Laws of Vietnam

DECISION No. 138/1998/QD-TTg OF JULY 31, 1998 RATIFYING THE NATIONAL PROGRAM FOR CRIME PREVENTION AND COMBAT

THE PRIME MINISTER

Pursuant to the Law on Organization of the Government of September 30, 1992;

Pursuant to Decision No. 9/1998/ND-CP of July 31, 1998 of the Government on intensifying the work of crime prevention and combat in the new situation;

At the proposal of the Minister of Public Security,

DECIDES:

Article 1.- To ratify the national program for crime prevention and combat with the following specific contents:

1. The program's objectives:

a/ To create a big progress in social safety and order, to maintain laws and disciplines, to build a healthy environment as well as law-governed ways of living and working; to basically reduce crimes, actively serving the national construction and development.

b/ From 1998 to 2000: To reduce crimes in general and serious crimes in particular.

c/ To gradually build a healthy living environment in population communities, schools and families, thus creating marked progress in social safety and order. To raise the sense of law observance in communities and promote the initiativeness and creativeness of grassroots levels in the work of crime prevention and combat.

d/ To closely combine prevention with combat and suppression against crimes, first of all in key areas and urban centers. To effectively educate the criminals, helping them quickly reintegrate themselves in the social community.

e/ To step by step reduce violence crimes, particularly murders, robberies, rapes, offenses against officials on duty, child abuse, kidnapping and trafficking women and children, inducing children into drug use and addiction, minors' crimes, organized crimes. To resolutely hunt for the criminals in hiding and resolutely enforce the penal sentences.

f/ To raise the efficiency of the executive and managerial work of the Government and local administration at all levels in the State administrative management over the social order as well as crime prevention and combat.

2. The program's contents:

a/ To mobilize people to participate in giving information on and denouncing criminals; to convert and educate criminals in the population communities, to pursued offenders to report themselves to the authorities and confess their crimes and to hunt for convicts under arrest warrants.

b/ To enhance the dissemination and education of the legislation on crime prevention and combat among population so as to raise the citizens' sense of observance of legislation on the maintenance of social security and order.

c/ To apply synchronous crime-prevention measures in population communities, in each family household, production, business and service establishments, State agencies, social organizations and armed force units.

d/ To combat organized crimes, international crimes, robberies, hooligan and ferocious acts, child rapings, kidnapping and trafficking of women and children, minors' crimes, offenses against officials on duty.

e/ To raise the quality of the education and reformation of criminals and create conditions for them to reintegrate into the social community.

f/ To draw up and perfect legal documents on crime prevention and combat in order to meet the requirements of realities.

g/ To establish international cooperation in the field of crime prevention and combat, particularly the combat against international crimes and crimes committed by overseas Vietnamese.

3. Major projects under the program:

a/ The first project: To mobilize the entire population to participate in preventing, detecting and denouncing crimes; to convert, educate and reform criminals in their families and population communities.

To concentrate efforts on mobilizing the entire population to build safe hamlets, streets, offices and units as well as new cultural families, reconcile contradictions, prevent and combat acts of law offenses in combination with the movement for entire population to unite in building a new life, educating young pioneers and youths, preventing crimes among them, and crimes of murder due to social reasons.

To enhance the social management in localities such as the management of residents, households, temporary stays and temporary absence, launch the mass movement for entire people to participate in detecting, denouncing crimes in communes and wards. To build networks of receiving reports and information on criminals in localities. To organize the mobilization of criminals to report themselves to the authorities and confess their crimes.

To mobilize the entire population to participate in the management and education of law offenders in population communities; to provide vocational guidances and help to create jobs so as to involve and reform them into good citizens for their reintegration into the social community; to mobilize social and mass organizations such as the Youth's Union, the Women's Union, the Front organization and families to guarantee and pledge to educate juvenile delinquents. To control objects being under surveillance, stay prohibition, non-custody reformation, suspended sentences... so that they shall not recidivate.

The Vietnam Fatherland Front is requested to assume to prime responsibility for this project while the Ministry of Public Security, the Vietnam Women's Union, the Ho Chi Minh Communist Youth Union, the Vietnam War Veterans' Association and other ministries and branches to participate therein.

b/ The second project: To elaborate and perfect the legislation on crime prevention and combat; to enhance law dissemination and education and raise the citizens' responsibility for maintenance of security and order.

To revise, amend, supplement and elaborate legal documents related to the field of crime prevention and combat, with importance being attached to studying and proposing amendments and supplements to the Penal Code, the Criminal Procedure Code, the Ordinance on Handling of Administrative Violations to make them compatible to the realities of crime prevention and combat in the new situation,

To step up the work of law propagation and education regarding the citizens' responsibility for maintaining security and order on radio, television and other means of mass media. To include the contents of security and order maintenance as well as crime prevention and combat in the education curricula at the schools of all levels.

