Phần thứ ba Luật Tư pháp người chưa thành niên 2024: Hình phạt và thủ tục tố tụng đối với người chưa thành niên

Part three

PENALTIES AND LEGAL PROCEEDINGS IN RESPECT TO JUVENILES

Chapter VI

PENALTIES

Section 1. PENALTIES

Article 115. Penalties for juvenile delinquents

Juvenile delinquents shall only be subject to one of the following penalties for each crime:

1. Warning

2. Fines;

3. Community sentence;

4. Definite term imprisonment.

Article 116. Warning

Warning is applied to persons from 16 to under 18 years of age who commit serious crimes unintentionally or less serious crimes with mitigating factors, but not to the extent of being exempt from punishment.

Article 117. Fines

1. Fines shall be imposed on juvenile delinquents if they have income or private property.

2. The fine imposed on person from 16 to under 18 years of age who commit crimes shall not exceed one-half of the fines prescribed by the Criminal Code.

3. The fine imposed on person from 14 to under 16 years of age who commit crimes shall not exceed one-third of the fine prescribed by the Criminal Code.

Article 118. Community sentence

1. Community sentence is applied to persons from 16 to under 18 years of age who commit very serious crimes unintentionally or commit less serious crimes, serious crimes or persons from 14 to under 16 years of age who commit very serious crimes.

2. When applying community sentence on juvenile delinquents, their income shall not be deducted.

3. The duration of community sentence for juvenile delinquents shall not exceed one-half of the duration prescribed by the Criminal Code.

Article 119. Definite imprisonment

The term of imprisonment applicable to juvenile delinquents is prescribed as follows:

1. For persons from 16 to under 18 years of age when committing crimes, if the indefinite imprisonment or death sentence is imposed on the crimes they committed in accordance with the Criminal Code, the highest penalty applied shall not exceed 15 years of imprisonment; if a definite imprisonment is imposed on the crimes they committed, the highest penalty applied shall not exceed three-fifths of the duration of imprisonment prescribed by the Criminal Code, except for the case prescribed in Clause 2 of this Article;

2. For persons from 16 to under 18 years of age when committing the following crimes, if the indefinite imprisonment or death sentence is imposed on the crimes they committed in accordance with the Criminal Code, the highest penalty applied shall not exceed 15 years of imprisonment; if a definite imprisonment is imposed on the crimes they committed, the highest penalty applied shall not exceed three-fourths of the duration of imprisonment prescribed by the Criminal Code:

a) Murder;

b) Rape

Rape of a person under 16 years of age;

Non-consensual intercourse with a person from 13 to under 16 years of age;

dd) Illegal manufacturing of narcotic substances;

3. For persons from 14 to under 16 years of age when committing crimes, if the indefinite imprisonment or death sentence is imposed on the crimes they committed in accordance with the Criminal Code, the highest penalty applied shall not exceed 09 years of imprisonment; if a definite imprisonment is imposed on the crimes they committed, the highest penalty applied shall not exceed two-fifths of the duration of imprisonment prescribed by the Criminal Code, except for the case prescribed in Clause 4 of this Article;

4. For persons from 14 to under 16 years of age when committing the following crimes, if the indefinite imprisonment or death sentence is imposed on the crimes they committed in accordance with the Criminal Code, the highest penalty applied shall not exceed 18 years of imprisonment; if a definite imprisonment is imposed on the crimes they committed, the highest penalty applied shall not exceed half of the duration of imprisonment prescribed by the Criminal Code:

a) Murder;

b) Rape

Rape of a person under 16 years of age;

Non-consensual intercourse with a person from 13 to under 16 years of age;

dd) Illegal manufacturing of narcotic substances;

Section 2. SENTENCE DECISION, COMBINATION OF SENTENCES, SENTENCE EXEMPTION OR COMMUTATION, CONVICTION EXPUNGEMENT

Article 120. Sentence decision in cases of preparation for crimes, attempts to commit a crime

1. The court shall decide the sentence for juveniles in cases of preparation for crimes, attempts to commit a crime as specified in Criminal Code on corresponding crimes hereof and vary according to their nature, danger to society, progress of the crime and other factors that prevent the crime from being committed to the end.

2. The highest sentence imposed on a person from 14 to under 16 years of age preparing to commit a crime shall not exceed one-third of the sentence prescribed in the bracket for the act of preparing to commit a crime in the applicable article of the Criminal Code.

The highest sentence imposed on a person from 16 to under 18 years of age preparing to commit a crime shall not exceed half of the sentence prescribed in the bracket for the act of preparing to commit a crime in the applicable article of the Criminal Code.

3. The highest sentence imposed on persons from 14 to under 16 years of age who commit crimes shall not exceed one-third of the sentence prescribed by Articles 117, 118, and 119 of the Criminal Code.

The highest sentence imposed on persons from 16 to under 18 years of age who commit crimes shall not exceed half of the sentence prescribed by Articles 117, 118, and 119 of the Criminal Code.

Article 121. Combination of sentences of multiple crimes

1. When a juvenile delinquent is tried for multiple crimes, the Court shall decide the sentence for each of them and combined sentence in accordance with the Criminal Code.

If the combined sentence is a community sentence, it shall not exceed 3 years of community sentence.

If the combined sentence is a definite imprisonment, it shall not exceed 18 years of imprisonment for offenders from 16 to under 18 years of age and 12 years for offenders from 16 to under 18 years of age.

2. For juveniles who commit multiple crimes, some of which are committed before they turn 16, some of which are committed after they turn 16, the combined sentence shall not exceed the highest sentence for persons from 16 to under 18 years of age as prescribed in Clause 1 of this Article.

3. For persons who commit multiple crimes, some of which are committed before they turn 16 and some of which are committed after they turn 16, the combined sentence shall be applied as for offenders who are 18 years of age or older.

Article 122. Combination of sentences of multiple judgments

The combination of sentence in cases where a person who is serving a sentence is tried for a crime committed before such sentence is imposed, shall follow the Criminal Code.

In case a person has to serve multiple sentences that are not combined, the combination shall follow the Criminal Code.

