Members of the 13th National Assembly (NA) Standing Committeescrutinised amendments to the Penal Code during the committee’s ongoing37th session in Hanoi on April 7, voicing contrary opinions on therestriction of the death penalty.
The Governmenthas proposed reducing the crimes eligible to the death penalty to 15from the current 22, saying that the reduction is aimed to demonstratethe State’s humanitarian policy and carry out judicial reform.
While most participants backed the general proposal, NA Vice ChairmanHuynh Ngoc Son argued that the death penalty should not be abolished forthe crime of breaching peace, the crime of waging aggressive war,crimes against humanity, and war crimes, deemed the most serious amongthe crimes.
Chairwoman of the NA Committee forSocial Affairs Truong Thi Mai agreed with the draft revision to notimpose the death penalty on criminals aged 70 and above in line withglobal standards.
Son countered, saying people intheir 70’s are generally still physically and mentally capable, able tocontinue perpetuating crimes such as leading crime organisations.
He urged the classification of specific groups of crimes andcommunicating circumstances for the death penalty in the hope ofdeterring criminals.
The draft revised Penal Codecomprises 441 articles, increasing by 87 articles from the current one.It supplements 63 articles, amends 370 articles and abrogates eightothers in the current Penal Code.
NA Chairman NguyenSinh Hung emphasised that the amendment of the Penal Code should be inline with the spirit of the 2013 Constitution, particularly in issuesrelated to the people. He asked relevant agencies to continue working onthe draft before submitting it to the NA again.
The NA Standing Committee’s 37th session is convening from April 6-10.-VNA
The Governmenthas proposed reducing the crimes eligible to the death penalty to 15from the current 22, saying that the reduction is aimed to demonstratethe State’s humanitarian policy and carry out judicial reform.
While most participants backed the general proposal, NA Vice ChairmanHuynh Ngoc Son argued that the death penalty should not be abolished forthe crime of breaching peace, the crime of waging aggressive war,crimes against humanity, and war crimes, deemed the most serious amongthe crimes.
Chairwoman of the NA Committee forSocial Affairs Truong Thi Mai agreed with the draft revision to notimpose the death penalty on criminals aged 70 and above in line withglobal standards.
Son countered, saying people intheir 70’s are generally still physically and mentally capable, able tocontinue perpetuating crimes such as leading crime organisations.
He urged the classification of specific groups of crimes andcommunicating circumstances for the death penalty in the hope ofdeterring criminals.
The draft revised Penal Codecomprises 441 articles, increasing by 87 articles from the current one.It supplements 63 articles, amends 370 articles and abrogates eightothers in the current Penal Code.
NA Chairman NguyenSinh Hung emphasised that the amendment of the Penal Code should be inline with the spirit of the 2013 Constitution, particularly in issuesrelated to the people. He asked relevant agencies to continue working onthe draft before submitting it to the NA again.
The NA Standing Committee’s 37th session is convening from April 6-10.-VNA
