Enforcement of custody and temporary detention

The National Assembly approved the Law on enforcement of custody and temporary detention. This Law prescribes the principles, order and procedures for enforcement of custody and temporary detention; the organization, tasks and powers of custody and temporary detention management and enforcement agencies; rights and obligations of persons held in custody or temporary detention; and responsibilities of related agencies, organizations and individuals in custody and temporary detention enforcement.
Custody and temporary detention management agencies in the People’s Public Security force include:
+ The criminal judgment enforcement and judicial assistance management agency under the Ministry of Public Security, which shall manage custody and temporary detention work nationwide (below referred to as the Ministry of Public Security’s custody and temporary detention management agency);
+ Criminal judgment enforcement agencies under Public Security Departments of provinces and centrally run cities, which shall manage custody and temporary detention work in their provinces and centrally run cities (below referred to as provincial-level custody and temporary detention management agencies);
+ Criminal judgment enforcement agencies under Public Security Divisions of rural districts, urban districts, towns and provincial cities, which shall manage custody and temporary detention work in their localities (below referred to as district-level custody and temporary detention management agencies).
Custody and temporary detention management agencies in the People’s Army include:
+ The criminal judgment enforcement management agency under the Ministry of National Defense (below referred to as the Ministry of National Defense’s custody and temporary detention management agency), which shall manage custody and temporary detention work;
+ Criminal judgment enforcement agencies of military zones and the equivalent, which shall manage custody and temporary detention work at temporary detention camps and custody houses in areas under their management;
+ Provincial-level Border Guard Commands, which shall manage custody work at custody rooms of border guard stations.
Custody houses shall be organized as follows:
+ A custody house has custody rooms, temporary detention rooms, disciplinary rooms, inmate management rooms; and facilities serving incarceration management and criminal proceeding activities. Depending on its size, a custody house may have facilities serving daily-life activities, medical care and education of persons held in custody or temporary detention or serving imprisonment sentences; and facilities serving work and daily-life activities of officers, professional army men, non-commissioned officers, soldiers, workers and public employees of the custody house;
+ The organizational apparatus of a custody house in the People’s Public Security force consists of a head and deputy heads, officers, non-commissioned officers, soldiers, workers and public employees engaged in superintendence, scouting, security, judicial assistance, general staff, ordnance, technical work, education, health and dossier management;
+ The organizational apparatus of a custody house under a regional criminal investigation agency in the People’s Army consists of a head and deputy heads, officers, non-commissioned officers, soldiers, and defense workers and public employees engaged in superintendence, scouting, security, judicial assistance, general staff, ordnance, technical work, education, health and dossier management work;
+ Heads and deputy heads of custody houses must possess university or higher degrees in police service, security or law and satisfy other criteria prescribed by the Government.
 Temporary detention camps shall be organized as follows:
+ A temporary detention camp has temporary detention sub-camps, incarceration areas, temporary detention rooms, custody rooms, detention rooms for persons awaiting to serve imprisonment sentences, detention rooms for persons sentenced to death, disciplinary rooms, inmate management sub-camps; facilities serving incarceration management, procedure activities, judgment enforcement, daily-life activities, medical care and education of persons held in custody or temporary detention or serving imprisonment sentences; and facilities serving work and daily-life activities of officers, professional army men, non-commissioned officers, soldiers, workers and public employees working in the temporary detention camp;        
+ The organizational apparatus of a temporary detention camp in the People’s Public Security force consists of a warden and deputy warden(s), heads and deputy heads of sub-camps, team heads and deputy heads, head of the camp’s infirmary; officers, non-commissioned officers, soldiers, workers and public employees, who shall be organized in temporary detention teams and sub-camps and inmate management sub-camps to perform superintendence, scouting, security, judicial assistance, criminal judgment execution, general staff, ordnance, technical work,  education, health and dossier management work;
+ The organizational apparatus of a temporary detention camp in the People’s Army consists of a warden, deputy warden(s), a commissar, heads and deputy heads of sub-camps, team heads and deputy heads, a head of the camp’s infirmary; officers, professional army men, non-commissioned officers, soldiers, and defense workers and  public employees, and may be organized in teams to perform superintendence, scouting, security, judicial assistance, criminal judgment execution, general staff, ordnance, technical work, education, health and dossier management work;
+ Wardens and deputy wardens, heads and deputy heads of sub-camps and team heads and deputy heads specified at Points b and c, Clause 1 of this Article must possess university or higher degrees in police service, security or law and satisfy other criteria prescribed by the Government.
