Vietnam Parliament to Approve Amended Penal Code in Next Session

By Defend the Defenders, October 26, 2016

Vietnam’s legislative body National Assembly (NA) will not approve the draft law of amended Penal Code this session but ask the Ministry of Justice to perfect it and submit to the parliament in its third session in 2017, said NA Vice Chairman Uong Chu Luu.

The move came after the parliament debated on the bill submitted by the Ministry of Justice on Oct 26. Accordingly, the submitted version contains a number of technical errors making it difficult for implementation.

Vietnam’s parliament in the 13th tenure approved the Penal Code 2015 last year. However, one month prior to its effectiveness on July 1, 2016, Vietnam found a number of errors in the approved bill and the parliament decided to suspend its implementation for adjustment.

Mr. Luu requested the Ministry of Justice cooperate with other state agencies to amend the draft laws based on opinions of legislators and submit it to the parliament in its next session scheduled in May 2017.

The bill of Penal Code is the second draft law the parliament decided not to approve in the ongoing session from Oct 20 to Nov 19. Earlier this week, the parliament delayed the approval of the draft law on associations.

International human rights organizations and domestic independent civil societies have urged Vietnam’s parliament not to approve the two bills, saying the draft laws were designed to limit the rights of Vietnamese people.

On Oct 18, Human Rights Watch issued a press release calling on Vietnam’s parliament to respect rights to freedom of expression, association, assembly, and religion of its people as the legislature will consider revision of the Penal Code during its second session on October 20-November 19.

According to the New York-based human rights organization, many articles related to national security in Vietnam’s laws are vaguely defined and often used arbitrarily to punish critics, activists, and bloggers. Therefore, the Vietnamese parliament should take this opportunity to outline clearer rules to be in line with international standards.