On the afternoon of June 10, the National Assembly Standing Committee gave its opinion on the reception, explanation, and revision of the draft Law amending and supplementing a number of articles of the Penal Code (amended).
Deputy Minister of Public Security Le Quoc Hung said that based on the comments of National Assembly deputies, the Government has reviewed and revised the technical aspects in the entire draft Law.
In particular, the draft Law has removed relevant regulations on the life sentence without considering a sentence reduction...
Life imprisonment without a reduced sentence is a new penalty added in the draft Penal Code (amended), submitted to the National Assembly for comments at the 9th Session.
This penalty is understood as "an indefinite prison sentence and cannot be considered for a reduction in the sentence, except in cases of special pardon, amnesty reduction or other provisions of the Special Protection Law".
This penalty is proposed to be applied to those who commit particularly serious crimes but not to the extent of being sentenced to death. The statute of limitations for enforcement is equal to the statute of limitations for life imprisonment and death, which is 20 years.
In case the person sentenced to life imprisonment without consideration of a reduced sentence is granted a reduced sentence, the life imprisonment without consideration of a reduced sentence shall be converted to life imprisonment.
According to the draft BLHS (amended), 8/18 death crimes are expected to apply a life sentence without consideration for a reduced sentence, including:
Crimes of activities aimed at overthrowing the people's government; Crimes of Espiegation; Crimes of sabotage of facilities and techniques of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam; Crimes of production and trading of counterfeit goods such as medicine and preventative drugs; Crimes of illegally transporting drugs; Crimes of embezzlement of property; Crimes of accepting bribes; Crimes of sabotage of peace, causing war of aggression.
Previously, at the 9th Session (1st session), many National Assembly deputies said that this punishment "is not necessarily more humane than the death penalty".
As delegate Phan Thi My Dung - National Assembly Delegation of Long An province analyzed, with the life sentence not being reduced, it means that the person serving the sentence is not granted amnesty, amnesty and is determined to be in prison for life, losing the motivation and the meaning of reform of prisoners, arising a number of other negative problems such as harassment, not participating in labor...
In addition, the delegate said that this regulation could also create a burden for the State in general and detention in particular.
Agreeing with the assessment, delegate Truong Trong Nghia - Ho Chi Minh City National Assembly Delegation - also said that this punishment is unnecessary, because the current life sentence has the meaning of "life" if the prisoners do not reform well or do a great job.
"The family has an educational effect, including the ability to reduce sentences, get a salary refund, and rebuild their lives if reformed well. If the life sentence is not reduced, the hope of a reduced sentence will be ruined.
For our Vietnamese culture, creating hope is a policy, a requirement, a humane viewpoint, typically the saying of beating someone away, someone who beats someone away", said delegate Truong Trong Nghia.
