Decree No. 301/TTg detailing the implementation of Law No. 103/SL-L005 dated May 20, 1957 ensuring the right to personal liberty and the inviolability of private residences, belongings, and correspondence.

DECREE

OF THE PRIME MINISTER NUMBER 301/TTG
DATE JULY 10, 1957 REGULATING IN DETAIL THE IMPLEMENTATION OF LAW NUMBER 103/SL-L005 OF MAY 20, 1957 GUARANTEEING THE RIGHT TO FREEDOM OF PERSON AND THE RIGHT TO BE FREE FROM ILLEGAL SEARCHES AND SEIZURES OF DWELLINGS, EFFECTS, AND CORRESPONDENCE OF CITIZENS

PRIME MINISTER

BASED ON Law No. 103/SL-L005 dated May 20, 1957 guaranteeing the right to freedom of person and the right to be free from illegal searches and seizures of dwellings, effects, and correspondence of citizens;

BASED ON Decree No. 002/SLT dated June 18, 1957 specifying cases of immediate arrest and urgent situations;

AT THE PROPOSAL OF the Ministers of Justice, Public Security, and Defense.

DECREE

PART I
ARREST OF CRIMINALS

Article 1: In addition to the cases of immediate arrest and urgent situations specified in Article 4 of Law No. 103/SL-L005 dated May 20, 1957 and detailed in Articles 1 and 2 of Decree No. 002/SLT dated June 18, 1957, the following officials are authorized to issue arrest warrants for persons violating state laws:

a) Matters within the jurisdiction of the People's Court:

- Prosecutors, deputy prosecutors, judges of the People's Court at provincial or municipal level temporarily authorized to perform prosecutorial duties when the prosecutor and deputy prosecutor are absent, or authorized to investigate cases at locations away from the court's headquarters.

- Presidents, vice-presidents, judges of the People's Court at provincial or municipal level authorized to preside over trials held at that court. The presiding judge may issue an arrest warrant after consulting with the prosecutor and obtaining the agreement of the lay assessors.

b) Matters within the jurisdiction of the Military Court:

- Director or Deputy Director of the Military Legal Bureau.

- Prosecutors or military court prosecutors at all levels, officers authorized by the Director of the Military Legal Bureau or military court prosecutors to perform prosecutorial duties when the prosecutor and deputy prosecutor are absent, or authorized to investigate cases at locations away from their offices.

- Presidents, vice-presidents, judges authorized to preside over trials held at that court. The presiding judge may issue an arrest warrant after consulting with the prosecutor and obtaining the agreement of the military court assessors.

The arrest warrant must clearly state the reasons and be read to the person being arrested.

Article 2: In urgent situations specified in Article 2 of Decree No. 002/SLT dated June 18, 1957, the following public security officials have the authority to arrest or order the detention of persons violating state laws:

- Head of patrol team;

- Chief of police station, deputy chief of police station;

- Chief of county or district police, deputy chief of county or district police;

- Chief of city police district, deputy chief of city police district;

- Head of department, deputy head of department in the Provincial Police Department;

- Chief of Provincial Police Department, deputy chief of Provincial Police Department;

- Head of division, deputy head of division in the City Police Department, or in the police department of a zone or inter-zone;

- Director, deputy director of the City Police Department; director, deputy director of the police department of a zone or inter-zone;

- Director, deputy director of departments or bureaus in the Ministry of Public Security.

Within twenty-four hours after arresting a criminal, the head of the patrol team, chief of police station, deputy chief of police station, chief of county or district police, deputy chief of county or district police, chief of city police district, deputy chief of city police district must check the identity, conduct a preliminary interrogation of the suspect, and report in writing to the head of the Provincial Police Department or the director of the City Police Department.

Within three days from the time of detaining a suspect, the head of the Provincial Police Department, deputy head of the Provincial Police Department, director, deputy director of the City Police Department, director, deputy director of the police department of a zone or inter-zone, director, deputy director of departments or bureaus in the Ministry of Public Security must inform the corresponding judicial authorities.

Article 3: In urgent situations, if the public security officials mentioned in Article 2 above are not present at the scene of the crime, the following personnel from the guard troops and national defense troops have the authority to arrest persons violating state laws:

a) Head of the patrol team currently commanding the guard troop patrol;

b) Head of the border patrol team;

c) Command of the border post;

d) Head of guard troop units from company level upwards;

đ) Head of national defense troop units from company level upwards while such units are performing guard duties;

e) Heads of national defense troop agencies and units from regiment level upwards, or independent battalions, companies when the crime occurs within the unit's area of responsibility or within the military camp.

