam?

When is the term reduction reviewed?

According to Article 12 of the Joint Circular 02/2021/TTLT-TANDTC-VKSNDTC-BCA-BQP, the regulation on the timing of reviewing sentence reductions is as follows:

- The review for sentence reduction is carried out three times a year, on the following occasions:

+ The Liberation of the South and National Reunification Day (April 30), the National Day (September 2), and the Lunar New Year.

+ For prisons and detention centers under the Ministry of National Defense, the review for sentence reduction is carried out on the founding day of the Vietnam People's Army and the All-People’s National Defense Day (December 22) instead of the Lunar New Year.

+ The year for reviewing sentence reductions is determined from January 01 to December 31 of that year.

- Each year, an inmate can only be reviewed for a sentence reduction once, according to Article 38 of the Vietnam Criminal Enforcement Law 2019.

+ After the first review, if in subsequent years the inmate meets the legal conditions, they will be reviewed in the same session as the initial review.

+ If the remaining prison term after reduction is less than one year, the subsequent year may have an early review, but it must still ensure that there is only one review per year.

Procedure for requesting a reduction in prison sentence term for rewarded inmates in Vietnam

According to Article 38 of the Vietnam Criminal Enforcement Law 2019, the procedure for requesting a reduction in the prison sentence term for rewarded inmates is as follows:

- Competent authority: Prisons, detention centers under the Ministry of Public Security, the Ministry of National Defense; Provincial criminal enforcement authorities, military region criminal enforcement authorities have the authority to request a reduction in the prison sentence term.

- The competent authority to request a reduction is responsible for preparing the dossier and transferring it to the provincial People's Court, the military region court where the inmate is serving their sentence for review and decision, and simultaneously sending one set of the dossier to the same level Procuracy.

The dossier includes:

+ Copy of the judgment; if it is the second time for sentence reduction review, the judgment copy is replaced by the judgment execution decision copy;

+ Written request from the competent authority for sentence reduction;

+ Results of the quarterly, semi-annual, and annual prison sentence compliance evaluation; reward decisions or confirmation from the competent authority about the inmate’s merits;

+ Conclusion from the hospital, provincial or military region medical examination council regarding the inmate’s serious health condition or documents indicating the inmate’s elderly status;

+ Copy of the decision on prior sentence reduction if the inmate has been previously reduced;

+ Documents proving the fulfillment of civil liability obligations by the inmate.

- Within 15 days from the date of receipt of the request dossier, the Chief Justice of the provincial People’s Court or the Chief Justice of the military region court where the inmate is serving their sentence shall establish a Council and organize a meeting to review and decide on the sentence reduction.

+ The Council consists of three Judges; the meeting includes participation from the Procurator of the same level Procuracy.

+ If the dossier needs supplementation as requested by the Court, the period for the meeting is calculated from the date of receipt of the supplementary dossier.

- Within 3 working days from the date of issuing the decision on sentence reduction, the Court must send the decision to the inmate, the requesting authority, the same level Procuracy, the superior Procuracy, the Court that issued the execution decision, the Department of Justice where the court issuing the sentence reduction decision is located, and to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs if the inmate is a foreigner.

- The sentence reduction review is conducted three times a year.

+ Each year, the inmate is only reviewed for a sentence reduction once.

+ If, after receiving a sentence reduction, the inmate has special reasons for further leniency such as merits, old age, or serious illness, additional reviews may be conducted but not more than twice in one year.

Hence, the competent authority prepares the request dossier and sends it to the appropriate Court where the inmate is serving the sentence. The Court issues a decision on sentence reduction and sends it to the relevant agencies within 3 working days. The review for sentence reduction is conducted three times a year, and each inmate is reviewed once a year, with potential for an additional review in special cases.

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