What is the time limit for deferred imprisonment sentence for pregnant women in Vietnam?

What are cases of deferred imprisonment sentence in Vietnam?

Pursuant to Clause 1 Article 67 of the Criminal Code in 2015 stipulating deferred imprisonment sentence as follows:

Deferred imprisonment sentence

1. A person sentenced to imprisonment (the convict) might have the sentence deferred in the following cases:

a) A convict suffering from a serious disease may have the sentence deferred until he/she recovers;

b) A convict who is a pregnant woman or raising a child under 36 months of age may have the sentence deferred until the child reaches the age of 36 months;

c) If the convict is the sole source of income in the family and his/her imprisonment causes his/her family to face extreme hardship, he/she may have the sentence deferred for up to 01 year, unless he/she commits a crime against national security, a very serious crime or extremely serious crime;

d) A person convicted of a less serious crime may have the sentence deferred for up to 01 year if required by his/her official duties.

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As regulations above, a person sentenced to imprisonment (the convict) might have the sentence deferred in the following cases:

- A convict suffering from a serious disease may have the sentence deferred until he/she recovers;

- A convict who is a pregnant woman or raising a child under 36 months of age may have the sentence deferred until the child reaches the age of 36 months;

- If the convict is the sole source of income in the family and his/her imprisonment causes his/her family to face extreme hardship, he/she may have the sentence deferred for up to 01 year, unless he/she commits a crime against national security, a very serious crime or extremely serious crime;

- A person convicted of a less serious crime may have the sentence deferred for up to 01 year if required by his/her official duties.

What is the time limit for deferred imprisonment sentence for pregnant women in Vietnam? - Source: Internet

What is the time limit for deferred imprisonment sentence for pregnant women in Vietnam?

As prescribed in Subsection 4, Section 2 of the Document 01/2017/GĐ-TANDTC, which resolves professional issues issued by the Supreme People's Court in 2017, it is stated that:

In the case of a woman who is convicted and then repeatedly gets pregnant and gives birth to a child in order to evade the obligation to serve her prison sentence, will the court grant her a deferred imprisonment sentence?

According to Clause 1.b of Article 61 of the Criminal Code in 1999 (Clause 1.b of Article 67 of the Criminal Code in 2015), a person who is sentenced to imprisonment may be granted a deferred imprisonment sentence in the case of "Women who are pregnant or are breastfeeding children under 36 months old are given a deferred imprisonment sentence until their children are 36 months old."

Therefore, if a woman who is convicted is pregnant or is breastfeeding a child under 36 months old, she may be granted a deferred imprisonment sentence until her child is 36 months old, regardless of whether she intentionally got pregnant and gave birth to a child repeatedly in order to evade the obligation to serve her prison sentence.

As regulations above, if a woman who is convicted is pregnant or is breastfeeding a child under 36 months old, she may be granted a deferred imprisonment sentence until her child is 36 months old, regardless of whether she intentionally got pregnant and gave birth to a child repeatedly in order to evade the obligation to serve her prison sentence.

Some leniency policies of the law for pregnant women in Vietnam

Pursuant to Clause 4 Article 36 of the Criminal Code in 2015 stipulating community sentence as follows:

Community sentence

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4. If the person sentenced to community sentence is unemployed or loses his/her job while serving the sentence, he/she must do works serving the community during the period of community sentence.

The duration of community serving must not exceeds 04 hours per day and 05 days per week.

This measure must not be applied to pregnant women, women raising children under 06 months of age, old and weak people, people having fatal diseases, people having severe disabilities or extremely severe disabilities.

People sentenced to community sentence must fulfill the duties specified in the Law on enforcement of criminal judgments.

Pursuant to Clause 2 Article 40 of the Criminal Code in 2015 stipulating death sentence as follows:

Death sentence

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2. Life imprisonment shall not be imposed upon juvenile offenders, women who are pregnant or raising children under 36 months of age and people from 75 years of age or older when they commit the crime or during trial.

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Pursuant to Clause 1.n Article 51 of the Criminal Code in 2015 stipulating mitigating factors as follows:

Mitigating factors

1. The following circumstances are considered mitigating factors:

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n) The offender is a pregnant woman;

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As regulations above, leniency policies of the law for pregnant women in Vietnam are:

- Community sentence must not be applied to pregnant women

- Life imprisonment shall not be imposed upon women who are pregnant

- The offender being pregnant woman is a mitigating factor

Best regards!