DECREE

DETAILING THE IMPLEMENTATION OFA NUMBER OFARTICLES OF THE LAW ON SPECIAL AMNESTY

THE GOVERNMENT

Pursuant to the December 25, 2001 Law on Organization of the Government;
Pursuant to the November 21, 2007 Law on Special Amnesty;
At the proposal of the Minister of Public Security,

DECREES:

Chapter 1

GENERAL PROVISIONS

Article 1. Governing scope

This Decree details and guides the implementation of Clause 1 of Article 5, Articles 8, 9 and 10, and Clause 1 of Article 17 of the Law on Special Amnesty, regarding the special amnesty time, the issuance, promulgation and announcement of special amnesty decisions of the State President, the conditions for persons to be proposed for special amnesty and the order of and procedures for making lists of, and appraising dossiers on, persons proposed for special amnesty.

Article 2. Subjects of application

This Decree applies to persons sentenced to term imprisonment or life imprisonment commuted to term imprisonment who are serving their imprisonment in prisons or detention camps and granted special amnesty on the occasion of the countrys important events or major public holidays; Vietnamese agencies, organizations and citizens, foreign organizations and individuals and international organizations that reside or operate in the territory of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam and are involved in special amnesty activities.

Chapter 2

ORDER OF AND PROCEDURES FOR PROMULGATION OF SPECIAL AMNESTY DECISIONS BY THE STATE PRESIDENT AND IMPLEMENTATION OF THE STATE PRESIDENTS SPECIAL AMNESTY DECISIONS

Article 3. The Governments report for the State President to promulgate special amnesty decisions

1. On the occasion of politically, economically, culturally or socially important events of great domestic and external significance for national development, the September 2 National Day or other festive days associated with important historical events of the country; and considering it necessary, the Government shall propose the State President to decide on special amnesty.

2. Upon the State Presidents request for special amnesty or at the Governments proposal on special amnesty, the Ministry of Public Security shall assume the prime responsibility for, and coordinate with the Supreme Peoples Court, the Supreme Peoples Procuracy and concerned agencies or organizations in, assisting the Government in studying and making its reports to be submitted to the State President for consideration and promulgation of special amnesty decisions and decisions on establishment of the Advisory Council for Special Amnesty.

3. The Governments report must clearly state the necessity of special amnesty, the projected time of special amnesty, categories of persons proposed for special amnesty and conditions on persons proposed for special amnesty, cases not proposed for special amnesty; composition of the Advisory Council for Special Amnesty; organization of the grant of special amnesty and other contents related to special amnesty activities.

Article 4. Promulgation and announcement of special amnesty decisions of the State President

After the State President promulgates special amnesty decisions, the Government Office, the Ministry of Information and Communication, the Ministry of Public Security, the Ministry of Defense and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs shall coordinate with the State Presidents Office and concerned agencies and organizations in organizing the announcement of the State Presidents special amnesty decisions.

The Ministry of Information and Communication shall direct news and press agencies to announce the State Presidents special amnesty decisions on the mass media.

The Ministry of Public Security and the Ministry of Defense shall direct prison or detention camp wardens to publicly post up and fuily disseminate the contents related to the State Presidents special amnesty decisions and promptly handle petitions of persons who are serving their imprisonment in prisons or detention camps.

Article 5.- Conditions for persons to be proposed for special amnesty under the State Presidents special amnesty decisions

1. Based on Articles 10 and 11 of the Law on Special Amnesty and the State Presidents special amnesty decisions, the Government shall guide in detail the conditions on persons proposed for special amnesty.

2. Persons sentenced to term imprisonment or life imprisonment commuted to term imprisonment and serving their imprisonment penalties in prisons or detention camps, who are considered having recorded great merits, suffering from dangerous diseases or chronic ailments, or being in exceptionally difficult circumstances or the sole work hands in their families as defined in Clause 2, Article 10 of the Law on Special Amnesty, are construed as follows:

a. Persons having recorded great merits while serving their imprisonment are those who are serving their imprisonment penalties and have assisted prisons or detention camps or proceedings bodies in detecting, hunting, investigating and/or handling criminals; have saved the lives of people or big property of the State, collectives or citizens in natural disasters or fires; have had inventions or innovations of great value or recorded other exceptionally outstanding achievements certified by competent bodies;

b. Persons suffering from dangerous diseases are those who have been infected with one of the following diseases: cancer, paralysis, drug-resistant tuberculosis, liver cirrhosis, asystolia of grade III, kidney failure of grade IV or higher grade, with conclusions of medical examination councils or copies of clinical records of provincial-or higher-level hospitals; have been infected with HIV currently developing into AIDS, with opportunistic infections and negative anticipations, with HIV test papers and conclusions of district- or higher-level health centers;

c. Persons suffering from chronic ailments are those who are serving their imprisonment in prisons or detention camps and have been medically treated at health stations or. hospitals time and again for a long period, being unable to labor, to help themselves in daily life and incapable of causing danger to society, with medical examination conclusions or written certifications of provincial- or higher-level health bodies;

d. Persons having families in exceptionally difficult circumstances, being the sole work hands in their families means persons who are serving their imprisonment in prisons or detention camps while their families are falling into exceptionally difficult economic circumstances due to natural disasters, fires, accidents, being left with no valuable assets or their natural parents, spouses or children have suffered from prolonged serious illnesses without anyone to rely on, and are the only work hands in their families, with certifications of commune-level Peoples Committees of localities where their families reside.

