Students are granted a temporary deferment from military conscription.

- The amended Military Service Law, recently passed by the National Assembly, also stipulates that the age for conscription is from 18 to 25 years old.

On the afternoon of June 19th, the National Assembly voted to pass the amended Law on Military Service and the Law on Veterinary Medicine. Commenting on the draft Law on Temporary Detention and Custody, delegates highly appreciated many progressive new points in the draft Law regarding the protection of human rights and the fundamental rights and obligations of citizens towards those temporarily detained or in custody. They also suggested that it would be even more progressive if the draft Law allowed those temporarily detained or in custody the right to sue when their legitimate rights and interests are violated.

On the afternoon of June 19th, National Assembly delegates approved the amended Law on Military Service and the Law on Veterinary Medicine; and gave opinions on the draft Law on Temporary Detention and Custody.

Earlier this afternoon, with a majority vote, the National Assembly passed the amended Law on Military Service. Accordingly, conscription is temporarily postponed for citizens who are the sole breadwinners directly supporting dependents who are unable to work or are not yet of working age; those whose families have suffered heavy losses of life and property due to accidents, natural disasters, or dangerous epidemics, as confirmed by the People's Committee at the commune level; a child of a war invalid or a person exposed to Agent Orange with a disability rating of 61% to 80%; individuals subject to relocation or resettlement within the first three years to particularly difficult communes under the State's socio-economic development project, as decided by the People's Committee at the provincial level or higher; and cadres, civil servants, public employees, and volunteer youth assigned to work in areas with particularly difficult socio-economic conditions. Students currently studying at general education institutions, those pursuing full-time university-level training at higher education institutions, or full-time college-level training at vocational education institutions, during the duration of one training course for a specific educational level.

Regarding the age for conscription, the law stipulates that citizens who are 18 years old are eligible for conscription. The conscription age range is from 18 to 25 years old. For citizens with college or university degrees who have been granted a temporary deferment from conscription, the conscription age extends to 27 years old.

During discussions on the draft Law on Detention and Custody, delegates noted that this is an important draft law directly related to human rights, the fundamental rights and obligations of citizens, and serving the process of investigation, prosecution, trial, and execution of criminal sentences. Therefore, the draft law must both meet the requirements of protecting the human rights of those detained or in custody without restriction, address shortcomings from practice, especially the issue of deaths in detention facilities, coercion, and torture in detention centers, and at the same time ensure feasibility.

Regarding the management model of detention centers and temporary holding facilities, delegate Luu Thi Huyen from Ninh Binh province stated that currently, we lack many infrastructure systems and personnel to carry out temporary detention and custody work. Separating them from the police at all levels would require a huge investment to build new detention and custody facilities. Therefore, she suggested that maintaining the current organizational structure of the detention center and temporary holding facility management agency is appropriate.

Regarding the management of those sentenced to death, Representative Luu Thi Huyen suggested maintaining the current regulations. Representative Luu Thi Huyen explained: “If all those sentenced to death, including those whose sentences have taken effect and those whose sentences have not yet taken effect, are centrally managed and detained in one place, it will be difficult to conduct legal proceedings. It will also create difficulties in managing their detention because concentrating all these individuals in one place would pose a high risk to management and supervision.”

Appreciating the progressive aspect of the Draft Law in allowing detainees and those held in custody the right to complain and denounce violations of the law and acts infringing upon their legitimate rights and interests or those of others, delegate Do Ngoc Nien (Binh Thuan delegation) suggested that it would be even more progressive if the Draft Law allowed detainees and those held in custody the right to sue when their legitimate rights and interests are violated.

According to Representative Do Ngoc Nien, those temporarily detained or imprisoned can be divided into two groups: those who are innocent and those who are guilty. Those who are innocent are ordinary citizens with full human and civil rights. Therefore, he suggested reviewing the provisions of the Draft Law regarding the rights and obligations of those temporarily detained or imprisoned.

"It is correct to restrict and prohibit certain civil rights for those who are guilty, but this would be inappropriate for those who are innocent. Why shouldn't innocent people have the right to do things that the law doesn't prohibit? Why should they be restricted in certain rights as stipulated in the draft law? I believe Article 9 needs to be revised to separately define the rights and obligations of the two groups: those who are guilty and those who are innocent," suggested Representative Do Ngoc Nien.

According to VOV.VN