Law on the rights of juveniles in criminal proceedings: international and Vietnamese perspectives

In cases where juveniles aged 13 to under 18 are sentenced and sentenced to imprisonment penalties, but given suspended sentences which have challenges, the juvenile judge of the place [r]

Dr Vu Thi Thu Quyen

Academy of Journalism and Communication, Vietnam

Abstract

Juveniles are a group of people in society, who are, on a daily basis, involved in social relations and legal relations to a certain extent When entering these relationships, juveniles may intentionally

or unintentionally violate general rules of conduct Therefore, depending on the level and nature

of the behaviour, juveniles may be subject to different consideration and treatment Based on age restrictions, national and international legal documents also limit rights, obligations and responsibilities of juveniles when participating in legal relations

This paper comparatively analyses the provisions on the rights of juveniles in criminal proceedings in international law, the laws of some countries and Vietnamese laws, thereby making recommendations for Vietnam The author argues that laws on juvenile justice in Vietnam are relatively in compliance with international law and the laws of many countries However, the author also points out some limitations, and based on that, proposes some solutions to perfect the current legal framework on juvenile justice in Vietnam.

Key words: juvenile justice, international law, Vietnamese law.

1 Juvenile justice: An Overview

In all countries of the world, juveniles are required to participate in court proceedings because the conduct of illegal criminal acts is considered a crime This means that juveniles are directly involved in legal relations in the field of criminal and criminal litigation This relationship takes place

at a time when juveniles are most vulnerable and in need of assistance and guidance The procedure and skills of the litigation are particularly important to ensure that the contact with the agencies conducting legal proceedings and the person conducting legal proceedings will be treated fairly and creatively, and guided to be responsible for their behaviour and moreover, to create an opportunity to avoid making such mistakes in the future to become responsible people

One activity that countries around the world are trying to do is to find ways to ensure that the legal system related to the rights of juveniles who commit crimes are in compliance with international human rights law Since 1989, countries around the world have been rapidly researching and incorporating international principles into national laws and policies Many international documents

on human rights of children and juveniles have been given for over half a century At the same time,

the enhancement of the protection of children’s rights in general and juveniles in particular is an

important aspect of the activities of UN agencies and programs In international documents and United

Nations (UN) programs on this issue, the concept of children and juveniles are used simultaneously

The United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (United Nations Convention on the

Rights of the Child) - referred to as the Convention, is an international legal document providing for

the basic rights of children in general and juveniles in particular Article 1 of the Convention clearly

defines: “A child means a person whom is under 18 years old, unless the law applicable to children

sets the age of majority earlier”

In addition to the Convention, which is binding, a set of standards has been adopted by the international community to specify in detail the application of laws to juveniles These are the principles

and standards that many member states have agreed on and stated in the declarations, principles, rules

and guidelines Although these documents are not legally binding on member states, they are built

from international law and supported by a large number of countries around the world Therefore,

the documents are mainly recommendations, orientations for member countries, contributing to the

implementation of the International Convention on the Rights of the Child

In some documents, the concept of children is also called juveniles or youngsters or teenagers

However, in relation to law and law enforcement, children are often referred to as juveniles The UN’s

minimum rules for the protection of juveniles who are deprived of their liberty, passed on December

14, 1990, specifically stated: “Juveniles are those under 18 years old The age limit that is below this

level have to be determined by law and must not deprive the freedom of juveniles” (Rule No 2.1,

item a)

Thus, a juvenile who has committed an illegal act (or broke the law) is a person under the age of

18 who has committed or is accused of committing an act of violation of the law This concept includes

juveniles who apply to administrative and criminal measures In international legal documents, these

offenders are sometimes referred to as “illegal children.” Crimes committed by juveniles are acts of

criminal law committed by juveniles who show signs of crime and are investigated as well as handled

It can be seen that, when defining the concept of children or adult, the international law does

not base on psychological-physiological characteristics or physical development, but directly or indirectly on age Both the concept of children and the concept of juveniles are limited to under 18

years of age, while offering scalability to countries depending on their socioeconomic, cultural and

traditional conditions so that they can lay down that age earlier

2 The rights of juveniles in the criminal justice under international human rights law

There are many international treaties on juveniles, the rights of juveniles have been enacted

for over half a century Furthermore, strengthening the protection of the rights of juvenile criminals

is also an important aspect of the activity of agencies and programs of the UN In international treaties and UN programs on the issue of children, both concepts of children and juveniles are used

simultaneously In some documents, the concept of children is called juveniles or youngsters In relation to law and law enforcement, children are often referred to as juveniles

