JOINT CIRCULAR

Guidelines on the exemption and reduction of enforcement obligations concerning payments to the state budget

relating to fines and other revenues payable to the state budget

^{_________________}

Pursuant to the Criminal Code No. 15/1999/QH10 dated December 21, 1999;

Pursuant to the Criminal Procedure Code No. 19/2003/QH11 dated November 26, 2003;

Pursuant to the Civil Enforcement Act No. 26/2008/QH12 dated November 14, 2008;

Pursuant to Decree No. 58/2009/NĐ-CP dated July 13, 2009 of the Government detailing and guiding the implementation of certain provisions of the Civil Enforcement Act regarding civil enforcement procedures.

In order to unify the implementation of regulations on the exemption and reduction of enforcement obligations concerning payments to the state budget (hereinafter referred to as "exemption and reduction of enforcement"), the Ministry of Justice, the Ministry of Public Security, the Ministry of Finance, the Supreme People's Procuracy, and the Supreme People's Court have jointly issued the following guidelines:

PART I

GENERAL PROVISIONS

Clause 4 of Article 6Definitions

In this Circular, the following terms shall be understood as follows:

1. "Payments to the State Budget" includes all amounts of money that must be paid into the State Budget, including: fines, back taxes, proceeds from illicit gains, court fees, and assets confiscated for the state treasury as determined in court judgments and decisions.

2. "Exemption from Enforcement" refers to a situation where the person subject to enforcement has an obligation to pay a sum of money or property to the state budget according to a court judgment or decision that has taken legal effect but has not yet been fulfilled or only partially fulfilled, and meets the conditions stipulated by law and this joint circular, thus allowing the competent court to decide to exempt the entire remaining amount due to be paid to the state budget. remaining.

3. “"Reduction of Enforcement" refers to a situation where the person subject to enforcement has an obligation to pay a sum of money or property to the state budget according to a court judgment or decision that has taken legal effect but has not yet been fulfilled or only partially fulfilled, and meets the conditions stipulated by law and this joint circular, thus allowing the competent court to decide to reduce the amount due to be paid to the state budget. state books.

4."The person subject to enforcement does not have assets for enforcement" refers to a person who does not have assets at the time of verification or has assets with a small value insufficient to cover the costs of enforcement, assets that cannot be seized under the law for enforcement purposes, or assets that cannot be sold, or has no income or low income sufficient only to ensure their minimum living standards and those of their family.

5."The person subject to enforcement is in a prolonged economic hardship situation" refers to a person who has lost all or most of their assets, lost or reduced their income, unable to ensure or only barely able to ensure a minimum standard of living for themselves and their family since the time they were affected by natural disasters, accidents, illness, until the time of considering exemption or reduction of enforcement, except in cases where the person subject to enforcement intentionally caused an accident or illness to avoid their enforcement obligations.

6. "The person subject to enforcement has made significant contributions" refers to a person who has performed actions assisting authorized state agencies in discovering, apprehending, investigating crimes; saving others in perilous situations or saving state, collective, or citizen property during natural disasters or fires; making valuable inventions, innovations, or suggestions; and whose contributions have been confirmed by relevant state authorities.

Article 2. Amounts eligible for consideration of exemption or reduction of enforcement

1. The remaining portion of the fine as stipulated in Clause 2, Article 58 of the Criminal Code.

2. The remaining portion of the fine as stipulated in Clause 3, Article 76 of the Criminal Code.

3. Back taxes, proceeds from illicit gains, court fees, and assets confiscated for the state treasury, as well as other fines determined in court judgments and decisions that have taken legal effect. Clause other fines determined in judgments and decisions that have taken legal effect from the Court.  

Article 3. Principles for Considering Exemption and Reduction of Enforcement

1. For individuals who have had their fines reduced and then commit new serious, very serious, or extremely serious offenses, the court will only consider reducing the fine once after they have served two-thirds of the original fine.

2. Individuals considered for exemption or reduction of enforcement are not required to pay related costs for the examination process. Costs associated with the examination of exemptions and reductions shall be covered by the operating funds of the relevant agencies involved in the examination process.

