Vietnam: What actions are taken in cases where the detainee is ill or dies during the temporary detention period?

Vietnam: What actions are taken in cases where the detainee is ill or dies during the temporary detention period? (Illustrative image)

Under Article 22 of Decree 112/2013/ND-CP, actions taken in cases where the detainee is ill or dies during the temporary detention period in Vietnam are as follows:

- If a detainee is ill, he/she shall be treated on the spot; in case of serious illness or emergency, the agency or unit where the person is held in temporary detention is responsible for taking her/him to a medical facility and immediately notifying his/her family and relatives for care; if his/her family or relatives request in writing to take her/him home for care and it is deemed unnecessary to continue the temporary detention, the competent authority may decide to terminate the temporary detention earlier and allow her/him to return home for treatment; if the detainee has no fixed residence or his/her family and relatives are too far away to care for her/him, the agency or unit where they are held shall directly take on the care.

- If a detainee dies during the temporary detention period, the authority that issued the temporary detention decision must immediately notify the investigative agency and the competent procuracy for resolution under the law, and simultaneously inform the family and relatives of the deceased. If the deceased is a foreign national, the authority that issued the temporary detention decision must immediately report to the higher competent authority to inform the Ministry of Foreign Affairs or the respective state agency to cooperate with the diplomatic or consular representative of the country to which the deceased held nationality for resolution.

- The family of the deceased is responsible for the burial. If the deceased has no family, the burial shall be handled by the agency or unit where the person was held in temporary detention in cooperation with the local government where the temporary detention took place; the burial costs, in this case, shall be covered by the state budget according to the provisions of the law.

Further details may be found in Decree 112/2013/ND-CP effective from November 17, 2013.

Ty Na

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