For juvenile who commit multiple crimes, some of which are committed before they turn 16, some of which are committed after they turn 16, the combined sentence shall not exceed the highest sentence for persons from 16 to under 18 years of age as prescribed in Clause 1 of this Article.

Article 123. Commutation of sentence

1. A juvenile delinquent subject to a community sentence or imprisonment, if he/she has made progress and has served one-fourth of the term, shall be considered for a commutation by the Court; for imprisonment, each time the sentence may be reduced by four years, but he/she must serve at least two-fifths of the sentence. 

2. A juvenile delinquent subject to a community sentence or imprisonment, if he/she has made merits or is suffering from serious illness, shall immediately be considered for sentence commutation and may be exempted from serving the remaining part of the sentence.

3. A juvenile delinquent who is fined but falls into a particularly disadvantaged economic situation for a long time due to a natural disaster, fire, accident, or illness or has made merits, the Court may decide commutation or exemption from the remaining part of the fine upon the request of the Director of the Procuracy.

Article 124. Suspended sentence

Where a person is sentenced to imprisonment of up to 03 years, in consideration of the juvenile's identity and mitigating factors, the Court might give a suspended sentence with a probation period of 01 - 03 years and request the convict to fulfill certain obligations during this period in accordance with the Law on criminal judgment enforcement if imprisonment is deem unnecessary.

Article 125. Commutation of sentence

 Juvenile delinquents sentenced to imprisonment shall be eligible for suspended sentence in one of the following cases:

1. Cases eligible for suspended sentence in accordance with the Criminal Code;

2. In case the juvenile sentenced to imprisonment has registered and is eligible to participate in or is participating in the lower secondary school graduation exam, high school graduation exam, or graduation exam in vocational education institutions confirmed by the educational institution or vocational education institution where he/she studies, his/her sentence may be postponed until the exam is completed.

Article 126. Parole

1. Juvenile delinquents sentenced to imprisonment shall be eligible for a parole in one of the following cases:

a) Have made considerable progress and great rehabilitation;

b) Have serve one-thirds of the imprisonment;

c) Have a clear place of residence.

2. The juvenile delinquent shall be eligible for to be considered for a parole immediately when all the conditions specified in Clause 1 of this Article are met.

The competent criminal judgment enforcement agency must prepare an application for parole and take responsibility for the accuracy and legality of the application.

3. Upon request by the competent criminal judgment enforcement agency, the court shall decide to grant a parole to the convict.  The person on parole must fulfill the obligations during the probation period. The probation period is equal to the remaining time of the imprisonment.

4. If the person on parole breach his/her obligations multiple times or is administratively sanctioned multiple times during the probation period, the Court may cancel the parole decision and force him/her to serve the remaining part of imprisonment.

If that person commits a new crime during the probation period, the Court shall force him/her to serve a new combined sentence including the unserved imprisonment as prescribed in Article 122 of this Law.

5. If the person on parole has served at least half of the probation period and has made significant progress, the Court may, upon the request of the competent criminal judgment enforcement agency, shorten the probation period.

Article 127. Conviction expungement

1. A juvenile convict shall be considered not having convictions if he/she falls in one of the following cases:

a) Persons from 14 to 16 years of age;

b) Persons from 16 to 18 years of age who are convicted of unintentional less serious crimes, serious crimes, or very serious crimes;

2. Persons from 16 to 18 years of age who are convicted of intentional less serious crimes, serious crimes, or very serious crimes shall have his/her convictions automatically expunged if, from the time of completing the sentence or the end of the probation period or the end of the statute of limitations for the sentence enforcement, that person does not commit a new crime in:

a) 03 months in case of subject to warning, fine, community sentence or imprisonment but entitled to parole;

b) 06 months for cases subject to 5 years of imprisonment;

c) 01 year for cases subject to 5 to 15 years of imprisonment;

d) 02 years for cases subject to more than 15 years of imprisonment;

Chapter VII

LEGAL PROCEEDINGS FOR JUVENILES WHO ARE PERSONS FACING DENUNCIATION OR REQUISITIONS FOR CHARGES, PERSONS HELD IN EMERGENCY CUSTODY, PERSONS FACING CHARGES

Section 1. GENERAL PROVISIONS

Article 128. Issues to be determined when conducting legal proceedings for accused juveniles

1. 1. Age, physical and mental development level, level of awareness of the criminal behavior of the juvenile.

2. Living and educational conditions.

3. Whether or not there was an adult who instigated the crime.

4. Causes, conditions, and circumstances of the crime.

Article 129. Time limits for investigation, decisions on prosecution, preparation for adjudication in the first instance/second instance 

1. Time limits for investigation, decisions on prosecution, preparation for adjudication in the first instance/second instance for cases involving accused juveniles shall not exceed half of the time limits prescribed by Criminal Procedure Code.

For particularly complex cases or during the prosecution and adjudication in the first instance, the Procuracy and the Court shall issue a notification on applying diversion procedure, then the corresponding regulations on the time limits for investigation, decisions on prosecution, preparation for adjudication in the first instance/second instance as prescribed in the Criminal Procedure Code shall apply.

2. The Prosecutor General of the Supreme People's Procuracy shall take charge and cooperate with the Chief Justice of the Supreme People's Court, the Minister of Public Security, and the Minister of National Defense, shall elaborate this Article.

Article 130. Defense

1. Accused juveniles have the right to defend himself or herself or to have someone else defend him or her.

2. The representative of the accused juvenile has the right to choose a defense counsel or to defend the juvenile himself or herself

3. If the accused juvenile does not agree with the defense counsel selected by the representative, the choice must be made according to the opinion of the accused juvenile.

4. If the accused juvenile does not hire a defense counsel or his or her representative does not select a defense counsel, the competent procedural agency must appoint a defense counsel in accordance with the Criminal Procedure Code. If the accused juvenile does not hire a defense counsel or his or her representative does not select a defense counsel, the competent procedural agency must appoint a defense counsel in accordance with the Criminal Procedure Code.

Article 131. Notification of procedural activities

1. Before the legal proceedings, the competent procedural agency, person must notify in advance, within a reasonable time, the representative, the defense counsel, the person protecting the lawful rights and interests of the juvenile who is person facing denunciation or requisition for charge, person held in emergency custody, person facing charge of the time and place of conducting the legal proceedings in which they have the right to participate in accordance with this Law and the Criminal Procedure Code.

