Answer:
Pursuant to Article 172 of the Criminal Procedural Code, the criminal investigation time limit shall be no more than 2 months for less serious crimes, 3 months for serious crimes, and 4 months for very serious and extremely serious crimes from the date of bringing a charge to the date of ending the investigation. If the case is considered to be complicated in nature, the investigation time limit can be extended as follows:
- For less serious crimes, the time limit can be extended one time but not exceed 2 months;
- For serious crimes, the time limit can be extended two times, the first extension will not exceed 3 months and the second extension will not exceed 2 months;
- For very serious crimes, the time limit can be extended two times with each extension will not exceed 4 months.
- For extremely serious crimes, the time limit can be extended three times with each extension will not exceed 4 months.
At the end of the investigation time limit and its extensions (if any), the competent investigation agency must give a written conclusion of the investigation with the request for prosecution, or a written conclusion with a decision on suspending the investigation to terminate the investigation[1]. If the investigation agency does not give a written conclusion after this time limit, the Employer may consider sending an official complaint to the head of such investigation agency or its the direct managing agency.
Based on the investigation’s conclusion with the request for prosecution, the Employer will hold a disciplinary meeting and issue the decision on imposing disciplinary actions in accordance with the procedure as prescribed in the Labour Code[2]. In contrast, if the investigation conclusion does not indicate the grounds to prove that the act of an Employee has constituted a crime, the Employer cannot impose any disciplinary actions on the act that has been investigated earlier by the investigation agency at the Employer’s request.
[1] Article 232 of the Criminal Procedural Code
[2] Article 122 of the Labour Code and Article 70 of Decree 145/2020/NĐ-CP of the Government dated 14/ December 2020
