In which cases shall a person convicted of a crime may be granted an expungement of his/her criminal record in Vietnam?

In which cases shall a person convicted of a crime may be granted an expungement of his/her criminal record in Vietnam?

A person convicted of a crime may be granted an expungement of their criminal record and be considered as if they had not been convicted in the following three cases: automatic conviction expungement, conviction expungement under a court's decision, and special cases of conviction expungement.

Pursuant to Article 70 of the Criminal Code in 2015 stipulating automatic conviction expungement as follows:

Automatic conviction expungement

1. Automatic conviction expungement is granted to people convicted of crimes other than those specified in Chapter XIII and Chapter XXVI hereof after they have served their primary sentences, probation period of a suspended sentence or when the time limit for sentence execution expires and the conditions specified in Clause 2 and Clause 3 of this Article are met.

2. Automatic conviction expungement shall be granted to a convict if he has served the primary sentence or the probation period of a suspended sentence, additional punishments, other decisions of the judgment and does not commit any new crime during the periods specified below:

a) 01 year in case of a warning, fine, community sentence or suspended imprisonment sentence;

b) 02 years in case of imprisonment of up to 05 years;

c) 03 years in case of imprisonment from over 05 years to 15 years;

d) 05 years in case of imprisonment of over 15 years or commuted life imprisonment.

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Therefore, automatic conviction expungement is applied to a convicted person when they have completed their principal punishment, the probation period of a suspended sentence, or the statute of limitations for the execution of the judgment and meet the requirements prescribed by law.

- Automatic conviction expungement shall be granted to a convict if he has served the primary sentence or the probation period of a suspended sentence, additional punishments, other decisions of the judgment and does not commit any new crime during the periods specified below:

+ 01 year in case of a warning, fine, community sentence or suspended imprisonment sentence;

+ 02 years in case of imprisonment of up to 05 years;

+ 03 years in case of imprisonment from over 05 years to 15 years;

+ 05 years in case of imprisonment of over 15 years or commuted life imprisonment.

Note: A person who is convicted of a crime under Chapter 13 and Chapter 26 of the Criminal Code in 2015 (crimes against national security; crimes of aggression, crimes against humanity, and war crimes) will not be automatically expunged of their criminal record.

Pursuant to Article 71 of the Criminal Code in 2015 (amended by Clause 10 Article 1 of the Law on amendments to the Criminal Code in 2017) stipulating conviction expungement under a court's decision as follows:

- Conviction expungement under a court's decision is applied to a person convicted of one of the crimes against national security; crimes of aggression, crimes against humanity, and war crimes.

- The court shall grant conviction expungement if the convict, after serving the primary sentence or probation period as well as additional sentences and other decisions of the judgment, does not commit any new crime over the following periods:

+ 01 year in case of warning, community sentence, or suspended imprisonment;

+ 03 years in case of imprisonment of up to 05 years;

+ 05 years in case of 05 - 15 years' imprisonment;

+ 07 years in case of > 15 years' imprisonment, life imprisonment or death sentence that is commuted.

Note: If the convict is serving an additional sentence which is mandatory supervision, prohibition from residence, or deprivation of certain citizenship rights for a longer period than prescribed by law, conviction expungement shall be considered when he/she finishes serving the additional sentence.

If an application for conviction expungement is rejected for the first time, it may only be resubmitted after 01 year from the day on which it is rejected; if the application for conviction expungement is rejected for the second time, it may only be resubmitted after 02 years from the day on which it is rejected.

Pursuant to Article 72 of the Criminal Code in 2015 stipulating special cases of conviction expungement as follows:

- Where a convict shows remarkable improvements and has made reparation in an effort to atone for the crime and conviction expungement is requested by his/her employer or local authority, the court shall decide to grant conviction expungement if has served at least one third of the period specified in Clause 2 Article 70 and Clause 2 Article 71 of the Criminal Code in 2015.

In which cases shall a person convicted of a crime may be granted an expungement of his/her criminal record in Vietnam? - Source: Internet

How to calculate the period after which a conviction may be expunged in Vietnam?

Pursuant to Article 73 of the Criminal Code in 2015 stipulating period after which a conviction may be expunged as follows:

- The period after which a conviction may be expunged specified in Article 70 and Article 71 hereof depends on the primary sentence.

- If the convict who has not had the conviction expunged commits a new crime which leads to a conviction under an effective judgment, the period after which the conviction may be expunged shall start over from the day on which the primary sentence has been served or the end of the probation period of the new judgment or from the deadline for execution of the new judgment.

- If the convict has committed more than one crime and one of which is naturally eligible for expungement, one of which is eligible for expungement under a court's decision, the court shall decide expungement according to the period specified in Article 71 hereof.

- Where a person is exempt from serving the remaining sentence, it will be considered that the sentence has been served.

What are procedures for expungement of criminal records in Vietnam?

Pursuant to Article 369 of the Criminal Procedure Code in 2015 stipulating procedures for expungement of criminal records as follows:

Step 1: The convicted person submits a request for expungement of a criminal record

In the case of expungement of a criminal record by a court decision and expungement of a criminal record in a special case, the convicted person must submit a request to the People's Court that tried the case at first instance with a recommendation from the local government of the commune, ward, or town where they reside or the agency or organization where they work or study.

Step 2: The competent authority considers the request for expungement of a criminal record

- For the case of automatic expungement of a criminal record:

+ Within 05 days from the date of receiving the request of the person who is automatically expunged of a criminal record and considering that there are sufficient conditions, the agency that manages the database of criminal records shall issue a certificate of criminal record stating that they do not have a criminal record.

- For the case of expungement of a criminal record by a court decision and expungement of a criminal record in a special case:

+ Within 03 days from the date of receiving the person's application, the People's Court that tried the case at first instance shall transfer the documents on the application for expungement of a criminal record to the People's Procuracy at the same level.

+ Within 05 days from the date of receiving the documents transferred by the People's Court, the People's Procuracy at the same level shall have a written opinion and return the documents to the People's Court.

+ If it is considered that there are sufficient conditions, within 05 days from the date of receiving the documents transferred by the People's Procuracy, the Chief Justice of the People's Court that tried the case at first instance must issue a decision to expunge a criminal record; in case there are not enough conditions, the decision to reject the application for expungement of a criminal record is issued.

Step 3: The People's Court issues a decision and sends the decision.

Within 05 days from the date of issuing the decision to expunge a criminal record or the decision to reject the application for expungement of a criminal record, the People's Court that issued the decision must send this decision to the convicted person, the People's Procuracy at the same level, the local government of the commune, ward, or town where they reside or the agency or organization where they work or study.

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