2. The notification must be in writing, clearly stating the full name, address, and phone number of the person issuing the notification and the person being notified. In cases where it is necessary to ensure the timely presence of the representative, defense counsel, or person protecting lawful rights and interests of the juvenile who is person facing denunciation or requisition for charge, person held in emergency custody, person facing charge, the competent procedural agency, person may notify directly, by telephone or other electronic means, but must immediately send a written notice afterwards.

3. The representative, defense counsel, or person protecting lawful rights and interests of the juvenile who is person facing denunciation or requisition for charge, person held in emergency custody, person facing charge, upon receiving the notification, must promptly inform the competent procedural agency, person of their presence and participation in the legal proceedings.

4. Notification of other procedural activities shall be carried out in accordance with the Criminal Procedure Code.

Article 132. Representatives’ participation in legal proceedings

1. The representative of the juvenile who is the person facing denunciation or requisition for charge, the person held in emergency custody, or the person facing charge shall have the right and obligation to participate in legal proceedings in accordance with competent procedural agency.

2. Cases ineligible to be the representative of a juvenile who is the person facing denunciation or requisition for charge, the person held in emergency custody, or the person facing charge include:

a) This person's participation will have a negative impact on the psychology of the juvenile, affecting the determination of the truth of the case;

b) This person's behavior is the direct cause of the crime of the juvenile.

3. The representative of the juvenile who is the person facing denunciation or requisition for charge, the person held in emergency custody, or the person facing charge are allowed to participate in taking testimonies, interrogating, confronting, searching body, inspecting traces across the body of the juvenile, participating in the identification, voice recognition and other procedural activities of the juvenile as prescribed by this Law and the Criminal Procedure Code; presenting evidence, documents, objects, requests, complaints, denunciations; reading, recording, photocopying documents related to the accusation of the juvenile in the case file after the investigation is completed

4. The representative of the juvenile who is the defendant, when participating in the trial has the right to present evidence, documents, objects, requests and proposals to change the presiding officers; express opinions, debate; complain about the procedural acts of those with authority to institute proceedings and the decisions of the Court.

5. Immediately after admitting a case, the competent procedural agency must notify in writing the representative of the juvenile who is the person facing denunciation or requisition for charge, the person held in emergency custody, or the person facing charge to participate in the proceedings; if necessary, the notification may be made directly, by phone or other electronic means, but a written one must be sent immediately afterwards.

6. The representative must be present at the time and place stated in the notification.

Article 133. Organizations’ participation in legal proceedings

1. Representatives of educational institutions, vocational training institutions, the Vietnam Women's Union, the Ho Chi Minh Communist Youth Union, and other organizations where juveniles study, work, and live have the right and obligation to participate in the legal proceedings in accordance with the decision of the competent procedural agency.

2. The persons specified in Clause 1 of this Article, when participating in the trial, have the right to present evidence, documents, objects, requests; express opinions, and debate.

 Article 134. Maintaining confidentiality of information of juveniles who are persons facing denunciation or requisitions for charges, persons held in emergency custody, persons facing charges

1. Information related to crimes of juveniles shall not be made public, except in cases where the person is under a pursuit warrant of a competent authority.

2. Documents, evidence, and information related to the personal identity and crimes of juveniles shall only be used for the settlement of the case and shall be strictly prohibited from being used for other purposes.

3. In special cases where it is necessary to protect juveniles, the Court may conduct a secret adjudication but must publicly announce the decision of the judgment.

Section 2. PREVENTIVE MEASURES, COERCIVE MEASURES

Article 135. Preventive measures, coercive measures

1. Preventive measures applying to juveniles include:

a) Emergency custody;

b) Arrest for cases specified in the Criminal Procedure Code;

c) Temporary detainment;

d) Detention;

dd) Electronic monitoring (EM);

e) Being put under supervision of the representative;

g) Bail;

h) Surety;

i) Residential confinement;

k) Exit restriction.

2. Coercive measures applying to juveniles include:  

a) Coercive delivery and forced escort

b) Distrainment of property;

c) Freezing of accounts.

3. After emergency custody, arrest, temporary detainment or detention, persons issuing detainment order or custodial orders against juveniles inform in writing the juveniles’ families, the commune-level People's Committees where they reside or agencies, organizations where they work or study; if necessary, the notification may be made directly, by phone or other electronic means, but a written one must be sent immediately afterwards.

Within 12 hours from the time receiving juveniles who are detainees, arrestees, investigation authorities receiving detainees, arrestees must inform their families, the commune-level People's Committees where they reside or agencies, organizations where they work or study; if the detainees, arrestees are foreigners, Vietnamese diplomatic authorities must be informed to deliver notices to diplomatic missions of countries whose citizens are detained or arrested.

If such notice obstructs the pursuit of suspects or investigative activities, investigation authorities receiving detainees and arrestees shall release notices after such obstructions suspend to exist.

Article 136. Emergency custody

1. Persons 14 to under 16 years of age may be held in emergency custody for crimes for which they are criminally liable under the Criminal Code if they fall under the cases subject to emergency custody as prescribed in the Criminal Procedure Code.

2. Persons 16 to under 18 years of age may be held in emergency custody for intentional serious crimes, very serious crimes, extremely serious crimes for which they are criminally liable under the Criminal Code if they fall under the cases subject to emergency custody as prescribed in the Criminal Procedure Code.

Article 137. Temporary detainment

1. Persons 14 to under 16 years of age may keep in Temporary detainment for crimes for which they are criminally liable under the Criminal Code if they fall under the cases subject to Temporary detainment as prescribed in the Criminal Procedure Code.

2. Persons 16 to under 18 years of age may be temporarily detained for intentional serious crimes, very serious crimes, extremely serious crimes for which they are criminally liable under the Criminal Code if they fall under the cases subject to Temporary detainment as prescribed in the Criminal Procedure Code.

Persons 16 to under 18 years of age may be temporarily detained for unintentional serious crimes or less serious crimes if they continue to commit more crimes or escape and get caught under pursuit warrants.