The content of the above treaties takes into account the diversity and legal structure of countries,

reflecting the purpose and spirit of dealing with juvenile crimes The Beijing Rules outline the

purposes of applying the law to juveniles and the handling of them always takes into consideration the condition of the circumstances and the extent of guilt of the juvenile criminals In terms of judicial proceedings, this rule states that a juvenile who has been convicted of a crime is benefited the right to

be handled by the law and the right to special treatment, including the need for conducting proceedings

in a knowledgeable atmosphere, ensuring the presence of parents, respecting the privacy of juveniles; requiring highly trained people to participate in the proceedings to resolve the case The UN rules for the protection of juveniles who are deprived of their freedom set forth specific rules which are applied

to all forms of detention; juveniles and adults must be kept separately in the same detention facility

At the same time, the emphasis on protecting juveniles who are deprived of their freedom, not only defines their rights, but also regulates the way that they are treated when committing crimes Respect

of the juveniles’ rights is also an integral part of the management and education of juveniles

International law and practices provide a specific legal framework for juveniles who violate criminal law The purpose of these rules is to determine the minimum standards which are required for rights that must be respected for juvenile criminals

In the Convention on the Rights of the Child in Articles 37 and 40, the basic rights and protections that are compulsory for juveniles are: Prohibiting the use of corporal punishment or any cruel, inhumane punishment, or degrading the dignity of juvenile criminals, the death penalty or life imprisonment is not applicable to offences committed by persons under 18 years old

Also, Article 40 of this Convention prescribes the rights of juvenile criminals and establishes the protections and standards for management, such as: juvenile criminals are treated in a manner appropriate to their character and dignity, increasing respect for human rights and rights of the fundamental freedoms of others (taking into account age); The rights of juvenile criminals are respected throughout the process of prosecution, investigation, prosecution, trial and sentence execution This basic protection includes rights such as: Presumably innocent until proven guilty according to law; Be informed quickly and directly about the alleged charges; Receive legal assistance or other appropriate assistance in preparing and presenting their justifications; Not to be compelled to declare or plead guilty, be interrogated or have other people interrogate witnesses opposing them, to have the right to invite and interrogate witnesses opposing them; The right to demand a higher authority or judicial authority, to review the decision independently and impartially as well as the measures to be applied

in accordance with the law; Get help without the cost of a translator; The juvenile offender’s privacy

is fully respected throughout the proceedings

The Convention on the Rights of the Child also provides that Member States identify a minimum age under which juveniles are considered to be incapable of crimes, thereby establishing handling method with these subjects without judicial procedures, provided that human rights and basic legal protections are fully respected This Convention requires Member States to take different measures, such as the obligation to provide care as well as guidance, supervision, consultation, challenge, sponsorship, as well as education and vocational training programs or other alternatives to ensure juveniles are treated in a manner that is appropriate to their well-being and commensurate with their individual circumstances and behaviour about their crimes

Along with the Convention on the Rights of the Child, there are other provisions on the prevention and treatment of juvenile offenders, including:

First, the UN Common Minimum Rules for the Application of Laws on Juveniles (The Beijing Rules).

The Beijing Rules state that juvenile justice practices must be focused on welfare and ensure

that treatment is appropriate to the personality and offenses committed by that person Alternative

measures outside the care of institutions and organizations in the institution must ensure that juvenile

offenders are treated in a manner that is appropriate to welfare and commensurate with feelings and

offenses committed by that subject This rule requires that the happiness and re-education of juvenile

offenders must be the main purpose Forms such as deterrence are considered to determine the length

of the sentence that applies to juvenile offenders for a period not to be too long and not consistent

with the welfare and re-education

Another important contribution of The Beijing Rules is the recognition of the handling of juvenile

offenders without the need to go to court It is necessary to consider and weigh any appropriate circumstances to deal with juvenile offenders without resorting to formal adjudication (rule 11); The

exemption from criminal liability aims to avoid bringing juvenile offenders to court because the trial

can cause psychological trauma and guilt as well as shame

Regarding juvenile offenders right to adjudication, the Rules affirmed that juvenile offenders

who are considered to have committed a crime have the right to be handled strictly according to law

and the right to have special treatment, respected privacy rights, requiring in-depth trained persons to

solve the case

The Rules have set the policies for adjudicating juvenile offenders are: The form of detention

pending trial shall be used only as a last resort and for the shortest possible time; no juvenile offender

shall be separated from parental supervision unless it is necessary; The placement of juvenile offenders

into a prison is always the last resort and must be within the shortest possible time

Second, the UN Guidelines for the Prevention of Crime in Juveniles (The Riyadh Guidelines).

