This is the new point mentioned in the Draft Law amending the Law on Pardon, the Draft is currently being circulated for public comment on the website of the Ministry of Public Security (Hanoi, Vietnam).
Article table of contents
FULL TEXT OF THE DRAFT LAW AMENDING THE LAW ON PARDON
According to current regulations, specifically Clause 1, Article 10 of the Law on Pardon 2007, a person sentenced to a fixed-term imprisonment or life imprisonment that has been commuted to fixed-term imprisonment and is serving the sentence must meet the following conditions to be considered for amnesty:
- Comply well with the regulations and rules of the prison, detention center; actively study and labor; during the process of serving the prison sentence, achieve a reformation grade of fair or higher; upon being granted amnesty, not affect security, order, and social safety;
- Have served the imprisonment sentence for a period determined by the President, but at least one-third of the time for fixed-term imprisonment, if the sentence has previously been reduced, the reduced time is not counted towards the served time; at least fourteen years for life imprisonment;
- For persons sentenced for corruption crimes or other specific crimes determined by the President during each amnesty, additional penalties such as fines, compensation for damages, court fees, or other civil obligations must be fully served.
Meanwhile, the conditions to be proposed for amnesty in the Draft Law amending the Law on Pardon are stipulated as follows:
| 1. A person sentenced to a fixed-term imprisonment or life imprisonment that has been commuted to fixed-term imprisonment and is serving the sentence must meet the following conditions to be considered for amnesty: a) First-time offender; b) Comply well with the regulations and rules of the prison, detention center, temporary detention house; actively study and labor; during the process of serving the imprisonment sentence, achieve a reformation grade of good; c) Have served the imprisonment sentence for a period determined by the President, but at least one-half of the time for fixed-term imprisonment, if the sentence has previously been reduced, the reduced time is not counted towards the served time; have served the imprisonment sentence for at least 15 years for life imprisonment; if the life sentence is commuted to fixed-term imprisonment and further reduced, the reduced time is not counted towards the served time; d) For persons sentenced for corruption crimes or other specific crimes determined by the President during each amnesty, additional penalties such as fines, compensation for damages, court fees, or other civil obligations must be fully Upon being granted amnesty, not affect security, order, and social safety.”. |
Compared to current regulations, the Draft Law amending the Law on Pardon adds an additional condition for being proposed for amnesty, which is that the person granted amnesty must be a first-time offender. Therefore, those who commit two or more crimes are not eligible for amnesty proposals.
Additionally, the Draft also modifies the condition regarding the number of years of serving the sentence to be proposed for amnesty. The person proposed for amnesty must have served at least one-half of the sentence for fixed-term imprisonment (current regulations require at least one-third), and at least 15 years for life imprisonment (current regulations require at least 14 years).
Thus, the Draft Law amending the Law on Pardon has narrowed the scope of eligibility for amnesty proposals by imposing stricter conditions for amnesty proposals. This also distinguishes between amnesty and conditional early release, as one of the conditions for conditional early release is that the offender must serve at least one-third of the sentence for fixed-term imprisonment.
- Key word:
- multiple crimes
- Vietnam
- pardon
