Chương I Luật trẻ em 2016: Những quy định chung

Chapter I

GENERAL PROVISIONS

Article 1. Children

A child is a human being below the age of 16.

Article 2. Scope

This Law provides for children’s rights and responsibilities; rules and methods of ensuring children’s rights; duties of agencies, organization, education facilities, families and individuals to exercise children’s rights and responsibilities.

Article 3. Regulated entities

State agencies, political organizations, socio-political organizations, political-social-professional organizations, social organizations, socio-professional organizations, economic organizations, non-business units, people's armed force units, educational establishments, families and Vietnamese citizens; international organizations and bodies, and foreign organizations that operate in the territory of Vietnam, and foreigners residing in Vietnam (hereinafter referred to as agencies, organizations, educational establishments, families and individuals).

Article 4. Interpretation of terms

In this Law, these terms are construed as follows:

1. Child protection refers to the implementation of appropriate measures for ensuring safe and healthy life for children, the prevention and response to child abuse and the support for disadvantaged children.

2. Children's comprehensive development refers to the development in all terms of physical, intellectual, mental and ethical aspects and social relations of children.

3. Surrogate care refers to the fact that an organization, family or individual undertakes to take care of an orphan, a child who is not permitted to or cannot live with natural parents or a child who is affected by natural disasters and calamities or aimed conflict for the purpose of ensuring the safety and best interests of such child.

4. Child caregiver is the one who undertakes to take care of a child. Such caregiver can be the child's guardian or the one who performs the surrogate care or is assigned to support, take care of or protect the child together with such child’s parent.

5. Child abuse refers to any act that results in harm to the body, emotion, psychology, honor or human dignity of such child through violence against the child, child exploitation, sexual abuse, neglect and abandonment, and other forms of causing harm to the child.

6. Violence against the child refers to acts of maltreating, persecuting or beating a child; taking physical abuse or causing harm to the child’s health; reviling or offending honor or dignity of the child; segregating, driving the child away and other deliberate acts that cause physical and mental harm to the child.

7. Child exploitation refers to the act of forcing the child to work against the law on labor, perform or produce pornographic products; organizing or supporting for tourist activities for the purpose of child sexual abuse; offering, adopting or supplying the child for prostitution and other acts of using the child for profiteering purpose.

8. Child sexual abuse refers to the act of using violence, threatening to use violence, forcing, persuading or seducing a child to engage in sexual acts. The child sexual abuse includes rape, aggravated rape, sexual intercourse or molestation with children and use of children for prostitution or pornography in any form.

9. Child neglect and abandonment refers to the child parent’s or the child caregiver’s failure to perform or inadequate performance of their duties to take care of the child.

10. Disadvantaged children refer to those who are unable to exercise their rights to life, protection, nurture and education, and need a special assistance and intervention of the Government, families and society so that they can live safely and fall in line with their families and the community.

11. Supervision of the exercise of the children's rights upon the children's proposal and expectation refers to the evaluation of activities carried out by relevant agencies, organizations and individuals for ensuring the children’s rights and response to children’s proposals for the purpose of protecting children’s best interests.

Article 5. Rules for ensuring the exercise of children’s rights and responsibilities

1. Facilitate children in exercising their rights and responsibilities in adequate manner.

2. Do not discriminate against children.

3. Ensuring children’s best interests while making decisions relating children.

4. Respect, listen, consider and respond to children’s proposals and expectations.

5. Consider ideas of children and those of relevant agencies and organizations while establishing policies and laws affecting children; combine goals or objectives regarding children in national, sector and local socio-economic development plans.

Article 6. Prohibited acts

1. Deprive children of right to life.

2. Neglect, abandon or engage in children trafficking, kidnap, swap and appropriate children.

3. Involve in child sexual abuse, use violence against children, abuse or exploit children.

4. Organize, support, incite or force the child to engage in child marriage.

5. Use, persuade, incite, excite, entice or force children to commit violations against the law, or offend honor or dignity of other person.

6. Prevent children from exercising their rights and responsibilities.

7. Fails to provide or conceal or preclude the provision of information concerning children who are abused or threatened to be exploited or suffered violence to their families, educational establishments or competent agencies and officials.

8. Discriminate against children on the grounds of their personal characters, family background, sex, race, nationality, belief or religion.

9. Sell or facilitate children in drinking alcohol or beer, smoking and using addictive substances or other stimulants, and unsafe foods which may cause harm to children.

10. Provide internet service and other services; produce, reproduce, release, operate, disseminate, possess, transport, store and trade in publications, toys, games and other products whose contents cause adverse influence on children’s healthy development.

