Vietnam: May individuals on suspended sentences become members of a cooperative?

Clause 1, Article 13 of the Law on Cooperatives 2012 stipulates the conditions for becoming members of a cooperative in Vietnam as follows:

Individuals, households, and legal entities that wish to become members of a cooperative must meet the following conditions:

a/ Individuals are Vietnamese citizens or foreigners lawfully residing in Vietnam, are 18 years or older, have full civil act capacity; households have a lawful representative as prescribed by law; an agency or organization is a Vietnamese legal entity.

For a job creation cooperative, its members are individuals only;

b/ Having needs for cooperation with other members and for using products and services of the cooperative;

c/ Filing an application for voluntarily joining the cooperative and agreeing with its charter;

d/ Contributing capital as prescribed in Clause 1, Article 17 of this Law and the cooperative’s charter;

e/ Other conditions as prescribed by the cooperative’s charter.

...

Thus, under the above conditions, Vietnamese law does not prohibit individuals on suspended sentences from becoming members of a cooperative. Therefore, if the charter of the cooperative does not provide that individuals on suspended sentences cannot be members, such individuals can still become members of the cooperative.

Respectfully!