Vietnam Ends Death Penalty for Eight Crimes, Cutting Capital Offenses From 18 to 10

July 1 Reform Will Replace Execution With Life Imprisonment

Vietnam will abolish the death penalty for eight crimes from July 1, 2025, following a unanimous National Assembly vote on June 25. The change covers embezzlement, bribery, espionage and activities aimed at overthrowing the government, reducing the number of offenses punishable by death from 18 to 10.

Life imprisonment will become the maximum punishment for the affected crimes. People already sentenced to death for those offenses, but not executed by July 1, will have their sentences automatically commuted to life imprisonment by the Supreme People's Court. Commutation means replacing a punishment with a less severe one while leaving the conviction in place.

Truong My Lan, the property tycoon sentenced to death in 2024 in a case involving approximately $27 billion embezzled from Saigon Commercial Bank, is among those whose punishment will change. Her lawyer, Giang Hong Thanh, has confirmed that her sentence will be converted to life imprisonment.

The reform also reaches beyond individual cases. Vietnamese officials say it reflects changing social and economic conditions, addresses problems in applying capital punishment and could make it easier to bring fugitives home from countries that refuse extradition when execution is possible.

Human rights advocates have welcomed the reduction while calling for fairer trials, greater transparency and an end to capital punishment for all crimes. Vietnam will continue to allow the death penalty for offenses including murder, treason, terrorism, sexual abuse of children and certain drug trafficking crimes.

Which Eight Crimes Are Covered?

The amendment to the Criminal Code removes capital punishment from a range of offenses involving public money, state security, medicines, drugs and war. The eight crimes are:

• Embezzlement of property.
• Bribery.
• Espionage.
• Attempting to overthrow the government.
• Sabotaging state infrastructure.
• Producing and trading counterfeit medicines.
• Illegally transporting narcotics.
• Waging aggressive war or destroying peace.

People convicted of these offenses will still face criminal punishment, with life imprisonment replacing execution as the maximum sentence. For those already on death row for an affected crime, the July 1 deadline determines when the change in punishment takes effect.

The reduction from 18 capital offenses to 10 removes eight categories, or about 44% of the previous total. Its reach extends across economic offenses and several crimes against the state, while leaving other serious offenses subject to capital punishment.

Drug offenses require particular attention because the reform treats different activities differently. Illegally transporting narcotics is among the eight categories losing the death penalty, while certain drug trafficking crimes will remain punishable by death.

What Changes for Truong My Lan?

Truong My Lan, chairwoman of Van Thinh Phat Holdings Group, became one of the most prominent figures caught in Vietnam's sweeping campaign against corruption. She was sentenced to death in 2024 for embezzling approximately $27 billion from Saigon Commercial Bank, known as SCB.

The amount was equivalent to about 6% of Vietnam's gross domestic product, a measure of the goods and services produced by the economy. The scale of the case drew attention inside Vietnam and abroad and triggered rare public protests.

Giang Hong Thanh, Lan's lawyer, confirmed that her death sentence would become life imprisonment. He described her response after learning about the reform:

I informed Ms. Lan this morning, she is very happy.

The amended law also provides a route to further sentence reductions for people convicted of embezzlement or bribery if they return a significant portion of the misappropriated money and meet other conditions. For Lan and others affected, the immediate change is the replacement of execution with life imprisonment; any further reduction would depend on satisfying those requirements.

Her case illustrates how the reform changes punishment within the continuing anti-corruption campaign. That campaign has led to the detention and prosecution of numerous senior officials and business leaders. Officials maintain that life imprisonment remains a severe penalty and that removing execution will not weaken efforts to combat corruption.

Why Officials Want to Change the Law

Vietnamese officials have presented the amendment as a response to practical problems in the criminal justice system as well as changes in the country's economy and society. They say some capital penalties no longer fit the circumstances in which crime is being prevented and punished.

Luong Tam Quang, the minister of public security, described the government's reasoning in terms of the relationship between the law and its use:

The current structure of capital punishment was problematic and, in some cases, misaligned with evolving socio-economic conditions and the realities of crime prevention.

Justice Minister Nguyen Hai Ninh said many death sentences for the newly exempted crimes were not being carried out in practice. The amendment therefore gives legal form to a pattern officials say had already developed in the handling of those cases.

Vietnam has also faced criticism from human rights organizations and foreign governments over capital punishment, particularly its use for corruption and other economic offenses described as nonviolent. Reducing the number of capital crimes brings the country closer to international human rights standards and is seen as a way to improve its international standing.

Nguyen Minh Duc, a police lieutenant general and deputy chair of the parliamentary committee on national defense and security, linked the reform to both the continuing anti-corruption drive and Vietnam's integration with other countries. The government is presenting the change as part of its approach to law enforcement, rather than a retreat from prosecuting serious crimes.

How Execution Risk Affects Extradition

Justice Minister Nguyen Hai Ninh also pointed to international legal cooperation as a reason for the amendment. Some countries have refused to return fugitives to Vietnam because those people could face the death penalty.

Extradition is the process through which one country sends a person to another country to face prosecution or serve a sentence. Where the requested punishment includes execution, the country holding the suspect may refuse the transfer.

Removing the death penalty for eight crimes could make cooperation easier in cases involving those offenses. For Vietnamese authorities pursuing suspects abroad, the change could help address a reason previously given for refusing their return.