Chapter II

AUTHORITY TO PROPOSE AND CONSIDER EXEMPTION AND REDUCTION OF ENFORCEMENT

Article 4. Authority to Propose Consideration of Exemption and Reduction of Enforcement

1. During the enforcement process, if it is found that the person subject to enforcement meets the conditions specified in Article 61 of the Civil Enforcement Act; Clause 2, Article 58, and Clause 3, Article 76 of the Criminal Code, the enforcement officer assigned to handle the case shall conduct an investigation, prepare a file proposing consideration of exemption and reduction of enforcement, and report to the head of the civil enforcement agency to submit a written request to the competent court to consider exemption and reduction of enforcement.

If the person subject to enforcement submits a request for consideration of exemption and reduction of enforcement, within ten days of receiving the application, the enforcement officer assigned to handle the case must investigate and, if the conditions for exemption and reduction are met, prepare a file for the examination of exemption and reduction of enforcement in accordance with the regulations. If the conditions for exemption and reduction are not met, within five working days of receiving the application, a written notification must be sent to the applicant informing them of the situation.

2. For the remaining portion of the fine as stipulated in Clause 2, Article 58 of the Criminal Code; the fine as stipulated in Clause 3, Article 76 of the Criminal Code, based on the enforcement files provided by the civil enforcement agency, the Head of the People's Procuracy at the district level where the person subject to enforcement resides or works shall propose the competent court to consider exemption and reduction of enforcement.

3. For payments to the state budget handled by military enforcement agencies and equivalent agencies, when such agencies accept cases for enforcement, they shall directly propose the Military Court of the region where the person subject to enforcement resides or works to consider exemption and reduction of enforcement.

For the remaining portion of the fine as stipulated in Clause 2, Article 58 of the Criminal Code; the fine as stipulated in Clause 3, Article 76 of the Criminal Code handled by military enforcement agencies, when such agencies accept cases for enforcement, if it is found that the file contains all the conditions for exemption and reduction of enforcement, the People's Procuracy of the military region and equivalent agencies may delegate the People's Procuracy of the Military Court of the region where the person subject to enforcement resides or works to propose the competent court to consider exemption and reduction of enforcement and inform the parties concerned.

Article 5. Authority to Consider Exemption and Reduction of Enforcement

1. The authority to examine and grant exemption or reduction of execution of judgments concerning amounts submitted to the state budget shall be implemented in accordance with Clause 1 of Article 63 of the Civil Execution Law.

2. The authority to examine and grant exemption or reduction of execution of judgments concerning the remaining fine amount prescribed in Clause 2 of Article 58 of the Criminal Code; the fine amount prescribed in Clause 3 of Article 76 of the Criminal Code shall be implemented in accordance with Clause 1 of Article 269 of the Criminal Procedure Code. PROCEDURES FOR EXAMINING AND GRANTING EXEMPTION OR REDUCTION OF EXECUTION OF JUDGMENTS

Chapter III

Article 6. Application for examination and granting exemption or reduction of execution of judgments

1. The application for examination and granting exemption or reduction of execution of judgments shall be implemented in accordance with Article 62 of the Civil Execution Law.

2. Verification of conditions for execution of judgments.

Verification record

on conditions for execution of judgments shall be established by Enforcement Officers or staff members of the Civil Enforcement Agency, which must clearly identify that the person subject to enforcement does not have assets or sources of income to execute the judgment . The verification record must have confirmation from the Ward People's Committee (village, commune) leader, the People's Committee of the commune-level administrative unit, or the organization where the verification takes place.For persons subject to enforcement who are serving custodial sentences, in addition to the verification record of the Enforcement Officer regarding the conditions for execution of judgments at their place of residence or work, the Head of the Civil Enforcement Agency shall send a request form to the Warden of the prison or detention center where the person subject to enforcement is serving their sentence to confirm whether during the period of serving the custodial sentence, the prisoner has: performed significant meritorious acts; suffered from serious illness; deposited assets with the prison or detention center's deposit department; and the results of submitting the amount to the state budget collected by the prison or detention center (if applicable).

