Decree No. 11/SL On Amending Certain Details Regarding the Implementation of Decree No. 40 dated March 29, 1946 on the Protection of Personal Freedom

DECREE

OF THE CHAIRMAN OF THE GOVERNMENT OF THE DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF VIETNAM

NUMBER 11 ON 30 JANUARY 1947

CHAIRMAN OF THE GOVERNMENT

In accordance with Decree on 10 October 1945 temporarily retaining current laws in the North, Central, and South regions;

In accordance with Decree No. 40 on 29 March 1946 regarding the protection of personal freedom;

In accordance with orders organizing the government and judiciary under special circumstances;

Considering it necessary to amend certain details of the implementation of the above Decree No. 40 to suit the situation and new organization during the resistance period;

Upon the proposal of the Minister of Interior Affairs and the Minister of Justice;

After the Government Council has discussed and after seeking the opinion of the Standing Committee of the National Assembly;

ISSUES THE DECREE:

Article 1: The detention periods of "one month" for minor offenses and "three months" for major offenses stipulated in Decree No. 40 dated 20 March 1946 (paragraph first) shall be changed to 45 days for minor offenses and four months for major offenses.

Article 2: In exceptional cases where the High Court temporarily suspends court proceedings, the orders of the Judge regarding detention will still be temporarily enforced even if there is an objection according to the principle set out in Clause a, Point 7 of the Order organizing the judiciary under special circumstances.

Article 3: During the special resistance period, the Resistance Committees in the zones authorized by the Chairman of the Administrative Committee may issue decisions to arrest and detain individuals subject to the provisions of Article 7, Paragraph second of Decree No. 40 dated 29 February 1946.

Before issuing such decisions, the Resistance Committee must seek the opinion of the Director of Justice in the zone.

Article 4:

a) The two councils established in Article (?) and the last clause of Article 10 of Decree No. 40 are now temporarily abolished.

b) Article 9 of Decree No. 40 will be amended as follows:

"In case of extreme urgency, the Chairman of the Resistance Committee at the provincial level may temporarily detain individuals whose speech or actions are deemed harmful to public order or the resistance effort, but must immediately report this temporary detention to the Resistance Committee of the zone on the same day.

Within fifteen days, the file must be submitted to the Resistance Committee of the zone, and within thirty days, the Resistance Committee of the zone must review the file and issue an order to release or detain."

Article 5: Every six months, the Resistance Committee of the zone will convene with the Director of Justice in the zone to review all decisions on detention or prohibition of residence made by the Committee.

Article 6: Provisions in Decree No. 40 that have not been amended and are not contrary to the principles of this Decree shall continue to be implemented.

Article 7: This Decree shall take effect for those who were detained before the date of issuance of this Decree, whether by order of the Judge or by resolution of the Chairman of the Provincial Administrative Committee pursuant to Article 9 of Decree No. 40, issued after November 20, 1946, and for whom the Chairman of the Administrative Committee has not yet issued a resolution for detention or release.

Appeals previously filed with the Appeals Council shall be transferred, depending on the circumstances of the person appealing being detained or sentenced, to the Resistance Committee of the zone for review according to Article 4 above.

Article 8: The Ministers of Interior Affairs and Justice are entrusted with implementing this Decree.

Annotation

1- Previously, Article 9 of Decree No. 40 granted the power to temporarily detain to the Chairman of the Provincial Administrative Committee; now, to align with the new organizational structure and to unify the authority to detain, this Decree, in Article 4 Clause b, grants this power to the Chairman of the Provincial Resistance Committee. From now on, the Chairman of the Provincial Administrative Committee does not have the authority to order the temporary detention of individuals whose speech or actions are deemed harmful to public order or the resistance effort.

2- This Decree only applies to temporary detentions after November 20, 1946, the date when the war broke out in Haiphong and Lang Son, because after that date, due to communication difficulties, it was inevitable that temporary detentions would occur without the Chairman of the Administrative Committee having time to issue resolutions for detention according to the last clause of Article 9 of Decree No. 40. As for detentions prior to November 20, 1946, they must follow the procedures and deadlines set forth in Article 9 of Decree No. 40.