Laws of Vietnam

THE GOVERNMENT

DECREES:

Chapter I

GENERAL PROVISIONS

Article 1.- Regulation scope

This Decree specifies the subjects; order and procedures for consigning people to education camps; organization of education camps; the regime of managing persons subject to the application of the measure of consignment to education camps and other stipulations related to the application of the measure of consignment to education camps.

Article 2.- Consignment to education camps

1. Consignment to education camps is an administrative handling measure which aims to assist and educate persons committing acts of law offense as provided for in Article 3 of this Decree with conditions to have their schooling, vocational training, to labor and live under the control of the education camps so as to redress their mistakes and soon become honest citizens useful for the society.

2. The application of measure of consignment to education camps shall be decided by presidents of the People's Committees of provinces or centrally-run cities.

The duration of applying the measure of consignment to education camps ranges from six months to two years.

Article 3.- Subjects consigned to education camps

1. Subjects consigned to education camps include persons who commit one of the following acts of law violation in a regular manner (with two or more violations in a year), but not to the extent of being examined for penal liability and who have been or have not yet been subject to the application of education at communes, wards, district towns but have no certain residence places:

a) Infringing upon the health, honor and/or dignity of citizens, or foreigners;

b) Infringing upon the properties of domestic or foreign organizations and/or individuals;

c) Fomenting public disorder; resisting persons on official duties;

d) Abusing democratic freedoms, religious freedom to drag or incite other people to infringe upon the interests of the State, the legitimate rights and interests of organizations, individuals;

e) Coercing, dragging or inducing other persons to flee abroad or to stay abroad illegally.

2. Persons who are not full 18 years old; persons who are over 55 years old for female, or over 60 years old for male shall not be consigned to education camps.

The time for calculating the above-mentioned ages shall be the date of signing the decisions on sending those persons to education camps; the legal basis for determining the ages are birth certificates; if the birth certificates are unavailable, the age calculation must be based on people's identity cards or household residence registers.

3. In the following cases the decisions on consignment to education camps shall not be issued or such people shall not be forced to continue executing the decisions on consignment to education camps but their dossiers shall be transferred so that presidents of the People's Committees of communes, wards or district towns issue decisions to apply the measure of education at communes, wards or district towns to such persons in accordance with the provisions of law:

a) The persons for whom the dossiers on consignment to education camps have already been compiled but who have already been over 55 years old, for women, or over 60 years old, for men, on the date the decisions to consign them to education camps are signed;

b) The persons for whom the decisions on consigning them to education camps have been issued but not yet executed and who have escaped and reached the age of over 55 for women or over 60 for men when they were recaptured.

4, The measure of consignment to education camps shall not apply to persons who do not bear the Vietnamese nationality and persons who bear foreign passports.

Article 4.- Statute of limitation for application of measure of consignment to education camps

The statute of limitation for applying the measure of consignment to education camps shall be one year as from the time the subjects compelled to the application of this measure commit for the last time one of the acts of violation prescribed in Clause 1, Article 3 of this Decree.

If within the above-stated time limit the violators deliberately escape, the escape duration shall not be counted and the statute of limitation shall be re-calculated from the time such people give themselves up or are arrested.

Article 5.- Handling principles

1. All acts of administrative violations prescribed in Clause 1, Article 3 of this Decree must be detected in time and handled in a prompt, just and clairvoyant manner strictly according to the provisions of this Decree and relevant law provisions.

2. The application of measure of consignment to education camps must ensure the right persons, the right violation acts, the right order, procedures and competence prescribed in the Ordinance on Handling of Administrative Violations and this Decree.

All acts of infringing upon the lives, health, dignity, honor and/or property of the persons subject to the application of measure of consignment to education camps are strictly forbidden.

3. When deciding to apply the measure of consignment to education camps, the responsible persons must base themselves on law provisions, the violations' nature and dangerousness to society, the violators' personal identities, the extenuating and aggravating circumstances and administrative responsibilities in order to make proper decisions.

4. The persons subject to the application of measure of consignment to education camps must study, labor and live under the management by the education camps in order to become citizens useful for the society.

5. Persons who have completely served the decisions on consignment to education camps shall be given conditions to integrate themselves into the community in order to earn their living and lead an honest life; when fully satisfying the conditions prescribed in Clause 2, Article 11 of the Ordinance on Handling of Administrative Violations, they shall be considered as having not yet been subject to the application of measures of consignment to education camps.

Article 6.- Establishment and management of education camps

1. The Minister of Public Security shall decide on the establishment, merger and dissolution of education camps nationwide.

Education camps shall be set up according to regions. In cases where there are in a locality many persons subject to the application of measure of consignment to education camps, the provincial-level People's Committee president shall draw up a plan, proposing the Minister of Public Security to consider and decide on the setting up of an education camp in his/her locality.

