Joint Circular No. 02/1998/TTLT/TANDTC-VKSNDTC-BC guiding the application of certain provisions in Chapter VII "Drug-related Offenses" of the Criminal Code

JOINT CIRCULAR

SUPREME PEOPLE'S COURT - SUPREME PROCURATORATE - MINISTRY OF PUBLIC SECURITY

Also must be held criminally liable under Clause 1 of Article 185c or Clause 1 of Article 185d, depending on whether the person illegally stores or transports two or more types of narcotics, each type with a weight as specified herein (as directed at the first asterisk (*) in Subsection b Point 4 Section II Part B of Joint Circular No. 01/1998).

10. This Circular takes effect from August 20, 1998.

The guidelines in this Circular, if they mitigate criminal liability compared to previous guiding documents, shall be applied during investigation, prosecution, first-instance trial, second-instance trial, supervisory trial, or retrial for persons who committed the offense before this Circular takes effect.

For cases where the offender has been correctly sentenced according to previous guiding documents and the judgment has become legally binding, these guidelines in this Circular shall not be applied to appeal through supervisory review or retrial procedures.

For ongoing investigations, prosecutions, first-instance trials, second-instance trials, supervisory trials, or retrials, if these guidelines in this Circular are applied to declare the criminal responsibility of the suspect or defendant waived, then the investigating agency, the Procuracy, and the Court need to clearly explain to them that this waiver of criminal responsibility is not grounds for seeking compensation for damages caused by the authority of the judicial process.

During the implementation of this Circular, if any difficulties arise, the investigating agency, the Procuracy, and the Court shall immediately report to the Supreme People's Court, the Supreme Procuratorate, and the Ministry of Public Security for timely guidance./.