3. The duration of temporary detainment must not exceed 3 days from the time the Investigation Authority or the agency assigned to conduct certain investigation activities receives the detainee or arrestee or escorts the detainee or arrestee to its headquarters or from the time the Investigation Authority make an order to temporarily detain the offender who turns themselves in. If necessary, the person making the order of temporary detainment may extend the detainment duration once but not more than 03 days.

Within 12 hours of receiving the application for an extension of temporary detainment, the Procuracy at the same level or the competent Procuracy must issue a decision to approve or not approve.

Article 138. Detention

1. Detention may be applied to juveniles who are suspects or defendants from 14 to under 16 years of age for extremely serious crimes as prescribed by the Criminal Code when there are grounds to determine that that person falls into one of the following cases:

a) Other preventive measures have been applied, but the offender still continues to violate the law;

c) He/she does not have a clear place of residence;

c) He/she escapes and gets caught under a pursuit warrant;

d) He/she continues to commit crimes or there is reason to believe that this person is searching for, preparing tools, means or creating other conditions to continue committing crimes;

d) He/she destroys or forges evidence, documents, or objects of the case; threatens, represses, or takes revenge on witness testifiers, crime victims, denouncers, and their kin.

2. Detention may be applied to juveniles who are suspects or defendants from 14 to under 16 years of age for very serious crimes as prescribed by the Criminal Code when there are grounds to determine that that person falls into one of the following cases:

a) Other preventive measures have been applied, but the offender still continues to violate the law;

c) He/she does not have a clear place of residence;

c) He/she escapes and gets caught under a pursuit warrant;

d) He/she continues to commit crime;

d) He/she destroys or forges evidence, documents, or objects of the case; threatens, represses, or takes revenge on witness testifiers, crime victims, denouncers, and their kin.

3. Detention may be applied to juveniles who are suspects or defendants from 16 to under 18 years of age for intentional serious crimes, very serious crimes, extremely serious crimes as prescribed by the Criminal Code when there are grounds to determine that that person falls into one of the following cases:

a) Other preventive measures have been applied, but the offender still continues to violate the law;

c) He/she does not have a clear place of residence;

c) He/she escapes and gets caught under a pursuit warrant, or there are grounds proving that he/she will escape;

d) He/she continues to commit crimes or there is reason to believe that this person is searching for, preparing tools, means or creating other conditions to continue committing crimes;

d) He/she bribes, coerces, or incites other individuals to give false statements or documents; destroys or forges evidence, documents, or objects of the case; threatens, represses, or takes revenge on witness testifiers, crime victims, denouncers, and their kin.

4. Detention may be imposed on persons 16 to under 18 years of age for unintentional serious crimes or less serious crimes if they continue to commit more crimes or escape and get caught under pursuit warrants.

5. The detention period for juveniles who are suspects or defendants shall not exceed half of the corresponding detention period prescribed in the Criminal Procedure Code, except in the case prescribed in Clause 8 of Article 151 of this Law. When there are no longer grounds for applying detention, the competent procedural agency or person must promptly cancel or replace the measure with another preventive measure.

6. If the juveniles who are suspects or defendants are being held in detention and there are notifications of the application of the diversion procedure, presiding authorities shall consider continuing the detention or canceling it and replacing it with another preventive measure.

7. The Prosecutor General of the Supreme People's Procuracy shall take charge and cooperate with the Chief Justice of the Supreme People's Court, the Minister of Public Security, and the Minister of National Defense, shall elaborate clause 5 of this Article.

Article 139. Electronic monitoring - EM

1. EM is an alternative preventive measure to detention. Based on the nature, level of danger to society of the behavior and personal identity of the juvenile who is a suspect or defendant, the Investigation Authority, the Procuracy, or the Court may decide to allow them to be electronically monitored.

2. The suspect or defendant under EM must make a written commitment to perform the following obligations:

a) Not leaving the monitoring area, except in cases specified in Clause 5 of this Article;

b) Being present upon summons, except in cases of force majeure or objective obstacles;

c) Not escaping or continuing to commit crimes;

a) Not committing acts of bribing, coercing or inciting other individuals to give false statements or documents, destroying or forging case evidences, documents and item, shifting property related to the case away, threatening, repressing or avenging witness testifiers, crime victims, denouncers and their kin;

dd) Not removing or destroying electronic monitoring devices or disrupt the operation of electronic monitoring devices.

3. The Head and Deputy Head of the Investigation Authority, the Director and Deputy Director of the Procuracy, the Chief Justice and Deputy Chief Justice of the Court, the Judge presiding over the trial, and the Adjudication Panel have the right to issue decisions on electronic monitoring of minors who are suspects or defendants and must clearly state the scope of monitoring.  The decision of the Head and Deputy Head of the Investigation Authority must be approved by the Procuracy of the same level before enforcement.

4. The period of electronic monitoring shall not exceed the time limit for investigation, decisions on prosecution, preparation for adjudication in the first instance/second instance as prescribed in this Law.  The period of electronic monitoring for a person sentenced to imprisonment shall not exceed the time limit from the date of sentencing until the time the person goes to serve imprisonment.

5. The person who issues the decision on applying electronic monitoring must immediately send this decision to the juvenile who is the suspect, the defendant, and their representative; immediately notify the People's Committee of the commune where the juvenile resides and hand over the juvenile to the People's Committee of that commune for enforcement.

If the juvenile who is the suspect, the defendant must temporarily leave the area of ​​monitoring due to force majeure or objective obstacles, the consent of the People's Committee of the commune where the person resides and a permit from the person who issued the decision on applying electronic monitoring must be obtained; The permit must be sent to the People's Committee of the commune where the person resides.

6. If the suspects and defendants violate duties guaranteed in clause 2 of this Article, they shall be held in detention. People's Committees of communes where the suspects and defendants reside must inform the authorities issuing Decision on applying electronic monitoring about the violations to handle them within their jurisdiction.

7. Cancellation or replacement of electronic monitoring shall comply with the regulations on cancellation or replacement of preventive measures of this Law and the Criminal Procedure Code.

8. The Government shall elaborate this Article.

Article 140. Measures of being put under supervision of the representative

1. Measures of being put under the supervision of the representative shall apply to juveniles who are suspects or defendants to ensure that they are present upon being summoned by Investigation authorities, Procuracies, Courts.

