Translation Endorsed by the Law Committee of the National Assembly of the Lao PDR Article 11. Offences Pertaining to Several Categories An offence pertaining to several categories refers to an act or several acts of infraction committed by an individual, [where such act or acts are] classifiable under two or more categories, 13 transgress several articles of the Penal Law, and with respect to which a decision shall be rendered at the same time and in the same court. Article 12. Recidivism Recidivism refers to an intentional offence committed by an individual while he 14 is still serving his sentence for a previous intentional offence, or an intentional offence committed by an individual within a period of five years after serving a sentence for the same or a similar intentional offence. Article 13. Preparation to Commit Offences “Preparation to commit an offence” 15 refers to the preparation of materials, conditions or other factors in order to commit an intentional offence. Such preparation to commit an offence shall only be charged or punished if deemed dangerous for society, as provided in the specific part of this law. 16 Preparation to commit offences shall be punished according to the articles prescribing penalties for the offence itself. Article 14. Attempts to Commit Offences “Attempt to commit an offence” 17 refers to the taking of intentional acts which are components of an offence but where the offence was not completed because of circumstances outside the control of the offender, making such acts not successful. 13 There is insufficient textual evidence to confirm whether this comma should be interpreted as “and” or “or”. 14 Readers should note that the Lao language does not distinguish between genders in pronouns. In this translation, a reference to a gender is a reference to all genders, unless the context requires otherwise (as is the case in some Articles). The translators’ decision to use the male gender pronoun as the default translation was made in the interests of simplicity and consistency. 15 The quotation marks have been added and are not in the original text. 16 Readers should not assume that all preparations and attempts to commit an offence are punishable. Rather, the articles in the specific part of this law specifically prescribe whether preparation or attempt of an offence is punishable. 17 The quotation marks have been added and are not in the original text. 5