IMPROVE THE LAW ON JUVENILE OFFENDERS IN VIETNAM IN THE CURRENT PERIOD

ABSTRACT

The article focuses on analyzing the provisions of Vietnamese criminal law regarding juvenile offenders; characteristics of juvenile offenders, as well as factors affecting the mechanism of criminal behavior of this group of people. Through that, the author provides an assessment as a basis for solutions to prevent juveniles from committing crimes.

АННОТАЦИЯ

Статья посвящена анализу положений уголовного законодательства Вьетнама, касающихся несовершеннолетних правонарушителей; характеристика несовершеннолетних правонарушителей, а также факторы, влияющие на механизм преступного поведения этой группы лиц. Благодаря этому автор дает оценку как основу для принятия решений по предотвращению совершения несовершеннолетними преступлений.

Keywords: Juveniles, Penal Code, criminal responsibility, family, school.

Ключевые слова: несовершеннолетние, Уголовный кодекс, уголовная ответственность, семья, школа.

According to the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child 1989, a child is a person under 18 years of age (unless national law sets an earlier age). Other documents such as: United Nations Minimum Standard Rules on Juvenile Judicial Activities in 1985, United Nations Guidelines on the Prevention of Juvenile Delinquency in 1990 and The United Nations Rules for the Protection of Juveniles Deprived of Liberty of 1990 stipulate that young people include minors, children are those under 18 years of age and young people are those from 15 to 24 years old.

Vietnam also has a number of regulations on the ages of children and juveniles. Specifically: In the 2016 Children's Law (amended and supplemented in 2018), it is stipulated: “Children are people under 16 years old”; Article 21 of the 2015 Civil Code stipulates: “An adult is a person 18 years of age or older”; Article 143 of the 2019 Labor Code indicates: “Young workers are workers who are under 18 years old”; Article 90 of the 2015 Penal Code (amended and supplemented in 2017) indicates: “People from 14 years old to under 18 years old who commit a crime must bear criminal responsibility according to the provisions of this Chapter (Chapter XII), At the same time, other provisions of the General Part of the Code are not contrary to the provisions of this Chapter.

Thus, it can be understood that a juvenileis a person under 18 years old, not fully developed physically, psychologically and in life experience, and has a limited cognitive level. Based on the provisions of Vietnamese criminal law, juvenile offenders can be identified as follows: “Juveniles offenders are acts that are dangerous to society, as prescribed in the Code of Conduct. Criminal, committed by a person from 14 years old to under 18 years old, with full capacity for criminal liability, who violates social relationships protected by criminal law and must bear criminal responsibility for the crime his behavior”.

1. Causes and conditions of juveniles crime

- Socio-economic conditions

In Vietnam, the unemployment situation of a part of the urban population and an underemployed part of the population in rural areas is still high, and the government has no way to solve or overcome it. Recently, society has had changes due to the impact of globalization, leading to a number of negatives that tend to overwhelm traditional values, violating the good moral values of the Vietnamese people.

On the other hand, the gap between rich and poor in many places has become obvious, giving rise to a sense of disregard for morality among a segment of the population. Among the above people may be the parents of the minors, and the minors themselves are influenced by this ideology from their parents, leading to the formation of a deviant mentality that is willing to commit acts that violate the law.

- State management

Due to the impacts of the negative side of the market economy along with shortcomings in the socio-cultural management of state agencies and social organizations, we have not fully appreciated the complexity, seriousness of the crime situation of juveniles, specifically:

The management of cultural products still has many shortcomings, many types of cultural products have depraved and pornographic content and quite large quantities of toxic cultural products with unpredictable harmful effects appear commonly in the market and on the Internet some internet sites. In addition, cultural products with content inciting violence are also a type of blackcultural products that have existed quite commonly in recent times, especially images on some electronic websites. The content of this type of cultural product incites a violent lifestyle, incites “gangster” social behavior, killing each other, and disregarding human life. These contents are completely contrary to the humane lifestyle and cultural traditions of Vietnamese people.

In addition to the impact of “toxic” culture, another gap in entertainment service management is online games on the Internet (online games). Many forms and games have greatly influenced the thinking and thinking of young people. The consequence is that, in order to have money to play games, some juveniles have admitted that the impact of “addiction” to online games has pushed them to commit criminal acts.

- Management and education of family and school

Firstly, about management and education from the family. According to the provisions of the Law on Children 2016 (amended and supplemented in 2018) and related legal documents, educating and protecting children is not only the responsibility of the family but also the responsibility of the parents, schools and society, specifically the responsibilities of agencies, social organizations, and unions responsible for protecting children. Many families have chosen incorrect management and education methods, such as satisfying and fully meeting the material requirements of their minor children when these requirements are not legitimate, not appropriate for their age or age, family's economic conditions. Or the harsh and harsh treatment of parents towards their children by often using whips can prevent their children's bad actions. In addition, there are some families who have the mentality of relying on the school and society to manage and educate their children because their parents are busy with business, trade, often go on long business trips, or are sick. Disability does not allow you to closely manage your child's studies and activities. Therefore, juveniles living in these conditions have become pragmatic, pursuing material passions, and if they cannot manage money, it will quickly lead to acts of theft, robbery, and fraud to make money.

