The legislative National Assembly is scheduled to discuss reports on three draft laws - the revised Penal Code, the revised Criminal Procedure Code, and the revised Law on Organization of Criminal Investigation Agencies as part of its first extraordinary sitting.

The amendments to the Penal Code focus on four major areas - revising and supplementing provisions on offenses and penalties; revising provisions on grounds for exclusion, postponement and exemption from criminal liability and the statute of limitations for criminal prosecution; and ensuring consistency, feasibility and sound legislative drafting.

A key proposal is to narrow the scope of application of the death penalty for six offenses. The current Penal Code prescribes the death penalty as the highest punishment for 10 offenses. The government proposes abolishing the death penalty for six, namely rebellion, rape of persons under 16, illegal drug trafficking, crimes against humanity, war crimes, and terrorism aimed at opposing the people's administration, which is expected to be incorporated into the offense of terrorism.

Minister of Public Security Luong Tam Quang delivers the proposal on the draft revised Penal Code, and the draft revised Law on Organization of Criminal Investigation Agencies at a National Assembly session in Hanoi, Aug. 20, 2026. Photo by VnExpress/Hoang Phong

The death penalty will remain applicable to treason, murder, terrorism and illegal drug production. The move is intended to institutionalize the Party's policy, align Vietnam's legislation with progressive international trends, and enhance the country's position in international judicial cooperation, extradition and mutual legal assistance in criminal matters.

The draft also broadly doubles fines and monetary thresholds used to determine offenses and sentencing brackets, taking into account changes in prices, wages, incomes, per-capita GDP and socio-economic conditions.

Notably, it expands grounds for exclusion of criminal liability in research, testing and application of new technologies, as well as controlled testing of new technologies, processes, solutions, products, services and business models in technology development and innovation. Similar provisions would apply to defense and security missions and crime prevention and control by the armed forces.

The draft further introduces provisions allowing the postponement of criminal prosecution to give offenders time to remedy consequences under specified conditions. Accordingly, exemption from criminal liability could apply where a person whose prosecution has been postponed has fully remedied the consequences and generated economic, social, defense or security benefits. During the processing of crime reports and denunciations, criminal liability could also be waived where grounds for exemption exist, helping avoid unnecessary procedural steps while ensuring a humane and humanitarian criminal justice policy.

Nine new offenses are also proposed, focusing on areas, including economic management, cybersecurity, high technology, the environment, public safety and the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction. The draft also adds new objective acts to existing offenses, particularly those involving information technology, telecommunications networks, economy, trade and intellectual property.

These provisions are aimed at closing loopholes in criminal laws and preventing crimes from going unpunished, while meeting the requirements of international integration and strengthening crime prevention and combat in the new context.

During the morning sitting, the National Assembly also debated in plenary the National Target Programme on cultural and socio-economic development, rural development, and ethnic minority and mountainous areas for 2026-2035, which will integrate four existing national target programmes into a single programme.