The Ministry of Justice shall assume the prime responsibility for this project while the Ministry of Public Security, the Ministry of Culture and Information, the Ministry of Education and Training, the Supreme People's Procuracy, the Supreme People's Court, the Radio "Voice of Vietnam" and the Vietnam Television Station shall participate therein.

c/ The third project: To combat organized crimes, dangerous penal offenses and crimes of international character.

To concentrate on preventing and combating crimes organized by gangs, groups, professional criminals; paid protection of restaurants, shops, hired hand for illegal debt recovery; murders to rob or snatch property of others, rapes, crimes against officials on duty; crimes of international character such as international swindle, smuggle, money cleansing, sea piracy, terrorism, crimes committed by Vietnamese overseas... To hunt for criminals under arrest warrants.

The Ministry of Public Security shall assume the prime responsibility for this project; the Ministry of Defense, the Ministry of Justice, the Supreme People's Court, the Supreme People's Procuracy, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Ministry of Investment and Planning and other ministries and branches shall participate therein.

d/ The fourth project: To prevent and combat crimes against children, crimes committed by minors.

To concentrate on checking, preventing and combating crimes against children such as child murder, raping, prostitution, organized drug use by children..., checking, preventing and combating crimes committed by minors at schools and in the society.

The Ministry of Public Security shall assume the prime responsibility for this project and the Vietnam Committee for Child Care and Protection, the Ministry of Education and Training, the Vietnam Women Union, the Ho Chi Minh Communist Youth Union Central Committee as well as other ministries and branches shall participate therein.

4. In order to well implement the above-mentioned projects, the Ministry of Public Security shall assume the prime responsibility and coordinate with ministries and branches in studying and implementing the following contents:

- To conduct basic surveys and evaluate the real situation on crimes in Vietnam, analyze the causes thereof, forecast the situation from now till the year 2000 and the subsequent period.

To study the establishment of a national system of criminological statistics; to organize a system of agencies for scientific research on crimes and crime prevention and combat.

- To raise the efficiency of the work of detention and education of criminals, organize job trainings and develop job-training centers for convicts and help them to find jobs after they finish their prison terms in order to help them quickly reintegrate into the social community.

- To build and strengthen the system of grassroots political organizations; to concentrate on consolidation of the ward/commune administrations and mass organizations. To build police stations in wards and communes, making the ward/commune police a force to maintain security and order in localities. To restore and develop the civil guard force, the positions of population group leader, hamlet chief and tribal chief so as to mobilize the masses for the maintenance of security and order, crime prevention and combat in localities; to quickly finalize the Ordinance on Commune/Ward Police for adoption by the National Assembly and propose regimes and policies toward commune/ward police.

- To study the organizational improvement, the provision of equipment, the supplement of regimes and policies for the police force and other law enforcement bodies engaged in crime prevention and combat.

- To work out programs for cultural, art and information activities in service of crime prevention and combat. To combat the circulation of poisonous cultural products in the society and strictly handle centers and/or places trading in and leasing video tapes, books, magazines with decadent contents or incitement of violence...

5. Organizing the implementation of the program:

To set up the Steering Board for the implementation of the national program for crime prevention and combat with the Permanent Deputy Prime Minister as its chairman, the Minister of Public Security in charge of the People's Police Force as its vice-chairman; the vice-ministers of Planning and Investment, Justice, Labor-War Invalids-Social Affairs, Culture-Information, Education and Training and a leading official of the Vietnam Committee for Child Care and Protection as its members. Representatives of the Supreme People's Court, the Supreme People's Procuracy, the Party Central Committee's Commission for Internal Affairs, the Vietnam Fatherland Front, the Ho Chi Minh Communist Youth Union, the Vietnam Women's Union, the Peasants' Association, the Vietnam War Veterans' Association are invited to participate in the Steering Board.

The Steering Board for the implementation of the national program for crime prevention and combat is tasked to run, examine, guide and urge the ministries, branches and localities in implementing the program; to manage the capital and funds provided by the State budget for the implementation of the program; and act as a coordinator for international cooperation in crime prevention and combat.

The Standing Body assisting the Steering Board for the implementation of the national program for crime prevention and combat is headquartered at the office of the Ministry of Public Security and directed personally by the Vic-Minister of Public Security in charge of the People's Police Force.

The ministries, branches and agencies acting as members of the Steering Board for implementation of the national program for crime prevention and combat are tasked to study the crime prevention and combat projects under the management of the Steering Board and nominate their experts to join the Standing Body assisting the Steering Board.

- The People's Committees of the provinces and cities directly under the Central Government shall set up their own steering boards for crime prevention and combat, headed by a vice-president of the People's Committee and consisting of members corresponding to members of the Steering Board of the Government, which shall assist the provincial/municipal People's Committees in directing the implementation of the national program for crime prevention and combat in their respective localities.