Second, about management and education from the school side. The situation of juvenile offenders is different between each region, region, and area. In particular, in big cities, densely populated urban areas, and developed industrial zones, the rate of people under 18 years old committing crimes is much higher than in local provinces, cities, and pure-bred areas shallow. It is possible to identify two school factors that affect students' crime: the management mechanism is still loose and flawed, there is no effective coordination between family and school, and there is no real Invest in equipping students with life skills. Currently, moral education, civic education, legal awareness education and student management in schools still have many limitations; The coordination between family, school and society is not tight and regular in managing, educating, detecting, preventing and handling children who show signs of violating the law; Some schools are afraid that their achievements and honor will be affected, so they do not promptly report to the authorities for educational management measures...

2. Solutions to prevent juvenile crime

Firstly, regarding legal construction:

According to the provisions of Article 12 of the 2015 Penal Code (amended and supplemented in 2017), the age of criminal responsibility in Vietnam is from full 14 years old and people from full 14 years old to under 16 years old are only subject to criminal liability for very serious or particularly serious crimes. In reality, there are many particularly serious cases committed by people under 14 years old but cannot be criminally prosecuted. Many cases committed by people under 18 years old cannot be brought to trial because of the crimes committed by people under 18 years old. This person is only 14 to under 16 years old but only commits less serious or serious crimes, even if they commit very serious or especially serious crimes, but those crimes are not specified in the 28 articles. The law that Article 12 of the 2015 Penal Code (amended and supplemented in 2017) lists, if they commit a crime, they will only be handled administratively.

There is an inconsistency between the provisions of the 2015 Penal Code (amended and supplemented in 2017) in the general part and the specific crimes part such as: In Article 145 there are provisions on the crime of sexual intercourse or sexual assault, engaging in other sexual acts with a person from 13 years old to under 16 years old is: “Any person who has reached 18 years of age has sexual intercourse or performs other sexual acts with a person from 13 to under 16 years old, If they do not fall into the cases specified in Articles 142 and 144 of this Code, they shall be sentenced to imprisonment from one to five years...”. Article 146 on the crime of lewdness against people under 16 years of age also stipulates: “Any person who is 18 years of age or older commits lewd acts against a person under 16 years of age, not for the purpose of sexual intercourse or for the purpose of performing other acts. Other sexual relations shall be punished with imprisonment from six months to three years...”. Thus, according to the basic structure of these two crimes, only people aged 18 years or older who have sexual intercourse with people aged 13 to under 16 years old or lewdness towards people under 16 years old will be prosecuted criminal proceedings, and people under 18 years old, no matter how many times they commit a crime, will not be criminally prosecuted. Such a regulation, in our opinion, is not reasonable compared to current practice, contradicting the provisions of Articles 142 and 144.

Therefore, to overcome the contradiction between the provisions of the Penal Code of 2019, 2015 (amended and supplemented in 2017) and in order to improve the effectiveness of preventing juveniles from committing crimes, in our opinion, it is necessary to amend the provisions in the basic components of Articles 145 and 146 in the direction, without regulating The basic structure of these two articles of law is “someone who has reached the age of 18...” which should be defined as the basic structure of Articles 141, 142, 143, 144 of the 2015 Penal Code (amended, added in 2017).

Second, regarding the application of the law: The application of the law to juvenile offenders must be applied and implemented seriously and fully to ensure the rights of juveniles. In addition, the juvenile justice system needs to ensure that measures to deprive juveniles of their freedom such as temporary detention, detention, sending to reformatories and term imprisonment are effective measures. Finally, and only applicable to children who commit serious violent crimes or repeatedly commit other serious crimes. In addition, it is necessary to apply diversion measures to resolve crimes or violations of the law committed by juveniles, such as mediation and community education, to replace criminal procedures. Official handlingso that children are aware of their mistakes, have the opportunity to correct and reform to become good citizens, living useful lives for society.

Third, strengthen social management measures, especially management in cyberspace: Children's access to information, especially information in cyberspace, requires strict management of family and school. The state also needs to promulgate and implement legal regulations to strictly manage network operators, manage business and educational activities related to ethics, and must be aware of and develop character formation of children. Business activities that are violent, incite violence, and entice, negatively affecting the development and personality formation of children, must be strictly prohibited and handled promptly.

Fourth, enhance the role of families and schools: To prevent juveniles from committing crimes, first, it is necessary to promote family education. Because family has a great influence in shaping each individual's personality. Each child begins to imitate the behavior, behavior, and expressions of each family member. The family must be the subject concerned with moral and lifestyle education; Control your children's social relationships to promptly detect and correct deviations and mistakes. When juveniles know how to live in accordance with social moral standards, the risk of crime will be limited. Families should selectively and systematically introduce legal knowledge to help children understand what is legal behavior, what is illegal behavior, and know what they should and should not do, what to do. Thus, it will form in children the awareness to stay away from breaking the law and committing crimes in the future.

References:

1. Constitution of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam 2015// URL: https://worldconstitutions.ru/?p=26  (accessed 21.02.2024)
2. Criminal Code of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam 1999// URL: https://j.jvolsu.com/index.php/en/component/attachments/download/2861  (accessed 21.02.2024)
3. Criminal Code of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam 2015, amendments and additions in 2017. // URL: https://www.policinglaw.info/assets/downloads/2015_Criminal_Code_of_Vietnam  (accessed 21.02.2024)
4. Criminal Procedure Code of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam 2015 // URL: https://www.wipo.int/wipolex/ru/legislation/details/21477  (accessed 21.02.2024)