Decree No. 55/2020/NĐ-CP detailing certain provisions of the Criminal Enforcement Law regarding enforcement against commercial legal entities

DECREE

Detailed regulations on some provisions of the Criminal Enforcement Law regarding enforcement against commercial entities

concerning commercial entities

||| Pursuant to the Law on Organization of the Government dated June 19, 2015;

Pursuant to the Criminal Code dated November 27, 2015 (amended and supplemented by Law No. 12/2017/QH14 dated June 20, 2017);, amended and supplemented by Decree No. 109/2025/NĐ-CP and Decree No. 193/2025/NĐ-CPPursuant to the Criminal Procedure Code dated November 27, 2015;No. Pursuant to the Criminal Enforcement Law dated June 14, 2019;

CamendAt the proposal of the Minister of Public Security;

Pursuant to the Civil Code on November 24, 2015;

Pursuant to the Law on Encouragement, Reward and Honor dated November 26, 2003;i The Government promulgates this Decree detailing certain provisions of the Criminal Enforcement Law on enforcement against commercial entities.

Pursuant to the proposal of the Director of the Department of Ethnic Affairs and Religion Propaganda;on This Decree details the enforcement against commercial entities as stipulated in Articles 160, 164, and 165 of the Criminal Enforcement Law.

h"b) In addition to the lists of public services issued according to the provisions of Clause 2, Article 4 of this Decree, specialized agencies under provincial People's Committees shall report to the provincial People's Committee for decision-making on amending, supplementing, or issuing the list of public services funded by the state budget within their jurisdiction and consistent with the local budget capacity within the approved budget by the Provincial People's Assembly, and send it to the Ministry of Finance and relevant ministries and sectors for supervision during implementation."This Decree applies to commercial entities executing sentences (referred to as commercial entities), state management agencies for commercial entities, agencies, organizations, and individuals with authority in criminal enforcement against commercial entities; People's Committees at all levels and agencies, organizations, and individuals related to enforcement against commercial entities.i paragraph one of ArticleNo. Article 3. Agencies, organizations, and individuals implementing enforcement against commercial entitiesNo.1. Provincial public security enforcement agencies and military region public security enforcement agencies (hereinafter referred to collectively as public security enforcement agencies) shall take the lead in organizing enforcement against commercial entities.

PART I

GENERAL PROVISIONS

Article 1. Scope of Regulation

2. State management agencies for commercial entities as prescribed in Clause 25, Article 3 of the Criminal Enforcement Law must cooperate in enforcement against commercial entities upon request of the public security enforcement agency.

Article 2. Applicability

3. Agencies, organizations, and individuals within their respective duties and authorities shall cooperate with public security enforcement agencies and state management agencies for commercial entities in enforcement against commercial entities.

Article 4. Funding for enforcement against commercial entities

1. Funding for criminal enforcement against commercial entities shall be covered by the state budget.

2. Funding for enforcement against commercial entities by public security enforcement agencies shall be included in the annual budget for criminal enforcement activities.

3. Funding for enforcement activities against commercial entities by state management agencies for commercial entities shall be included in and settled from the regular operating budget of such agencies.

PROCEDURES FOR CRIMINAL ENFORCEMENT AGAINST COMMERCIAL ENTITIES

Article 5. Acceptance of judgments and decisions for enforcement

1. Upon receipt of a judgment or decision for enforcement, the public security enforcement agency must thoroughly check all contents as prescribed in Clause 1, Article 159 of the Criminal Enforcement Law. In case of unclear points in the judgment or decision, the public security enforcement agency must immediately issue a document requesting the court that issued the judgment or decision for enforcement to explain and correct.

2. Within three working days from the date of receipt of the judgment or decision for enforcement, the head of the public security enforcement agency must issue a decision assigning staff to handle the enforcement procedures against commercial entities.

