Six offences proposed for removal from Vietnam’s death penalty list

The move is being made to narrow the scope of application of the country’s harshest punishment in line with progressive legislative trends.

HANOI – The Government has proposed retaining the death penalty for only four offences: treason, murder, terrorism and illegal production of narcotics instead of the current 10.

The move is being made to narrow the scope of the country’s harshest punishment in line with progressive legislative trends.

The proposal was put forward on Thursday morning by Minister of Public Security General Lương Tam Quang, who, authorised by the Prime Minister, presented a summary of the Government’s submission on the draft revised Penal Code as the National Assembly continued its first extraordinary session.

Quang said the revision was based on important Party resolutions, conclusions and directives, particularly those concerning judicial reform, building a socialist rule-of-law State, reforming lawmaking and enforcement, fighting crime, corruption, wastefulness and misconduct, and gradually narrowing the scope of the death penalty.

“Narrowing the scope institutionalises the Party’s policy, is in line with progressive legislative trends, and enhances Việt Nam’s position in international cooperation on criminal justice, extradition and mutual legal assistance,” he said.

The current Penal Code provides for the death penalty as the highest sentence for 10 offences.

The Government has proposed abolishing the death penalty for six offences: rioting; rape of a person under 16; illegal trading in narcotic substances; crimes against humanity; war crimes; and terrorism aimed at opposing the people’s administration, which is expected to be merged with the offence of terrorism.

Source: asianews.network, Staff, August 21, 2026

"One is absolutely sickened, not by the crimes that the wicked have committed,
but by the punishments that the good have inflicted."
— Oscar Wilde

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