Abolishing the death penalty for 8 offenses.
(Baonghean.vn) - The 2015 Penal Code abolishes the death penalty for eight offenses, including: robbery; production and trading of prohibited goods such as food, food additives, etc.; and the death penalty will not be carried out for individuals aged 75 or older at the time of committing the crime or at the time of trial.
On the morning of June 25th, the Provincial Council for Coordination of Legal Dissemination and Education organized a training conference to introduce the basic contents of the 2015 Penal Code (amended and supplemented in 2017).
The training participants included members of the Council for Legal Education and Dissemination, provincial legal lecturers, officials from the Legal Affairs Departments of various departments and agencies, and leaders of district-level Justice Departments.
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| A view of the training conference. Photo: Pham Bang |
At the conference, delegates heard Lieutenant Colonel Hoang Nghia Phuong, Deputy Head of the Investigation Agency Office of the Provincial Police, discuss the basic contents of the 2015 Penal Code, as amended and supplemented in 2017.
Specifically, the 2015 Penal Code continues to institutionalize the Party's judicial reform policy in the spirit of emphasizing the effectiveness of prevention and the rehabilitative aspect in handling offenders, respecting and ensuring the implementation of human rights and civil rights enshrined in the 2013 Constitution.
Accordingly, the 2015 Penal Code consists of 3 parts, 26 chapters, and 426 articles. Compared to the 1999 Penal Code, this Code abolishes 3 articles, retains 30 articles, and amends and supplements 396 articles, with many major contents being revised.
This law has expanded the scope of non-custodial rehabilitation penalties, stipulating that individuals sentenced to non-custodial rehabilitation who are unemployed or lose their jobs during the period of their sentence must perform certain community service tasks during their rehabilitation, with working hours not exceeding 4 hours per day and not exceeding 5 days per week. The law also affirms the principle of not applying imprisonment to first-time offenders who commit minor offenses unintentionally.
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| Defendant Pham Van Hung - the ringleader of a transnational drug trafficking network - is brought to trial. Photo: PT |
Simultaneously, additional cases were added where the death penalty would not be applied or executed for individuals aged 75 or older at the time of committing the crime or at the time of trial. For crimes of embezzlement and bribery, if, after conviction, the individual voluntarily returns at least 3/4 of the embezzled or bribed assets and actively cooperates with authorities in detecting, investigating, and prosecuting the crime, or performs a significant meritorious act, then the death penalty will not be executed.
This law abolishes the death penalty for eight offenses, including: robbery; production and trading of prohibited goods such as food, food additives; illegal possession of narcotics; misappropriation of narcotics; destruction of important national security facilities and equipment; disobeying orders; surrendering to the enemy; and banditry.
Notably, the Penal Code has amended and supplemented the group of crimes against life, health, honor, and dignity of individuals, as well as the group of crimes against human freedom and civil liberties, in a way that further strengthens the protection of human rights and civil rights.