Chapter II

3. Within three working days from the date of receipt of the judgment or decision for enforcement, the public security enforcement agency must issue a document requesting the commercial entity to report on the implementation of tasks and measures to enforce the judgment or decision for enforcement, except where a report has already been received as prescribed in Clause 4 of this Article.

4. Within three working days from the date of receipt of the judgment or decision for enforcement, the commercial entity must implement tasks and measures as prescribed by the Criminal Enforcement Law and submit a written report on the results to the public security enforcement agency.

1. The criminal enforcement agency, upon receiving the judgment or enforcement decision, must thoroughly check all contents as prescribed in Clause 1 of Article 159 of the Criminal Enforcement Law. In cases where unclear points are discovered in the judgment or decision, the criminal enforcement agency shall immediately issue a document requesting the court that issued the judgment or enforcement decision to provide clarification or correction.

2. Within three working days from the date of receipt of the judgment or enforcement decision, the head of the criminal enforcement agency must issue a decision assigning staff to handle the enforcement proceedings for commercial legal entities.

3. Within three working days from the date of receipt of the judgment or enforcement decision, the criminal enforcement agency must issue a document requiring the commercial legal entity to report on the implementation of tasks and measures to enforce the judgment or enforcement decision, except in cases where a report from the commercial legal entity has already been received as stipulated in Clause 4 of this Article.

4. Within three working days from the date of receipt of the judgment or enforcement decision, the commercial legal entity must implement the tasks and measures as prescribed by the Criminal Enforcement Law and submit a written report on the results to the criminal enforcement agency.

Article 6. Determination of State Administrative Agencies Responsible for Commercial Legal Entities in Enforcement Proceedings

1. Based on the judgment or enforcement decision, the criminal enforcement agency shall identify relevant agencies involved in the activities of commercial legal entities to coordinate effectively in enforcing judgments against such entities.

2. Within five working days from the date of receipt of the enforcement decision, the head of the criminal enforcement agency must issue a decision on the list of state administrative agencies responsible for commercial legal entities and send a request for coordination in organizing enforcement proceedings against commercial legal entities to those agencies, along with the enforcement decision. The request must clearly specify the contents of the measures that state administrative agencies responsible for commercial legal entities must implement according to Article 164 of the Criminal Enforcement Law to ensure effective enforcement.

3. Upon receiving the request from the criminal enforcement agency, the state administrative agency responsible for commercial legal entities must immediately implement the measures stipulated in Clause 1 of Article 164 of the Criminal Enforcement Law as stated in the request from the criminal enforcement agency. Within five working days from the date of receipt of the request from the criminal enforcement agency, the state administrative agency responsible for commercial legal entities must notify the criminal enforcement agency in writing about the implementation of the request in enforcement proceedings and the compliance of the commercial legal entity to monitor and file enforcement records.

Article 7. Summoning the Legal Representative of a Commercial Legal Entity to Announce and Request Enforcement

The criminal enforcement agency sends a notification about the summoning and meeting with the legal representative of the commercial legal entity to the same-level Procuracy to inform and assign a Prosecutor to conduct supervision (if necessary).

2. The participants in the meeting with the person summoned include: the head of the criminal enforcement agency or the Deputy Head authorized to preside; the staff directly handling the enforcement case and some other staff members of the criminal enforcement agency; the legal representative of the commercial legal entity; representatives of the Procuracy (if any). If necessary, the criminal enforcement agency may invite additional staff from related agencies or units involved in the enforcement proceedings against the commercial legal entity to attend the meeting. At the end of the meeting, a record must be made with signatures of the chairperson, the person summoned, the enforcement staff, and the representative of the Procuracy (if attending the meeting).

3. In cases where the person summoned cannot appear as required due to force majeure or objective obstacles, they must report in writing and obtain written approval from the criminal enforcement agency. In this case, the criminal enforcement agency will reschedule the meeting to another time but not later than ten days from the date of receipt of the enforcement decision.