The Riyadh Guidelines provide an approach to prevent crime in a positive and comprehensive

manner, which places juveniles at the center This approach addresses the underlying social causes

leading to juvenile offenses Accordingly, the prevention of juvenile delinquency includes addressing

the negative circumstances of juveniles through the authorities and social control mechanisms, basing on positivity to promote development and well-being of juveniles from an early age The best strategy to prevent juveniles from committing crimes is to take many measures to promote the

rights of juveniles and enhance community development In order to do this, it is necessary to invest

in education, vocational training and job creation for juveniles in accordance with the economic market and personal interests This requires cooperation between government agencies and

non-governmental organizations working in the fields of justice, social welfare, health, education, labour

and employment

Third, the UN Rules for the Protection of Juveniles Deprived of Freedom

This Code provides complete and comprehensive guidelines on the conditions and treatment of

juvenile offenders who are deprived of liberty This rule applies to all juveniles who are placed in

centralized education management institutions (prisons, re-education camps, education centers) at the

order of any judicial authority, administrative or public agency

The focus of this Code is to ensure that the deprivation of freedom does not result in the infringement or deprivation of other rights that are enjoyed by juvenile offenders under the Convention

on the Rights of the Child This rule emphasizes that juvenile offenders who are deprived of freedom have the right to use mediums and services that meet all the requirements of human health and dignity; juvenile offenders deprived of their freedom have the right to be provided with adequate food, clean water, clean bedding, weather-appropriate clothing, as well as disease prevention and treatment; juvenile offenders who are deprived of their freedom have the right to recreational activities significant for their rehabilitation, reintegration and development; juvenile offenders deprived of their liberty have the right to education and vocational training to prepare for future jobs; central education management personnel are trained in appropriate treatment with juvenile offenders who are deprived

of their freedom; juvenile offenders who are deprived of their freedom shall be assisted when they return to their families and society, and are provided with conditions to go to school and to find jobs after the completion of educational measures

3 The rights of juveniles in the criminal justice under the law of some countries

In fact, some countries show that their place exists the phenomenon of juvenile offenders Each country will solve this problem at different levels and in different ways depending on the conditions, customs and laws of each country In line with international law on juvenile offenders, countries around the world have introduced provisions on the rights of juveniles who committed crimes which are suitable for the economic, cultural and social conditions, customs, practices and laws of each country

Thailand

On January 28, 1952, Thailand established its Central Juveniles Court The purpose of the establishment of this Court is to give children and young people under 18 a special treatment method when they violate criminal law However, the jurisdiction of The Juveniles Court is also allowed

to resolve some cases of family disputes which relate to the well-being and rights of children and juveniles Under Article 72 of the Thai Criminal Code 2003, a child not yet over seven years of age shall not be punished for committing what is provided by the law to be an offence Children aged 7 to

14 years old who are guilty of a crime are judged and subjected to imprisonment, but the Court will decide the special treatment by sending it to a re-education school or sending the child to a person or

an agency which the Court think is appropriate for the education and re-education of that child Juveniles between the ages of 14 and 17 can be fined and receive special penalties In cases of this age, before trial and sentencing, the Court always scrutinizes the person’s circumstances, identity and living environment When juvenile offenders are arrested, they must be immediately brought

to detention centres within 24 hours and within 30 days of custody, prosecutors must complete the procedures and bring them to trial in juvenile courts (Articles 50 and 51 of the Law on Organization

of Juveniles and Family Courts 1991 Thailand) During the detention process, juvenile offenders are

to remain in good care and protection They are entitled to health care and checkups for free The investigation agency will investigate the situation of the family, living environment related to this subject These activities are carried out quickly to solve issues related to the deprivation of liberty of juvenile offenders; at the same time, there is accurate information about the identity of this subject to effectively help the judgment and re-education

