Decree No. 76/2008/ND-CP detailing the implementation of certain provisions of the Amnesties Law

DECREE

Detailed Implementation of Certain Provisions of the Pardon Law

 ________________________

THE GOVERNMENT

Pursuant to the Law on Organization of the Government dated December 25, 2001;

Pursuant to the Pardon Law dated November 21, 2007;

Considering the proposal of the Minister of Public Security,

DECREE:

PART I

GENERAL PROVISIONS

Article 1. Scope of Regulation

This Decree specifies detailed regulations and provides guidance on Clause 1 of Article 5, Article 8, Article 9, Article 10, and Clause 1 of Article 17 of the Pardon Law regarding the timing of pardons, issuance, announcement, and notification of the President's Decision on pardons, conditions for persons proposed for pardon, and procedures and formalities for compiling lists and reviewing files of persons proposed for pardon.

Article 2. Applicability

This Decree applies to individuals sentenced to fixed-term imprisonment or life imprisonment reduced to fixed-term imprisonment who are currently serving their sentences at prisons or detention centers and are granted pardons on significant national events or major holidays; Vietnamese state agencies, organizations, and citizens; foreign organizations and individuals, and international organizations residing or operating within the territory of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam related to pardon activities.

Chapter II

||| PROCEDURES AND FORMALITIES FOR THE PRESIDENT TO ISSUE DECISIONS ON PARDONS AND IMPLEMENT SUCH DECISIONS

Article 3. The Government's Report for the President to Issue Decisions on Pardons

1. On the occasion of significant political, economic, cultural, and social events with great domestic and foreign significance for the country's development; National Day on September 2 or other holidays associated with major historical events of the country; if deemed necessary, the Government may propose to the President to decide on pardons.

2. When the President requests pardons or accepts the Government's proposal on pardons, the Ministry of Public Security shall be responsible for leading and coordinating with the Supreme People's Court, the Supreme People's Procuracy, and relevant agencies and organizations to assist the Government in researching and drafting the Government's report to submit to the President for consideration and issuance of decisions on pardons and establishment of the Advisory Council on Pardons.

3. The Government's report must clearly state the necessity of pardons, the proposed timing of pardons, the proposed recipients of pardons, the conditions of persons proposed for pardon, cases not proposed for pardon; the composition of the Advisory Council on Pardons; implementation of pardons, and other related matters concerning pardon activities.

Article 4. Announcing and Notifying the President's Decision on Pardons

After the President issues the Decision on Pardons, the Government Office, the Ministry of Information and Communications, the Ministry of Public Security, the Ministry of Defense, and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs shall be responsible for coordinating with the President's Office and relevant agencies and organizations to organize the announcement of the President's Decision on Pardons.

The Ministry of Information and Communications shall be responsible for directing news agencies and press organizations to notify the President's Decision on Pardons through mass media.

The Ministry of Public Security and the Ministry of Defense shall be responsible for directing prison wardens and detention center wardens to publicly post and widely disseminate the contents related to the President's Decision on Pardons and promptly address the requests of those serving sentences in prisons and detention centers.

Article 5. Conditions for Persons Proposed for Pardon According to the President's Decision on Pardons

1. Based on Article 10 and Article 11 of the Pardon Law and the President's Decision on Pardons, the Government shall provide specific guidelines on the conditions for persons proposed for pardon.

2. Individuals sentenced to fixed-term imprisonment or life imprisonment reduced to fixed-term imprisonment who are currently serving their sentences in prisons or detention centers and meet the following criteria under Clause 2 of Article 10 of the Pardon Law shall be considered as having made significant contributions, suffering from serious illnesses or chronic ailments, facing particularly difficult circumstances, or being the sole breadwinner in their family:

a) Having made significant contributions during the period of serving the sentence: such individuals have actions that help prisons, detention centers, or criminal investigation agencies discover, apprehend, investigate, and prosecute crimes; save lives of civilians or large amounts of state, collective, or individual property in natural disasters or fires; make valuable inventions or achieve outstanding achievements confirmed by competent authorities;

b) Suffering from serious illnesses: individuals diagnosed with one of the following diseases: cancer, polio, drug-resistant tuberculosis, cirrhosis with ascites; heart failure stage III or kidney failure stage IV and above, with a conclusion from the Medical Appraisal Board or a copy of the medical record from a provincial-level hospital; HIV infection has progressed to AIDS with opportunistic infections and poor prognosis, with HIV test results and a conclusion from a county-level health center or higher;

c) Suffering from chronic ailments: individuals serving sentences in prisons or detention centers who need to be hospitalized or treated in infirmaries multiple times over a long period, unable to work or take care of themselves, and no longer pose a danger to society, with a medical appraisal conclusion or confirmation in writing from a provincial-level health agency or higher;

d) Facing particularly difficult family circumstances, being the sole breadwinner in the family: individuals serving sentences in prisons or detention centers whose families are in extremely difficult economic situations due to natural disasters, fires, accidents, having no significant assets left, or having parents, spouses, or children seriously ill for a prolonged period without care, where the individual is the sole breadwinner in the family, with confirmation from the People's Committee of the commune where the family resides.