In cases where the person summoned deliberately fails to appear within the specified time limit, the criminal enforcement agency will record their absence and continue to organize enforcement proceedings.

Article 8. Execution case file

1. Within three working days from the date of receipt of the execution decision, the criminal enforcement agency must establish an execution case file, with each commercial entity establishing its own execution case file.

2. The criminal enforcement agency shall be responsible for managing and supplementing the documents in the case file to ensure that all documents prescribed in Article 161 of the Criminal Enforcement Law are included.

3. The preservation and storage of execution case files and records for commercial entities shall be carried out in accordance with the regulations of the Ministry of Public Security and the Ministry of National Defense.

Article 9. Announcing the execution decision, certificate of completion of punishment, and certificate of completion of judicial measures

1. Announcing the execution decision

a) For criminal enforcement agencies:

Within three working days from the date of receipt of the execution decision, the criminal enforcement agency shall publish the decision on its own electronic information website.

In cases where the provincial public security criminal enforcement agency does not have its own separate electronic information website, it shall publish the decision on the provincial public security electronic information website.

If there is no provincial public security electronic information website, the decision shall be published on the electronic information portal of the criminal enforcement management agency under the Ministry of Public Security.

In cases where the military region criminal enforcement agency does not have its own separate electronic information website, the decision shall be published on the electronic information website of the criminal enforcement management agency under the Ministry of National Defense.

b) For commercial entities:

Within three working days from the date of receipt of the execution decision, the commercial entity must announce the execution decision on its electronic information website and publications, and publicly post the decision at its main office and business locations in accordance with point b, Clause 1, Article 160 of the Criminal Enforcement Law; notify relevant authorities, organizations, and individuals about the implementation of the punishment and judicial measures; report to the criminal enforcement agency and the state management agency for commercial entities regarding the results of implementation.

The criminal enforcement agency shall be responsible for inspecting and supervising to ensure the maintenance of the announcement and posting of the execution decision. In cases where the commercial entity violates this requirement, the criminal enforcement agency may require the commercial entity to make the announcement and posting; depending on the severity, the commercial entity may be subject to a violation record and administrative penalty as prescribed by law.

c) For state management agencies for commercial entities:

Within five working days from the date of receipt of the document from the criminal enforcement agency, the state management agencies for commercial entities designated according to Article 6 of this Decree must carry out the announcement of the execution decision on their electronic information portals and websites.

The provincial business registration agency shall implement the publication of the execution decision on the National Portal for Business Registration for enterprises established and operating in accordance with the Enterprise Law within its jurisdiction.

The announcement and posting of the execution decision by the criminal enforcement agency, commercial entities, and state management agencies for commercial entities as stipulated in points a, b, and c of this clause must be maintained throughout the entire execution period.

2. Announcing the certificate of completion of punishment and the certificate of completion of judicial measures shall be conducted as follows:

a) The criminal enforcement agency shall publish the certificate of completion of punishment and the certificate of completion of judicial measures on its electronic information website immediately upon issuance of the certificates. In cases where there is no electronic information website, the announcement of the certificates of completion of punishment and judicial measures shall be conducted as specified in point a, Clause 1 of this Article;

b) Commercial entities shall announce and post the certificate of completion of punishment and the certificate of completion of judicial measures within three working days from the date of receipt of the certificates. The announcement and posting shall be conducted as specified in point b, Clause 1 of this Article;

c) State management agencies for commercial entities shall publish the certificate of completion of punishment and the certificate of completion of judicial measures within three working days from the date of receipt of the certificates. The publication shall be conducted as specified in point c, Clause 1 of this Article;

d) The maintenance period for the announcement and posting of the certificate of completion of punishment and the certificate of completion of judicial measures shall be a minimum of thirty days from the date of announcement and posting.

Article 10. Supervision and inspection of commercial legal entities' compliance with judgments during enforcement

1. Commercial legal entities must submit written reports to the criminal execution agency on the situation and results of judgment enforcement every three months (except when the enforcement period is less than three months).

