At a National Assembly session on the morning of October 27, Deputy Prime Minister Nguyen Hoa Binh presented the draft amendment to the Law on Execution of Criminal Judgments, which includes a groundbreaking proposal: granting inmates the right to donate tissue and organs as well as store eggs and sperm, in accordance with legal provisions.

Deputy Prime Minister Nguyen Hoa Binh noted that after five years of implementation, several provisions of the current law are no longer aligned with the updated organizational structure of law enforcement agencies and local governments.

The law currently lacks clarity regarding the roles and responsibilities among various agencies and has not fully empowered commune-level police forces - those directly responsible for managing, supervising, and educating individuals serving sentences in the community.

Modernizing criminal justice with technology and human rights safeguards

The proposed amendment aims to restructure the criminal enforcement system to match current administrative models. It also seeks to reinforce human rights and civil rights protections, integrate technological advancements, and apply biometric data in sentence execution and offender management.

The draft law enhances regulations surrounding the rights and responsibilities of those serving criminal sentences, including inmate management policies and prison conditions. It also ensures consistency with other relevant legal frameworks and aligns with Vietnam's current and future socio-legal context.

A notable addition to the draft is the provision granting prisoners the right to donate tissue or organs, and to store eggs or sperm under existing legal regulations. Those who choose to donate would be eligible for corresponding benefits as outlined in Vietnam’s laws on organ and tissue donation.

Legal committee proposes conditions for organ and tissue donations

A report from the National Assembly’s Committee for Legal and Judicial Affairs revealed that a majority of its members support this new provision. However, they recommended restricting donations to cases where it would benefit the inmate’s relatives and be subject to strict conditions, such as:

Voluntary participation
No financial compensation or commercial motive
The inmate bears all related costs
Satisfactory health status
A remaining prison term of no more than three years

Some members also proposed that for now, only the storage of reproductive cells (eggs or sperm) should be allowed, and that tissue and organ donations should be reconsidered later.

Revisions to institutional roles and forensic assessment authority

Regarding the organizational structure of the criminal judgment enforcement system, the committee recommended revising the draft to prevent overlaps with other legal frameworks, particularly by not assigning the Ministry of Public Security or the Ministry of National Defense the authority to define their own enforcement structures.

The committee also advised adjusting the roles and responsibilities of criminal enforcement agencies under both ministries to ensure compliance with their respective jurisdictions.

In terms of enforcing prison sentences, the committee proposed that forensic psychiatric and medical evaluations of inmates should be conducted under the authority of detention centers, provincial-level enforcement units, or regional military enforcement bodies.

Monthly evaluation system and victim restitution emphasized

The committee also supported the proposed new system for evaluating prisoner conduct on a monthly and quarterly basis, removing outdated classifications by week, half-year, or full year.

However, they insisted on retaining the criterion related to restitution for victims, arguing that this is a vital factor in assessing inmates’ accountability and remorse, and ensures justice for victims in criminal cases.

Tran Thuong