11. Announce or disclose information about the privacy or secret of the child without the consent of the child who is enough 07 years old or older, or the consent of the child’s parent or guardian.

12. Make corrupt use of the child surrogate care to harm such child; take advantage of state policies and aid granted by organizations or individuals to seek private profit.

13. Build service facilities, production establishments or warehouses storing goods that cause environmental pollution, toxic chemicals or inflammables near facilities providing children protection services, educational establishments, health establishments, cultural establishments, children’s entertainment and amusement centers or vice versa.

14. Encroach or use facilities that serve children’s study, entertainment and other children protection services for purposes other than those regulated or illegal purposes.

15. Refuse, fail to perform or perform in insufficient untimely manner the support, intervention or treatment for children who are threatened to be or in peril, and whose body, honor or dignity are harmed.

Article 7. Resources for ensuring the exercise of children’s rights and protecting children

1. The Government shall guarantee the resources for fulfilling goals and objectives concerning children in national, sector and local socio-economic development plans; prioritize the arrangement of resources for protecting children and ensuring the exercise of children’s rights.

2. Financial sources for exercising children's rights includes funding from state budget, aids granted by domestic and foreign agencies, organizations, families and individuals, earnings from provided services, international aids and other lawful sources of income.

3. The Government shall provide human resource solutions and facilitate the exercise of children’s rights; develop networks of individuals who are charged with protecting children's rights at all levels, prioritize the arrangement of individuals in charge of child protection affairs at communal level and mobilize resources for developing networks of freelancers in charge of protecting children at hamlets, villages, highland villages, mountainous villages, residential groups and quarters.

Article 8. Contents of state management of children affairs

1. Request competent state agencies to promulgate or promulgate, within their competence, legislative documents concerning children and direct or organize the implementation of those legislative documents.

2. Establish and organize the implementation of national strategies, policies and goals concerning children.

3. Provide guidance on measures, procedures and standards of protecting children’s rights to agencies, organizations, education facilities, families and individuals as regulated by laws.

4. Propagate and disseminate legislations on children; employ the mass media to disseminate knowledge and skills, and mobilize the society to exercise children's rights.

5. Construct, train and improve knowledge and skills of officials, public employees and individuals in charge of protecting children, caregivers and networks of freelancers engaging in children protection for exercising children's rights.

6. Inspect the implementation of the children law; respond to complaints and denunciations, and handle actions in violation of the children law; respond to or expedite the response to proposals submitted by children, guardians and Organization representing the voice of children.

7. Carry out the statistics and reports on children's status and the implementation of the children law for competent state agencies.

8. Carry out international cooperation in exercising the children's rights.

Article 9. Cooperation in exercising children’s rights and responsibilities

1. Ministries, ministerial-level agencies and the government-affiliated agencies shall coordinate with agencies in charge of state management of children affairs and relevant agencies and organizations to carry out the inspection and response to complaints and denunciations, and handle acts in violation of the children law.

2. Agencies, organizations, educational establishments, families and individuals shall ensure the exercise of children's rights and responsibilities; support and facilitate children in exercising their rights and discharging their responsibilities as regulated by law; coordinate and exchange information together during their implementation.

3. Socio-political organizations and social organizations shall coordinate with agencies in charge of state management of children affairs during their performance of duties relating to children.

Article 10. Disadvantaged children

1. Disadvantaged children include the following groups:

a) Double orphans;

b) Abandoned children;

c) Homeless children;

d) Children with disabilities;

dd) Children affected by HIV/AIDS;

e) Children committed illegal acts;

g) Children who are drug addicts;

h) Children who must give up their studies to earn their living and fail to complete the universalization of secondary education;

i) Children who suffered seriously physical and mental harm due to violence;

k) Exploited children;

l) Sexually abused children;

m) Trafficked children;

n) Children who have fatal disease or disease requiring long-term treatment and are children of poor or near poor households;

o) Immigrant and refugee children whose parents are not yet identified or those who have no caring person.

2. The Government shall promulgate regulations detailing groups of disadvantaged children and appropriate support policies for each group.

Article 11. Month of action for children

1. The Month of Action for Children is annually organized in June to promote the “All people take care of, educate and protect children” movement; propagate, disseminate and mobilize agencies, organizations, educational establishments, families and individuals to implement policies, programs, plans and projects on children affairs, build works for children and mobilize resources for engaging in children affairs.

2. Ministry of Labour - Invalids and Social Affairs shall take the prime responsibility and coordinate with relevant agencies and organizations to direct and guide the implementation of the Month of Action for Children.