Ensuring leniency when applying suspended sentences

The trial that allows the defendant to receive a suspended sentence demonstrates the humanity and leniency of the law. The suspended sentence will create conditions for the offender to reform himself in the community, but still ensure the effectof educating and deterring the offender.

The Provincial People's Court sentenced a case with a suspended sentence for the defendant.

According to the provisions of Resolution No. 02/2018 and 01/2022 of the Supreme People's Court (SPC) Judicial Council, the conditions for a person sentenced to imprisonment to be given a suspended sentence include: being sentenced to imprisonment for no more than 3 years; having a good personal history, having a clear place of residence, having mitigating circumstances of criminal responsibility...

In fact, most defendants who are given suspended sentences are mainly those who have committed less serious crimes such as: traffic violations, property theft, gambling, etc. Among them, some subjects, due to the nature of their less serious crimes, were given suspended sentences right from the first instance trial according to the provisions of the law.

For example, defendant Cao Van Binh (born in 2003, residing in Mot Ngan town) was sentenced by the People's Court of Chau Thanh A district to 1 year in prison, suspended, for theft of property.

According to the case file, at noon on August 26, 2023, Binh drove a motorbike alone on Provincial Road 931B to sell lottery tickets. At around 12 o'clock on the same day, Binh discovered a Vario motorbike with license plate 95H1-629.01 parked in front of Ms. T's house in Nhon Nghia A commune, so he had the intention of stealing it.

Binh then went to the People's Committee office of Nhon Nghia A commune to park his motorbike in the yard, then walked back to Mrs. T's house. He secretly drove the motorbike parked in Mrs. T's yard about 15 meters before being discovered by the people, who shouted and arrested him.

For the crime of theft, in January 2024, Binh was sentenced to 1 year in prison by the Chau Thanh A District People's Court, suspended. The trial panel determined that Binh confessed honestly, repented, committed the crime for the first time, had a clear place of residence, had a good personal history... so the defendant was given a suspended sentence.

There are also cases where the defendant was sentenced to prison at first instance, but after appealing to the appellate court, the sentence was changed to a suspended sentence because the defendant had many mitigating circumstances.

In December 2023, the Provincial People's Court transferred the prison sentence for defendant Phan Thi My Xuyen (residing in Vi Thuy district) for violating regulations on road traffic from 2 years in prison to 2 years in prison with a suspended sentence.

Specifically, on September 25, 2022, on a road in Ward I, Vi Thanh City, defendant Xuyen drove a motorbike without looking, at high speed, and crashed into a motorbike driven by Ms. H. carrying Ms. B., resulting in Ms. B.'s death. In September 2023, defendant Xuyen was sentenced to 2 years in prison, but was later reduced to a suspended sentence by the appeal court.

The reason is that the defendant has many mitigating and new circumstances such as: the defendant has no criminal record, is committing the crime for the first time, is repentant, has compensated all damages, at the appeal hearing the victim's family submitted a petition for the defendant to receive a suspended sentence...

According to lawyer Phan Van Hung, Chairman of the Provincial Bar Association, according to Resolution No. 02/2018 and Resolution No. 01/2022 of the Supreme People's Court's Judicial Council, allowing defendants to enjoy suspended sentences is a provision that demonstrates the humanity and leniency of the law. This is to help criminals have the conditions to reintegrate into the community, reform themselves, and correct themselves.

“The above regulations are applied to those sentenced to imprisonment of no more than 3 years, and they are not required to serve their prison sentences when there are sufficient grounds and certain conditions prescribed by the criminal law to encourage them to reform and become useful citizens to society. At the same time, they are also warned that if they commit a new crime during the probation period, their suspended sentence will be converted to a prison sentence,” added lawyer Hung.

According to the assessment of the Provincial People's Court, in the past time, the trial of criminal cases with suspended sentences by the People's Courts at two levels generally ensured all conditions prescribed by law. The number of suspended sentences converted to prison sentences by the appellate court accounted for a low percentage. The number of cases converted from prison sentences to suspended sentences by the appellate court was mostly due to new circumstances and met the conditions for granting suspended sentences according to regulations.

However, the application of suspended sentences sometimes still has some problems such as: the awareness and application of the law by the prosecution agency is sometimes not consistent; although the legal regulations are strict, there are still some shortcomings and overlaps...

Mr. Truong Dinh Nghe, Chief Justice of the Provincial People's Court, informed that in the coming time, the two-level courts will increase the organization of training sessions and share common experiences so that judges can improve their professional skills and expertise in adjudication, including the application of suspended sentences. In addition, they will coordinate with the same-level prosecution agencies to unify the application of the law to issue sentences that are correct for the right person, the right crime, and the right law, while still ensuring leniency, education, and deterrence for criminals.

Provisions on suspended sentences in the Penal Code

According to Article 65 of the 2015 Penal Code (amended and supplemented in 2017), when imposing a prison sentence of no more than 3 years, based on the offender's personal background and mitigating circumstances, if it is deemed unnecessary to enforce the prison sentence, the court shall grant a suspended sentence and set a probation period of 1 to 5 years and perform obligations during the probation period according to the provisions of the Law on Enforcement of Criminal Judgments.

During the probation period, if the person serving a suspended sentence intentionally violates the obligations prescribed by the Law on Enforcement of Criminal Judgments twice or more, the court may decide to force that person to serve the prison sentence of the suspended sentence. In case of committing a new crime, the court shall force that person to serve the sentence of the previous sentence and combine it with the sentence of the new sentence according to the provisions of Article 56 of the Penal Code.

Article and photos: BB

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