>>Vietnam’s ancient laws and the crimes of reviling other people
>>Stealth and robbery under ancient laws of Vietnam
Pham Diem
State and Law Research Institute
Falsities and dishonesties were arranged by Vietnamese ancient law-makers with full intention into different chapters: “Tra Nguy” (Falsity and Treachery) of Hong Duc Code with 37 Articles, and “Luat Hinh” (Penal Law) of Gia Long Code with 30 Articles. To them, these acts were classified into two types: falsities and dishonesties in public-service relations and falsities and dishonesties in civil relations.
I. Falsities and dishonesties in public-service relations
Falsities and dishonesties in public-service relations such as the forgery of the seals of kings or of State bodies were considered grave crimes under the ancient laws of Vietnam. Article 515 of Hong Duc Code stipulated: Those who forge the seals of the king’s father or the king shall be sentenced to beheading, forge the seals of the king’s mother, the queen, the crown prince or his wife shall be sentenced to hanging.
Under Article 516 of the same Code, those who forge the seals of central agencies, the prime minister, local mandarins or of army generals shall all be sentenced to long-distance exile, who forge the seals of other agencies or the seals of previous kings in an attempt to seek high ranks or noble titles shall be subjected to shorter-distance exile.
Similarly, Gia Long Code also stipulated in its Article 324 that those who forged the seals of kings or State bodies would all be sentenced to beheading while the accomplices would be subjected to the penalty of one grade lighter; those who had merits in denouncing such offenses would be rewarded with 30 taels of silver; those who attempted to commit the offense would be given a penalty of one grade lighter.
According to ancient Oriental concepts, the king’s seal and sword were objects that symbolized his powers. So, the illegal use of such things was also considered a grave crime.
Under Article 517 of Hong Duc Code, those who use the counterfeit seals of the king or State bodies to stamp on books, orders, diplomas or to lend such seals to others for money or things shall all be charged with forgery and have to pay a compensation two times the amount of money or the value of things received from others to the public fund; and those who borrow such seals would also be charged with the same offense, or pleaded not guilty if they do not know those are the counterfeit seals of the king.
Besides the crimes of forging seals or using counterfeit seals, Vietnamese ancient laws also prescribed the crimes of forging badges of State bodies or mandarins. Article 518 of Hong Duc Code stated: Those who counterfeit “mon phu” (civilian badges) as the royal palace pass or “binh phu” (military badges) as the proof of their credit to pass the military orders, or the envoys’ banners, would all be sentenced to beheading.
The ancient codes devoted numerous articles to specifying the crimes of counterfeiting documents and papers of the State.
In Hong Duc Code, Article 519 stated: Those who counterfeit the king’s orders or decrees shall be sentenced to beheading; those who add or cut the contents of such documents (in writing or verbally) shall be sentenced to long-distance exile or hanging if serious consequences are entailed; those who attempt to commit this crime shall be subject to a penalty of one grade lighter; those who have had to counterfeit the king’s order for the prompt hunt and arrest of traitors but failed to report such to the king shall have their cases reported to the king for handling, despite whether they have had merits or not.
According to Article 520, those who pass the king’s orders or proclamations untruthfully shall be demoted or put to corvee labor. Under Article 521, those who forge, amend or supplement official dispatches in order to shirk a duty or punishment for crimes they have committed shall be penalized two grades heavier than the penalties meted out for such offenses.
Meanwhile, Gia Long Code prescribed in its Article 321 that those who counterfeit the king’s orders or proclamations shall be beheaded, regardless of whether they are principals or accessories or subject to hanging if their attempts fail; those who forge the royal documents shall all be subject to hanging, regardless of whether they are principals or accessories. Those who forge documents of the local administrations shall be penalized with 100 cannings and exile for 3,000- “dam” (1 “dam” is equal to 500 meters).
According to Article 322, those who pretend to pass orders of the king, the queen or the crown prince shall be subject to beheading, for the principals, or 100 cannings and 3,000- “dam” exile; those who pretend to pass mandarins’ orders shall be penalized with 100 cannings and 3-year corvee labor, if they are principals, or one grade lighter if they are accessories.
The ancient laws also severely punished mandarin or aristocrat pretenders. According to Article 527 of Hong Duc Code, those who pretend to be mandarins or ask others to disguise themselves as mandarins shall be subject to exile or corvee labor, depending on the seriousness of the offenses. Article 529 stipulated that those who claim themselves to be State supervisors shall be subject to corvee labor. According to Article 530, those who claim themselves to be market mandarins in order to ask warryingly for money from traders and customers shall be penalized by being led around the market for three days and have to pay a compensation doubling the amount they took from other people.
Article 532 of the same Code stipulated that those who pretend to be the king’s envoys to conduct the inspection, deceive local mandarins or harass people shall be subject to corvee labor or exile. Those who know such dishonesty but act as hangers-on shall also be penalized but one grade lighter. Those who pretend to be envoys sent by royal mandarins shall be subject to a penalty one grade lighter than that imposed on pretenders of the king’s envoys. Any local mandarins who know the pretenders but tolerate them shall be subject to a penalty two grades lighter than that imposed on the culprits; if they do not know, they shall not be pleaded guilty.
As a rule under the feudal regime, children of mandarins and aristocrats, when mature, may be appointed mandarins by the State under a regime called “tap am” (meaning they can succeed to the positions of their fathers). Consequently, according to Article 528, those who pretend to be children of mandarins or aristocrats in order to enjoy “tap am” and are appointed mandarins shall be put to corvee labor; any local mandarins who ratify such appointment shall be fined 50 “quan” (ancient currency unit).
