I.
Cases of the suspicious person being held
Under the
Penal Proceeding Code of Vietnam, the suspicious person may being held under
the mode of custody or temporary detention with a certain timeframe depend on
each case.
A person
who is arrested in urgent cases, offenders caught red-handed, offenders
who confessed or surrendered themselves or persons arrested under pursuit
warrants, may be applied for custody. Applied for custody means that person
will be held for a temporary period when the competent authority opine that it
is necessary to apply for the custody, e.g. the custody will support for the
investigation or may prevent the suspicious person from continuing to perform
the crime or escaping, etc… In other cases, the suspicious person may be
allowed to leave, normally after completing the minutes with the competent
authority.
Urgent arrests can be made:
a/ When there exist grounds to believe that such persons are preparing to
commit very serious or exceptionally serious offenses; b/ When victims or
persons present at the scenes where the offenses occurred saw with their own
eyes and confirmed that such persons are the very ones who committed the
offenses and it is deemed necessary to immediately prevent such persons from
escaping; c/ When traces of offenses are found on the bodies or at the
residences of the persons suspected of having committed the offenses and it is
deemed necessary to immediately prevent such persons from escaping or
destroying evidences.
According
to Article 81.2 of the Penal Proceeding Code, the following persons shall have
the right to order the arrest of persons in urgent cases:
a/ Heads,
deputy heads of investigating bodies at all levels;
b/
Commanders of independent military units of the regiment or equivalent level;
commanders of border posts in islands or border areas;
c/ Commanders of aircraft,
sea-going ships which have left airports or seaports.
A person who is the accused
or defendant in case of (i) having committed especially serious offenses or
very serious offenses or (ii) having committed serious or less serious offenses
punishable under the Penal Code by imprisonment for over two years and there
are grounds to believe that they may escape or obstruct the investigation,
prosecution or trial or may continue committing offenses, may be applied for
temporary detention.
II.
Time limit of being held
In term of time limit, the
custody time limit must not exceed three days, counting from the time the
investigating bodies receive the arrestees. In case of necessity, the custody
decision issuer may extend the custody time limit but for no more than three
days. In the special cases, the custody decision issuer may extend the custody
time limit for the second time but for no more than three days.
The time limit for
temporary detention may not exceed: (i) two months for less serious offenses;
(ii) three months for serious offenses; or (iii) four months for very serious
offenses and especially serious offenses. Where cases involve complicated
circumstances and it is deemed that the investigation will take a long time and
there are no grounds to change or cancel the temporary detention measure, the
investigating bodies may request extension.
The extension of temporary
detention time limits is prescribed as follows:
a/ For
less serious offenses: once for no more than one month;
b/ For
serious offenses: twice, for no more than two months for the first time and no
more than one month for the second time;
c/ For
very serious offenses: twice, for no more than three months for the first time
and no more than two months for the second time;
d/ For
especially serious offenses: three times, for no more than four months each.].
Within 12
hours of issuance, the custody decision must be sent to the procuracy body at
the same level under the law system of Vietnam and it has the power to
determine that custody is ungrounded or unnecessary and, if so, may cancel the
custody decisions and the person in custody must be released immediately.