Southeast Asia Information Port (www.dnyxxg.com) reports that the Extradition Law of Vietnam, adopted by the 10th Session of the 15th National Assembly on November 26, 2025, will officially take effect on July 1, 2026. The law comprises 4 chapters and 45 articles. Its implementation will effectively address the issue of criminal suspects fleeing abroad, enhance crime prevention and combating effectiveness, and safeguard social order and the legitimate rights and interests of the state, organizations, and individuals.
The new law clarifies the principles, powers, conditions, procedures, responsibilities of state organs, and applicable subjects of extradition. It adopts the principle of reciprocity between Vietnam and its partners, and changes the competent authority for this principle from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to the Ministry of Public Security. It also stipulates that in emergency situations, temporary detention can be implemented if a formal extradition request has not been received to prevent the escape of relevant personnel and ensure the smooth progress of extradition.
Currently, Vietnam is a participant in 23 multilateral international treaties containing extradition clauses. In October-November 2025, Minister of Public Security Luong Sam Quang, entrusted by the President, signed the International Convention on Combating the Use of Information and Communication Technologies for Criminal Purposes and the ASEAN Extradition Treaty. Regarding bilateral cooperation, as of early 2026, Vietnam had signed bilateral extradition agreements with 23 countries, including China, Laos, and Cambodia. It also allows cooperation with countries that have not signed extradition treaties, based on the principle of reciprocity. For example, Vietnam is advancing extradition cooperation with Germany based on the 2006 Agreement on Cooperation in Combating Crime and a common legal mechanism.
The Vietnam-Germany extradition cooperation has attracted significant attention within Vietnam. On December 31, 2025, the Hanoi People's Court sentenced Le Trung Koh and Nguyen Van Tai to 17 years in prison for "producing, storing, and disseminating information and propaganda materials attacking Vietnam's socialist system." The two are currently hiding in Germany. Previously, in September 2025, the Deputy Minister of Public Security of Vietnam and the leaders of the German Federal Ministry of the Interior reached a consensus to strengthen information exchange and coordinate case verification and extradition request processing through diplomatic channels and Interpol.
Vietnam has already achieved tangible results in extradition cooperation, such as the successful extradition of terrorist Y Quynh Bdap from Thailand. Yi Qiong Buda was the mastermind behind the June 2023 terrorist attack in Dak Lak province, which killed nine people. He fled to Thailand afterward. Vietnam issued an arrest warrant and requested his extradition in August 2023. In January 2024, the Dak Lak Provincial People's Court sentenced him in absentia to 10 years in prison. On November 26, 2025, the Thai Criminal Court ruled for his extradition, and the extradition proceedings were completed on November 28.
With the extradition law coming into effect and cross-border extradition cooperation continuing to expand, the space for those involved in subversion of state power activities and transnational criminals to operate will further shrink. (End)
