Translation Endorsed by the Law Committee of the National Assembly of the Lao PDR LAO PEOPLE’S DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC PEACE INDEPENDENCE DEMOCRACY UNITY PROSPERITY ________________ National Assembly No. 12/NA 9 November 2005 PENAL LAW GENERAL PART Chapter 1 General Principles Article 1. Role of the Penal Law The role of the Penal Law is to safeguard the political, economic and social system of the Lao People's Democratic Republic, the property of the State, collectives and individuals, the life, health, rights and freedom of the people, and the national security and public order; to counter and prevent offences; and to educate all citizens to respect the laws. 1 In order to implement this role, this law defines certain acts as offences 2 and subjects the perpetrator to penalties. Article 2. (New) Basis of Penal Responsibilities An individual can only be charged with and punished for an offence based on intentional or negligent acts deemed dangerous for society as defined in the Penal Law or in other laws of the Lao People's Democratic Republic that define criminal penalties, and [such individual can be punished] only when a decision is rendered by a court. 1 For readability, the punctuation in this sentence has been modified. 2 The terms “offence” and “infraction” are used to refer generally to criminal acts. There are three levels of such criminal acts as set out in Article 8. “Minor offence”, “major offence” and “crime” are used specifically to refer to those three levels. The translators are aware that the Specific Part of the Penal Law does not in fact categorise offences into these three levels. Official Translation by National Assembly 1