2. The education camps shall be planned, designed and constructed under the regulations of the Ministry of Public Security, aiming to ensure their suitability to the characters and requirements of the work of management and education of inmates and ensure the standards on fire prevention and fighting as well as environmental sanitation.

3. The Ministry of Public Security uniformly manages the education camps throughout the country and coordinates with the Ministry of Education and Training as well as the Ministry of Labor, War Invalids and Social Affairs in organizing and managing the education camps.

Article 7.- Funding for the application of measure of consignment to education camps

1. Funding for investment in the construction of material bases, the procurement of equipment, facilities and means and the organization of operation of education establishments; for the compilation, consideration and approval of dossiers; for the meal, clothing, lodging, study, disease prevention and treatment of inmates shall be provided by the State budget and included in the annual budget estimates of the Ministry of Public Security.

2. Education camps may receive aids and material assistance from organizations and individuals; may enter into contracts or association with organizations and individuals in economic activities under the provisions of law in order to create funding sources in support of their operation.

Article 8.- Interpretation of terms and phrases

In this Decree, the following terms and phrases shall be construed as follows:

1. Inmates are persons executing the decisions on consignment to education camps at education camps.

2. Seriously ill persons are persons who are in the state of being so seriously ill that they are no longer capable of working and performing daily-life activities or who are in the state of danger to their lives and must, under physicians' indications, be hospitalized for a given period of time before they can recover.

3. Persons suffering from dangerous ailments are those who are infected with one of the diseases causing danger to their lives such as cancer, paralysis, cirrhosis, leprosy, serious tuberculosis, HIV infection at the stage of development into AIDS and/or other diseases prescribed as dangerous ones by the Ministry of Health.

4. Families meeting with exceptional difficulties mean cases where the persons subject to the application of measure of consignment to education camps are the only work hands to ensure their families' subsistence; where their families are struck by natural disasters, big fires or their next of kin are seriously ill or suffer from dangerous ailments and there are no body but such persons to overcome the consequences of natural disasters, fires or to nurse the ill persons.

Chapter II

PROCEDURES FOR CONSIGNING PEOPLE TO EDUCATION CAMPS

Article 9.- Compiling dossiers proposing the consignment to education camps

1. For people who are subject to the consignment to education camps, have certain residences and already been subject to the application of measure of education at communes, wards or district towns, the presidents of the People's Committees of the communes where such people reside shall consider and compile dossiers to be sent to the district-level People's Committee presidents.

The dossiers proposing the consignment of people to education camps shall include the curricula vitae of those people, the records and documents on law violations committed by them, the documents on measures already applied, remarks of the police offices, opinions of the Fatherland Front Committees and other relevant social organizations of the same level.

2. For people who subject to consignment to education camps, have no certain residences, the presidents of the People's Committees of the communes where such people commit the law violations shall make records thereon and report such to the district-level People's Committee presidents.

In cases where the subjects are detected, processed and investigated directly by district- or provincial-level police offices in cases of law violation which are not serious enough for being examined for penal liability but the violators are subjects to be consigned to education camps as defined in Clause 1, Article 3 of this Decree, the police offices which are processing the cases must verify, gather materials and compile dossiers for sending to the presidents of the People's Committees of the same level, proposing the application of measure of consignment to education camps.

The dossiers proposing the consignment of people to education camps in this case shall include the curricula vitae of such people, documents on law violations committed by them, the excerpts of judgments and education measures already applied (if any).

3. The district-level People's Committees shall have to direct the police offices of the same level to strictly manage the subjects during the compilation of dossiers on consigning them to education camps.

4. The police offices at all levels shall have to assist the presidents of the People's Committees of the same level in gathering materials and compiling dossiers of proposing the consignment of people to education camps.

5. Within 2 days after the receipt of the dossiers, the district-level People's Committee presidents shall have to transfer the dossiers to the police offices of the same level for verification and examination thereof. Within 15 days after the receipt of the dossiers, the district-level police offices shall have to verify and examine the dossiers and report thereon to the presidents of the People's Committees of the same level. Within 3 days after the receipt of verification and examination reports from the police offices, the district-level People's Committee presidents shall have to send the dossiers together with their written proposals on consigning people to education camps to the provincial-level People's Committee presidents. Within 3 days after the receipt of the dossiers, the provincial-level People's Committee presidents shall send them to the members of the Advisory Councils.

6. Where the subjects for whom the district-level police offices compile the dossiers for submission to the presidents of the People's Committees of the same level as provided for in Clause 2 of this Article, the district-level People's Committee presidents shall, within 10 days after the receipt of the dossiers, have to send the dossiers together with the written proposals on consignment to education camps to the provincial-level People's Committee presidents.

7. Where the subjects are detected, processed and investigated directly by the provincial-level police offices in law violation cases which are not serious enough to be examined for penal liability but the violators are subjects to be consigned to education camps, the provincial-level police offices shall complete the procedures and dossiers and send them to the Advisory Councils for consideration and settlement according to the general procedures prescribed in this Decree.

