On May 27, the National Assembly discussed in the hall the draft Law amending and supplementing a number of articles of the Penal Code.
An issue that many delegates commented on was the fact that the draft Law stipulates a new penalty - life imprisonment without considering a sentence reduction.
Accordingly, life imprisonment without a reduced sentence is understood as "an indefinite prison sentence and cannot be considered for a reduced sentence, except in cases of special pardon, amnesty or the Law on Special Protection with other provisions".
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.
Participating in contributing opinions, delegate Phan Thi My Dung - National Assembly Delegation of Long An province proposed that it is necessary to consider applying a life sentence without considering a reduced sentence instead of the death penalty for 8/18 crimes according to the proposed draft law.
According to the delegate, this punishment "is not much more humane than the death penalty".
Analyzing this content, the delegate said that the deceased also has the right to seek amnesty and pardon from the President and can be reduced to life imprisonment. During the execution of the life sentence, they will also have the opportunity to continue to reduce their sentences if they comply well.
However, the life sentence not being reduced means that the sentence sufferers are not granted amnesty, amnesty and are 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.
The delegate said that by all means, not reducing sentences would both assign the State the responsibility of raising and protecting prisoners for life and erase the hope of their and their families' salaries. Therefore, this sentence does not have a positive effect on prisoners' reform.
Delegate Nguyen Anh Tri - Hanoi National Assembly Delegation - re-evaluated that adding a life sentence without reducing the sentence helps the sentencing process to be more reasonable, because "there are crimes that if they are punished with death are too serious, but life imprisonment is too light". The above punishment still has the deterrent meaning of excluding criminals from society, but humanity and humanity are also shown.
However, the delegate suggested that for any crime from the death penalty to life imprisonment not to be considered for a reduction, the drafting agency must review and record the opinions of the National Assembly delegates who have contributed.
