 |
| Teaching juveniles at Reformatory School No. 3__Photo: cadn.com.vn |
With 179 articles arranged in 10 chapter, the first-ever Law on Justice for Minors is expected to protect the rights and interests of minors, ensuring that the handling of their criminal acts is suitable to their age, cognitive development, personal characteristics, and the dangerous nature of their crimes to the society.
The Law provides diversion measures, penalties, and judicial procedures for juvenile delinquents and those for minors who are reported and recommended for prosecution, detained in cases of emergency, or criminally accused, as well as victims and witnesses.
Under the Law, criminal procedures for minors must be simple, friendly and suitable to their psychology, age, maturity and cognitive development, ensuring that all minors are treated equally without stigma or discrimination.
Worthy of note, the new Law specifies 12 diversion measures applicable to juvenile offenders including reprimands, apologies to victims, compensation for damage, education in communes, wards or townships, house arrest, and restricted hours for movement, participation in learning and vocational training programs, compulsory psychological treatment and counseling, community service, and education at reformatory schools.
Juvenile offenders will also be prohibited from contacting people who might facilitate their relapse into criminal acts or going to places that may pose a risk of making them commit crimes.
Entitled to diversion measures are persons aged between full 16 years and under 18 years who commit less serious crimes or serious crimes prescribed in the Penal Code; persons aged between full 14 years and under 16 years who commit very serious crimes, except those committing murder prescribed in Clauses 1 and 2, Article 123 of the Penal Code, and minors who are accomplices with an insignificant role in criminal cases.
According to the drafting agency, the purpose of diversion measures is to help minors improve their perception, and recognize and correct their mistakes, thereby preventing criminal behaviors and educating them into good citizens of the society.- (VLLF)
