Vietnam explains proposal to remove death penalty for drug trafficking, child rape

The explanation was presented on Friday as the National Assembly (NA) Standing Committee reviewed the government’s report on the reception and revision of the draft amended Penal Code.

Senior Lieutenant General Pham The Tung, Deputy Minister of Public Security, presented the government’s report at a sitting held by the committee.

Under the draft, the scope of offenses punishable by death would be narrowed, with the penalty retained for four offenses and removed from six others.

Most opinions supported the policy of narrowing the use of capital punishment, according to the government.

However, some NA deputies remained concerned about removing the death penalty for certain offenses, particularly illegal drug trafficking and child rape.

Regarding illegal drug trafficking, the government said a review of the enforcement of current criminal law and the practical fight against crime showed that the statutory drug-quantity thresholds for applying sentencing brackets that include the death penalty are significantly lower than the quantities involved in some actual drug-trafficking cases.

As a result, once the amount of drugs involved exceeds the threshold for a sentencing bracket carrying the death penalty, offenders may perceive that trafficking larger quantities would not change the applicable sentencing bracket.

This could create additional challenges for efforts to prevent and combat drug-related crime.

Besides, although the death penalty has been imposed relatively frequently for some offenses, including illegal drug trafficking, the situation surrounding such crimes has remained complex.

Therefore, the effectiveness of preventing and combating drug trafficking does not depend solely on whether the death penalty is available.

Instead, it depends primarily on the effectiveness and timeliness of prevention, detection and enforcement by competent authorities.

For the offense of raping a person under 16, the drafting agency agreed on the need to provide special protection for children and impose strict punishment for crimes involving child sexual abuse.

However, the government said decisions on the scope of capital punishment must also be considered within Vietnam’s overall criminal justice policy and its international obligations.

Article 6 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights provides that in countries that have not abolished the death penalty, it may be imposed only for the ‘most serious crimes’ in the context of intentional killing.

On that basis, the draft has been revised so that Article 142 would no longer provide for the death penalty.

The offense would nevertheless remain classified as a particularly serious crime, with a penalty of 20 years’ imprisonment or life imprisonment for particularly serious cases.

Where an act also satisfies the elements of another offense against human life, criminal liability shall be determined in accordance with the relevant provisions of the Penal Code.

The proposed approach would both ensure the protection of children and maintain proportionality and consistency in criminal policy.

Call for further consideration

Chairman of the NA Committee on Legal and Judicial Affairs Phan Chi Hieu said the committee’s standing body supported continuing to narrow the scope of capital punishment.

However, he said decisions on which offenses should be removed from the scope of the death penalty should be carefully considered to avoid adversely affecting deterrence, crime prevention and punishment.

The committee said public consultations, opinions from NA deputies, and feedback from agencies and organizations showed that views remained divided over the extent to which the death penalty should be narrowed.

It proposed that the NA Standing Committee direct that deputies be consulted on the issue.

If necessary, the drafting agency should report the matter to the competent authorities for further guidance.