Laws of Vietnam

DECREES:

Article 1.- To amend and supplement a number of articles of the Regulation on custody and detention, issued together with the Government’s Decree No. 89/1998/ND-CP of November 7, 1998 (herein after referred to as the Regulation for short) as follows:

1. To amend and supplement Clause 1, Article 6 of the Regulation as follows:

"1. The police agency of each district, the Military Command of each province or centrally-run city and equivalent levels may organize a custody house. Such a custody house shall have a number of detention rooms posted up with the signboard "Detention Room." For custody houses regularly occupied by 30 or more persons temporarily kept in custody and/or detained, additional rooms can be arranged for managing prisoners who serve the cooking and bringing of meals, carrying of presents and daily-life essentials, do the cleaning and repair of detention houses, and serve custody and detention requirements, which must be posted up with the signboard "Prisoners-Managing Room."

The Minister of Public Security and the Minister of Defense shall decide concretely which custody houses will have prisoners-managing rooms and prescribe the maximum number of and criteria for prisoners to be kept at these rooms. The control, education and other regimes related to prisoners to be kept at custody houses shall comply with the law provisions on the enforcement of imprisonment sentences. Border-guard stations which are located at the border or in islands far from district-level administrative centers may establish custody rooms which must be posted with up the signboard "Custody Room."

2. To amend and supplement Clause 3, Article 15 of the Regulation as follows:

"3. Each detention house shall have an imprisonment penalty execution unit (called prisoners-managing sub-camp) in constant service of the cooking and bringing of meals, carrying of supply and daily-life essentials, the cleaning, repair and construction of detention houses, as well as custody and detention requirements. The enforcement of imprisonment sentences at prisoners-managing sub-camps shall comply with the Ordinance on Execution of Imprisonment Sentences and the Regulation on Prisons. The Minister of Public Security and the Minister of Defense shall decide on the establishment and dissolution of prisoners-managing sub-camps in detention houses and prescribe the maximum number of and criteria for prisoners to be kept in the prisoners-managing sub-camps in detention houses."

3. To amend and supplement Clauses 1 and 3, Article 20 of the Regulation as follows:

"1. The taking of persons temporarily kept in custody or detained from their custody or detention places can be effected only when there is a written exit order issued by a competent body prescribed in the criminal procedure legislation or a written document of a competent body or individual in the cases specified in Clause 2, Article 21 of this Regulation. Where first aid, immediate medical examinations or treatments are needed for persons temporarily kept in custody or detained at medical establishments outside the custody or detention houses, the heads of custody houses or the supervisors of detention houses shall have the right to issue exit orders, then have to notify the bodies being handling the cases thereof.

3. The heads of custody houses and the supervisors of detention houses must keep books for daily monitoring of the exit of persons temporarily kept in custody and detained from custody and detention houses."

4. To amend and supplement Article 21 of the Regulation as follows:

"1. The exit of persons temporarily kept in custody or detained for carrying out activities outside custody or detention houses shall be effected in the following cases:

a/ Taking them for medical examination and treatment, medical jurisprudence appraisal or psychiatric medical jurisprudence appraisal;

b/ Carrying out investigation, prosecution or trial activities;

c/ Allowing them to meet their relatives, lawyers or other defenders;

d/ Allowing foreigners temporarily kept in custody or detained to contact consular officials or humanitarian organizations in accordance with the provisions of the international agreements which Vietnam has signed or acceded to or with the direct agreements between the Vietnamese state and the countries of these foreigners, or for external relation reasons on a case-by-case basis.

2. Apart from the cases of exit prescribed in Clause 1 of this Article, the heads of custody houses and the supervisors of detention houses shall have to hand over the persons temporarily kept in custody or detained in the following cases:

a/ Where there are decisions issued by the prison-managing agencies to send the persons sentenced to imprisonment to prison;

b/ Where there are decisions issued by the death penalty-executing boards to take the persons sentenced to death to the execution ground;

c/ Where there are decisions issued by the case-handling agencies to transfer the persons temporarily kept in custody or detained to other custody or detention places;

d/ For carrying out activities prescribed in Clause 1 of this Article which take place inside custody or detention houses. In this case, the heads of custody houses and the supervisors of detention houses shall base themselves on the decisions assigning the handling of the case as well as the written consent of the agency which is handling the case to allow relatives, lawyers and/or other defenders, representatives of agencies or foreign organizations to meet and contact the persons temporarily kept in custody or detained to decide on the sending of the persons temporarily kept in custody or detained out of the custody or detention rooms."

5. To amend the second paragraph of Clause 1, Article 26 of this Regulation into the following:

"1…

No more than twice a month, the detainees may receive food supply and daily-life essentials sent in by their relatives; the persons temporarily kept in custody may receive food supply and daily-life essentials from their relatives only once during the time of custody; the quantity of food supply shall not double the daily food ration. These persons and detainees shall be prohibited from using alcohol, beer, cigarettes and other toxic stimulants. The heads of custody houses and the supervisors of detention houses shall organize the reception and strict inspection of food supply and daily-life essentials; reject prohibited stuffs and hand the supplies in full to the persons temporarily kept in custody or detained; inspect, prevent and stop acts of appropriation of supply and daily-life essentials of the persons temporarily kept in custody or detained. The Minister of Public Security and the Minister of Defense shall specify the supplies and daily-life essentials which the relatives of the persons temporarily kept in custody or detained are permitted to provide and stipulate the arrangement of sales of essential things in detention houses. The use of supplies and daily-life essentials provided by relatives shall be specified in the internal rules of custody and detention houses."

6. To amend and supplement Clauses 3 and 5, Article 32 of the Regulation as follows:

"3. The persons temporarily kept in custody or detained who violate the regulations and/or internal rules of custody or detention houses shall, depending on the nature and seriousness of their violations, be handled in one of the following disciplinary forms:

- Caution;

- Being separately confined to disciplinary rooms for 3 to 7 days, and possibly up to 12 days. Those who are confined to disciplinary rooms may have one leg fettered. The fettering duration shall be decided by the heads of custody houses or the supervisors of detention houses but must not exceed 10 days. The disciplinary form of fettering shall not apply to minors and women.

5. The taking of disciplinary actions against the persons temporarily kept in custody or detained who violate the regulations and internal rules of custody or detention houses shall be decided in writing by the heads of custody houses or the supervisors of detention houses. The records of violations and the written decisions on the disciplinary form shall be inserted into the dossiers of the disciplined persons. During the time of serving the disciplining decisions, if the disciplined persons show progress, the heads of custody houses or the supervisors of detention houses may consider shortening the disciplining duration."

Article 2.- This Decree takes effect 15 days after its signing.

To annul Clause 1 of Article 6, Clause 3 of Article 15, Clauses 1 and 3 of Article 20, Article 21, Clause 1 of Article 26, Clauses 3 and 5 of Article 32 of the Regulation on custody and detention, issued together with the Government’s Decree No. 89/1998/ND-CP of November 7, 1998.

The Ministry of Public Security and the Ministry of Defense shall assume the prime responsibility and coordinate with the concerned ministries and branches in inspecting and urging the implementation of this Decree.

Article 3.- The ministers, the heads of the ministerial-level agencies, the heads of the agencies attached to the Government, and the presidents of the People’s Committees of the provinces and centrally-run cities shall have to implement this Decree.

On behalf of the Government
Prime Minister
PHAN VAN KHAI