State and Law Institute of Vietnam
Since the victorious August 1945 Revolution, the criminal law has become an important branch of Vietnamese law and has gone through two periods of development.
1945-1985
With the French colonialists’ effort to re-establish their colonial rule in Vietnam, the young Democratic Republic of Vietnam faced numerous difficulties and dangers. Consolidation and protection of the revolutionary regime and national independence became an urgent and vital task of the entire nation. President Ho Chi Minh promulgated a series of decrees to protect national independence, political security and social order, which were considered the first criminal laws promulgated under the new regime. Among them were:
- The September 5, 1945, Decree, which banned Vietnamese from enlisting in the adversary army, or from selling food to, guiding or acting as lackeys of French troops. Those who violated these provisions would be brought to military courts for severe punishment.
- The September 13, 1945, Decree, establishing military courts for adjudication of those who cause harm to national independence.
- The September 13, 1945, Decree, permitting the exile of persons who proved to be dangerous to the young republic.
- The decree on declaration of demonstrations to People’s Committees 24 hours in advance.
- The October 20, 1945, Decree on amnesty to a number of criminals convicted before the August 19, 1945, Revolution by French rulers.
In addition, the Democratic Republic of Vietnam allowed the application of a number of provisions of the old French regime’s criminal laws, including “Bo Luat Hinh Su Trung Ky” (the Penal Code of Central Vietnam), “Bo Luat Hinh Su Bac Ky” (the Penal Code of northern Vietnam) and “Bo Luat Hinh Su Tu Chinh Nam Ky” (the revised Penal Code of southern Vietnam).
During the 1946-1954 resistance war against the French colonialists, many criminal laws were promulgated to protect Vietnam’s territorial integrity and national independence and rebuild the country, greatly contributing to the conduct of the resistance war. Typical of these were:
- The February 14, 1946, Decree on punishment of counter-revolutionaries and die-hard landlords as well as village bullies;
- The August 23, 1946, Decree on organization of the court martial in Hanoi for adjudication of military offenders;
- The February 25, 1946, Decree on punishment of crimes of destroying public property;
- The February 28, 1946, Decree on prosecution of the crimes of kidnapping, blackmail and assassination;
- The November 17, 1946, Decree on punishment of bribes;
- The April 14, 1948, Decree on punishment of gambling crimes;
- The November 17, 1950, Decree on punishment for the disclosure of state secrets;
- The December 20, 1950, Decree on punishment for money speculation, production of counterfeit money, and circulation of enemy bank notes;
- The January 20, 1953, Decree on punishment of treacherous plots and acts;
- The April 12, 1953, Decree on establishment of special people’s courts during land reform, which also specified crimes and penalties against wicked landlords and village bullies.
After the anti-French colonialist resistance war ended in 1954 with the North being liberated and the South falling under the US imperialists’ neo-colonial rule, the Vietnamese people embarked upon a new period - the period of socialist construction in the North and struggle against the US imperialists in the South for national reunification.
During this period (1954-1975), Vietnam’s criminal law concentrated on those two strategic tasks, with many important documents being promulgated by the State, including:
- The June 15, 1956, Decree on punishment of schemes and acts of destroying property of the state, cooperatives and people, or obstructing the implementation of state policies or plans.
- The April 19, 1957, Decree, banning all acts of economic speculation.
- The January 24, 1957, Decree, guaranteeing people’s rights to physical freedom and inviolability to their houses, possessions and mails.
- The National Assembly Standing Committee’s Ordinance of October 30, 1967, on punishment of counter-revolutionary crimes, which defined the penal consequences of counter-revolutionary crimes more clearly and comprehensively, contributing to the protection of national security during war time.
- The Ordinance on punishment of infringements upon the socialist property and the Ordinance on punishment of infringements upon citizen property, which were both promulgated on October 21, 1970, by the National Assembly Standing Committee.
Particularly in 1955, immediately after the complete liberation of North Vietnam from the yoke of the French colonialists, the Government issued a decision canceling the provisional application of some legal provisions of the former colonial regime. On July 10, 1959, the Supreme People’s Court issued a directive, ordering a total ban on the application of the former regime’s laws and rules and the application of the laws of the Democratic Republic of Vietnam, the Party’s undertakings and the State’s policies as well as case law of the Supreme People’s Court to the adjudication of criminal and civil cases.