The Warden of the prison or detention center where the person subject to enforcement is serving their custodial sentence, upon receiving the request form for verification and confirmation of the conditions for execution of judgments, shall be responsible for verifying and confirming and transferring the confirmation form to the Civil Enforcement Agency within fifteen days from the date of receipt of the request form.

3. Other documents proving the conditions for examination and granting exemption or reduction of execution of judgments of the person subject to enforcement include:

a) Confirmation letter from

a) Receipts and payment vouchers for enforcement money (if any);

b) Gthe People's Committee of the commune where the person subject to enforcement resides in cases where the person subject to enforcement does not have assets to execute the judgment ; in cases where the person subject to enforcement works at an agency or organization, there must be confirmation fromthe People's Committee of the commune or confirmation from the Head of the agency or organization where they work; People's Committee of the commune where the person subject to enforcement resides in cases where the person subject to enforcement b) Confirmation letters from

healthcare facilities at the district level or higher in cases where the person subject to enforcement suffers from prolonged accidents or illnesses;c) Confirmation letters fromfire prevention and firefighting agencies in cases where the assets of the person subject to enforcement are destroyed by fire;

d) Confirmation letters fromcompetent state agencies, Prisons, Detention Centers where the person subject to enforcement is detained in cases where the person subject to enforcement has performed significant meritorious acts or has fallen into particularly difficult economic circumstances for an extended period;

đ) e) Other evidentiary documents. At the beginning of each quarter,

the Civil Enforcement Agency specified in Article 4 of this Joint Circular shall be responsible for transferring applications for examination and granting exemption or reduction of execution of judgments established in the previous quarter to the People's Procuracy of the district where the person subject to enforcement resides or works for supervision.

Article 7. Supervision of files for consideration of exemption or reduction of enforcement

1. Within fifteen days from the date of receipt of the application, the People's Procuracy must review and transfer the application to the Court along with a document stating the Procuracy's opinion on the applications for exemption or reduction or a document requesting exemption or reduction of execution of judgments and notify the Civil Enforcement Agency handling the application for examination and granting exemption or reduction of execution of judgments. 2. The People's Procuracy has the right to request the Civil Enforcement Agency to explain unclear points or supplement necessary documents. In cases where it is determined that the person subject to enforcement meets the conditions for examination and granting exemption or reduction of execution of judgments but the Civil Enforcement Agency has not established an application, the People's Procuracy has the right to request the Civil Enforcement Agency to establish an application for examination and granting exemption or reduction of execution of judgments.

Within fifteen days from the date of receipt of the file, the Prosecutor's Office must review and transfer the file to the Court along with a document stating the Prosecutor's Office's opinion on the files requesting exemption or reduction or the document requesting exemption or reduction of enforcement, and notify the Civil Enforcement Agency handling the file for exemption or reduction.

2. The Prosecutor's Office has the right to request the Civil Enforcement Agency to explain unclear points or supplement necessary documents. In cases where there is evidence clearly indicating that the person subject to enforcement meets the conditions for exemption or reduction of enforcement but the Civil Enforcement Agency does not establish a file, the Prosecutor's Office has the right to request the Civil Enforcement Agency to establish a file for requesting exemption or reduction of enforcement.

Article 8. Procedure for Considering Exemption and Reduction of Enforcement

1. Within five working days from the date of accepting the file requesting consideration of exemption and reduction of enforcement, the President of the Court with authority to consider exemption and reduction of enforcement shall designate a Judge to accept the file and handle the matter of considering exemption and reduction of enforcement. The designated Judge has the right to request the Prosecutor's Office and the Civil Enforcement Agency to explain unclear points or supplement necessary documents within five working days from the date of receiving the request. If the requested agency fails to supplement necessary documents beyond this period, the Judge shall return the file to the proposing agency.

2. Organizing a meeting to consider waiver and reduction of enforcement

The session for considering exemption and reduction of enforcement shall be organized in accordance with Clause 3 of Article 63 of the Civil Enforcement Law.