2. The suspect or defendant under supervision of the representative must make a written commitment to perform the following obligations:

a) Being present upon summons, except in cases of force majeure or objective obstacles;

b) Not escaping or continuing to commit crimes;

c) Not committing acts of bribing, coercing or inciting other individuals to give false statements or documents, destroying or forging case evidences, documents and item, shifting property related to the case away, threatening, repressing or avenging witness testifiers, crime victims, denouncers and their kin;

3. The Head and Deputy Head of the Investigation Authority, the Director and Deputy Director of the Procuracy, the Chief Justice and Deputy Chief Justice of the Court, the Judge presiding over the trial, and the Adjudication Panel have the right to issue decisions on measures of being put under the supervision of the representative and handle over the juveniles who are suspects, defendants to their representatives for supervision.

The representative assigned to supervise has the obligation to closely supervise the juvenile and his/her conduct, morality and education.

In case the representative is not able to continue performing the assigned tasks or fails to complete the assigned tasks, the competent person specified in this clause shall decide to change the representative.

4. The period of measures of being put under supervision of the representative shall not exceed the time limit for investigation, decisions on prosecution, preparation for adjudication in the first instance/second instance as prescribed in this Law.  The period of the measure of being put under supervision of the representative for a juvenile sentenced to imprisonment shall not exceed the time limit from the date of sentencing until the time the person goes to serve imprisonment.

5. The person who issues the decision on applying the measure of being put under supervision must immediately send this decision to the juvenile, who is the suspect, the defendant, and their representative; immediately notify the People's Committee of the commune where the juvenile resides for management and supervision of the juvenile.

If the juvenile who is the suspect or defendant must temporarily leave the place of residence due to force majeure or objective obstacles, the consent of the People's Committee of the commune where the person resides and a permit from the person who issued the decision on applying the measure of being put under supervision must be obtained. The permit must be sent to the People's Committee of the commune where the person resides.

6. If the suspects and defendants violate duties guaranteed in clause 2 of this Article, they may be held in detention. The representative assigned to supervise must promptly inform the People's Committee at the commune level of the violation and cooperate with competent authorities to take timely measures to prevent and handle it. People's Committees of communes where juveniles who are suspects and defendants reside must inform the authorities issuing Decision on applying the measure of being put under supervision about the violations to handle them within their jurisdiction.

7. Cancellation or replacement of measures of being put under supervision shall comply with the regulations on cancellation or replacement of preventive measures of this Law and the Criminal Procedure Code.

Article 141. Coercive delivery and forced escort

1. Coercive delivery and forced escort shall be imposed on juveniles in one of the following cases:

a) Juveniles who are suspects or defendants that have been summoned for the second time but are intentionally absent not due to a force majeure reason or an objective obstacle;

b) Juveniles who are persons held in emergency custody, suspects and defendants held in detention from the place of detention, temporary detainment to the location of investigation, prosecution and adjudication of the case.

2. Forced escort shall only apply on juveniles who are persons facing denunciation or requisitions for charges and through examination and verification there are enough grounds to determine that they are involved in a crime for which the case is prosecuted, has been summoned but is still absent without force majeure or objective obstacles.

3. When escorting the juvenile, handcuffs or other coercive measures shall not be applied, except in cases where the juvenile shows signs of escape, acts of resistance, or disturbs public order.

Section 3. PROCEDURES FOR FILING OF CHARGES, INVESTIGATION, PROSECUTION

Article 142. Lodging and processing of criminal information, filing of charges, investigation, prosecution

1. All activities of lodging and processing of criminal information, filing of charges, investigation of cases involving juveniles who are persons facing denunciation or requisitions for charges, persons held in emergency custody, persons facing charges must be conducted in an environment that is favorable for ensuring the safety of their lives, health, personal privacy, honor, dignity, and other lawful rights and interests.

2. Friendly legal proceedings must be applied to juveniles who are persons facing denunciation or requisitions for charges, persons held in emergency custody, persons facing charges right from the stage of prosecution.

3. When conducting proceedings against juveniles who are persons facing denunciation or requisitions for charges, persons held in emergency custody, persons facing charges, competent procedural persons must have a friendly attitude and use easy-to-understand language that is appropriate to their age, gender, cognitive ability, and maturity level.

4. In case the agency assigned to conduct some investigation admits a case involving a juvenile who is a person facing charges, it must request the competent Procuracy to issue a decision to transfer the entire case to the competent Investigation authority.

5. The Prosecutor General of the Supreme People's Procuracy shall take charge and cooperate with the Chief Justice of the Supreme People's Court, the Minister of Public Security, and the Minister of National Defense, shall elaborate clause 4 of this Article.

Article 143. Separation in criminal cases involving juveniles

1. In a criminal case involving a juvenile and an adult defendant, the Investigation Authority shall separate the criminal case to resolve the case independently for the juvenile defendant.

2. Documents and evidence collected during the resolution of cases involving juveniles and cases involving adults as prescribed in Clause 1 of this Article shall be used in the resolution of these cases.

3. The Prosecutor General of the Supreme People's Procuracy shall take charge and cooperate with the Chief Justice of the Supreme People's Court, the Minister of Public Security, and the Minister of National Defense, shall elaborate this Article.

Article 144. Statement extraction or interrogation

1. For cases of statement extraction from or interrogation of juveniles at the place of investigation and prosecution, the room for statement extraction from or interrogation must be arranged to ensure friendliness and suitability for their psychology and age.

2. While extracting statements and interrogating, the competent procedural person must consider applying appropriate measures to minimize the time and number of times of extracting statements and interrogating and must immediately stop extracting statements and interrogating when the juvenile shows signs of fatigue, affecting the ability to give accurate and complete statements.

3. While extracting statements and interrogating juveniles, their representatives or defense counsels, or persons protecting their lawful rights and interests must be present; cases where it is necessary to keep the investigation confidential for crimes against national security shall be handled in accordance with the Criminal Procedure Code.

 If necessary, when extracting statements and interrogating, the competent procedural agency may invite social workers, medical, psychological, educational, and social work experts.