For crimes under the jurisdiction of the People's Court, the suspect must be transferred to the nearest public security agency within twenty-four hours for further investigation.

For crimes under the jurisdiction of the Military Court, the suspect must be transferred to the nearest Military Court within twenty-four hours.

PART II
TEMPORARY DETENTION, TEMPORARY IMPRISONMENT, AND TEMPORARY RELEASE

Article 4: The temporary detention order for a criminal must clearly state the reason, expiration date, and must be read to the detainee.

Within twenty-four hours from the time of temporary detention, the judge of the People's Court at county or district level, county or district police, or police station, or military personnel responsible for investigating the crime, must interrogate the detainee.

Article 5: When a judicial or public security agency executes an arrest warrant issued by a People's Court, a Military Court, or the Military Legal Bureau, after checking the identity of the person arrested, they must immediately transfer that person to the agency that issued the warrant. If a public security agency is conducting an investigation of a crime and a People's Court has issued an arrest warrant for a criminal, the arrested person must be directly transferred to that public security agency for questioning.

Article 6: Orders for temporary imprisonment or extension of temporary imprisonment must be signed by one of the officials listed in Article 1 of this decree. The order must clearly state the reason for temporary imprisonment, the expiration date of temporary imprisonment or extended temporary imprisonment, and a copy must be given to the detainee. When issuing a temporary imprisonment order or extending it, the judicial agency must notify the relatives of the detainee of the reason for the temporary imprisonment and the agency issuing the order, except in cases where notification could hinder investigative work or where notification is impossible.

Orders for unconditional release or temporary release of those temporarily imprisoned, depending on the situation, must be signed by one of the officials listed in Article 1 of this decree, and a copy must be given to the person released unconditionally or temporarily.

Article 7: For cases under the jurisdiction of the Provincial People's Court or City People's Court that are in the investigation stage, the Public Prosecutor of the Provincial or City People's Court must report the first extension of pre-trial detention to the Public Prosecutor of the Appeals People's Court. The second extension of pre-trial detention must be approved in advance by the Public Prosecutor of the Appeals People's Court.

For cases under the jurisdiction of the Military Court, the Public Prosecutor of the Military Court must report the first extension of pre-trial detention to the Director of the Military Justice Bureau. The second extension of pre-trial detention must be approved in advance by the Director of the Military Justice Bureau.

Article 8: In cases where investigations are still ongoing after two extensions of pre-trial detention for complex cases, the third extension of pre-trial detention must be approved in advance by the Ministry of Justice if the case falls within the jurisdiction of the People's Court, or by the Ministry of National Defense if the case falls within the jurisdiction of the Military Court.

Article 9: When the case file has been transferred to the Provincial or City People's Court, the Appeals People's Court, or the Military Court for trial, from the date of receipt of the file, these courts must try the case within two months for offenses punishable by imprisonment of up to five years, and within four months for offenses punishable by more than five years of imprisonment.

Article 10If the defendant is sentenced to imprisonment by a first-instance court but has not yet been detained and has signed a protest against the sentence or is still within the period allowed to sign such a protest, the defendant may remain at liberty pending the final judgment of the Appeals People's Court, unless the first-instance court decides to detain the defendant immediately.

If the defendant has already been detained for a period equal to the term of imprisonment imposed by the first-instance court, the defendant shall be released immediately regardless of whether they have signed or not signed a protest against the sentence.

Article 11: The warden of the provincial, city, district, or Military Court detention center is responsible for transferring complaints about temporary detention, requests for release on bail, and other related documents from the defendant to the Public Prosecutor of the Provincial or City People's Court, Appeals People's Court, or Military Court for resolution or transfer to the authority that issued the detention order, depending on which Public Prosecutor oversees the detention center.

The warden of the provincial, city, district, or Military Court detention center is responsible for reporting to the authority that issued the detention order whenever the detention period of a detainee expires. If the detention period has expired without receiving an order for release, provisional release, or further detention, the warden must immediately report to the Public Prosecutor of the Provincial or City People's Court, Appeals People's Court, or Military Court, depending on which Public Prosecutor oversees the detention center, and also report to their superior.

The Public Prosecutor and Deputy Public Prosecutor of the Provincial or City People's Court, Appeals People's Court, or Military Court are responsible for regularly inspecting detention centers under their jurisdiction to prevent illegal detentions. Upon discovering an illegal detention, the Public Prosecutor must take all measures to resolve it quickly, while simultaneously reporting to their superior and informing the equivalent Administrative Committee.

