Conditions for proposing pardon in 2024

Conditions for proposing pardon in Vietnam in 2024 (Image from the internet)

On August 2, 2024, the Pardon Advisory Council issued Guidelines 88/HD-HDTVĐX to implement Decision 758/2024/QD-CTN on pardon in 2024.

Conditions for proposing pardon in Vietnam in 2024

Regarding some regulations mentioned in Article 3 of the Decision on pardon in 2024, the Pardon Advisory Council specifically guides as follows:

(1) The regulation at point a, clause 1, Article 3 of the Decision on pardon in 2024 is based on point a, clause 1, Article 11 of the Law on pardon 2018 and has been detailed at clause 1, Article 4 of Decree 52/2019/ND-CP (hereinafter referred to as Decree 52).

According to point c, clause 1, Article 18 of Decree 133/2020/ND-CP detailing the implementation of certain articles of the Law on Criminal Judgment Execution, the classification of prison sentence execution for the second quarter is conducted on May 25, and for the third quarter on August 25. Therefore, by the time the detention centers, temporary detention centers, and criminal judgment execution agencies at the district police level convene to review and propose pardon, the prisoners must have their quarters sufficiently classified and must be categorized as good or excellent from May 26, 2024, to the meeting date. These classifications must be reviewed and evaluated by the detention centers, temporary detention centers, and criminal judgment execution agencies at the district police level. After getting the results for the third quarter of 2024, these bodies must review and compare with the list of inmates proposed for pardon and promptly report to their direct superior for report submission to the Standing Committee of the pardon Advisory Council to consider and propose to the pardon Advisory Council to remove from the list those inmates who were not classified as good or excellent in the third quarter of 2024.

For inmates temporarily suspended from prison sentences or subjected to compulsory medical treatment who have returned to the detention centers, temporary detention centers, or district police criminal judgment execution agencies to continue serving their sentences, in addition to the already classified quarters, they must be rated good or excellent and have certifications from the local commune-level People's Committee, the military unit tasked with managing them during the suspension, or medical treatment facilities during compulsory medical treatment confirming they adhered to all laws and regulations during that period.

(2) The time already served in prison includes the time of detention, temporary detention, and serving prison sentences in detention centers and criminal judgment execution agencies at the district police level, excluding the time at liberty, postponed, temporarily suspended, and the period reduced from the prison sentence. The time subjected to compulsory medical treatment during investigation, prosecution, trial, and judgment execution will also be counted as served prison sentence time.

The time reduced from the prison sentence period will be deducted from the remaining prison sentence term.

Example: Nguyen Van A was sentenced to 12 years in prison, arrested on September 30, 2016. As of September 30, 2024, Nguyen Van A will have actually served 8 years and received 3 sentence reductions totaling 2 years. Thus, the remaining prison sentence is 2 years.

(3) Regarding the implementation of additional penalties, such as fines, court fees, and obligations to return property, compensate for damages, or other civil obligations:

- Inmates or those temporarily suspended from serving prison sentences who have not completed the additional penalties of fines or court fees but have been exempted by the court are deemed to meet the conditions under point c, clause 1, Article 3 of the 2024 Pardon Decision.

- Inmates or those temporarily suspended from serving prison sentences who have completed obligations related to returning property, compensating for damages, and other civil obligations as specified in point d, clause 1, Article 3 of the 2024 pardon Decision are among the cases mentioned in clause 2, Article 4 of Decree 52. Furthermore, certain situations are considered as having fulfilled compensation obligations and other civil duties:

+ Obligations to provide alimony must be completely fulfilled according to the court's judgment or decision, or be required to provide alimony once, with confirmation from the local commune-level People's Committee or the civil judgment execution agency handling the case. If only part of the alimony is fulfilled or not yet fulfilled but there is an agreement verified by the legal representative of the victim or alimony recipient that it is not required to continue or fulfill the alimony obligation according to the court's judgment or decision and is confirmed by the local commune-level People's Committee or the civil judgment execution agency handling the case, it is considered as having fulfilled the alimony obligation.

+ If the offender was a minor at the time of the crime as specified in point d, clause 3, Article 3 of the 2024 pardon Decision and the court's judgment or decision assigned the duty of compensating for damages or other civil responsibilities to the parents or legal representatives, documents must prove that the parents or legal representatives have completed these obligations, including receipts, invoices, documents showing these actions, or decisions to stop enforcement by the head of the competent civil judgment execution agency, or agreements by the victim or its legal representative that there is no need to enforce further, confirmed by the local commune-level People's Committee or the civil judgment execution agency handling the case, or other documents showing the fulfillment.

- Cases where inmates partially fulfilled obligations to return property, compensate for damages, or other civil duties but faced severe economic hardship and are unable to further comply as per regulations on civil judgment execution as defined in point d, clause 1, Article 3 of the 2024 pardon Decision are outlined in clause 3, Article 4 of Decree 52.

(4) Cases of major meritorious achievements during the prison sentence, suffering from life-threatening illnesses, chronic illnesses disabling them to self-care, having special family circumstances, and being the sole laborer of the family specified in clause 3, Article 3 of the 2024 pardon Decision are covered in clauses 4, 5, 6, 7, Article 4 of Decree 52.

More details can be found in Guidelines 88/HD-HDTVDX dated August 2, 2024.

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