What is a judicial record? 04 things you should know about judicial record in Vietnam

What is a judicial record? 04 things you should know about judicial record in Vietnam (Internet image)

Regarding this issue, LawNet would like to answer as follows:

1. What is a judicial record?

According to Clause 1, Article 2 of the Law on Judicial Records 2009, a judicial record means a record of previous criminal conviction(s) of a person convicted under a criminal court judgment or ruling which has taken legal effect, the state of his/her execution of the judgment and a ban on this person's holding of certain posts, or establishment or management of enterprises or cooperatives in case enterprises or cooperatives have been declared bankrupt by court.

2. Subjects of judicial record management in Vietnam

Specifically, Article 5 of the Law on Judicial Records 2009 stipulates the subjects of judicial record management as follows:

- Vietnamese citizens who have been convicted under legally effective criminal judgments of Vietnamese courts or foreign courts, with excerpts of these judgments or their previous criminal convictions provided by competent foreign authorities under treaties on mutual legal assistance in criminal affairs or on the reciprocity principal.

- Foreigners who have been convicted under legally effective criminal judgments of Vietnamese courts.

- Vietnamese citizens and foreigners who are banned by Vietnamese courts from holding certain posts, establishing or managing enterprises or cooperatives under legally effective rulings on bankruptcy declaration.

3. Principles and purposes of judicial calendar management

3.1. Principles of management of judicial records in Vietnam

Principles of management of judicial records specified in Section 2 are carried out according to Article 4 of the Law on Judicial Records 2009, specifically as follows:

- Judicial records shall be only made based on criminal court judgments or rulings which have taken legal effect; legally effective court rulings to declare enterprises or cooperatives bankrupt.

- Assurance of personal privacy.

- Judicial record information shall be adequately and accurately provided, received, updated and processed in strict compliance with the order and procedures provided in the Law on Judicial Records 2009. The judicial record card-issuing agency shall take responsibility for the accuracy of information in judicial record cards.

3.2. Purposes of management of judicial records in Vietnam

Purposes of management of judicial records include: 

- Satisfying the requirement of proving whether or not an individual has a previous criminal conviction or is banned from holding certain posts, establishing or managing enterprises or cooperatives in case enterprises or cooperatives have been declared bankrupt by court.

- Recording the remission of previous criminal convictions, and facilitating the community reintegration by convicted persons.

- Supporting criminal proceedings and the making of judicial statistics on crimes.

- Supporting the personnel management, business registration, establishment and management of enterprises and cooperatives.

(Article 3 of the Law on Judicial Records 2009)

4.  Prohibited acts regarding the management of judicial records in Vietnam

According to Article 8 of the Law on Judicial Records 2009, the prohibited acts regarding the management of judicial records in Vietnam include:

- Illegally exploiting or using, falsifying or destroying judicial record data.

- Providing untruthful judicial record information.

- Forging papers to request the issuance of judicial record cards.

- Erasing, modifying or forging judicial record cards.

- Issuing judicial record cards with untruthful contents, ultra vires, or to improper persons.

- Using other persons' judicial record cards illegally or for the purpose of infringing upon privacy of individuals.

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