Under Article 526, those who trick other in order to be considered relatives of the king, the king’s mother or the queen shall be put on exile or corvee labor.
Gia Long Code stipulated in its Article 326 that those who use fake diplomas or use other people’s diplomas in order to get appointed mandarins shall all be subject to beheading. Those who know that they are sham mandarins but accept them shall be penalized with 100 cannings and put on 3,000 “dam” exile, etc.
In the public-service relationships, other dishonesties and falsities were also prescribed by the ancient laws. Hong Duc Code stipulated in its Article 524 that any army generals who untruthfully reported to the king the number of deserters or deaths would be sentenced to exile or corvee labor and mandarins who made book entries of such untruth-ful figures would be dismissed. Accor-ding to Article 525, soldiers who deliberately injured themselves in order to shirk the military tasks would be sentenced to exile, and according to Article 537, those who spread the rumor that the enemy troops were at the frontier would be sentenced to beheading.
II. Falsities and dishonesties in civil relations
First of all, it is the crime of counterfeiting contracts of various kinds. In Hong Duc Code, Article 534 stipulated: Those who counterfeit testaments or contracts or change the mortgage con-tracts into the definitive sale contracts shall all be subject to corvee labor, even the writers thereof, while the witnesses shall be penalized with one grade lighter. Where the counterfeiting causes disputes, the master and the writer shall also have to pay a compensation doubling the value of the assets in dispute while the witness have to pay a compensation equal to one third thereof.
Under Article 535, those who counterfeit papers such as contracts, books or change the contents thereof in order to get rewards or evade confiscation or compensation shall be sentenced like thieves or burglars; if their offenses are less serious, the penalties are lighter.
For acts of tricking others to appropriate their property, Article 357 of Hong Duc Code stipulated: Those who set up fake marker posts in an attempt to seize public land shall be sentenced to corvee labor and have to pay a compensation three times the crop yield therefrom. Those who appropriate private land, shall also be penalized but with one grade lighter; and those who pretend to be mandarins tasked to distribute land in order to take money from other people shall be subject to hard labor and a compensation two times the value of the material evidence.
According to Article 542, those physicians who deliberately prolong their medical treatment in order to get more money from patients shall be morally degraded; if for the reasons of retaliation or hired murder, they make prescriptions with poisons therein, causing death to patients, they shall be charged with murder.
People who, according to Article 344, lay false claims to other people’s land shall all be subject to corvee labor and a compensation doubling the crop yield therefrom.
Meanwhile, Gia Long Code prescribed in its Article 137 that those, when selling their goods, ask for prices much higher than the actual prices of the goods shall be penalized with 60 cannings. Under Article 138, in goods trading, those who deliberately make wrong weight, measurement and/or counting for their own profits shall all be penalized with 80 cannings and have to pay a compensation doubling the false volume or number.
Acts of dishonesties and falsities to shirk one’s duties were also given special treatment by ancient law-makers.
Under the feudal regimes, in order to conscript labor and soldiers, the communes were compelled by the State to register households, inhabitants and civil status in their respective localities. Hence, as prescribed in Article 285 of Hong Duc Code, any communal mandarins who omit to fully register the number of inhabitants shall be dismissed, if from one to 5 persons are omitted; put to corvee labor, if from 6 to 14 persons are omitted; or sentenced to exile, if 15 or more inhabitants are omitted. For the unregistered persons, if they are 15 years of age or older, they shall be enlisted into the army and pay the tax arrears; if they are minors or women, they shall be penalized with cannings. If communal mandarins falsify ages or other contents in the registration and declaration, they shall also be penalized but with one grade lighter than that for the crime of omission in registration and declaration.
According to Article 286, those who change their names and flee to other localities in order to shirk their public labor obligations or conscription shall be sentenced to corvee labor and fines.
Meanwhile, Gia Long Code, in its Article 73, provided that those who leave their native places in order to shirk their public labor obligations or conscription, shall be penalized with 80 cannings, and local mandarins who tolerate the offenders shall also be subject to the same penality. If communal mandarins, according to Article 74, hide strong young men to work for them, they shall be penalized with 60 cannings or corvee labor, depending on the number of persons they hide.
In addition, the ancient laws also prescribes many other crimes of dishonesties and falsities. For instance, Article 522 of Hong Duc Code provided that money counterfeiters shall all be beheaded, regardless of whether they are principals or accomplices, as are persons who harbor the offenders, while persons who know this but fail to report to the authorities shall also be penalized but with two grades lighter, and the local mandarins shall be relieved from office. Under Article 523, those who fake gold, silver and/or jewellery for sale shall be subject to corvee labor and faked things shall be confiscated for public fund. According to Article 542, those who commit deception, thus causing injuries or death to other persons shall be sentenced like persons who injure or murder others.
Under Article 546, any witnesses or interpreters who make false statements, thus leading to improper judgements, the witnesses shall be subject to penalties two grades lighter than that imposed on the offenders but the interpreters shall be sentenced like the offenders.
Gia Long Code also contained similar provisions on such crimes. For instance, its Article 325 provided that those who counterfeit money shall be sentenced to hanging while the accomplices enjoy one-grade commutation, the persons who denounce such offense shall be rewarded with 50 taels of silver and the communal mandarins who tolerate the offenders shall be penalized with 100 cannings. Those who fake gold and/or silver shall be penalized with 100 cannings and corvee labor for three years while the accomplices and the buyers who know such are fake things shall also be penalized but with one grade lighter.