4. After each time of statement extraction or interrogation by the competent person, the representative, the defense counsel, the person protecting of lawful rights and interests, and the social worker may interrogate the juvenile if the Investigator or Prosecutor agrees. The Investigator or Prosecutor has the right to request the cancellation of the interrogation, and the interrogation must immediately stop in case the questions of these people are suggestive or directional in nature related to the case.

5. Statement extraction from or interrogation of juveniles must not be carried out more than 02 times per day, 02 hours per session, except for the following cases:

a) Organized crimes;

b) Seeking of fugitive criminals;

c) Prevention of crimes;

d) Search of tools or instruments of crime or other exhibits related to the case;

dd) Cases with several complex facts.

6. Statement extraction from or interrogation of juveniles must not be carried out at night, except for the following cases:

a) Juveniles held in emergency custody;

b) Seeking of fugitive criminals;

c) Prevention of crimes.

7. Written records of statements and interrogation bear no legal effect when they have the signature or fingerprint of juveniles’ representatives or defense counsels, or persons protecting their lawful rights and interests.

Article 145. Identification, voice recognition

1. Investigators, when necessary, may let juveniles who are arrestees, detainees and defendants to identify, recognize voices.

In case the juvenile is asked to identify an image of a corpse with a frightening appearance, he/she must be psychologically prepared or use appropriate electronic devices and simulated images for identification.

2. During the process of identification and voice recognition, the Investigator must create a comfortable atmosphere and encourage the minor to make the most accurate identification possible. After the identifying identifies, recognizes an individual, item or photo displayed for identification or one of the voices projected, the Investigator are not required to ask the juvenile to explain on how he/she identifies, recognizes that person, item, photo or voice.

3. Identification, voice recognition shall not be carried out at night, except for cases specified in Points b and c of Clause 6 of Article 144 of this Law.

4. Identification and voice recognition must be carried out in the presence of juveniles’ representatives or defense counsels.

Article 146. Confrontation

1. Confrontation with juveniles shall only be carried out in cases where the case cannot be resolved without confrontation.

2. Confrontation with juveniles shall only be carried out once a day and shall not last more than 2 hours. The competent procedural person shall immediately suspend the confrontation if the juvenile shows signs of fatigue or stress.

3. When conducting the confrontation, the competent procedural person may put the participants in an isolated room and use electronic devices, curtains, or other protective measures to avoid affecting the psychology of the juvenile.

4. The confrontation with minors must be conducted in the presence of their representatives or defense counsels and persons protecting their lawful rights and interests.

Article 147. Search of body, inspection of traces across a body

1. Search of body, inspection of traces across a body of a juvenile must be conducted in the presence of his/her representative.

2. Search of body, inspection of traces across a body of a juvenile must be carried out as fast as possible.

Section 4. ADJUDICATION PROCEDURE

Article 148. Authority to adjudicate criminal cases

The Family and Juvenile Court has the authority to adjudicate criminal cases involving juveniles who are accused persons. For Courts that have not yet organized the Family and Juvenile Court, the adjudication of criminal cases involving juveniles who are accused persons shall be conducted by the Judge specified in Clause 1 of Article 29 of this Law.

Article 149. Friendly courtroom

1. The court shall adjudicate the defendant who is a juvenile in a friendly courtroom.

2. The positions of the presiding officers, participants in legal proceedings, and participants in the trial in the courtroom shall be arranged on the same plane.

The juvenile who is a defendant participating in the court proceedings shall sit next to his/her defense counsel or representative.

3. The Chief Justice of the Supreme People's Court shall elaborate this Article.

Article 150. Attendance of social workers

The social worker shall attend the trial when summoned by the Court. If the social worker is absent, depending on the case, the Trial Panel shall decide to postpone the trial or continue the adjudication.

Article 151. Friendly adjudication procedure

1. Trials must be conducted in a friendly manner, ensuring lawful rights and interests of juveniles. The Judge presiding over the trial must wear the administrative uniform of the Court; the prosecutor must wear appropriate uniform, not the uniform of the People's Procuracy.

2. During the trial, handcuffs or other coercive measures must not be applied, except in cases where the juvenile shows signs of resistance, causes disorder in the trial or other negative actions.

3. The representative of the juvenile may assist the juvenile at the trial.

4. Court president shall request the social worker present at the trial to present the social investigation report and the additional social investigation report (if any), propose the application of diversion measures (if any) and other related issues.

5. The questioning and debate with juveniles at court shall be conducted a manner that is suitable with their age, gender, cognitive ability and maturity.  Questions should be brief, simple, and easy to understand, and not cover multiple issues at once.  

6. During the trial, if the juvenile is found to be eligible for diversion measures, the Trial Panel shall review and decide to apply diversion measures on the defendant. This decision shall include the contents specified in Clause 1 of Article 56 of this Law, except for content related to adjournment of the lawsuits against the defendant. This decision may be appealed in accordance with the Criminal Procedure Code.

If it is deemed necessary to develop or supplement a diversion plan, the Trial Panel shall decide to suspend the trial and request the social worker to develop or supplement a diversion plan. The suspension period of the trial shall not exceed 10 days from the date of the trial suspension decision. After the suspension of the trial, the Trial Panel shall continue to resolve the case in accordance with law.

7. After pronouncing judgments or announcing decisions, the Trial Panel shall decide to hold the juvenile in detention in one of the following cases:

a) The juvenile is being held in detention, but it is deemed necessary to continue with the detention to ensure the enforcement of the judgment or decision;

b) The juvenile is not being held in detention, but there are grounds to believe they may flee or commit further offenses.

8. The detention period applicable to juveniles is prescribed as follows:

a) No more than 45 days from the date of pronouncing judgments;

b) No more than 25 days from the date of announcing the decision on applying the educational measure at reformatory.

Article 152. Pronouncement of judgments

When pronouncing judgments, The Trial Panel shall read the decision in the judgment. Additional explanations on the abidance by the sentences and the right to appeal and other contents may be provided after the reading of the judgment in accordance with law.