Article 10.- The Advisory Councils for consignment to education camps

1. The Advisory Councils for consignment to education camps shall be set up under decisions of the provincial-level People's Committee presidents, each comprising the director of the provincial-level Police Department, the director of the provincial-level Justice Service, the director of the provincial-level Service of Labor, War Invalids and Social Affairs, the president of the provincial-level Fatherland Front Committee, with the director of the Police Department acting as the standing member of the Advisory Council. The standing members of the Advisory Councils shall have to prepare documents for, organize and preside over the meetings of the Councils.

2. Within 15 days after the receipt of dossiers, the Advisory Councils shall have to examine them and organize meetings to consider and approve the dossiers and make reports for submission to the provincial-level People's Committee presidents.

The Advisory Councils shall work according to the collective regime and make conclusions by majority. In cases where the number of votes for and against is split equal, the decisions shall be made according to the votes of the standing members of the Advisory Councils. Divergent opinions must be recorded in the minutes of meetings and sent together with the reports to the provincial-level People's Committee presidents for consideration and decision.

3. Representatives of the provincial-level People's Councils shall be invited to attend meetings of the Advisory Councils.

Article 11.- Transferring dossiers on subjects with signs of criminal offenses for penal liability examination

When scrutinizing dossiers on subjects in order to propose or decide to apply the measure of consignment to education camps, if deeming that the violation acts committed by such people show signs of criminal offenses, the competent persons shall have to write official dispatches and transfer the dossiers to the competent investigating agencies for settlement according to criminal procedures.

Article 12.- Handling cases where a person is the subject to be consigned to education camp and concurrently the subject to be sent to medical establishment

Where a person who has committed acts of law violation is the subject to be consigned to education camp and concurrently the subject to be sent to medical establishment, the competent body shall only apply the measure of sending him/her to the medical establishment.

The agency which has received the dossiers of consignment to the education camp, shall have to transfer the entire dossiers to the Advisory Council for sending people to medical establishment for carrying out the procedures to send him/her to the medical establishment according to law provisions.

Article 13.- Deciding on consignment to education camps

1. The provincial-level People's Committee presidents shall consider and decide on the consignment to education camps within 7 days as from the date of receiving the reports of the Advisory Councils.

2. The decisions on consignment to education camps take implementation effect as from the date of their signing and must be sent immediately to the provincial-level Police Departments, the provincial-level People's Councils, the People's Committees of the communes where such people reside and to the persons subject to execute the decisions on consignment to education camps before the enforcement thereof.

3. The decisions on consignment to education camps must be clearly inscribed with dates of their issuance; the full names and positions of the decision makers; the full names, dates of birth, occupation, residence places of the persons to be consigned to education camps; their acts of law violation; clauses and articles of the applicable documents; the decision execution duration; the venues for execution of decisions under the guidance of the Ministry of Public Security; the right to complain or take legal action against decisions on consignment to education camps shall comply with law provisions.

Article 14.- Executing decisions on consignment to education camps

1. Within 5 days after the decisions are issued, the provincial-level Police Departments shall have to consign the persons compelled to execute the decisions to education camps.

The duration of serving the decisions on consignment to education camps is counted from the date the persons subject to the application of this measure are taken to education camps.

Upon receiving the decisions on consignment to education camps, the district-level police offices and the commune-level People's Committees shall have to coordinate with the provincial-level Police Departments in ensuring the execution of those decisions.

2. In cases where the time is needed for carrying out procedures before taking people to education camps, the provincial-level Police Departments shall issue decisions to manage them at the provincial-level police offices for no more than 5 days in order to carry out necessary procedures.

The duration of being managed at the provincial-level police offices shall be counted into the duration of executing the decisions at the education camps.

The food and lodging regimes applicable to the persons who have obtained decisions on consignment to education camps during the time they are managed at the provincial-level police offices shall be the same as those for education camp inmates.

The provincial-level Police Departments shall have to arrange exclusive places for management of persons, who have obtained decisions on consignment to education camps, during the time they are managed at the provincial-level police offices.

The Ministry of Public Security shall guide in detail the management of such subjects at the provincial-level police offices in this case.

3. The consignment of people to education camps for execution the decisions thereon must be accompanied with dossiers; such a dossier shall include:

a) The decision on consignment to education camp;

b) The curriculum vitae and summary of law violation acts of the person subject to the application of measure of consignment to education camps;

c) The title of the person to be consigned to the education camp;

d) Other necessary documents related to the personal identity of the person compelled to execute the decision, which shall serve the management and education of such person (if any).

4. When receiving persons consigned to education camps by decisions, the concerned people shall have to compare and check the handed persons with the dossiers, identity cards or people's identity cards and other personal papers of such persons and make the records on hand-over and reception, inscribing clearly the documents included in the dossiers, the present health conditions of the handed persons; their personal effects, belongings and other matters related to the hand-over and reception of subjects.

