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| Students at Ninh Binh province-based Reformatory School No. 2 learn traditional crafts__Photo: VNA |
The maximum imprisonment sentence applicable to juvenile offenders would be 15 years, a reduction by three years as compared to the current regulations.
This is one of the salient points of a draft Law on Justice for Minors which has recently released by the Supreme People’s Court with a series of policies designed to better guarantee juvenile offenders’ interests and create opportunities for them to correct their mistakes.
Under the 2015 Penal Code, revised in 2017, offenders aged between full 16 and under 18 years and committing crimes for which life imprisonment or death penalty is applied will be subject to the maximum imprisonment term of 18 years.
As for those aged between full 14 and under 16 years, the maximum imprisonment term would be nine years, as opposed to the current 12 years.
The maximum imprisonment terms of 15 years and nine years would also be applied to minors who commit more than one crime and are subject to termed imprisonment as an aggregate sentence.
Besides, under the draft law, the scope of application of temporary detention to juvenile offenders would be narrowed. Accordingly, temporary detention would be applied only to the accused and defendants who are aged between full 14 years and under 16 years and commit particularly serious crimes and those aged from full 16 years to under 18 years and committing very serious crimes intentionally or particularly serious crimes.
Another important content of the draft law is the provision on redirection measures for juveniles who commit crimes but are not subject to examination for criminal liability.
Specifically, education at reformatory, which is currently applied as a judicial measure, would be applied as the most stringent redirection measure. The two redirection measures of reprimand and education at the commune, ward or township level would be retained. The measure of community-based reconciliation would be separated into two measures: giving apology to victims and making compensation for damage. Meanwhile, six new measures would be added, including participation in educational and vocational programs, compulsory psychotherapy treatment, and community services, among others.- (VLLF)