Chapter VIII

LEGAL PROCEEDINGS IN RESPECT TO JUVENILES WHO ARE CRIME VICTIMS, WITNESS TESTIFIERS

Article 153. Provision of protection, assistance to juveniles who are crime victims, witness testifiers 

1. The legal proceedings involving juveniles who are crime victims, witness testifiers must be conducted in an environment conducive to ensuring their safety in terms of life, health, dignity, honor, property, personal secrets, rights, and other lawful interests. Limiting the number of interactions between juveniles who are crime victims, witness testifiers, and persons facing denunciation or requisitions for charges, persons facing charges to the lowest possible extent.

2. Competent procedural agencies, persons must apply appropriate measures to minimize the anxiety and stress of the juveniles who are crime victims, witness testifiers during their participation in the proceedings.

3. Competent procedural agencies, persons must cooperate with social workers, child protection agencies, and other relevant organizations to support, care for, and protect juveniles who are crime victims, witness testifiers during their participation in the proceedings.

4. Cases involving juveniles who are crime victims or witness testifiers shall be prioritized and handled as soon as possible.

5. Competent procedural agencies, persons must apply appropriate, necessary measures in accordance with the law to protect the life, health, dignity, honor, property, and other lawful rights and interests of juveniles who are crime victims or witness testifiers and their kin when they are harmed or threatened.

6. Juveniles who are crime victims or witness testifiers shall not be escorted by force.

7. Juveniles who are crime victims facing difficult circumstances shall receive support from the Child Protection Fund.

Article 154. Representatives and supporters' participation in legal proceedings

1. Juveniles who are crime victims have the right to have a legal representative, a person protecting their lawful rights and interests, and juveniles who are witness testifiers have the right to have a legal representative to participate in legal proceedings.  If the participation of the legal representative does not ensure the juvenile's interests, another legal representative must be appointed in accordance with the law.

2. Immediately after admitting a case, the competent procedural agency must notify in writing the legal representative of the juvenile who is a crime victim, the witness testifier to participate in the proceedings; if necessary, and the notification can be made directly, via phone, or other electronic means, but must be followed up with a written notification. The legal representative must be present at the time and location specified in the notification.

3. Before conducting any legal proceedings, the competent authority must inform the legal representative, the person protecting lawful rights and interests of the juvenile who is a crime victim, the legal representative of the witness testifier as stipulated in this Law and the Criminal Procedure Code.

4. At the request of the juvenile who is a crime victim, their legal representative, or when deemed necessary, the competent procedural agency may request the involvement of a social worker to guide, support the juvenile and perform other duties, powers of the social worker as prescribed by law.

5. If deemed necessary, the competent procedural agency may request medical, psychological, educational, and social work experts to assist the juvenile who is a crime victim, witness testifier during the legal proceedings.

Article 155. Maintaining confidentiality of information of juveniles who are crime victims or witness testifiers

1. Competent procedural agencies, persons must apply appropriate measures to maintain confidentiality of personal privacy of juveniles who are crime victims or witness testifiers.  

2. It is strictly prohibited to disclose information about the full name, place of residence, education, work, images, and other identification-related information of juveniles who are crime victims or witness testifiers.

During pronouncing judgments, the Judge is not allowed to mention the full name, place of residence, education, or work of the juvenile who is a crime victim or witness testifier.

3. The court shall handle cases involving gender-based violence of juveniles or other special cases requiring juvenile protection in a secret trial.

4. Competent procedural agencies, persons must promptly request press agencies and news agencies not to publish or to remove information and images related to the case that affect the honor and dignity of juveniles who are crime victims or witness testifiers.

5. Competent procedural agencies, persons shall apply professional measures or request the competent authority to apply technical measures to protect the personal information, honor and dignity of juveniles who are crime victims or witness testifiers that are disseminated on the internet.

6. Competent procedural agencies, persons must handle, within their jurisdiction, or propose to relevant agencies or organizations to handle, any intentional dissemination of personal information of juveniles who are crime victims in cases of child abuse that affects their dignity and honor.

Article 156. Statement extraction, confrontation, identification, voice recognition, experimental investigations

1. Extraction of statements from juveniles who are crime victims and witness testifiers can be done at the place of investigation, prosecution, their place of residence or place of study, workplace, or living place, or at the facility for taking care of juveniles. Priority should be given to extracting statements at their place of residence. When extracting the testimony of juveniles who are crime victims or witness testifiers at the place of investigation or prosecution, a designated room must be arranged to ensure a friendly environment suitable for their psychology and age.

If deemed necessary, the testimony of juveniles who are crime victims or witness testifiers may be audio or video recorded.

2. During the extraction of the testimony of juveniles who are crime victims or witness testifiers, the competent procedural person must maintain a friendly attitude and use language that is easy to understand, appropriate for their age, gender, cognitive abilities, maturity level, and the specific circumstances of the family, psychological state, health, and other characteristics of the juveniles.

3. Competent procedural agencies, persons must limit the number of times of extraction of testimony from juveniles who are crime victims or witness testifiers and should only do so if deemed necessary.

4. Juveniles who are victims or witnesses should not be repeatedly questioned on the same matter. Testimony should not be taken more than twice in one day, each session not exceeding two hours, except in cases with complex circumstances. Extraction of testimony should be paused immediately if the juvenile shows signs of fatigue that may affect their ability to provide accurate and complete information.

5. During the extraction of testimony, the competent procedural person may use diagrams, models, electronic devices, or other tools to assist the extraction of testimony from juveniles who are crime victims or witness testifiers.

6. Confrontation between juveniles who are crime victims or witness testifiers and the accused persons should not be conducted unless deemed necessary for case resolution.

During the confrontation, the competent procedural person shall arrange separate rooms for the participants and use electronic devices, screens, or other protective measures to avoid affecting the psychology of the juveniles.

Confrontation with juveniles who are crime victims or witness testifiers should only be conducted once a day and not exceed two hours per session.  Competent procedural persons must immediately halt the confrontation if juveniles show signs of fatigue or stress.

7. Juveniles who are crime victims or witness testifiers have the right to refuse to participate in experimental investigations if such investigations may harm their psychological well-being.

8. During testimony, confrontation, identification, voice recognition, or experimental investigations, the juvenile’s legal representative or person protecting their lawful rights and interests must be present.  

9. During testimony, confrontation, identification, voice recognition, or experimental investigations, Investigators, Investigation Officers, Prosecutors, and Inspectors should dress appropriately, not in the uniform of the People’s Police or Prosecution.