Article 15.- Coercive execution of decisions

If the persons compelled to execute decisions on consignment to education camps refuse to voluntarily execute the decisions or commit acts of opposition, they may be handcuffed, escorted or applied with other necessary coercive measures under the provisions of law and the guidance of the Ministry of Public Security in order to force them to execute the decisions. In cases where their resisting acts show sign of criminal offenses, they shall be examined for penal liability under the provisions of the criminal legislation.

Article 16.- The statute of limitation for execution of decisions on consignment to education camps

Decisions on consignment to education camps shall expire one year after they are issued. In cases where persons consigned to education camps deliberately evade the execution thereof, the statute of limitation mentioned above shall be recalculated from the time the act of evasion is terminated.

Article 17.- Hunt for and arrest of subjects who have already been given the decisions on consignment to education camps but escaped

1. If the persons who have been given decisions on consignment to education camps escape before being taken to the camps, the police chiefs of the districts where such persons reside or where the dossiers have been compiled shall issue decisions to hunt for them.

2. Where education camp inmates escape, the directors of the education camps shall issue decisions to hunt for them. The duration of their escape from education camps shall not be counted into the duration of decision execution.

3. The agencies which have issued decisions on the hunt therefor shall have to organize the hunt for and arrest of the escapees. If subjects resist when being arrested, necessary coercive measures may be applied under the provisions in Article 15 of this Decree to compel such persons to abide by the decisions.

The People's Committees and police offices at all levels shall have to coordinate with and assist the above-mentioned agencies in the hunt for and arrest of the escapees.

When detecting the subjects to be hunted for, every people shall have to promptly report thereon to the nearest police offices or People's Committees or arrest and escort them to the above-mentioned agencies.

4. When the escapees are arrested or the subjects are handed over, the police offices must make records thereon and question them for their declarations; and at the same time notify the agencies which have issued decisions to hunt for them so that the latter can come and receive the subjects.

Upon receiving the notification, the agencies which have issued hunting decisions must send their people to receive the subjects and take them to education camps; the hand-over and receipt of subjects must be recorded in writing according to regulations.

Pending the receipt of subjects by agencies which have issued decisions on the hunt for them, if necessary, the competent persons may issue decisions to temporarily hold them in administrative custody in accordance with law provisions or transfer them to the provincial-level Police Departments for management according to the provisions in Clause 2, Article 14 of this Decree.

It is strictly forbidden to temporarily hold subjects in criminal remand or detention houses or in places failing to ensure hygiene and safety for persons held in administrative custody.

Article 18.- Postponing or exempting the execution of decisions on consignment to education camps

1. Persons who have been given decisions on consignment to education camps but have not yet come to execute such decisions at the education camps shall be entitled to the postponement of execution of such decisions in the following cases:

a) They are seriously ill with certification of health centers or hospitals of the district or higher level;

b) They are women being in family way with certification of health centers or hospitals of the district or higher level or nursing their children of under 36 months old, filing their applications and getting certification of the People's Committees of the communes where they reside;

c) Their families are meeting with exceptional difficulties, have filed their applications and got the certification of the People's Committees of the communes where they reside.

When the postponement duration expires or when the postponement conditions no longer exist, the decisions on consignment to education camps shall continue to be executed promptly.

2. Persons who have been given decisions on consignment to education camps but have not yet come to execute such decisions at the education camps shall be exempt from the execution thereof in the following cases:

a) They are suffering from dangerous ailments, with certification of hospitals or health centers of the district or higher level and such persons are no longer dangerous to society;

b) They have made marked progress in observing laws or recorded achievements during the time of postponing the execution of decisions on consignment to education camps.

3. The provincial-level People's Committee presidents shall consider and decide on the postponement and exemption of execution of decisions on the basis of the written requests of the persons subject to execute decisions on consignment to education camps. In case of necessity, the provincial-level People's Committee presidents shall assign the police directors of the same level to examine and verify specific cases stipulated in Clauses 1 and 2 of this Article before making decisions.

Chapter III

ORGANIZATION OF EDUCATION CAMPS AND MANAGEMENT OF INMATES

Article 19.- Organization of education camps

1. The organization and apparatus of an education camp is composed of the director, deputy-directors, administrators, educators, general education and vocational teachers; logistic, technical and medical staff and guard police force.

2. The appointment and dismissal of directors and deputy-directors of education camps, the payroll and organizational apparatuses of education camps shall be decided by the Minister of Public Security.

The education camps shall be sized to manage between 500 and 2,500 inmates each. Education camps accommodating over 1,000 inmates may set up sub-zones according to regulations of the Ministry of Public Security.

Article 20.- Directors and deputy-directors of education camps

1. Directors of education camps are the heads of education camps and have to take responsibility for the entire operation of their education camps.