The criminal execution agency shall report to the Criminal Enforcement Management Agency under the Ministry of Public Security and the Criminal Enforcement Management Agency under the Ministry of National Defense on the results of enforcing judgments against commercial legal entities.

2. In cases where verification is required to clarify matters related to enforcement, the criminal execution agency may request commercial legal entities to provide written reports and clarifications. Commercial legal entities must comply with reporting and providing information and documents within their authority, responsibilities, and obligations to the criminal execution agency.

3. Inspection of commercial legal entities' compliance with judgments:

a) Upon receiving reports from commercial legal entities as stipulated in Clause 3 and Clause 4 of Article 5 of this Decree, the criminal execution agency must organize inspections of the actual enforcement activities of commercial legal entities;

b) During the enforcement process, based on requirements to ensure enforcement, the criminal execution agency conducts inspections of commercial legal entities' compliance with judgments;

c) Within fifteen days before the end of the enforcement period, based on requirements to ensure enforcement, the criminal execution agency conducts inspections of commercial legal entities' compliance with judgments to have grounds for issuing certificates of completed sentence execution and judicial measures execution;

d) When conducting inspections, if necessary, the criminal execution agency may propose that the state management agency for commercial legal entities assign staff to participate in inspections and invite experts to assist in the inspection. The state management agency for commercial legal entities must cooperate with the criminal execution agency in conducting inspections and assign suitable staff to participate in inspections. Commercial legal entities must cooperate and comply with the requirements of the criminal execution agency during the inspection process;

đ) Inspections of commercial legal entities must be recorded in minutes to be kept in the enforcement file. The criminal execution agency reports to the Criminal Enforcement Management Agency under the Ministry of Public Security and the Criminal Enforcement Management Agency under the Ministry of National Defense the results of each inspection;

e) Inspections of commercial legal entities must be conducted within the scope of enforcement and should not affect other activities of commercial legal entities.

Article 11. Issuance of Certificates of Completed Sentence Execution and Judicial Measures Execution

1. The issuance and delivery of certificates of completed sentence execution and judicial measures execution shall be carried out in accordance with Article 166 of the Criminal Enforcement Law.

a) For suspended business operations with a time limit, prohibition of business, prohibition of operating in certain fields, and prohibition of raising capital, the criminal execution agency issues certificates of completed sentence execution within five working days from the date the enforcement period ends;

b) For permanent suspension of business operations, when there is evidence indicating that the commercial legal entity no longer has the ability to resume operations, the criminal execution agency will coordinate with the state management agency for commercial legal entities to verify and record the basis for concluding the enforcement process against the commercial legal entity;

c) For judicial measures requiring restoration to the original condition and measures to prevent further consequences, the criminal execution agency issues certificates of completed judicial measures execution within five working days from the completion of the judicial measures.

2. In cases where commercial legal entities are dissolved or declared bankrupt, the criminal execution agency shall proceed with the procedures to terminate the enforcement process as follows:

a) The criminal execution agency coordinates with the state management agency for commercial legal entities to record the dissolution or bankruptcy of the commercial legal entity;

c) The criminal execution agency and the state management agency for commercial legal entities shall publicize the decision to terminate the enforcement process against the commercial legal entity. The publicity shall be carried out in accordance with Clause 2 of Article 9 of this Decree.

Chapter III

TRANSFER OF ENFORCEMENT OBLIGATIONS IN CASES WHERE COMMERCIAL LEGAL ENTITIES REORGANIZE

Article 12. Examination and decision on enforcement against commercial legal entities when restructuring plans are in place

1. Commercial legal entities with restructuring plans must submit a report to the criminal enforcement agency and the state management agency for commercial legal entities regarding the anticipated execution of enforcement obligations during the restructuring process to resolve enforcement procedures. The report must clearly state the situation and results of compliance with the enforcement decisions; the direction and responsibility for enforcement by the commercial legal entity after restructuring.

