1 day of wrongful imprisonment will be compensated with 3-5 days' salary

The Ministry of Justice admits that the current regulations on compensation for wrongful convictions have many shortcomings. In the upcoming draft amendment, the Ministry will propose applying the regional minimum wage and basic salary.

At the press conference summarizing the activities of the Ministry of Justice in the third quarter on the morning of October 18, the press raised many questions surrounding the unreasonable compensation level for Mr. Huynh Van Nen, from 16 billion VND down to 2.6 billion VND because the damages could not be proven.

>>>Why did Mr. Huynh Van Nen only receive 2.6 billion VND in compensation?

Mr. Nguyen Viet Hung, Deputy Director of the State Compensation Department, said that the People's Court of Binh Thuan province had negotiated four times on the level of compensation for wrongful conviction with Mr. Huynh Van Nen's family. At the third time, the court agreed to compensate more than 10 billion VND, but at the fourth time, it was reduced to 2.6 billion VND.

Mr. Hung said the compensation amount for Mr. Nen was low due to limitations of current regulations.

Mr. Hung said that the Supreme People's Court is urging the People's Court of Binh Thuan province to follow the correct state procedures.

According to Mr. Hung, the compensation amount for Mr. Nen was reduced due to inadequacies in current regulations on compensation for wrongful convictions, such as the calculation and determination of damages for mental loss and affected income, especially for farmers who have a very difficult time due to unstable income. In addition, the costs of appeal, visitation, etc. are still not regulated by law.

Accordingly, in the upcoming draft amendment to the Law on Compensation Liability, the Ministry will revise all of these contents. “Specifically, the compensation level will be increased, the economic damage will be applied according to the regional minimum wage. For days in prison, the basic salary will be used for calculation, the damage level for 1 day of imprisonment is equal to 3-5 days' salary,” said Mr. Hung.

Chief of the Office of the Ministry of Justice Do Duc Hien said that from October 1, 2015 to September 30, 2016, the agencies responsible for compensation nationwide have accepted and resolved 44/105 cases with a total amount of more than 26 billion VND. In addition, the People's Courts at all levels have resolved 16/30 civil cases with a total amount of more than 27 billion VND.

Thus, the total amount of compensation paid by the State as determined in compensation settlement decisions, judgments and court decisions in the past year amounted to over 53 billion VND, an increase of nearly 11 billion VND compared to 2015.

According to VNN