Can the Family of an Inmate Who Dies in Prison Receive the Body for Burial?
When a Prisoner Dies in Custody, Are Family Members Allowed to Claim the Body for Burial?
According to Clause 3, Article 56 of the Law on Execution of Criminal Judgments 2019, the procedures for handling cases where a prisoner dies are stipulated as follows:
- In cases where relatives or representatives of the prisoner request to receive the corpse or ashes of the prisoner and bear the costs themselves, the detention center, temporary detention center, and the criminal judgment execution agency of the district-level police may consider and resolve the request, except where there are grounds to believe that it would affect security, order, or environmental sanitation. The collection of ashes will only be resolved after 03 years from the date of burial. In the case of a foreign prisoner, the receiving of the corpse or ashes must be considered and decided by the criminal judgment execution management agency.
Thus, based on current regulations, if family members submit a request to receive the corpse, the district-level police's criminal judgment execution agency may consider and resolve it.
When a Foreign Prisoner Dies, Should the Representive Agency of the Person's Nationality be Notified?
According to Clause 1, Article 56 of the Law on Execution of Criminal Judgments 2019, regarding the issue of a foreign prisoner dying, it is stipulated as follows:
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In cases where the prisoner is a foreigner, the warden of the detention center must immediately notify the investigative agency and the provincial-level People's Procuracy, the investigative agency and the military procuracy of the military zone where the prisoner died to determine the cause; at the same time report to the criminal judgment execution management agency under the Ministry of Public Security or the criminal judgment execution management agency under the Ministry of Defense, and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to notify the representative agency of the country of which that person holds citizenship. After being permitted by the competent authority, the detention center is responsible for organizing the burial.
In the case where a foreign prisoner dies, the representative agency of the country of which that person holds citizenship must be notified.
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