2. Deputy-directors are persons who assist the directors in performing tasks assigned by the directors and are answerable to the directors and law for their assigned work domains.

Article 21.- Criteria of directors, deputy-directors, officials and employees of education camps

1. Directors, deputy-directors, administrators, educators, logistic and medical officials and guard police must be the persons who have good political quality, good sense of organization and discipline and have good knowledge about their profession and law.

2. Directors and deputy-directors must be the graduates from one of the following schools: The People's Police Academy, the People's Security Academy, the Law University, the Social Sciences and Humanity University or the Pedagogical University, and must have experiences in administering and educating law offenders.

3. Administrators, educators, general education and vocational teachers and commanders of the guard police forces must be the graduates from Intermediate Police Schools, Intermediate Security Schools or equivalent or higher level.

4. Police officers and men performing the tasks of management, escort and/or protection must be persons trained in specialized operation under the regulations of the Ministry of Public Security.

Article 22.- Transfer of inmates

To suit the inmate management scales of education camps or the professional requirements, the director of the Department for Management of Detention Camps, Education Camps and Reformatories may issue decisions to transfer inmates from one education camp to another under the regulations of the Ministry of Public Security.

Article 23.- Enucleation of inmates

1. Enucleation of inmates means the temporary delivery of inmates from education camps at the requests of competent criminal proceeding agencies for the former to participate in the legal proceedings in cases related to them. The inmate enucleation duration shall be counted into the duration of execution at the education camps.

2. Upon enucleation requests, the heads of the competent legal proceeding agencies must send official dispatches to the directors of the education camps, clearly stating the full names of the persons to be enucleated, the reasons for and duration of enucleation. Basing themselves on the written requests of the legal proceeding agencies, the directors of the education camps shall issue decisions to enucleate inmates. The decisions on inmate enucleation must clearly state the full names, ages and addresses of the persons to be enucleated, the agencies requesting the enucleation, the purposes and duration of the enucleation, the ranks and positions of the persons who sign the enucleation.

3. The agencies requesting the enucleation shall have to take away the enucleated persons and return them to the education camps within the time limits inscribed in the enucleation decisions. Upon hand-over and receipt of persons under enucleation decisions, the records thereon must be made strictly according to regulations.

Article 24.- Penal liability examination against persons to be consigned to education camps under issued decisions

1. Cases where persons have got decisions on consignment to education camps but are later detected with their violation acts showing criminal signs while the statute of limitation for penal liability examination has not yet expired shall be handled as follows:

a) Where they have not yet executed the decisions, the provincial-level People's Committee presidents shall cancel the decisions on consignment to education camps and, within three days as from the date the decisions are cancelled, have to transfer the dossiers on the subjects to the competent criminal proceeding agencies.

If later for such acts of the subjects, there are decisions to suspend the investigation, suspend the cases or the courts declare they are not guilty, the legal proceeding agencies shall have to transfer the dossiers on the subjects to the provincial-level People's Committee presidents who shall consider the cases and issue decisions to consign such persons to education camps.

b) Where such persons are serving decisions at education camps, at the requests of competent criminal proceeding agencies, the directors of the education camps shall issue decisions to temporarily suspend the execution of decisions on such persons and transfer the dossiers on the subjects to the legal proceeding agencies; at the same time notify such to the presidents of the provincial-level People's Committees where the decisions on consigning them to education camps were issued.

If later, for the subjects' acts, there are decisions to suspend the investigation, to suspend the cases or the courts have declared they are not guilty, the legal proceeding agencies shall have to transfer the dossiers on the subjects to education camps so that they continue serving the decisions.

In cases where subjects are liable to the application of one of the penalties prescribed in the Penal Code, the legal proceeding agencies which have earlier received the dossiers on the subjects must notify in writing the education camps of the penalties, the application duration, the places where judgments are executed and other relevant contents; at the same time, notify the presidents of the provincial-level People's Committees where the decisions on consigning such persons to education camps were previously issued for the latter to cancel the decisions on consigning such persons to education camps.

In cases where subjects are liable to the application of imprisonment penalty, the duration of executing the measure of consignment to education camps shall be counted into the duration of serving the imprisonment penalty. Two days of executing the measure of consignment to education camps shall be calculated as equal to one day of serving the imprisonment penalty.

2. Cases of detecting that the persons who have been given decisions on consignment to education camps have committed criminal offenses before or during the time of serving decisions shall be handled as follows:

Where they have not yet executed the decisions, the provincial-level People's Committee presidents shall, at the requests of the competent criminal proceeding agencies, issue decisions to suspend the execution of decisions on consigning such persons to education camps and transfer the dossiers on the subjects to the competent criminal proceeding agencies.

