Is 30 years' imprisonment considered life imprisonment in Vietnam?

Is 30 years' imprisonment considered life imprisonment in Vietnam?

Pursuant to Article 39 of the Criminal Code in 2015 stipulalating life imprisonment in Vietnam as follows:

Life imprisonment

Life imprisonment is an indefinite imprisonment imposed upon people committing extremely serious crimes but not punishable by death.

Life imprisonment shall not be imposed upon offenders under 18 years of age (hereinafter referred to as juvenile offenders).

As regulations above, life imprisonment is an indefinite imprisonment imposed upon people committing extremely serious crimes but not punishable by death.

Pursuant to Article 38 of the Criminal Code in 2015 stipulalating determinate imprisonment in Vietnam as follows:

Determinate imprisonment

1. Determinate imprisonment means forcing the convict to serve his/her sentence in a detention facility over a certain period of time.

The duration of determinate imprisonment imposed upon an offender is from 03 months to 20 years.

The duration of temporary detention shall be deducted from the imprisonment duration; 01 day of temporary detention equals (=) 01 day in prison.

2. Determinate imprisonment shall not be imposed upon a person who commits a less serious crime for the first time and has a fixed residence.

As regulations above, 30 years' imprisonment shall not be considered life imprisonment in Vietnam. Life imprisonment is indefinate imprisonment. When someone is sentenced to life imprisonment, he/she may spend the rest of his/her life in prison.

Shall people serving life imprisonment in Vietnam stay in prision until they die?

Pursuant to Clause 1 Article 66 of the Criminal Code in 2015 (amended by Clause 9 Article 1 of the Law on amendments to the Criminal Code in 2017) stipulalating conditional parole in Vietnam as follows:

Conditional parole

1. A person serving an imprisonment sentence (prisoner) for a serious crime, very serious crime or extremely serious crime which has been commuted; a person serving an imprisonment sentence for a less serious crime may be granted parole when all of the following conditions are satisfied:

a) The prisoner does not have prior criminal record;

b) The prisoner shows remarkable improvements;

c) The prisoner has a fixed residence;

d) The prisoner has paid fines, legal costs, and civil compensation in full;

dd) The prisoner has served at least half of determinate imprisonment or at least 15 years of life imprisonment which is commuted to determinate imprisonment.

A prisoner who is a revolutionist, a revolutionist’s relative, wounded soldier, sick soldier, a person aged 70 or older, a person suffering from a serious physical disability or extremely serious physical disability, a woman raising a child under 36 months of age must serve at least one third of determinate imprisonment or at least 12 years of life imprisonment which is commuted to determinate imprisonment;

e) The offence is not committed in any of the circumstances specified in Clause 2 of this Article.

As regulations above, a person serving a life imprisonment may be granted parole if they have been reduced their sentence and they satisfy above requirements:

Pursuant to Clause 1 Article 63 of the Criminal Code in 2015 stipulalating commutation of sentence as follows:

Commutation of sentence

1. If a person who is sentenced to community sentence, determinate imprisonment or life imprisonment has served the sentence for a sufficient period of time, shows improvements and has fulfilled part of the civil liability, the Court, at the request of a competent criminal sentence execution authority, might issue a decision on commutation of the sentence.

The convict must serve the sentence for a sufficient period of time which is one third of the duration of community sentence or determinate imprisonment or 12 years of the life sentence.

Thus, when being sentenced to life in prison, if the Court has served the penalty for a certain period of time, has made great progress, and has partially compensated for the civil obligation, at the request of the competent criminal judgment enforcement agency, the Court may decide to reduce the penalty serving term.

What are regulations on commutation under special circumstances in Vietnam?

Pursuant to Article 64 of the Criminal Code in 2015 stipulalating commutation under special circumstances in Vietnam as follows:

Commutation under special circumstances

If the convict deserves further leniency (he/she has made reparation in an effort to atone for the crime, is too old and weak or has a fatal disease), the Court may consider giving a commutation sooner or at a greater degree than those set out in Article 63 hereof.

As regulations above, if the convict deserves further leniency (he/she has made reparation in an effort to atone for the crime, is too old and weak or has a fatal disease), the Court may consider giving a commutation sooner or at a greater degree than those set out in Article 63 hereof.

Best regards!