On November 26, continuing the 10th Session, the National Assembly voted in the hall to pass the Law on Transferring People serving Imprisonment sentences.
The voting results showed that 429/430 National Assembly deputies were present in favor.
According to Article 25 of the Law on Transferring People serving prison sentences, in case the prison sentence in the judgment or decision that the court of the transferring country has declared to the person serving a prison sentence is not in accordance with the provisions of the Penal Code and other provisions of Vietnamese law, it must be converted accordingly.
The conversion of prison sentences must be based on the details of the case stated in the judgment or decision that has been transferred by the court of the country.
The converted prison sentence must not be more severe than the prison sentence that the court of the transferring country has declared in terms of nature and duration. The time spent serving a prison sentence in the transferred country will be deducted from the prison sentence serving period in Vietnam.
A person serving a prison sentence who is admitted to Vietnam without being sentenced a second time for the crime was sentenced in the judgment or decision of the court of the transferring country.
During the law making process, there were opinions suggesting to consider stipulating that the Minister of Public Security presides over and coordinates with the Chief Justice of the Supreme People's Court and the Chief Prosecutor of the Supreme People's Procuracy to stipulate the detailed content because the assignment of detailed regulations in Article 25 is not appropriate and unnecessary.
Regarding this issue, the National Assembly Standing Committee said that converting prison sentences is a complicated issue, directly affecting the rights of people serving prison sentences, while Vietnam's criminal policies with other countries have many differences.
Therefore, to ensure feasibility and stability when applied, the draft law stipulates that "The Minister of Public Security shall preside over and coordinate with the Chief Justice of the Supreme People's Court and the Chief Prosecutor of the Supreme People's Procuracy to specify the detailed content in Article 25".
This is to resolve the case of prison sentences that the transfer country has applied to those serving prison sentences with a term of more than 30 years for multiple crimes, or more than 20 years for one crime.
In the process of implementing the Law, if problems or inadequacies arise, the Council of Judges of the Supreme People's Court shall base on the Law on Promulgation of Legal Documents and the Law on Organization of the People's Court to issue a resolution guiding the application of law in trial.
This Law takes effect from July 1, 2026.
