JOINT CIRCULAR

STIPULATING THE GRANTING OF JUDICIAL RECORD CARDS

Pursuant to Decree No. 38-CP of June 4, 1993 of the Government on the functions, tasks, powers and organizational structure of the Ministry of Justice;
Pursuant to Decree No. 37/1998/ND-CP of June 9, 1998 of the Government on the functions, tasks, powers and organizational structure of the Ministry of Public Security;
To meet the citizensrsquo; requirements for judicial record cards;
The Ministry of Justice and the Ministry of Public Security hereby jointly stipulate the granting of judicial record cards as follows:

I. GENERAL PROVISIONS

1. The judicial record card

The judicial record card is a kind of card granted by the competent State bodies defined in Point 5, Item I of this Joint Circular to persons who demand it in order to certify that such persons have or have no previous sentence.

The judicial record card is made according to form No.01/TP-LLTP (not attached herewith).

2. The principle for certification of having or having no previous sentences

A person is considered having previous sentence only when there is an effective criminal sentence handed down by a court stating that such person is guilty and the conviction has not been wipped-off yet according to the provisions of law.

3. The right to demand for judicial record card

A Vietnamese citizen has the right to request the competent State body to grant him/her a judicial record card for use in necessary cases as prescribed by law.

A foreigner also has the right to request the competent State body of Vietnam defined in Point 5, Item I of this joint circular to grant him/her a judicial record card with a view to certifying that such person has or has no previous sentence during his/her stay in Vietnam.

The judicial record card applicants may authorize other persons to fill the procedures therefor on their behalf.

4. Non-granting of judicial record cards

The judicial record card shall not be granted in the following cases where:

a) It is applied for another person without his/her valid authorization;

b) The applicant is a defendant or an accused in a criminal case.

5. Competence to grant the judicial record cards

The judicial record card granting falls under the jurisdiction of the Justice Services of the provinces and centrally-run cities (hereafter referred to as the provincial/municipal Justice Services).

The provincial/municipal Justice Services shall have to coordinate with the police offices of the provinces and centrally-run cities (hereafter referred to as the provincial-level police) and, in case of necessity, with the courts, in order to certify the judicial records of involved persons.

6. Fee

The judicial record card applicants shall have to pay a fee as prescribed by law.

II. JUDICIAL RECORD CARD- GRANTING PROCEDURES AND ORDER

1. The procedures for submitting and receiving dossiers of application for judicial record cards

a) The dossiers of application for judicial record cards

The applicant for judicial record card shall have to make an application; the written application for judicial record card must be fully, clearly and accurately declared.

Enclosed with the application must be a copy of the applicantrsquo;s peoplersquo;s identity card and a copy of his/her family residence registration book or valid papers evidencing his/her residence place; for a foreigner, the copy of his/her passport and the copy of the permit for his residence or stay in Vietnam.

In case of authorized application for judicial record card, the authorization letter certified by the Peoplersquo;s Committee of the commune, ward or district town where the authorizer or the authorized resides is also required; if the authorizer is a Vietnamese citizen residing abroad, his/her authorization letter must be certified by a foreign-based diplomatic representation or consulate of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam; if the authorizer is a foreigner who has left Vietnam, his/her authorization letter must be certified by a competent body of the country where he/she is a citizen or resides and must be consularly legalized under the provisions of Vietnamese law.

The dossiers of application for a judicial record card shall be made in two sets.

b) Submitting the dossiers of application for judicial record cards

The judicial record card applicants being Vietnamese citizens who reside in the country shall submit their dossiers at the provincial/municipal Justice Services of the localities where they permanently reside; if they are residing overseas, the dossiers shall be submitted at the provincial/municipal Justice Services of the localities where they last resided before their departures.

The judicial record card applicants who are foreigners residing in Vietnam shall submit their dossiers at the provincial/municipal Justice Services of the localities where they reside; if they have left Vietnam, the dossiers shall be submitted at the provincial/municipal Justice Services of the localities where they last resided before their departures.

c) Receiving the dossiers

When receiving dossiers, the provincial/municipal Justice Services shall examine the declared contents of the applications and the validity of all enclosed papers; if anything is insufficient or unclear, they shall request the applicants to supplement or clarify it.