Article 6. Responsibilities of the Ministry of Public Security and the Ministry of Defense in organizing the implementation of the State Presidents special amnesty decisions

1. After the issuance of special amnesty decisions by the State President, the Ministry of Public Security shall assume the prime responsibility for, reach agreement with the Ministry of Defense and coordinate with the Supreme Peoples Court, the Supreme Peoples Procuracy as well as concerned bodies and organizations in, assisting the Government in organizing the implementation of those decisions.

2. The Ministry of Public Security and the Ministry of Defense shall set up their respective special amnesty steering committees and guide the establishment of special amnesty proposal-considering councils of prisons or detention camps under their respective management.

Article 7. Order of making lists of persons proposed for special amnesty

1. Based on the special amnesty decisions of the State President and the guidance of the Government, prisons and detentions camps shall organize inmate teams meetings to give their comments and cast ballots on, and recommend persons for special amnesty; superintendents in charge of inmate teams shall sum up results of the meetings in minutes and make suggestions.

2. Based on such comments, sum-ups and suggestions of superintendents, as provided for in Clause 1 of this Article, the order of and procedures for making lists of persons serving imprisonment penalties in prisons or detention camps who are eligible for being proposed for special amnesty are as follows:

a. Special amnesty proposal-considering councils of prisons or detention camps shall study and make lists and files of current imprisonment servers who are eligible for special amnesty proposal and submit them to wardens of prisons or detention camps of the Ministry of Public Security or the Ministry of Defense, directors of provincial-level Police Departments or military zone commanders or the equivalent for consideration and decision on the lists of persons proposed for special amnesty;

b. Prison or detention camp wardens shall send the lists and files of current imprisonment servers who are eligible for special amnesty proposal to the director of the Prison, Education Camp and Reformatory Management Department of the Ministry of Public Security (for prisons under the Ministry of Public Security); the director of the Criminal Investigation Department of the Ministry of Defense (for prisons under the Ministry of Defense); the director of the Office of the Investigation Police Agency of the Ministry of Public Security or the director of the Investigation Security Department of the Ministry of Public Security (for prisons under the Ministry of Public Security); directors of provincial-level Police Departments (for prisons under provincial-level Police Departments; military zone commanders or the equivalent (for prisons and detention camps under military zones or the equivalent);

d The director of the Prison, Education Camp and Reformatory Management Department; the director of the Criminal Investigation Department of the Ministry of Defense; director of the Office of the Investigation Police Agency of the Ministry of Public Security; the director of the Investigation Security Department; directors of provincial-level Police Departments; military zone commanders and the equivalent shall sum up and submit the lists and files of current imprisonment servers who are eligible for special amnesty proposal to the Minister of Public Security or the Minister of Defense.

3. The listing of persons proposed for special amnesty by prisons and detention camps must be lawful, public, democratic and objective; meet the domestic and external requirements, protecting national security and maintaining social order and safety.

Article 8. Appraisal of special amnesty proposal dossiers

1. The Minister of Public Security shall decide to set up the inter-branch appraisal team comprising the representatives of the Ministry of Public Security, the Ministry of Defense, the Supreme Peoples Court, the Supreme Peoples Procuracy, the Vietnam Fatherland Front Central Committee as well as concerned bodies and organizations.

The inter-branch appraisal team shall assist the Advisory Council for Special Amnesty in studying and appraising the lists and files of persons proposed for special amnesty, which are submitted by wardens of prisons or detentions under the Ministry of Public Security or the Ministry of Defense, directors of provincial-level Police Departments, military zone commanders or the equivalent.

Based on the results of appraisal by the inter-branch appraisal team, the Minister of Public Security and the Minister of Defense shall decide to make the lists of persons eligible or ineligible for special amnesty proposal and submit them to the Advisory Council for Special Amnesty for consideration and decision.

2.The standing body of the Advisory Council for Special Amnesty shall sum up and hand the
lists of persons eligible or ineligible for special amnesty proposal and the special amnesty
proposal dossiers to members of the Advisory Council for Special Amnesty.

Members of the Advisory Council for Special Amnesty shall study, appraise and detect errors in content and form of the special amnesty proposal dossiers and promptly notify them to the standing body of the Advisory Council for Special Amnesty. After receiving comments of members of the Advisory Council for Special Amnesty, the standing body of the Advisory Council for Special Amnesty shall handle the matters. In case of divergent opinions on the lists of eligible persons or the lists of ineligible persons, the standing body of the Advisory Council for Special Amnesty shall send an explanatory report enclosed with the lists and dossiers to the Advisory Council for Special Amnesty for consideration and decision.

3. The Advisory Council for Special Amnesty shall organize the appraisal of dossiers and lists submitted by its standing body and decide on the lists of persons eligible and ineligible for special amnesty and submit them to the State President for consideration and decision.

Chapter 3

IMPLEMENTATION PROVISIONS

Article 9. Implementation effect

This Decree takes effect 15 days after its publication in "CONG BAO."

Article 10. Implementation responsibilities

1.The Minister of Public Security, the Minister of Defense and the Minister of Foreign Affairs shall, within the ambit of their respective functions and tasks, guide the implementation of this Decree.

2. Ministers, heads of ministerial-level agencies, heads of government-attached agencies, and presidents of Peoples Committees of provinces and centrally run cities shall implement this Decree.

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