The juvenile trial panel consists of two judges, two jurors and one of the two jurors has to be

a female juror The trial must be closed and only the following subjects are allowed to attend the

trial: juveniles as defendants; defence counsels; parents or guardians; court officials; prosecutors;

victims; witnesses; interpreters; social workers; others as allowed by the court Depending on specific

conditions, appeals or protests may be made to juvenile court hearings of the Court of Appeal Juveniles

Court proceedings in Thailand also require more specialized staff such as psychologists, caregivers,

supervisors, and social workers The purpose of the proceedings with these subjects is to create opportunities to correct, change behaviours and the ultimate desire is to help offenders become good

citizens for society, not for the purpose of penalizing juvenile offenders as for penalizing juveniles

who have committed the crime

Previously, the Thai criminal law had prescribed the death penalty for juveniles over 17 years

old In 2003, Thailand amended the above provision to prohibit death sentence or life imprisonment

for persons under 18 years of age at the time of committing the crime The maximum penalty for this

subject is 50 years imprisonment In case the offender under 18 years old is sentenced to death or life

imprisonment, the penalty for them will automatically be reduced to 50 years

China

Article 44 of China’s 1979 Penal Code provides that no death penalty shall be imposed on persons who are under 18 years old at the time of committing the offence However, the offenders

whose age is full 16 but under 18 and commit particularly serious crimes may still be sentenced to

death and the death sentence will be “suspended” for a period of two years If an offender actually

regrets his or her crime, after two years, the death sentence will be reduced to life imprisonment If

the offender has both truly regretted and achieved the record, the penalty will be reduced to a term

of imprisonment with a minimum of 15 years and a maximum of 20 years, counting from the end

of the two-year time limit In cases where there is clear evidence that the offender clearly resists

re-education, the death penalty will be imposed

By 1997, Article 49 of the Criminal Code (amended) of China banned the application of the

death penalty to persons under 18 years of age at the time of committing the crime This amendment

of Chinese criminal law is in line with international requirements, because this country ratified the

Convention on the Rights of the Child on January 31, 1992 To ensure the rights of juveniles who

committed crimes, the Chinese Criminal Procedure Code recognizes the rights and obligations of

participants in the proceedings according to the criminal procedure and each type of participants in the

proceedings Accordingly, juveniles who commit crimes, while being arrested, detained, investigated,

prosecuted and judged, are entitled to: to defend or ask other people to defend; be allowed to request

the cancellation of the required measures; be informed of experts’ conclusions; to ask witnesses and

experts;

Japan

In Japan, the Law of Juveniles provides for and regulates juveniles by the Family Court regarding

cases involving people under 20 years of age The purpose of this Law is not to punish juvenile offenders, but to “help them grow well, take protective measures to change the personality of juvenile

offenders and create an educational environment to correct juveniles who has made mistakes”

Japan’s criminal procedure law stipulates that the investigation belongs to the functions of the

police and prosecutors If the Court deems it necessary to take measures to take care of and protect,

the judge will issue a decision to bring the juvenile offender in prison to wait for the trial date

The duration of detention must not exceed more than 4 weeks Within 4 weeks, the Court has to complete the necessary procedures to organize the trial In Japan, there is no separate procedure for the prosecution and trial of juvenile offenders Under the Juvenile Law, prosecutors have no right to take part in trials in family courts However, the judge may allow the prosecutor to attend and, when necessary, may ask the prosecutor to conduct further investigation

In Japan, juvenile criminals are allowed to be brought to trial in Family Court where one or two representatives are present at the trial The representation is not a defence attorney as in the adult trial This representative is not necessarily a lawyer, they can be a teacher or a social worker The law does not specify in detail how the next steps should be taken, but only general provisions that the Family Court must conduct a trial on the basis of “being sincere and beneficial” for juvenile offenders and

“make every effort to protect the best attributes of the target group and for them to have faith” in the trial which should be conducted publicly

The rights of juveniles who committed crimes in Japanese criminal procedure law are expressed

in the following aspects: 1, The right to be protected by law and to facilitate self-protection from unlawful infringement from the procedure-conducting agencies Accordingly, the principles of litigation have been recorded to ensure the accusation of juveniles in an objective manner, limiting the injustice of innocent people, especially to young people; 2, Temporary detention and detention of juvenile offenders must strictly abide by the time limits and regulations on the order and procedures

of detention and custody; 3, The right to silence and the right to refuse to declare; 4, The right to self-protection and to protect others; 5, the right to be considered innocent until the offence is determined

in a public hearing; the right to be respected with respect to human values in general; the rights to

be respected and ensured the legitimate rights and interests of citizens when participating in criminal procedures In addition, juvenile offenders also have other specific rights prescribed to them