The National Assembly is also considering new legislation on extradition. Alongside the Criminal Code amendment, that proposal forms part of a broader effort to improve cooperation in criminal cases and mutual legal assistance, through which countries help one another with investigations and proceedings.

A Long Reduction in Capital Offenses

Vietnam's use of capital punishment has narrowed over several decades. The country has historically applied it to offenses considered threats to state security or public order, but successive changes have reduced the number of crimes carrying that sentence.

The main dates show both the longer trend and the immediate timetable for the latest amendment:

• 1985: Vietnam allowed the death penalty for 44 crimes.
• 2010: The number of capital offenses had fallen to 22.
• 2011: Lethal injection became the sole method of execution, replacing the firing squad.
• 2024: Truong My Lan was sentenced to death in the SCB embezzlement case.
• June 25, 2025: The National Assembly unanimously approved removing the death penalty for eight crimes.
• July 1, 2025: The amendment takes effect, reducing capital offenses from 18 to 10 and changing existing death sentences for the affected crimes to life imprisonment.

Compared with the 44 crimes punishable by death in 1985, the new total of 10 is 34 fewer. The latest amendment continues that reduction while retaining capital punishment for a smaller group of offenses.

Nguyen Ngoc Chi, a former deputy head of the law department at Vietnam National University in Hanoi, sees the change as part of a gradual movement toward ending the death penalty. He expressed his expectation in these words:

I expect that the death penalty will be abolished totally in Vietnam.

Why Drug Penalties Remain Contentious

The debate over keeping the death penalty for drug trafficking was particularly contentious. Some legislators argued that removing it could send the wrong message at a time of rising offenses involving drugs.

The adopted reform removes execution as a punishment for illegally transporting narcotics, but certain drug trafficking crimes remain capital offenses. Murder, treason, terrorism and sexual abuse of children also remain among the crimes for which a death sentence can be imposed.

Some National Assembly members expressed concern that removing capital punishment for drug trafficking and crimes against the state could embolden offenders or weaken public confidence in the justice system. Those concerns form part of the debate over how far restrictions on execution should go.

Officials defending the amendment say life imprisonment remains a serious punishment. Their argument is that criminal accountability can continue through lengthy imprisonment, even where the law no longer permits execution.

The reform also reflects a shift toward rehabilitation and punishment proportionate to an offense as part of efforts to modernize the legal system. For corruption cases, the possibility of further sentence reductions is tied to returning misappropriated funds and meeting other conditions.

Secrecy and Fair Trials Remain Concerns

Vietnam treats information about executions and the number of people on death row as state secrets. Amnesty International estimates that more than 1,200 people were on death row at the end of 2024, but the true number is unknown.

That secrecy makes it difficult to assess the full reach of the amendment or measure how its application changes the use of capital punishment. The Supreme People's Court will oversee the conversion of existing death sentences for the eight affected offenses.

Chiara Sangiorgio, Amnesty International's death penalty adviser, described the reform as a "positive step" while raising continuing concerns about fairness in capital trials and the lack of transparency in Vietnam's justice system.

Human rights organizations have also highlighted concerns about due process and confessions obtained under duress. Due process means the safeguards intended to give an accused person a fair legal proceeding, including a fair opportunity to answer the allegations.

Advocates are urging Vietnam to ensure fair trials for every defendant and to reform legal procedures to prevent miscarriages of justice. Their response welcomes fewer crimes carrying the death penalty while calling for changes in how criminal cases are investigated and decided.

Vietnam's Place in the Wider Shift

More than two-thirds of countries worldwide have abolished the death penalty in law or practice, according to Amnesty International. Abolition in law means execution is no longer an available legal punishment; abolition in practice means a country has stopped using it while retaining it in its laws.

Southeast Asia continues to include countries that impose capital punishment, particularly for drug offenses. Singapore, Indonesia and Malaysia are among them. Vietnam's decision narrows its use across a broad range of economic and nonviolent crimes and may encourage further debate about restrictions elsewhere in the region.

Within Vietnam, the next step is implementation on July 1. People facing execution for the eight newly exempted offenses will move to life imprisonment, with the Supreme People's Court responsible for overseeing that process.

The amendment is also expected to prompt further debate about the crimes that remain punishable by death, particularly drug offenses. Alongside the proposed extradition legislation, it marks a broader change in how Vietnam approaches punishment, crime prevention and cooperation with other countries.

Key Points

• The National Assembly unanimously approved the Criminal Code amendment on June 25, 2025. It takes effect on July 1.
• Eight crimes, including embezzlement, bribery, espionage and attempting to overthrow the government, will lose the death penalty.
• The number of capital offenses will fall from 18 to 10, with life imprisonment becoming the maximum penalty for the affected crimes.
• Existing death sentences for those offenses will be converted to life imprisonment if the person has not been executed by July 1.
• Truong My Lan's lawyer says her death sentence in the SCB embezzlement case will become life imprisonment.
• Officials cite changing social and economic conditions, sentencing practice and international legal cooperation as reasons for the reform.
• Human rights advocates welcome the change while calling for fairer trials, transparency and complete abolition.
• Execution figures remain secret. Amnesty International estimates that more than 1,200 people were on death row at the end of 2024.