Decision on penalty in case the person on probation commits a new crime in Vietnam

Decision on penalty in case the person on probation commits a new crime in Vietnam  (Image from Internet)

1. What is a Suspended Sentence in Vietnam?

According to Article 1 of Resolution 02/2018/NQ-HDTP, a suspended sentence is a conditional exemption from the execution of a prison sentence, applied by the court to the offender who is sentenced to imprisonment for no more than 03 years, based on the offender's personal characteristics and mitigating circumstances, deeming it unnecessary to compel them to serve the imprisonment sentence.

2. Decision on penalty in case the person on probation commits a new crime in Vietnam 

Based on Clause 5, Article 65 of the Criminal Code 2015 (amended, supplemented in 2017), during the probation period, if the beneficiary of a suspended sentence commits a new crime, the court will require the individual to serve the sentence of the previous judgment and aggregate it with the sentence of the new judgment as stipulated in Article 56 of the Criminal Code 2015 (amended, supplemented in 2017).

Clause 1, Article 7 of Resolution 02/2018/NQ-HDTP provides for the decision on sanctions in the case of a suspended sentence beneficiary committing a new crime during the probation period as follows:

- In the case where the beneficiary of a suspended sentence commits a new crime during the probation period, the court decides the sentence for the new crime and aggregates it with the imprisonment sentence of the previous judgment in accordance with the provisions of Articles 55 and 56 of the Criminal Code 2015 (amended, supplemented in 2017).

- If the individual has been temporarily detained or held in custody, the period of temporary detention or custody shall be deducted from the term of the imprisonment sentence.

3. Provisions for decision on sanctions in case of multiple crimes in Vietnam

Based on Clause 2, Article 56 of the Criminal Code 2015 (amended, supplemented in 2017), when adjudicating a person already serving a sentence and committing a new crime, the court sentences for the new crime, then aggregates it with the unserved portion of the previous sentence and decides the total sentence as regulated in the Criminal Code 2015 (amended, supplemented in 2017).

When adjudicating multiple crimes in one instance, the court decides the sentence for each crime and aggregates the sentences as follows:

3.1 For Principal Sentences

Clause 1, Article 55 of the Criminal Code 2015 (amended, supplemented in 2017) provides for the aggregation of principal sentences as follows:

(1) If the sentences are either both non-custodial reform or both fixed-term imprisonment, these sentences are combined to form a total sentence; the total sentence must not exceed 03 years for non-custodial reform and 30 years for fixed-term imprisonment;

(2) If the sentences include both non-custodial reform and fixed-term imprisonment, the non-custodial reform sentence is converted to a prison sentence at the rate of 03 days of non-custodial reform being converted into 01 day of imprisonment to form a total sentence as regulated in (1);

(3) If the most severe sentence among those pronounced is life imprisonment, the total sentence is life imprisonment;

(4) If the most severe sentence among those pronounced is the death penalty, the total sentence is the death penalty;

(5) Fines are not combined with other types of sentences; the fines are added together to form a total fine;

(6) Expulsion is not combined with other types of sentences.

3.2 For Additional Sentences

- If the pronounced sentences are of the same type, the total sentence is decided within the limits prescribed by the Criminal Code 2015 (amended, supplemented in 2017) for that type of sentence; for fines, the amounts are added together to form a total fine;

- If the pronounced sentences are of different types, the convict must serve all the sentences pronounced.

(Clause 2, Article 55 of the Criminal Code 2015 (amended, supplemented in 2017)

Van Trong

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