Where such persons are serving the decisions at education camps, at the requests of the competent criminal proceeding agencies, the directors of the education camps shall issue decisions to suspend the execution of decisions against such persons and transfer the dossiers on the subjects to the competent criminal proceeding agencies.

If later the subjects are imposed with the imprisonment penalty, they shall be exempt from serving the remaining duration in the decisions on application of measure of consignment to education camps; if the imposed penalty is not the imprisonment penalty or is the termed imprisonment but the suspended sentence, such persons may have to continue serving the decisions on consignment to education camps.

Article 25.- Execution duration reduction, temporary suspension or exemption from serving the remaining duration at education camps.

1. Inmates who have served half of the duration stated in the decisions, if having made marked progress or recorded achievements, shall be considered for reduction of the execution duration by one to six months or be exempt from serving the remaining duration.

During the time of serving decisions at education camps, each person shall be entitled to one reduction; where inmates have already enjoyed the execution duration reduction, but later have recorded achievements, they may be considered for the second reduction.

2. In cases where inmates are seriously ill and need to be sent back to their families for treatment, they shall enjoy the temporary suspension from execution of decisions; the temporary suspension duration shall be counted into the decision execution duration; if after the health recovery the execution duration still remains for 3 months or more, such persons shall have to continue executing the decisions at education camps.

Female inmates who get pregnant shall be temporarily suspended from serving their decisions till their children are full 36 months old; if during the temporary suspension period, they make marked progress or record achievements, they shall be exempt from serving the remaining duration. Inmates suffering from dangerous ailments shall be exempt from serving the remaining duration.

3. The director of the Department for Management of Detention Camps, Education Camps and Reformatories shall decide on the execution duration reduction, the execution suspension or exemption as provided for in Clauses 1 and 2 of this Article at the proposals of the directors of the education camps. Their decisions must be addressed to the presidents of the provincial-level People's Committees where the decisions on consigning such persons to education camps were issued and the People's Committees of the communes where they reside.

4. The Minister of Public Security shall guide in detail the implementation of execution duration reduction, execution suspension or exemption prescribed in Clauses 1, 2 and 3 of this Article.

Article 26.- Expiry of the time limit for serving the measure of consignment to education camps

1. When persons consigned to education camps have completely served the duration of consignment to education camps, the directors of the education camps shall grant them the certificates and send the copies thereof to the director of the Department for Management of Detention Camps, Education Camps and Reformatories, the presidents of the provincial-level People's Committees where decisions were issued and the People's Committees of the communes where such persons reside.

In cases where persons who have completely served the decisions do not really redeem their past, the directors of the education camps must make separate written remarks and propose measures for subsequent management and education and send them to the district-level police offices and the People's Committees of the communes where such persons reside.

Within 5 days after returning to their localities, the persons who have completely served the duration of consignment to education camps must present themselves before the police offices of the communes, wards or district towns where they return to reside.

2. Persons who have completely served the duration of consignment to education camps are entitled to receive back their money and things deposited at the camps (if any) and be provided with money for travel fares, meals and a set of civilian clothes each (if they do not have any) for their returns to residence places, and have to return all utensils, devices they have borrowed from the education camps for their labor, study and daily-life activities therein, and if causing the loss thereof or damage thereto, they must pay compensation therefor.

Chapter IV

REGIMES FOR INMATES

Article 27.- Regime of management of inmates

1. Inmates must labor, study and live under the management and supervision of education camps.

Depending on the number of inmates, education duration, personal identities, the nature and seriousness of violations, health conditions, sex, age group of each type of subjects, the education camp directors shall work out measures to organize the management and education of the subjects in a proper manner and according to the regulations of the Ministry of Public Security.

2. Inmates shall be lodged in collective rooms for teams, groups or subgroups to suit the requirements of the work of management and education of each type of subjects.

Inmates shall be given beds (or sleeping floors), mats, mosquito-nets, thin blankets; and a sleeping place of at least 2.5 m2 each. Lodging areas for men and women are separated from each other.

3. Inmates are allowed to bring into education camps essential personal effects prescribed by the Ministry of Public Security.

Article 28.- Food and clothing regimes

1. Each year, an inmate shall be provided with 2 sets of long dresses, 2 sets of underwear, 2 towels, 1 pair of slippers, 1 toothbrush, 1 raincoat, 1 hat; each quarter, a toothpaste tube, 0.6 kg of soap; every two years, 1 blanket, 1 mosquito-net; in northern cold regions, an addition of 1 warm coat and 1 cotton blanket in two years.

Female inmates shall be provided with monthly personal hygiene money equivalent to 2 kg of rice, calculated at the local market prices.

2. The monthly food ration for an inmate is prescribed as follows: 15 kg or rice, 0.8 kg of meat or fish, 0.3 kg of sugar, 0.5 kg of salt, 1 liter of fish sauce, 15 kg of vegetables, 15 kg of firewood or equivalent for fuel. On public holidays and solar New Year day, their daily food ration shall be trebled at most; and on the lunar New Year festival, they shall be given additional food not more than 5 times the daily ration. For persons doing heavy jobs or working in hazardous environment, their monthly food ration may increase according to law provisions. The food rations shall be calculated at the market prices in each locality.