With victory in the anti-US imperialist resistance war in 1975, Vietnam was reunified, embarking upon the period of national reconstruction. During the period from 1975 to 1985, one year before “doi moi” (renewal) was initiated by the Communist Party of Vietnam, many important criminal laws were promulgated by the State, including:
- The March 15, 1976, Decree of the Provisional Revolutionary Government of the Republic of South Vietnam, defining crimes and penalties.
- The National Assembly Standing Committee’s May 20, 1981, Ordinance on the punishment of bribery.
- The State Council’s June 30, 1982, Ordinance on punishment for the crimes of speculation, smuggling, production of fake goods, and illegal business.
Panoramically, Vietnam’s criminal law during 1945-1985 demonstrated the following typical charactersistics:
- For subjective and objective reasons, the criminal law was not codified. All criminal laws just stopped short at orders, decrees, ordinances, and circulars. Many were promulgated even by executive bodies.
- The criminal law became the earliest branch of law in Vietnam’s legal system, contributing to the victories of two resistance wars, to the protection of political security, social order and safety.
1985 to the present
In the pre-”doi moi” period, efforts were concentrated on national reconstruction in general and on the formulation of a penal code in particular. As a result, the first-ever penal code of Vietnam was passed on June 27, 1985, by the National Assembly. With 311 articles arranged in 20 chapters, the code specified assorted crimes and penalties, as well as the handling principles.
With the emergence of the 1985 Penal Code, the criminal law witnessed important developments in many aspects.
For the first time in Vietnam, the law clearly and fully prescribed the penal liabilities, abolishing the principle of similarity but affirming the principle that only those who commit crimes proscribed by criminal law shall bear the penal liabilities.
This is an important factor guaranteeing jurisdiction in the fight against crimes and ensuring the human rights. The Code affirmed the principle of criminal acts, on which are based penal liabilities, but not personal records (family backgrounds, ideology, morality) which were formerly considered decisive.
Also for the first time, Vietnam’s criminal law defined a uniform, comprehensive and complete system of penalties, combining punishment with education, which severely penalized the principals and ringleaders as well as recidivism and those who have committed dangerous and serious crimes while granting clemency to persons who have committed less serious crimes for the first time, who redeemed their past, remedied the consequences of their crimes, reported themselves, denounced their accomplices or assisted law enforcement bodies in detecting other crimes.
If the August 1945 Revolution hallmarked the formulation of Vietnam’s contemporary criminal law, the emergence of the 1985 Penal Code constituted a basic step in development of criminal law.
Yet, since 1986 when Vietnam launched the cause of “doi moi” (renewal) along the direction of the market economy and international integration, domestic and external relations have changed and become diversified and the criminal situation in Vietnam has become more complicated. The 1985 Penal Code promulgated prior to “doi moi” proved no longer suitable and needed to be revised.
The first revision was made on December 28, 1989, when the National Assembly passed the Law Amending and Supplementing a Number of Articles of the Penal Code. Five articles concerning fines and penalties in cases where more than one crime is committed, suspended sentence, automatic remission of criminal records in the General Part and 32 articles concerning such crimes as smuggling, illegal cross-border transportation of goods and/or currencies, robbery, theft, and appropriating property through fraud were revised.
On August 12, 1991, a second revision was made with a new law amending and supplementing a number of articles of the Penal Code being adopted by the National Assembly. These amendments and supplements to 26 articles included a ban on criminals from holding certain posts, practicing certain occupations or doing certain jobs; the deprivation of certain civil rights; the augmentation of penalties of many judgments; penalty exemption or reduction; and such crimes as violating regulations on traffic safety, labor safety, etc.
The third revision was made on December 22, 1992, with 21 articles on fines; confiscation of property and money directly related to crimes; suspended sentence; and such crimes as smuggling, tax evasion, and infringement upon national security.
In the fourth revision made on May 10, 1997, besides the amendment of a number of articles on such crimes as corruption and sexual relations with minors, separation of drug-related crimes were separated into a new chapter. 31 new articles were added to the Code.
The fifth revision was made on December 15, 1999 with the adoption by the National Assembly of a law revising the 1985 Penal Code so substantially and comprehensively that it can be considered the second Penal Code of Vietnam - the 1999 Penal Code.-