Custody rooms and temporary detention rooms of custody houses and temporary detention camps shall be designed and firmly built with locks and security control devices and must be adequately lit, ensure the health of persons held in custody or temporary detention, environmental sanitation and fire prevention and control, suit local climatic characteristics and meet incarceration and management requirements.
Working offices of procedure-conducting agencies and persons and defense counsels shall be designed and built to ensure security and meet requirements of investigation, case processing and defense work.
When admitting a person for custody or temporary detention, a detention facility shall:
1. Check information to identify whether he/she is the person to be held in custody or temporary detention under an order or a decision of a competent person;
2. Make a minutes on handover and reception of such person and accompanying documents and dossiers; organize health checks and body searches of such person and accompanying child aged under 36 months (if any). The body search of a person to be held in custody or temporary detention shall be conducted by officers of the same gender with him/her in a private place;
3. Take photos, make a personal information sheet and a fingerprint sheet, and make an entry in its custody and temporary detention monitoring book;
4. Inform, guide and explain the rights and obligations of persons held in custody or temporary detention and internal rules of the detention facility; inspect and handle articles carried along by such person before taking him/her to a custody or temporary detention room.
Persons held in custody or temporary detention shall be arranged in different sectors and classified as follows:
a/ Persons held in custody;
b/ Persons held in temporary detention;
c/ Persons aged under 18 years;
d/ Women;
dd/ Foreigners;
e/ Persons infected with group-A contagious diseases;
g/ Persons committing crimes in a hooligan manner; committing murder; committing robbery of extremely serious nature; or committing dangerous recidivism;
h/ Persons committing crimes of infringing upon national security;
i/ Persons sentenced to death;
k/ Persons awaiting to serve imprisonment sentences;
l/ Persons frequently violating internal rules of detention facilities;
m/ Persons showing signs of suffering a mental disease or another disease that deprives them of perception or act control capacity but having not yet been examined, awaiting examination results or pending transfer to a compulsory medical establishment.
Persons held in custody or temporary detention shall be provided with prescribed rice, vegetable, meat, fish, sugar, salt, dipping sauce, seasoning, fuel, electricity and water rations. Heads of detention facilities may decide to swap food ration ingredients to meet practical needs in order to ensure that persons held in custody or temporary detention eat up their food rations.
On law-prescribed public and lunar new-year holidays, persons held in custody or temporary detention shall be provided with additional food which must not exceed five times the ordinary daily food ration.
Based on requirements of ensuring the health of persons held in custody or temporary detention, the Government shall prescribe specific food rations suitable to economic and budget conditions and market price fluctuations.
The State shall ensure payroll and human resources for custody and temporary detention management and enforcement agencies. Persons managing and enforcing custody and temporary detention shall be provided with professional and legal training and refresher training suitable to their assigned tasks and powers.
2. The State shall ensure physical foundations for custody and temporary detention management and enforcement activities, including land, working offices, detention and auxiliary works, equipment, weapons, supporting tools, vehicles, information and communications equipment, professional techniques and other physical and technical conditions. The State shall give priority to ensuring physical foundations for detention facilities in remote areas, deep-lying areas, mountainous areas, areas with extreme socio-economic difficulties, and important areas of national security and social order and safety.
This Law takes effect on July 1, 2016.