3. The food and rest regimes for diseased inmates shall be decided by education camp directors upon the indication of medical bodies.

Article 29.- Regimes of activities and study

1. Inmates may participate in physical training, sport, cultural, artistic, entertainment and recreation activities; read books, newspapers, listen to radio, be briefed on topical issues and policies, watch television according to regulations of the Ministry of Public Security.

2. Inmates may attend literacy classes twice a week in the evening, 4 hours each. Depending on the practical conditions of the education camps, the directors may arrange time for other subjects to take other general education courses.

3. Inmates may take up the citizen education program once a week for 4 hours.

4. Depending on their practical conditions, the education camps may arrange inmates to labor in combination with learning of proper occupations.

5. The Ministry of Public Security, the Ministry of Labor, War Invalids and Social Affairs and the Ministry of Education and Training shall prescribe the study and training programs, arrange general education and vocational teachers for education camps.

Article 30.- Labor regime

1. Inmates work 8 hours a day and take rest on Saturdays, Sundays, public holidays and New Year days as prescribed by law.

In case of unexpected work, camp directors may request inmates to work extratime but for not more than 2 hours a day and inmates must be given rest as compensation.

2. Inmates must fulfill their assigned labor norms. Besides the conventional daily working hours, education camps may permit inmates to do extratime work to improve their living conditions at their requests but in strict compliance with law provisions.

3. For jobs requiring labor protection under law provisions, the education camps shall have to supply labor safety clothing and equipment suitable to the requirements of such jobs. In case of working on night shift, working extratime at unexpected requests, working under hazardous conditions or doing heavy jobs, allowances shall be paid therefor according to regulations.

4. Where inmates get labor accidents, the education camps must organize rescue and treatment in time and carry all necessary procedures to settle the allowance regimes under the provisions of law.

Article 31.- Management and use of labor fruits of education camps

1. Education camps shall uniformly manage their labor fruits to cover expenses for medical examination and treatment, to partly cover expenses for food and activities of inmates, to reward inmates who record achievements in labor and study, to supplement their welfare funds; to invest in enlarged production, in construction of their material bases; reward their officials and combatants for their achievements in organizing labor management.

Inmates who overfulfill their assigned norms shall be entitled to use part of the results of the overfulfilled norms.

2. The Ministry of Public Security shall specify the management and use of labor fruits of the education camps.

Article 32.- Regime of medical examination and treatment and handling of cases where inmates die

1. Depending on their practical conditions, the education camp directors shall organize health checks and apply disease prevention measures for their inmates. The money expenditure on monthly medicine as well as medical examination and treatment for each inmate shall be equivalent to 2 kg of rice at the market price of each locality.

In cases where inmates are infected with diseases, the education camp directors shall base themselves on indications of the medical officials to consider and allow them to temporarily retire from labor and/or study or reduce their labor norms and/or working hours during the time of their ailment; in case of necessity, permit their treatment at the camps’ clinics or hospitals; in case of serious illness and need to send them back to their families for treatment, the education camp directors shall report thereon to the director of the Department for Management of Detention Camps, Education Camps and Reformatories for issuing decisions to temporarily suspend the decision execution as provided for in Article 25 of this Decree.

2. In cases where inmates die, the education camp directors must report such to the nearest investigating agencies and People's Procuracies for making records thereon and certifying the causes of their death to the witness of other inmates in the camps, and at the same time send death notices to their families and notify such to the provincial-level People's Committees where the decisions to send such persons to education camps were issued and the People's Committees of the communes where such persons previously resided.

Within 24 hours after the completion of the above-mentioned procedures, the education camp directors shall have to organize the burial of the dead persons; the burial funding shall be provided by the State budget.

Where the dead persons' relatives file their applications requesting to take the corpses back for burial by themselves, the education camp directors may decide to let them do so.

Such written requests must be certified by commune-level People's Committees and clearly state the pledge to comply with the law provisions on security, order and environmental sanitation.

Article 33.- Regimes of meeting with relatives; receiving and sending letters; receiving money, presents

1. Inmates are allowed to meet their next of kin twice a month, for two hours at most each time at the reception houses of the education camps and must strictly comply with the regulations on visits and meets. Cases of longer meets must be consented by education camp directors, which, however, must not exceed four hours.

Inmates who have made great efforts in labor, study and the observance of law as well as internal regulations of the education camps may be allowed by the camp directors to meet their wives or husbands for up to 48 hours and stay overnight at the reception houses of the education camps.

2. Persons who come to visit inmates must have people's identity cards, written applications for visits, and also their marriage certificates if the visitors are wives or husbands of the inmates and they are permitted to stay overnight.

