The Last Meal of a Death Row Inmate: What's Included?

According to Clause 3, Article 82 of the 2019 Law on Execution of Criminal Judgments: “Before being carried out a death sentence, the convict is allowed to eat, drink, write letters, and record messages to send to their relatives.”

Previously, under Clause 1, Article 8 of Decree 82/2011/ND-CP, a person being executed could be granted food and drink equivalent to five times the standard provided during holidays and Tet for detainees.

Furthermore, during holidays and Tet as prescribed by law, inmates are allowed additional food, but the amount must not exceed five times the regular daily allowance.

Thus, the maximum meal allowance for the final meal of a death row inmate was up to 10 times the regular daily allowance.

However, Decree 82/2011/ND-CP has now been replaced by Decree 43/2020/ND-CP. Nevertheless, this Decree does not specify details regarding the final meal of death row inmates.

Therefore, it can be asserted that the current Vietnamese law does not clearly specify the meal allowance for death row inmates. Whether it can still be 10 times the regular standard as before is a question left unanswered by the law, resulting in potential varied interpretations in practice. To obtain a precise answer, we must wait for documents from the competent authority.

Sincerely!