France

The rights of juveniles who committed crimes are specifically expressed in the criminal law and criminal procedure law of the French Republic The penal liability institution of juvenile offenders is always attached to the juvenile justice regime (judges adjudicating cases involving juvenile offenders)

In France, a system of judicial authorities responsible for investigating, prosecuting and adjudicating cases involving juvenile offenders appeared in the late nineteenth century, but in the early years of the twentieth century the juvenile court - the first specialized criminal institution responsible for criminal cases committed by juveniles - was officially born (1912) In 1940, a juvenile judge -

a criminal procedure instituted of France was first introduced The law allows juvenile judges, in emergencies, to directly ask about juveniles’ family status or personal circumstances without having

to comply with the provisions of Article 114 of the Ministry

Juvenile judicial activities are conducted in two ways: simple (shortened) trial or collective trial

in the form of juvenile court During a collective trial, the chairperson has the right to allow juvenile offenders to be absent for a part of or the whole trial The presiding judge also has the right to restrict the participation of unrelated people The law of the French Republic also specifies conditions for publishing evidences collected during the investigation of cases such as audio and video tapes; the publication of the defendants’ judgments and full names are all in the direction of benefit to juveniles Measures to take precautions against juvenile offenders include: (1) Returning to parents or guardians;

(2) Putting into an education centre; (3) Bringing to health and education centres; (4) Placing under

judicial assistance or in separate facilities for at-school offenders

For children under 10 years of age committing a criminal act, the juvenile court may declare one

or more educational and preventive measures such as confiscating criminal tools or means or property

acquired from the commission of an offence; prohibiting appearance in the place where the offence

was committed within a period of not more than 1 year unless if it is a place of residence; banning

contact for not more than 1 year with the victim or accomplices; taking measures to help and correct;

being forced to take professional practice classes

For 13-year-old offenders, measures that may be taken are: Handing over to a parent or relative;

sending to vocational education or training centres; sending to a medical centre; sending to an education and re-education centre For those aged full 13 to under 18, the juvenile court may apply

the penalty of deprivation The fine imposed on juvenile offenders shall not exceed ½ of the fine

prescribed by law If the prescribed penalty is life imprisonment, the highest penalty shall not exceed

20 years in prison

In cases where juveniles aged 13 to under 18 are sentenced and sentenced to imprisonment penalties, but given suspended sentences which have challenges, the juvenile judge of the place where

the convicted person lives shall carry out the rights of judges to execute sentences (Articles 739, 741

(2) Criminal Procedure Code of the French Republic) until the time of probation expires The juvenile

judge has the right to terminate the suspended sentence in case the convicted person violates the probationary conditions that the court has applied

United States

Although there is no unified juvenile court system for the entire federation, there are several

states in the United States that have established and operated their own juvenile court system The

federal government has impacted the policy on juvenile offenders by setting federal conditions that

come with the federal funds for state governments Currently, several states have established juvenile

courts to specialize in protecting the rights of juvenile offenders Some states are experimenting with

the Family Court model, which deals with cases of juvenile offenders

In 1988, the United States abolished the death penalty for people under the age of 16, the age

of criminal responsibility was different from state to state Only 13 states have set the minimum age,

from 6 to 14 years old

The United States is currently one of the two remaining countries in the world (along with Somalia) that is not a member of the Convention on the Rights of the Child, so it does not have to be

bound by the Convention to eliminate the death sentence of juvenile offenders However, in 1988, the

US Supreme Court ruled that the death penalty should be abolished for people under 16 years old

As of 2013, 32 states in the United States still apply the death penalty, some of which allow the death

of people under 18 who committed crimes From January 1973 to April 2003, there were 22 cases of

juveniles being executed, of which only one person committed an offence at the age of 16 and the rest

committed an offence at the age of 17 Later, 19 states applied the death penalty for people under 18

According to Amnesty International, since the Universal Declaration of Human Rights was adopted, more than half of the world’s countries have abolished the death penalty But the United

States has yet to pass a ban on the death penalty for juvenile offenders Paragraph 5, Article 6 of the