6. Assignment of responsibility:

- The Ministry of Public Security is the coordinating agency assuming the prime responsibility for coordinated activities under the national program for crime prevention and combat, shall coordinate with ministries, branches and mass organizations in organizing crime prevention and combat, and coordinate with procuracy agencies, courts, investigation bodies in prosecuting and trying in time criminal cases.

The Ministry of Defense shall have to tightly control the management and use of weapons and explosives in the army, coordinate with the Ministry of Public Security in controlling the management and use of weapons and explosives in branches, agencies and units outside the army; to organize the recovery of illegally stored weapons and explosives; to direct the regular army, the border guards, the regional army and militia as well as self-defense forces to coordinate with the People's Police force in crime prevention and combat.

- The Ministry of Culture and Information shall coordinate with branches in stepping up the propaganda for the law-governed ways of living among the population and educating them with the sense thereof. To make people realize through forms of cultural, artistic and propaganda activities the harms caused by crimes, social vices and other law offenses. To mobilize people to actively participate in the struggle against unhealthy phenomena in cultural, press and artistic activities, the violations of regulations on publication, distribution, motion pictures projection, television broadcast. To cooperate with the Ministry of Public Security in resolutely getting rid of cultural products with decadent and violence contents.

- The Ministry of Justice shall assume the prime responsibility in studying and finalizing legal documents on crime prevention and combat, stepping up law propagation and education. To coordinate with Vietnam Television Station and the Radio Voice of Vietnam in opening special programs on "law propagation, dissemination and education" in their broadcasts.

- The Ministry of Education and Training shall propagate and include the contents of the security and order maintenance and crime prevention and combat in the cirricula of schools at various levels, coordinate with the Ministry of Justice, the Ministry of Public Security, the Supreme People's Procuracy and the Supreme People's Court in improving the programs for training of law bachelors, investigators, procurators and judges in compatibility with the new situation. In the 1998-1999 school-year, to include the introduction of the Penal Code, the Ordinance on Handling of Administrative Violations and other relevant legislation into the compulsory education cirricula at general education schools, intermediate vocational institutions, universities and colleges throughout the country. To assume the direct and prime responsibility in teaching legislation on security and order maintenance as well as crime prevention and combat at schools.

- The Ministry of Labor, War Invalids and Social Affairs shall direct the introduction of the national program on job creation to convicts and inmates of reformatories who have finished their terms and return to their localities, and the vocational teaching for persons still being detained in camps and reformatories.

- The Ministry of Finance shall have to provide funds for the national program for crime prevention and combat; coordinate with the Ministry of Public Security in studying and proposing to the Government the allocation of funds and the provision of equipment and facilities for, then the gradual modernization of the crime investigation force as well as other law enforcement agencies, and ensure the regimes and policies for law enforcement officials; to provide funds for renovation of working offices, trial rooms, working facilities for courts, procuracy offices, judgement execution bodies and systems of detention camps managed by the Ministry of Public Security and the Ministry of Defense.

- Members of the steering boards for the implementation of the national program for crime prevention and combat of the ministries and branches shall have to direct the crime prevention and combat work to be linked to the implementation of plans for economic, cultural and social development and consider this a regular important task in their managerial functions.

- The People's Committees of the provinces and cities directly under the Central Government shall have to direct the work of crime prevention and combat in their respective localities, to draw up plans for organizing the combat and report periodically (bi-annually, annually) and irregularly on matters arising in the course of implementation to the Steering Board for the implementation of the national program for crime prevention and combat.

7. The management of capital, funds and financial aid for the implementation of the program:

The capital, fund and financial aid for the national crime prevention and combat program shall be mobilized from different sources:

- The State budget (allocated by the Government).

- Other programs and projects in specific localities (the employment program, the program for medical, cultural and educational development, economic programs...) which the national program for crime prevention and combat is included into.

- Other sources at home and abroad (international aid, donation...).

For the annual State budget fund, the Steering Board for the implementation of the national program for crime prevention and combat shall draw up the distribution plan to submit it to the Government for decision, then direct the implementation thereof. For other funding sources, the Ministry of Public Security shall coordinate with concerned branches, programs and projects, aid-providing organizations and agencies in the implementation thereof at specific localities and in specific fields.

Article 2.- To assign the Steering Board for the implementation of the national program for crime prevention and combat to elaborate plans for materializing the objectives and contents of the national crime prevention and combat program and the Government's Resolution on intensifying the crime prevention and combat in the new situation.

The ministries, ministerial-level agencies, agencies attached to the Government and the People's Committees of provinces and cities directly under the Central Government shall have to organize, inspect, monitor and urge the implementation of the program, draw up five-year and annual plans for the implementation of the program and projects properly.

Article 3.- This Decision takes effect 15 days after its signing. The chairman of the Steering Board for the implementation of the national crime prevention and combat program, the ministers, the heads of the ministerial-level agencies and the heads of the agencies attached to the Government and the presidents of the People's Committees of the provinces and cities directly under the Central Government shall have to implement this Decision.

The Prime Minister

PHAN VAN KHAI