Brief introduction on Vietnam Criminal Law

Criminal Law is one of the most important law in every countries including Vietnam. Therefore, if you wish to understand the Vietnamese law system, you need to make sure that you can understand the basic principles of Vietnam Criminal Law. 

The 1999 Criminal Law which was amended in 2011 is in effect at the moment. However, on the 1st July 2016, the new 2015 Criminal Law will be brought into effect to replace the 1999 Criminal Law. In this session only, we would take an overview look to the basic principles of 1999 Criminal Law since there is no significant change in the core principles between the current Criminal Law and the upcoming Criminal Law.

The principle on basis of penal liabilities

This principle has been a core one in many other Criminal Code from different countries. It infers that only the one who violated the regulations of the Criminal Code will be brought into account. On the other hand, a person who has did something bad only in the eyes of society but his or her action had not been regulated by the Criminal Code, he or she shall not be guilty.

The principle on handling crime

This is to say that all the offenders are equal in the eyes of law, regardless of their nationality, genders, belief, regions, social class status. At first, it seems to be a normal principle. However, this principle has proved that Vietnam had gone completely through the time of inequality. Some countries nowadays still apply the different handling way depend on the offender’s gender or their social class status.

The principle on munificent

Munificent is issue that was commonly applied the Criminal Code of many nations. In terms of Vietnam, munificent is widely recognized as a way to reduce penalties in particular situations. As can be taken from the 1999 Criminal Code, people who are under 18 years old, will not be sentenced to death regardless of how serious the crime he or she commit. It is believed that the people under the age of 18 could not fully have the awareness of their action.

Another illustration that could be best provided is that the handling crime on people who commit the minor crime for the first time. Those people would be considered not to be put in prison. The aim of the penalty is only to show that their actions is against the law and they must not commit it in the future.

The principle on creating the environment for offenders to get back to the society after they finished serving their sentences.

The offenders who has completely served the sentences will be given a chance to reintegrate the society and find a suitable occupation. It is a vital issue because people who have criminal convictions in their background would be very difficult to look for a job. Those people are often looked down by others and it would likely to push them back intro criminal path. Therefore, the authorities have to create them chances to get back to their normal life.