If a dossier is considered valid, the concerned provincial/municipal Justice Service shall receive it, collect the fee and issue a paper of appointment stating the date for reply.

Where a case is deemed beyond its jurisdiction, a provincial/municipal Justice Service shall immediately guide the involved person to submit the dossiers at the right place.

The reception of dossiers must be recorded in the book of judicial record card granting.

2. Procedures for consulting and certifying judicial records

a) Consulting the policersquo;s records

Within 3 days after fully receiving the valid dossier, the provincial/municipal Justice Service shall send a judicial record certification card and a set of dossiers to the provincial-level police for consultation.

Within 10 days after receiving the judicial record certification card, the provincial-level police shall have to find the records, certify the judicial records of involved persons and send to the provincial/municipal Justice Service a notice on the results of certification of judicial records (the back side of the judicial record certification card). For complicated cases which must be consulted from the dossiers of the Professional Police Dossiers Department of the Ministry of Public Security, such time-limit may be prolonged, but the extension shall not exceed 10 days; the provincial-level police shall take charge of contacting the Professional Police Dossiers Department.

b) Consulting the courtrsquo;s records

Where the results of consulting the policersquo;s record show some doubts about the involved personrsquo;s conviction but without sufficient grounds to conclude or some unclear and/or incomplete points in the section on the involved personrsquo;s previous sentence, the concerned provincial/municipal Justice Service shall contact the court that adjudicated the case for consultation of dossiers of recorded sentences with a view to clarifying whether the involved person has a previous sentence or not.

The consultation of the courtrsquo;s dossiers (if any) must be made immediately after receiving the notice on the results of judicial record certification from the provincial-level police; the time limit for consulting the dossiers of recorded sentences at the court shall not exceed 7 days.

3. Writing and granting the judicial record cards

Within 3 days after obtaining results from consulting dossiers of the police and the court (if any), the provincial/municipal Justice Service shall write and grant the judicial record card to the involved person.

a) Ways of writing the judicial record card

If the involved person has no previous sentence (no conviction or the conviction has been written off), the words quot;khong co tien anquot;(no previous sentence) shall be clearly inscribed in the line quot;Tinh trang tien anquot;(the status on previous sentence) and columns (1), (2), (3), (4) and (5) of the judicial record card shall be obliquely crossed; if the involved person has previous sentence, his offence, the law provisions applied, the main penalty, the additional penalty (if any) and the day, month and year of declaring the legally effective sentence; if he/she has many sentences, they shall be written according to time order.

Where an involved person is convicted but has enough conditions to have his/her conviction automatically or conditionally written off according to the provisions of criminal legislation, the concerned provincial/municipal Justice Service shall guide him/her to fill procedures requesting the competent peoplersquo;s court to wipe off his/her conviction record according to the provisions of the criminal procedures law.

b) Granting judicial record cards

The judicial record card is only in original form and must not be copied. Depending on the purpose of application for the judicial record card by the applicant, the provincial/municipal Justice Service shall issue the card in necessary numbers to him/her.

4. Keeping judicial record dossiers

A judicial record dossier shall comprise the application for the judicial record card, enclosed papers of the involved person and the judicial record certification card with results of consultation of dossiers of the police and the court (if any).

The judicial record dossiers shall be archived and preserved at the provincial/ municipal Justice Services according to the provisions of archive legislation.

III. ORGANIZATION OF IMPLEMENTATION

1. The Minister of Justice and the Minister of Public Security shall have to direct and guide agencies in their respective ministries in implementing this joint circular.

2. The provincial/municipal Justice Services and the provincial-level police shall appoint professionally qualified officials to take care of the judicial record work; for provinces and cities where exist great demands for judicial record cards, the full-time officials must be arranged for this work.

3. Biannually and annually, the provincial/municipal Justice Services shall have to report to the Ministry of Justice and the provincial-level police to the Ministry of Public Security on the implementation of this joint circular.

4. This joint circular takes effect 15 days after its signing.

If any problems arise in the course of implementation, the directors the provincial/municipal Justice Services and the directors of the provincial-level police shall have to report to the Ministry of Justice and the Ministry of Public Security for consideration and settlement.