Resolution No. 02/2010/NQ-HDTP dated October 22, 2010 of the Judge' Council of the Supereme People's Court supplementing some guidance provided in Resolution No. 01/2007/NQ-HDTP dated October 2, 2007, and Resolution No. 02/2007/NQ-HDTP dated October 2, 2007, of the Judges' Council of the Supreme People's Court

RESOLUTION

SUPPLEMENTING SOME GUIDANCE PROVIDED IN RESOLUTION NO. 01/ 2007/NQ-HDTP OF OCTOBER 2, 2007, AND RESOLUTION NO. 02/2007/NQ-HDTP OF OCTOBER 2, 2007, OF THE JUDGES COUNCIL OF THE SUPREME PEOPLE S COURT

THE JUDGES COUNCIL OF THE SUPREME PEOPLE S COURT

Pursuant to the Law on Organization of People s Courts;

In order to properly and consistently apply the provisions of the Penal Code and the Criminal Procedure Code;

After consulting the Chairman of the Supreme People s Procuracy and the Minister of Justice,

RESOLVES:

Article 1.To supplement Resolution No. 01/ 2007/NQ-HDTP of October 2, 2007, of the Judges Council of the Supreme People s Court, guiding the application of the Penal Code s provisions on the statute of limitations for execution of judgments, exemption from serving penalties and reduction of penalty terms

1. To supplement the guidance on the level of reduction of imprisonment terms provided at Point b, Item 3.2, Section 3 of Resolution No. 01/2007/NQ-HDTP of October 2, 2007, of the Judges Council of the Supreme People s Court, as follows:

b/ A person sentenced to prison for 30 years or less may enjoy a reduction of between 3 months and 3 years for each time of reduction. To be entitled to a 3-year reduction, he/she must have recorded a particularly outstanding merit in labor or reformation and strictly observed (he prison s internal rules and incarceration regulations.

In case a person currently serving a prison penalty satisfies all the conditions for consideration of imprisonment term reduction and he/she has to serve less than 3 months in prison, the level of imprisonment term reduction may equal this remaining period given that he/ she has served half of the pronounced penalty term as prescribed in Clause 3. Article 58 of the Penal Code.

Example 1: Nguyen Van A was sentenced to 5 years in prison. He has served the penalty for 4 years and 10 months and satisfies all the conditions for enjoying a penalty term reduction under the guidance in Item 3.1, Section 3 of Resolution No. 01/2007/NQ-HDTP. In this case, A may be entitled to a penalty term reduction equal to the remainder of his prison term (2 months).

Example 2: Tran Van T was sentenced to 3 months in prison. He has served one-third of the penalty (1 month) and satisfies all other conditions for enjoying a imprisonment term reduction under the guidance in Item 3.1, Section 3 of Resolution No. 01/2007/NQ-HDTP. In this case, T may only be entitled to a reduction of up to 1 month and 15 days for the reason that, under Clause 3, Article 58 of the Penal Code, he must serve half of the pronounced penalty term (1 month and 15 days in prison).

2. To add Section la guiding the aggregation of the life imprisonment or death penalty given to a defendant under another legally effective judgment to Resolution No. 01/2007/NQ-HDTP of October 2, 2007, of the Judges Council of the Supreme People s Court, as follows:

In case a defendant is prosecuted for one or several crimes under jurisdiction of a district-level people s court, which finds, upon accepting the case for handling, that the defendant was already sentenced to life imprisonment or death penalty under another judgment which has become legally effective, this court shall report the case to the provincial-level people s court for the latter to reach agreement with the provincial-level people s procuracy on picking up the case file for provincial-level prosecution and trial.

Article 2.To supplement Resolution No. 02/ 2007/NQ-HDTP of October 2, 2007. of the Judges Council of the Supreme People s Court, guiding a number of provisions of Part Five of the Criminal Procedure Code regarding Execution of Court Judgments and Decisions

1. To supplement Section 10, Part IV of Resolution No. 02/2007/NQ-HDTP of October 2, 2007, of the Judges Council of the Supreme People s Court, on decisions of the Council for Consideration of Exemption or Reduction as follows:

10. After considering the case file and opinions of the procuracy s representative, the Council for Consideration of Exemption or Reduction may:

a/ Accept the whole request for exemption from serving or reduction of the penalty term or shortening of the probation period of the suspended sentence;

b/ Accept part of the request for exemption from serving or reduction of the penalty term or shortening of the probation period of the suspended sentence;

c/ Reject the request for exemption from serving or reduction of the penalty term or shortening of the probation period of the suspended sentence;

d/ For a person whose penalty term is requested to be reduced, if the remainder of his/ her penalty term after his/her request for penalty term reduction is wholly accepted is 1 month or less, the Council for Consideration of Exemption or Reduction may decide to give a reduction equal to the whole remainder of the penalty term.

2. To supplement Section 13, Part IV of Resolution No. 02/2007/NQ-HDTP of October 2, 2007, of the Judges Council of the Supreme People s Court, on the effect of decisions on exemption from serving or reduction of penalty terms or shortening of probation periods of suspended sentences, as follows:

13. A court decision on exemption from serving or reduction of a penalty term or shortening of probation period of a suspended sentence may be directly protested against by a procuracy at the same or immediately higher level according to appellate procedures. The time limit for a procuracy at the same or immediately higher level to make a protest against a court judgment is 7 days or 15 days respectively after such decision is made. A court decision on exemption from serving or reduction of a penalty term or shortening of the probation period of a suspended sentence becomes effective upon the expiration of the time limit for making a protest according to appellate procedures. In case a person currently serving a prison term is entitled to a term reduction equal to the remainder of his/her prison term, the court decision on prison term reduction will be immediately executed even though it may be protested against by a procuracy according to appellate procedures.

3. To add Section 3a guiding the starting time of the non-custodial reform duration to Part HI of Resolution No. 02/2007/NQ-HDTP of October 2. 2(X)7, of the Judges Council of the Supreme People s Court, as follows:

The starting time of the non-custodial reform duration is the time when the agency or organization assigned to supervise and educate a sentenced person receives the judgment execution decision and a judgment copy. The starting time of the non-custodial reform duration shall be stated in the ruling section of the judgment.

For example: Nguyen Van A is sentenced to one year of non-custodial reform for theft in accordance with Clause 1, Article 138 of the Penal Code. In this case, the court ruling section must clearly indicate: "...Nguyen Van A is sentenced to one year of non-custodial reform for the crime of theft; the non-custodial reform duration starts from the date on which the agency or organization assigned to supervise and educate the sentenced person receives the judgment execution decision and a judgment copy."

Article 3.Effect

1. This Resolution was adopted on September 23? 2010, by the Judges Council of the Supreme People s Court and takes effect 45 days from the date of its signing.

2. In the course of implementation, any unclear points or problems which need to be explained or additionally guided should be reported to the Supreme People s Court for timely explanation or additional guidance.-