The Judge presiding over the session for considering exemption and reduction of enforcement shall have the responsibility to notify the time and place of the session to the representative of the same-level Prosecutor's Office and the Civil Enforcement Agency that proposed the consideration of exemption and reduction of enforcement.

The decision of the Judge to accept the entire proposal, accept part of it, or not accept the proposal for considering exemption and reduction of enforcement must include the following main contents:

a) Date of issuance of the decision;

b) Name of the Court issuing the decision;

c) Name and title of the Judge and representatives of participating agencies;

d) Name, residence, workplace, place of serving sentence (if applicable), and the amount of state budget payment to be enforced;

d) The Court's assessment and grounds for accepting, accepting part of, or not accepting the proposal for considering exemption and reduction of enforcement from the Prosecutor's Office or the Agency;

e) The Court's decision to exempt the payment of state budget revenue, the amount exempted; the decision to reduce part of the payment of state budget revenue, the amount reduced, the remaining amount to be enforced, and the effectiveness of the decision seven days from the date of signing.

Article 9. Objection to the Decision of the Court on Exemption and Reduction of Enforcement

1. Objection to the decision of the Court on exemption and reduction of enforcement shall be carried out in accordance with Article 64 of the Civil Enforcement Law.

The Judge presiding over the session for considering exemption and reduction of enforcement shall have the responsibility to notify the time and place of the session to the representative of the same-level Prosecutor's Office and the Civil Enforcement Agency when the Court requests the representative of the Civil Enforcement Agency that established the file to attend the session.

2. The decision of the Judge to resolve objections must include the following main contents:

a) Date of issuance of the decision;

b) Full name, place of residence, workplace, place of serving the sentence (if applicable) of the person subject to enforcement and the amount of fine or litigation fee to be enforced;

c) Name of the Court that considered exemption and reduction and the content of the decision being objected;

d) Content of the objection by the Prosecutor's Office;

đ) Assessment of the Appellate Court and the grounds for the Court's decision;

e) Decision to maintain, amend part of, or revoke the entire decision of the Court regarding exemption and reduction of enforcement.            

Article 10. Execution of the Decision of the Court Regarding Exemption and Reduction of Enforcement

1. Based on the effective decision of the Court regarding exemption of enforcement, the Civil Enforcement Agency that established the file must issue a decision to suspend enforcement of the portion of the enforcement obligation that has been exempted.

In case the Court decides to reduce part of the enforcement obligation, the Civil Enforcement Agency that established the file must issue a decision to suspend enforcement of the portion of the enforcement obligation that has been reduced and continue enforcement against the remaining amount to be paid into the state budget.

2. As for the amount to be paid into the state budget that has not been decided to be exempted or reduced by the Court, the Civil Enforcement Agency shall have the responsibility to continue organizing enforcement. In case the file requesting consideration of exemption and reduction is returned by the Court due to non-compliance with procedures, the Civil Enforcement Agency shall have the responsibility to complete the file again to transfer to the competent authority for examination during the next period of considering exemption and reduction.

Article 11. Handling violations related to the examination and granting of exemption and reduction of enforcement proceedings

The head of the Civil Enforcement Agency and Enforcement Officer shall examine and decide on administrative penalties according to Chapter VII of the Civil Enforcement Law. The Prosecutor's Office shall examine the pursuit of responsibility against those who must enforce judgments but intentionally conceal or dissipate assets to seek exemption or reduction to evade enforcement proceedings.

Chapter IV

IMPLEMENTING PROVISIONS

Article 12.Effectiveness

1. This Circular takes effect from August 1, 2010, and replaces Circular Jointly Issued No. 02/2005/TTLT-TANDTC-VKSNDTC-BTP-BCA-BTC dated June 17, 2005, issued by the Supreme People's Court, the Supreme People's Procuracy, the Ministry of Justice, the Ministry of Public Security, and the Ministry of Finance.

2. In the course of implementation, if there are any difficulties, the agencies and organizations implementing this Circular shall immediately report to the Ministry of Justice, the Ministry of Public Security, the Ministry of Finance, the Supreme People's Procuracy, and the Supreme People's Court for timely guidance and supplementary measures./.