Article 6. Responsibilities of the Ministry of Public Security and the Ministry of National Defense in organizing the implementation of the President's Decision on amnesty

1. After the President's Decision on amnesty comes into effect, the Ministry of Public Security shall be responsible for leading and coordinating with the Ministry of National Defense, collaborating with the Supreme People's Court, the Supreme People's Procuracy, and relevant agencies and organizations to assist the Government in organizing and implementing this Decision.

2. The Ministry of Public Security and the Ministry of National Defense shall establish a Steering Committee on amnesty within their respective Ministries and guide the establishment of Review Boards for amnesty proposals at detention centers and temporary detention centers under their management.

Article 7. Procedures for compiling lists of persons proposed for amnesty

1. Based on the President's Decision on amnesty and the Government's guidelines, detention centers and temporary detention centers shall organize meetings for prisoner teams to evaluate and vote secretly to propose persons for amnesty; the responsible wardens shall record the results of the meeting in minutes and make recommendations.

2. Based on the evaluation results, compilation, and recommendations of the wardens as stipulated in Clause 1 of this Article, the procedures and formalities for compiling lists of persons currently serving custodial sentences at detention centers and temporary detention centers who meet the conditions for proposing amnesty shall be carried out as follows:

a) The Review Board for amnesty proposals at detention centers and temporary detention centers shall be responsible for researching, compiling lists, and preparing files of persons currently serving custodial sentences who meet the conditions for proposing amnesty, and submitting them to the directors of detention centers and temporary detention centers under the Ministry of Public Security and the Ministry of National Defense, provincial-level public security chiefs, military region commanders, and equivalent positions for consideration and decision on the list of persons proposed for amnesty;

b) The directors of detention centers and temporary detention centers shall be responsible for sending the lists and files of persons currently serving custodial sentences who meet the conditions for proposing amnesty to the Director of the Prison Management Department, Educational Institution, and Training School under the Ministry of Public Security (for detention centers under the Ministry of Public Security); the Director of the Criminal Investigation Department under the Ministry of National Defense (for detention centers under the Ministry of National Defense); the Head of the Investigation Agency Office under the Ministry of Public Security or the Director of the Security Investigation Department under the Ministry of Public Security (for temporary detention centers under the Ministry of Public Security); the provincial-level public security chief (for temporary detention centers under provincial-level public security departments); military region commanders and equivalent positions (for detention centers and temporary detention centers under military regions and equivalent positions);

c) The Directors of the Prison Management Department, Educational Institution, and Training School; the Director of the Criminal Investigation Department under the Ministry of National Defense; the Head of the Investigation Agency Office under the Ministry of Public Security; the Director of the Security Investigation Department; the provincial-level public security chief; and military region commanders and equivalent positions shall be responsible for compiling and submitting the lists and files of persons currently serving custodial sentences who meet the conditions for proposing amnesty to the Minister of Public Security and the Minister of National Defense.

3. The compilation of lists of persons proposed for amnesty at detention centers and temporary detention centers must comply with the law, be transparent, democratic, and objective; ensuring requirements for internal and external affairs, national security protection, and social order and safety maintenance.

Article 8. Examination of the files for amnesty recommendation

1. The Minister of Public Security shall decide to establish a Joint Verification Team comprising representatives from the Ministry of Public Security, the Ministry of National Defense, the Supreme People's Court, the Supreme People's Procuracy, the Vietnam Fatherland Front Central Committee, and related agencies and organizations.

The Joint Verification Team shall be responsible for assisting the Advisory Council on amnesty in researching and verifying the lists and files of persons proposed for amnesty submitted by the directors of detention centers and temporary detention centers under the Ministry of Public Security and the Ministry of National Defense, provincial-level public security chiefs, and military region commanders and equivalent positions.

Based on the verification results of the Joint Verification Team, the Minister of Public Security and the Minister of National Defense shall decide on the lists of persons meeting the conditions and those not meeting the conditions for proposing amnesty to submit to the Advisory Council on amnesty for consideration and decision.

2. The Standing Body of the Advisory Council on amnesty shall be responsible for collecting and transferring the lists of persons meeting the conditions or not meeting the conditions for proposing amnesty and the amnesty proposal files to the members of the Advisory Council on amnesty.

The members of the Advisory Council on amnesty shall be responsible for researching, verifying, and promptly identifying any errors in content and form in the amnesty proposal files and informing the Standing Body of the Advisory Council on amnesty. After receiving the opinions of the Advisory Council on amnesty members, the Standing Body of the Advisory Council on amnesty shall be responsible for resolving them. In cases where there is no consensus on the lists of persons meeting the conditions and those not meeting the conditions for proposing amnesty, the Standing Body of the Advisory Council on amnesty must prepare a report with explanations along with the lists and files for the Advisory Council on amnesty to consider and decide.

3. The Advisory Council on amnesty shall organize the verification of the files and lists submitted by the Standing Body of the Advisory Council on amnesty and decide on the lists of persons meeting the conditions and those not meeting the conditions for proposing amnesty.

Chapter III

IMPLEMENTING PROVISIONS

Article 9. Effective Date

This Decree shall take effect fifteen days after its publication in the Official Gazette.

Article 10. Responsibility for Implementation

1. The Ministers of Public Security, National Defense, and Foreign Affairs shall be responsible for guiding the implementation of this Decree within the scope of their functions and duties.

2. Ministers, Heads of ministerial-level agencies, Heads of government-affiliated agencies, Chairpersons of provincial People's Committees directly under the central government shall be responsible for enforcing this Decree./.