The law covering the death sentence, Article 56 of the Law on Enforcement of Criminal Verdicts, drew special attention from the deputies who discussed the most humane ways of execution, especially the use of lethal injections, firing squads or a combination of both. 

At present in Vietnam, the death sentence is carried out by firing squad. 

According to the National Assembly’s Standing Committee, the use of firing squads puts undue pressure on law enforcement officers and the families of prisoners. In her report, Justice Committee chairwoman Le Thi Thu Ba argued that legal injections were widely used in many countries. "Lethal injections cause less pain, are easier to carry out, less costly and less psychologically damaging to the executors," said Ba. 

However, she said that at least a year would be needed for law enforcement officials to work out the procedure for administering lethal injections before submitting them to the Government for approval. She asked the National Assembly to delay the law until July 1, 2011. 

Deputy Dang Huyen Thai from Hanoi supported Ba's idea, but asked the law drafting committee to be more specific about the injection procedures. 

Deputy Nguyen Huu Nhon from the Mekong Delta province of Dong Thap came up with another option – giving a condemned person's the choice of using the electric chair. 

Deputy Pham Xuan Truong from the Red River Delta province of Thai Binh insisted on the use of firing squad. "This is a good way to warn other people," said Truong. "To lessen the psychological damage to the executioners, why don't we use automatic rifles?" he added. 

The legislators also discussed the release of the bodies of executed criminals to family members. 

The Head of the NA’s Ombudsman committee, Tran The Vuong, and deputy Tran Ba Kieu from the northern port city of Haiphong, said the body of an executed criminal should be released to the family. "This is totally in conformity to Vietnamese spiritual tradition," they said. 

However, Kieu added that the corpses of gangsters should not be released. 

The National Assembly also discussed the draft Law on Commercial Arbitration, which is expected to select option-based regulations for settling disputes and litigation through commercial arbitrators, was also discussed. 

According to the explanation by the National Assembly’s Standing Committee's (NASC),  settlements by arbitration, unlike civil suits, would be done by negotiating. Therefore, the regulations on arbitration among those in dispute should be optional, as the concerned parties would have the right to decide on them. 

The president of the Vietnam Lawyers Association, Pham Quoc Anh, however, voiced his support for using the people's court during arbitration procedures. "The court's support would help enforce the arbitrators' judgement," said Anh. "The arbitrators' performance cannot be effective without support from the court." 

Other deputies, Nguyen Dang Trung and Tran Du Lich from HCM City, had different points of view, saying that arbitration should not be done in public at all. "Arbitration, unlike a court judgment, should be done in order to reach agreement, not create bad publicity for both parties." 

Deputy Ngo Quang Xuan from the southern Province of Dong Thap expressed his agreement, saying that the arbitrators' activities should be voluntary and not to be open to the public. 

The NASC said that the regulations are in agreement with the Model Law on International Commercial Arbitration, which was prepared and adopted by the United Nations Commission on International Trade Law in 1985, and by many countries. 

The Ordinance on Commercial Arbitration was first issued in 2003 and its related regulations have established a much stronger legal foundation for resolving disputes through arbitration in Vietnam.

VNA