No Judge, No Trial: Police Want Commune Chiefs to Lock People Up for Two Years

 

 

by Thành Phương

The Vietnamese | 2026.11.03 

A proposed amendment to the Law on Handling Administrative Violations would transfer the power of regional judges to order compulsory administrative detention and drug rehabilitation, handing it over to commune chiefs instead. 

The Politburo approved the policy before the bill went to the National Assembly.

The Latest: On the morning of Oct. 26, the government submitted the amended Law on Handling Administrative Violations to the National Assembly. The draft moves two powers from regional people’s courts to commune-level People’s Committee chairpersons:

• The power to send people to compulsory education facilities, a form of administrative detention. 
• The power to send people to compulsory drug rehabilitation.

The National Assembly is expected to pass the amended law during its current legislative session.

Added Enforcement Measures: The draft also adds enforcement measures against individuals who do not comply with penalty decisions:

• Temporary bans on leaving the country.
• Cutting off electricity and water, and sealing off premises.
• Suspending or blocking access to the internet, telecommunications, or digital infrastructure services.

Drafting Agency’s Justification: The drafting agency provided three reasons for the change:

• Leaving the decision to regional courts adds an extra step and drags out the process.
• There is no way to manage individuals already identified as drug users while they wait for a court decision.
• Keeping this power with the courts would create “legal bottlenecks.”

To further justify the changes, the drafting agency cited Official Letter 5841, dated Oct. 18, from the Office of the Communist Party Central Committee. 

• The letter stated that the Politburo had agreed with the direction of transferring the power. 
• The document was issued eight days before the bill went to the National Assembly.

Current Legislation: Under current legislation governed by Clause 2, Article 105 of the 2012 Law on Handling Administrative Violations, courts have the power to decide three measures:

• Sending individuals to reform schools
• Sending individuals to education facilities (lasting 6-24 months)
• Sending individuals to compulsory drug rehabilitation centers

Why It Matters: When a court decides, the person facing the measure possesses several safeguards under Ordinance No. 03/2022. 

• They can present their case and argue at a hearing attended by a procurator, hire a lawyer, and file a complaint with the provincial-level court. 
• It is unclear whether the new draft keeps these safeguards once the power shifts to commune chairpersons.

Additionally, during consultation on the draft, some commenters argued that sending people to compulsory education facilities is a coercive measure that restricts citizens’ freedom. 

• They cited Resolution 49-NQ/TW, which emphasizes the judiciary’s role in protecting justice and human rights.

Furthermore, others worried that commune governments are already overloaded after the switch to a two-tier local government model. 

• The drafting agency responded that the proposal does not deny the courts’ role in protecting human rights, asserting that the draft also sets out grounds, conditions, procedures, the right to complain and sue, and oversight mechanisms.
• However, Phan Chí Hiếu, chairman of the National Assembly’s Committee on Law and Justice, stated that some of these measures are “not truly appropriate to the nature of enforcing penalty decisions” and called for them to be reviewed.

Thành Phương wrote this news article in Vietnamese and published it in Luật Khoa Magazine on Nov. 3, 2026. The Vietnamese Magazine translated it into English.

 

 

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