3. Inmates may receive and send their letters; receive presents, money (Vietnamese currency); letters and presents must go through inspection by the education camps. Particularly for cash, inmates must put them into the depositories of the education camps for use under the regulations of the Ministry of Public Security.

Article 34.- Regimes of rewards and disciplines

1. Those inmates who record achievements in reforming themselves, in study and observance of law provisions as well as internal regulations of the education camps shall be commended in forms of praise, reward in cash or kind, increase of their meets with relatives, entitlement to be considered for reduction or exemption of the remaining duration in camps.

2. Those inmates who break laws, violate internal regulations of the education camps, and/or are lazy in labor and/or study; fail to self-consciously redeem their past and/or frequently fail to fulfill their assigned labor norms, shall, depending on the nature and seriousness of their violations, be disciplined in the forms of caution, restricted meets with their relatives, restricted reception of presents, being isolated in discipline rooms for 7 to 10 days; if their acts of violation show criminal signs, they shall be examined for penal liability.

In cases where inmates commit violations not serious enough for penal liability examination, but have been educated and disciplined time and again and at the end of their duration for education at education camps still fail to redress their wrongdoings and to make progress, the education camp directors shall compile dossiers reporting thereon to the presidents of the provincial-level People's Committees of the localities where the education camps are located for considering and deciding on the consignment of such persons to education camps according to the general procedures prescribed in Article 10 of this Decree.

Such decisions on consignment to education camps must be addressed to the provincial-level People's Committees which issued the previous decisions on sending such persons to education camps for knowledge.

The Ministry of Public Security shall guide in detail the compilation of dossiers of consignment to education camps in this case.

Article 35.- Complaints, denunciations, administrative lawsuits

1. Persons subject to the application of measure of consignment to education camps or their lawful representatives may lodge their complaints about, or initiate administrative lawsuits against, the application of such measure.

2. All citizens are entitled to denounce illegal acts in the application of measure of consignment to education camps.

3. The competence, procedures and time limits for settling complaints and/or denunciations or the procedures for settling administrative lawsuits shall comply with law provisions on complaints and denunciations or with the procedures for settling administrative cases.

Chapter V

RESPONSIBILITIES OF STATE AGENCIES IN MANAGEMENT OF EDUCATION CAMPS

Article 36.- Responsibilities of the Ministry of Public Security

The Ministry of Public Security has the responsibilities to regularly inspect and supervise the implementation of measure of consignment to education camps, ensuring that such activities comply with law provisions; to promulgate internal regulations of education camps, set forms and tables for uniform application; to coordinate with other ministries, branches and People's Committees at all levels in applying the measure of consignment to education camps.

Article 37.- Responsibilities of the Finance Ministry

The Finance Ministry has the responsibilities to provide funding for the construction, organization and operation of the education camps and for other activities related to the application of measure of consignment to education camps according to the approved annual budget estimates of the Ministry of Public Security.

Article 38.- Responsibilities of the Health Ministry

The Health Ministry has the responsibilities to coordinate with the Ministry of Public Security in guiding the disease prevention, medical examination and treatment for persons subject to the application of measure of consignment to education camps.

Article 39.- Responsibilities of the Ministry of Labor, War Invalids and Social Affairs and the Ministry of Education and Training

The Ministry of Labor, War Invalids and Social Affairs and the Ministry of Education and Training have the responsibilities to coordinate with the Ministry of Public Security in working out programs for education, providing guidance on general education and vocational training and the implementation of labor insurance regimes for inmates as provided for by law.

Article 40.- Responsibilities of the People's Committees of provinces and centrally-run cities

The People's Committees of provinces and centrally-run cities, within the scope of their respective functions and tasks, have the responsibilities to organize the implementation of the provisions of this Decree; allocate land for the construction of education camps; coordinate with and create favorable conditions for the education camps stationing in their respective localities to fulfill their tasks; direct the People's Committees at different levels to draw up plans for management and education of persons who have completely served the decisions on consignment to education camps but fail to make real progress as provided for in Clause 1, Article 26 of this Decree; adopt policies to help persons who have completely served the decisions on consignment to education camps find jobs, stabilize their lives soon and integrate themselves into the community.

Chapter VI

IMPLEMENTATION PROVISIONS

Article 41.- Implementation effect

This Decree takes effect 15 days after its publication in the Official Gazette.

This Decree replaces the Government's Decree No. 32/CP of April 14, 1997 promulgating the Regulation on education camps.

Article 42.- Implementation guidance

The Minister of Public Security, the Minister of Finance, the Minister of Labor, War Invalids and Social Affairs, the Minister of Health and the Minister of Education and Training shall guide in detail the implementation of this Decree.

Article 43.- Implementation responsibilities

The ministers, the heads of ministerial-level agencies, the heads of Government-attached agencies and the president 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