Nghe An plans to issue a project on conditional early release in June 2019.

Comrade Le Hong Vinh - Member of the Provincial Party Committee, Vice Chairman of the Provincial People's Committee chaired the conference. Photo: Dang Cuong

Create conditions for people sentenced to prison to have the opportunity to reintegrate into the community

Conditional early release from prison is a humanitarian policy stipulated in the 2015 Penal Code.

In addition, currently, specialized agencies and authorities at all levels are regularly managing over 300 people with prison sentences who are on bail, have their sentences postponed or temporarily suspended, over 2,000 people who are serving criminal sentences in the community (suspended sentences, non-custodial reform) and over 8,000 people who have completed their prison sentences and returned to their local residence (people reintegrated into the community). This places increasingly high demands on the current work of executing criminal sentences.

In Nghe An, implementing the policy of conditional release, as of April 2019, the whole province had 218 people conditionally released from prison before their term and returned to their locality. In the coming time, the number of people conditionally released from prison before their term will increase in the province and tend to increase (it is estimated that there will be about 200 to 400 people each year).

Regarding the implementation of state management on conditional early release from prison, although functional units and authorities at all levels have made many efforts, there are still some difficulties and shortcomings.

That is the mechanism of management, supervision and education is not strict; some functional sectors and local authorities at all levels have not yet taken action in a truly synchronous and drastic manner; the force directly managing, educating and helping people released from prison early with conditions, the core of which is the commune police, is still thin, most of them lack skills, legal qualifications, expertise, methods and management measures, have not received specialized training in professional expertise, have to hold many fields of work and are managing many subjects in other communities.

People whose sentences were reduced complete procedures before returning home at the Nghe An Provincial Police Detention Center. Photo courtesy

Based on the above reasons, the Provincial People's Committee has developed the Project "Improving the effectiveness of state management of conditional early release from prison in Nghe An province".

At the meeting to contribute ideas to the draft project this afternoon (May 14), after listening to the opinions of the attending delegates and giving instructions, comrade Le Hong Vinh affirmed the necessity of issuing the project with the goal of creating conditions for those sentenced to imprisonment to have the opportunity to reform in a normal environment, facilitating their recovery and reintegration into the community.

On the other hand, the strict probation conditions imposed on those released from prison early will have the effect of educating them to live responsibly, with discipline, determination to correct mistakes, overcome the causes and conditions of committing crimes, thereby ensuring effectiveness in preventing recidivism.

Vice Chairman of the Provincial People's Committee Le Hong Vinh also requested the project's host unit, the Provincial Police, to complete and supplement the contributions of the delegates so that the project can be approved soon, including the issue of budget estimates for implementation. In addition, it is necessary to attach a resolution to arrange regular police officers to work as commune police...

The project to arrange regular police to work as commune police will be implemented in 2 phases.

Also in this afternoon's meeting, delegates listened to representatives of the provincial police leadership present the Draft Resolution of the Provincial People's Council and the Project of the Provincial People's Committee on arranging regular police officers to take on the positions of commune police officers in the province. Accordingly, up to now, Nghe An Provincial Police have arranged regular police officers in 88 communes and towns, with 283 comrades.

Initial results show that the Party Committee, the government and all walks of life agree, support, are highly unified and create favorable conditions for the implementation of the policy of arranging regular police to take on the position of commune police. The security and order situation in the areas where regular police have been arranged has been ensured and has clearly changed.

Con Cuong District Police leaders presented transfer decisions to comrades to take up positions in Mon Son Commune Police. Photo courtesy

However, specific legal documents have not been issued in a timely manner, leading to many difficulties in implementation; some provincial departments, branches, and sectors, district and commune People's Committees have not really paid attention and taken drastic action; the current team of commune police chiefs is mostly young and has only received intermediate training in commune police, making it difficult to transfer and arrange other suitable jobs; the number of communes and towns is large, and many communes are in key areas with complicated security and order, so a large number of officers are needed to arrange...

Colonel Nguyen Huu Cau - Member of the Provincial Party Committee, Director of the Provincial Police Department spoke at the conference. Photo: Dang Cuong

Based on that reality, the Provincial People's Committee issued the "Project on arranging regular police officers to take on the positions of commune police". The Project is expected to be implemented in 2 phases (from the date of issuance to December 31, 2020 and from January 1, 2021 to the end of 2025).

Speaking on this content, Vice Chairman of the Provincial People's Committee Le Hong Vinh assigned the Provincial Police to coordinate with the Department of Home Affairs to complete the project for early promulgation; the Department of Finance to coordinate with the Department of Planning and Investment to advise on implementation funding.

Vice Chairman of the Provincial People's Committee Le Hong Vinh emphasized: the strengthening of the arrangement of regular police officers to take on the positions of commune police must comply with the provisions of law, instructions of the Government and the Ministry of Public Security, and the implementation roadmap must be appropriate to each commune and the current situation of the part-time commune police force. Priority will be given to implementation in communes in key areas with complicated security and order issues...

Along with that, in the process of implementing the project, Party committees and authorities at all levels need to have plans and create all favorable conditions in terms of headquarters, working equipment, and resting places for regular police officers to perform well their political tasks at the grassroots level. During the implementation process, it is necessary to pay attention to doing a good job of ideological work, resolving regimes and policies for non-professional communal police officers...