Minister of Public Security To Lam at the National Assembly on June 3 (Photo: VNA) Lam said that in recent years, under the direction of the Government, theMinistry of Public Security has implemented solutions to make changes incriminal judgment performance.
During the criminal judgment enforcement, and particularly in prison sentenceexecution, the job orientation and training for prisoners encountereddifficulties and problems, he said. A new mechanism is required to attractorganisations and individuals to cooperate with prisons.
"However, at present, there is no relevant legal basis, which causes themdifficulties in offering job orientation and training for prisoners," hesaid.
Once the NA's resolution on job orientation and training for prisoners ispassed, it would help engage organisations and individuals to join the field,preparing prisoners to reintegrate community, he said.
Job orientation and training for inmates outside prison would be following thelaw on criminal judgment execution.
Accordingly, prisons are responsible for developing plans, directly managingand supervising training areas outside prisons.
Organisations and individuals that cooperate with prisons in job training areresponsible for building facilities for detention management, handing them overto prisons for management, and coordinating with prisons in organising labouractivities, job consultation and training for inmates.
Lam said that the pilot implementation of the model of job orientation andtraining for prisoners outside prison must ensure four key principles.
Firstly, the job orientation and training must ensure safety and the communityreintegration of prisoners, as well as create favourable conditions for inmatesto find jobs after serving their prison sentences.
Secondly, inmates participating in job training must be on a voluntary andequal basis and be paid part of their labour, under the rights and obligationsprescribed by the Law on Execution of Criminal Justice.
Thirdly, the People's Procuracy of the province where the prison is locatedshall directly supervise the execution of prison sentences in the working andtraining areas.
Fourthly, incomes that organisations earn from cooperating with prisons in jobtraining for inmates during the pilot period are exempt from corporate incometax.
Chairwoman of the Judiciary Committee of the National Assembly Le Thi Nga saidthat the committee agreed with the Government's proposal on the pilot model ofjob orientation and training for inmates outside prison.
"Once approved, the resolution will help remove difficulties and improvethe efficiency of the re-education for inmates, creating conditions for inmatesto work and easily re-integrating the community, and limit the risk ofre-offending," she said.
The model also contributed to ensuring the correct use of land for nationaldefence and security, and reducing the land for prisons, so that more land willbe available for socio-economic development.
"The pilot results will create a practical basis for further improvementof the criminal law and criminal judgment execution," she said.
Discussing the proposed resolution, NA deputies suggested specific criteria toselect eligible prisons and prisoners to participate in the job training model.
Deputy Pham Trong Nghia from Lang Son province said that job orientation andjob training for prisoners outside the prison were in line with the provisionsof international conventions.
Nghia said that in terms of public-private relations, world experience showedthat many countries even allow the private sector to manage prisons, so privateparticipation in judgment enforcement, including employment and job trainingwas normal.
Clause 3, Article 1 of the draft resolution clearly states that: “Inmatesparticipating in job orientation and training activities outside the prisonmust be on a voluntary and equal basis, be paid part of their labour and havethe right to, obligations under the provisions of the Law on Execution ofCriminal Judgments.”
Voluntariness has been emphasised and affirmed in the draft resolution, underthe provisions of Convention 29 on forced and compulsory labour of 1930 andother international conventions, Nghia said.
He suggested that the agency in charge of assessing the proposal should consultwith the International Labour Organisation in Hanoi, and that the pilot scopeshould be limited to the domestic production sector. The pilot will be limitedto 10 percent of prisons, and the period should be three years rather thanfive years as proposed./.
VNA