2. The state management agency for commercial legal entities, while examining and resolving requests for restructuring from commercial legal entities, must notify the criminal enforcement agency to proactively organize enforcement when the commercial legal entity undergoes restructuring.

3. Within five working days from the date of receipt of the exchange document from the state management agency for commercial legal entities, the criminal enforcement agency must request the court that issued the enforcement decision and the same-level prosecution agency for their opinion on enforcement against the commercial legal entity during restructuring.

Within five working days from the date of receipt of the reply from the court that issued the enforcement decision, the criminal enforcement agency must respond to the state management agency for commercial legal entities and the commercial legal entity regarding enforcement during restructuring.

4. In cases where a commercial legal entity is restructured, the criminal enforcement agency has the responsibility to notify the post-restructuring enforcement obligations to the Department of Justice at the location where the commercial legal entity had its headquarters before restructuring to update the judicial record database.

Article 13. Enforcement in cases where commercial legal entities are divided or separated

1. The enforcement obligations in cases where commercial legal entities are divided or separated are as follows:

a) Where the entire content and field subject to enforcement is assigned to a new commercial legal entity, that new commercial legal entity shall be responsible for fulfilling all enforcement obligations.

b) Where the content and field of enforcement are assigned to different new commercial legal entities, each new commercial legal entity shall fulfill the enforcement obligations transferred to them.

2. Enforcement in cases where commercial legal entities are divided or separated shall be carried out as follows:

a) Where the commercial legal entity receiving the enforcement obligation has its headquarters within the same provincial administrative unit or military region as the commercial legal entity prior to division or separation, the criminal enforcement agency currently enforcing against the commercial legal entity prior to division or separation shall continue to organize enforcement according to the provisions of the Criminal Enforcement Law and this Decree;

b) Where the commercial legal entity receiving the enforcement obligation has its headquarters outside the provincial administrative unit or military region, the criminal enforcement agency at the location of the commercial legal entity receiving the enforcement obligation shall establish an enforcement file and organize enforcement according to the provisions of the Criminal Enforcement Law and this Decree.

The criminal enforcement agency currently enforcing against the commercial legal entity prior to division or separation has the responsibility to send copies of the documents in the enforcement file to the criminal enforcement agency at the location of the commercial legal entity receiving the enforcement obligation to organize enforcement.

3. The time already spent on enforcement by the commercial legal entity prior to division or separation shall be counted towards the enforcement time of the commercial legal entities receiving the enforcement obligation.

Article 14. Enforcement of judgments in cases where a commercial entity is merged or consolidated

1. The commercial entity receiving the obligations of the commercial entity being merged or consolidated shall be responsible for taking over the enforcement obligations of the commercial entity being merged or consolidated.

2. Enforcement of judgments in cases where a commercial entity is merged or consolidated shall be carried out as follows:

a) In cases where the commercial entity taking over the enforcement obligations has its headquarters within the same provincial administrative unit or military region area as the commercial entity before the merger or consolidation, the criminal enforcement agency currently enforcing against the commercial entity prior to the merger or consolidation shall continue to organize enforcement in accordance with the Criminal Enforcement Law and this Decree;

b) In cases where the commercial entity taking over the enforcement obligations has its headquarters outside the provincial administrative unit or military region area, the criminal enforcement agency currently enforcing against the commercial entity prior to the merger or consolidation shall transfer the enforcement case file to the criminal enforcement agency at the location where the commercial entity taking over the enforcement obligations has its headquarters to organize enforcement in accordance with the Criminal Enforcement Law and this Decree;

c) The time already served by the commercial entity before the merger or consolidation shall be counted towards the execution period of the commercial entity taking over the enforcement obligations.

Article 15. Enforcement of judgments in cases where a commercial entity changes its business form

1. In cases where a commercial entity changes its business form, it does not change the enforcement obligations. The commercial entity shall be responsible for reporting to the criminal enforcement agency about the change in business form.