CHAPTER III
MATTERS OF SEARCHING PERSONS, OBJECTS, DWELLINGS AND CORRESPONDENCE

Article 12: Except for the cases specified in Articles 10 and 11 of Law No. 103/SL-L005 dated May 20, 1957, the judicial officers listed in Article 1 of this Decree and those executing written orders of these officers are permitted to search persons, objects, dwellings, and correspondence of private individuals.

Article 13: In cases of immediate crime detection, the following officials have the right to search the person and belongings of the criminal and persons related to the case:

- Judges of the People's Court at the county or higher level;

- Prosecutors of the Military Court;

- Police officers and security guards, border guards, and national defense soldiers performing guard duties when conducting inspections, patrols, or protection.

Article 14: During the investigation of a case where the suspect is temporarily detained or imprisoned, or in cases where they are authorized to investigate the entire criminal offense, the following officials have the right to search the person and belongings of the criminal and persons related to the case:

- Judges of the People's Court at the county or higher level;

- Prosecutors of the Military Court;

- Chief of police at the county or district level, deputy chief of police at the county or district level, chief of police station, deputy chief of police station, and above;

- Personnel executing written orders of the aforementioned officials.

Article 15: In urgent situations or when there are signs of a crime, the following officials have the right to search the person and belongings of the criminal and persons related to the case:

- Officials mentioned in Articles 2 and 3 of this Decree and those executing written orders of these officials.

- Police officers and security guards, border guards, or national defense soldiers performing guard duties during inspections, patrols, or protection.

Article 16: In cases of immediate crime detection, or during the investigation of a criminal offense where the suspect is temporarily detained or imprisoned, or in cases where they are authorized to investigate the entire case, the following officials have the right to search the dwelling and correspondence of the criminal and persons related to the case:

- Judges of the People's Court at the county or higher level;

- Prosecutors of the Military Court;

- Officials mentioned in Articles 2 and 3 of this Decree;

- Personnel executing written orders of the aforementioned officials.

Article 17: In urgent situations or when there are signs of a crime, the officials mentioned in Articles 2 and 3 of this Decree and personnel executing written orders of these officials may search the dwelling and correspondence of the criminal.

Article 18: While performing judicial tasks, the head of the village administrative committee, chief of village police, and deputy chief of village police have the right to search the person, belongings, and dwelling of the criminal detected immediately and persons related to the immediate criminal offense occurring in their village.

Article 19: If conducting a search of a residence in cases of immediate crime detection, emergency situations, or signs of criminal activity, where officers mentioned in Articles 16 and 17 above do not have the conditions to accompany a member of the local administrative committee and there is no neighbor present as a witness, then upon completion of the search, when drafting the record, it must be signed by someone from the house, and subsequently authenticated with the signature of a member of the local administrative committee.

Article 20: The search of a person, objects, or residence of a criminal may be conducted at any time during the day or night.

When searching a female criminal, a female officer must conduct the search in a private location.

Article 21: In all cases, if evidence is seized, it must be sealed, handed over to a custodian, or transferred to the investigative agency.

It is strictly prohibited to steal, alter, lose, or damage evidence.

Article 22: During the execution of arrest, temporary detention, temporary imprisonment, body search, or residence search, if encountering any of the following truly necessary circumstances, the enforcement officer may use weapons:

a) When executing an arrest, detention, or search, encountering resistance from the criminal, necessitating the protection of their own life or that of another person seriously threatened.

b) When it is necessary to prevent political or serious criminal offenders from evading the law.

c) When a detainee is attempting to escape from prison or when a major offender is fleeing while being escorted.

In all three cases, the enforcement officer may only use weapons after issuing a warning, giving an order, or shouting "Stop!" or "Hands up!" and the criminal does not comply or continues to resist intentionally.

Article 23: Police officers and soldiers engaged in administrative police work have the authority to inspect individuals, documents, identification, luggage, and goods on ships, vehicles, or at railway stations, bus terminals, airports, ports, border crossings, and other locations designated by the local administrative committee or public security agencies at the provincial level or higher.

Upon observing signs of criminal activity, the officers and soldiers mentioned above have the right to require suspected criminals to report to the nearest police station for further investigation, and such individuals are obligated to comply.

PART IV
GENERAL PROVISIONS

Article 24: Except in cases of immediate crime detection and emergencies, military personnel violating state laws shall be ordered to be arrested, temporarily detained, or temporarily imprisoned by officers within the military as specified in Article 1, Clause b of this Decree.

Military personnel caught in immediate crime detection or emergency situations must be brought before the nearest court within twenty-four hours.

Article 25: All provisions issued previously that conflict with this Decree are hereby abolished.

Article 26: The Ministers of Justice, Public Security, and Defense are responsible for implementing this Decree.