Article 157. Inspection of traces across a body, request for expert examinations

1. Inspection of traces across a body of a juvenile who is a crime victim, witness testifier must involve their legal representative.

If deemed necessary, a doctor may be invited to participate in the inspection of traces across the body of a juvenile who is a crime victim. The examination of the genital of a juvenile who is the victim must be performed by a doctor. 

2. The inspection of traces on the body of a juvenile who is the victim or witness must be carried out as quickly as possible.

3. Only request an expert examination or take samples from the body of a minor who is the victim or witness if there are grounds to believe that it is necessary to resolve the case. When conducting an expert examination and taking samples from the body, the privacy of the juvenile must be respected.

4. The agency handling the case must perform an examination within 24 hours of discovering grounds in cases of crimes in flagrante, crimes that have just ended but are discovered, or cases that require expert examination or have grounds or documents proving an act of harming juveniles. If it is necessary to take the victim to a medical establishment for first aid or emergency care, the agency handling the case must cooperate with the medical establishment to collect samples for expert examination.

Article 158. Limiting contact with the defendant

1. The Trial Panel must limit contact between the juvenile who is the victims and witnesses and the defendant when they present their testimony at the trial.

2. During the trial, the Trial Panel must isolate the juvenile who is the crime victim and witness testifier from the defendant in the following cases:

a) Cases involving juveniles who are victims of gender-based violence, violence, or trafficking;

b) Cases involving victims under 10 years of age;

c) Other cases where the juvenile or their representative requests isolation and the Trial Panel deems it necessary to isolate them to ensure the best interests of the juvenile.

Article 159. Adjudication procedure

1. Limiting the summoning of juveniles who are crime victims or witness testifiers to participate in court if it does not affect the resolution of the case. The judge presiding over the trial shall use the juvenile’s testimony in the case file or apply other alternative measures to adjudicate the case.

The judge presiding over the trial may decide to conduct an online trial in accordance with law so that juveniles who are crime victims or witness testifiers can participate in the trial at the multi-party hearing venue. 

2. When juveniles who are victims or witnesses participate in the trial, they shall be put in an isolated room and allowed to use electronic devices; if an isolated room cannot be arranged, they shall be allowed to sit in the courtroom but must be separated from the defendant.

3. During the trial, the following requirements must be satisfied:

a) When questioning, questions must be brief, simple, and easy to understand, using language appropriate to the juvenile's age, gender, cognitive ability, and maturity level. Multiple matters shall not be asked at the same time. The questioning must pay attention to the specific characteristics of juveniles' family circumstances, psychological status, health and other characteristics;

b) If necessary, body diagrams, models, electronic devices or other tools can be used to assist the juvenile in answering questions. Juveniles who are crime victims and witness testifiers must not be asked to point to their body parts;

c) Questions that are offensive, threatening, embarrassing or insulting to juveniles who are crime victims and witness testifiers are prohibited.

4. Juveniles who are crime victims or witness testifiers are provide with conditions to be familiar with and interact with the adjudication process and procedures.

5. The Chief Justice of the Supreme People's Court shall elaborate this Article.

Article 160. Compensation for juveniles who are crime victims

1. Determination of damage and payment of damage shall be carried out in accordance with civil laws.

2. Compensation for juveniles who are crime victims must be made promptly.

3. If life, health of the juvenile who is the crime victim is harmed and requires timely treatment but the person compensating cannot make compensation immediately, funds from the Children Protection Fund may be used. The person with the obligation to compensate must repay the Fund in accordance with applicable regulations.

4. The Government shall detail Clause 3 of this Article.

Article 161. Support for functional rehabilitation for juvenile who are victims

1. Crime victims who are under 16 years of age shall receive support and intervention in accordance with the Law on Children.

2. Victims from 16 to under 18 years of age have the right to be arranged a safe temporary residence, receive psychological counseling, medical treatment, legal aid, skills training, alternative care and other support activities as prescribed by law.

Bài viết liên quan

Đồng phạm giết người được xác định như thế nào?

Đồng phạm giết người được xác định như thế nào?

Trong một vụ án giết người có sự tham gia của nhiều người, việc xác định rõ ai là người trực tiếp thực hiện hành vi phạm tội và ai là người đóng vai trò hỗ trợ, xúi giục hay chủ mưu là vấn đề có ý nghĩa đặc biệt quan trọng trong quá trình điều tra, truy tố và xét xử. Theo Bộ luật Hình sự năm 2025, đồng phạm là trường hợp có từ hai người trở lên cố ý cùng thực hiện một tội phạm. Tuy nhiên, không phải ai có mặt tại hiện trường cũng bị xem là đồng phạm giết người. Vậy pháp luật hiện hành quy định như thế nào để xác định một người là đồng phạm trong tội danh này? Bài viết dưới đây sẽ phân tích cụ thể các dấu hiệu pháp lý để nhận diện đồng phạm trong tội giết người theo quy định mới nhất. 16/06/2025

Khi nào bị xem đồng phạm giết người? Đồng phạm trong vụ án giết người bị phạt bao nhiêu năm tù?

Khi nào bị xem đồng phạm giết người? Đồng phạm trong vụ án giết người bị phạt bao nhiêu năm tù?

Trong thực tiễn tố tụng hình sự, không ít vụ án giết người được thực hiện bởi nhiều người cùng tham gia với vai trò, hành vi và mức độ khác nhau. Khi đó, việc xác định ai là đồng phạm, ai là người chủ mưu, tổ chức hay giúp sức sẽ ảnh hưởng trực tiếp đến trách nhiệm hình sự và mức hình phạt áp dụng đối với từng người. Theo quy định của Bộ luật Hình sự năm 2025, đồng phạm giết người là trường hợp có từ hai người trở lên cùng cố ý thực hiện hành vi tước đoạt tính mạng người khác. Vậy khi nào thì bị xem là đồng phạm trong tội giết người? Và đồng phạm trong những vụ án này có thể bị xử lý với mức án bao nhiêu năm tù? Bài viết này sẽ làm rõ các căn cứ pháp lý và mức hình phạt theo quy định mới nhất. 16/06/2025