2. The state management agency for commercial entities shall be responsible for providing information on the enforcement of judgments by commercial entities changing their business forms to the criminal enforcement agency to continue organizing enforcement against the commercial entity.

3. The provincial-level criminal enforcement agency under the Ministry of Public Security and the military region criminal enforcement agency shall continue to implement enforcement in accordance with the Criminal Enforcement Law and this Decree.

Chapter IV

RESPONSIBILITIES OF STATE AGENCIES IN ENFORCEMENT AGAINST COMMERCIAL ENTITIES

Article 16. Responsibilities of the Ministry of Public Security in enforcement against commercial entities

1. Implement the tasks and powers stipulated in Article 195 of the Criminal Enforcement Law in enforcement against commercial entities.

2. The criminal enforcement management agency under the Ministry of Public Security shall be responsible for:

a) Directing and guiding the provincial-level criminal enforcement agencies under the Public Security to carry out enforcement against commercial entities;

b) Coordinating with relevant agencies and units in enforcement against commercial entities;

c) Publishing information related to enforcement against commercial entities;

d) Issuing forms and registers for monitoring enforcement against commercial entities;

đ) Statistics and report on enforcement against commercial entities;

e) Performing other tasks as directed by the Minister of Public Security.

Article 17. Responsibilities of the Ministry of National Defense in enforcing criminal judgments against commercial legal entities

1. Perform the tasks and powers stipulated in Article 196 of the Criminal Enforcement Law when enforcing criminal judgments against commercial legal entities.

2. The criminal enforcement management agency under the Ministry of National Defense shall be responsible for:

a) Directing and guiding the criminal enforcement agencies at military regions to enforce criminal judgments against commercial legal entities;

b) Coordinating with relevant agencies and units in enforcement against commercial entities;

c) Announcing information related to the enforcement of criminal judgments against commercial legal entities;

d) Statistics and reporting on the enforcement of criminal judgments against commercial legal entities;

đ) Performing other tasks as directed by the Minister of National Defense.

Article 18. Responsibilities of ministries and sectors in enforcing criminal judgments against commercial legal entities

1. Within their assigned functions and tasks, ministries and ministerial-level agencies shall be responsible for coordinating with the Ministry of Public Security and the Ministry of National Defense in enforcing criminal judgments against commercial legal entities.

2. Direct subordinate agencies, units, and organizations to coordinate with the criminal enforcement management agencies under the Ministry of Public Security, the criminal enforcement management agencies under the Ministry of National Defense, provincial public security criminal enforcement agencies, and military region criminal enforcement agencies in enforcing criminal judgments against commercial legal entities.

Article 19. Responsibilities of People's Committees at all levels in enforcing criminal judgments against commercial legal entities

1. Provincial People's Committees shall be responsible for:

a) Implement the duties and powers stipulated in Clause 1 of Article 204 of the Criminal Enforcement Law;

b) Direct state management agencies over commercial legal entities under their jurisdiction to perform duties and powers regarding the enforcement of criminal judgments against commercial legal entities.

a) Direct specialized agencies and People's Committees at the commune level to cooperate with provincial public security criminal enforcement agencies in enforcing criminal judgments against commercial legal entities within their jurisdiction;

b) Direct state management agencies over commercial legal entities under their jurisdiction to perform duties and powers regarding the enforcement of criminal judgments against commercial legal entities.

3. People's Committees at the commune level shall be responsible for cooperating with provincial public security criminal enforcement agencies in enforcing criminal judgments against commercial legal entities occurring within their jurisdiction.

Chapter V

IMPLEMENTING PROVISIONS

Article 20. Effective Date

This Decree takes effect from July 15, 2020.

Article 21. Responsibility for Implementation

The Minister, Heads of ministerial-level agencies, Heads of government agencies, Chairpersons of People's Committees of provinces and centrally governed cities, and the subjects subject to this Decree are responsible for implementing this Decree./.