International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (effective 1976) stipulates that no death sentence can be imposed on offenders under 18 years of age The United States has signed this convention but reserves the above provision Therefore, the US Supreme Court still allows the states to continue using the death penalty More than 10 countries have protested, demanding that the United States withdraw its reservation but they still refused On March 2005, the US Supreme Court decided to amend the law that prohibits the death penalty for people who commit criminal acts when they are under 18 years old Voters agree that when juveniles commit a crime, the state may deprive them of some of the most basic freedoms, but not deprive them of their lives According to the US Supreme Court, the death penalty for juveniles committing crimes is cruel and unusual The abolition of the death penalty for these subjects represents a consensus with countries against the death penalty for juvenile offenders With this ruling, 72 people in 12 US states got rid of the death sentences for committing crimes when they were under 18 years old

New Zealand

The New Zealand Parliament has passed the Children, Juveniles and Family Act in 1989 This Act governs issues related to the care and protection of disadvantaged children and young people, including juvenile offenders The purpose of the enactment of this law is to internalize the Convention

on the rights of the child as well as to integrate the elements of good customary law into the care and protection of children of aboriginal communities into New Zealand law Therefore, in this act, in addition to the international principles and standards of the juvenile justice, a number of customary laws of aboriginal communities such as measures of family and community meetings to address conflicts involving juvenile offenders and many other care and protection measures have been recorded Many countries in the world (including Thailand) have inherited these measures

The minimum age for criminal liability in New Zealand is 10 years, but the Youth Court has jurisdiction only for people from 14 to 16 years old The Act also provides a number of juvenile justice principles to guide the decision-making process of stakeholders, such as: (i) Not applying criminal penalties if an alternative option is available to resolve the issue; (ii) Not applying criminal penalties to achieve welfare purposes; (iii) Measures to deal with juvenile offenders should support the entire family and help them have the skills to handle the offences of their children; (iv) These subjects have the right to have special protection during investigations and proceedings

Police plays an important role in the application of redirection handling and reducing the number

of cases transferred to the Youth Court for a formal trial The Youth Court is a branch of the municipal court system, and judges are experts with experience handling juvenile criminal cases If the juvenile offender does not have a lawyer, the Court must assign a lawyer for them The trial process is a closed trial aimed at protecting the privacy of juvenile offenders Courts have autonomy in choosing to apply more than one decision related to juvenile offenders such as: acquittal, forced supervision, forced labour to serve the community, correction of mistakes, reprimand, deprivation of any civil rights, or transfer of juvenile offenders to city courts to apply the same methods as adults

3 The rights of juveniles in criminal justice under the law of Vietnam

The juvenile justice system is made of a range of legal codes, decrees and ordinances which, between them, provides a framework governing the policing, protection, re-education and treatment

of young offenders Responsibilities for juveniles are divided between various government ministries

– for example the Ministry of Justice (MOJ) sets out legal codes and court procedures, the Ministry

of Public Security (MPS) manages policing and the custodial estate, and the Ministry of Labour,

Invalids and Social Affairs (MOLISA) makes (limited) provisions for a range of socially excluded

people, including young drug users, sex workers and offenders, as well as those who are homeless,

disabled, abused or neglected A separate juvenile court system was recently established in Vietnam to

deal with juveniles involved in all but the most serious cases and to offer a new range of

community-based options including diversion and restorative justice programmes In contrast to many western

experiences, then, Vietnam is arguably moving away from a very particular justice model of crime

control and towards a variant of a welfare model1 In Vietnam’s ‘justice’ model, shaped by communist

legal theory and fervent nationalism, crime has been viewed as an offence against the community,

and, by extension, an offence against the nation and, hence, an offence against the very revolution that

had established that nation2 Community-based prevention and punishment, as a means of delivering

a new kind of welfarism, is starting to take on a new shape through new training initiatives3 Custodial

institutions, such as reform schools, are starting to speak the new language of life skills, counselling

and child-centredness (also outlined below) In both settings, new groups of psy-professionals such as

psychologists and social workers are beginning to exert an influence4 All this represents convergence,

of a kind, with western models in the sense that these developments are in many ways derived from

those models5

Reform of the framework of juvenile justice has been driven by two key factors: Vietnam’s signing of the UNCRC in 1990 and its broader programme of legal reform which has been closely

tied to its economic liberalization6 Most recent changes include the revision of the Penal Code and

the drawing up of a National Plan of Action on Juvenile Justice Areas targeted for reform include

wholesale changes to police, court and legal procedures involving children as witnesses, victims,

suspects and offenders7

Juvenile justice is not only a special concern of the Party and State of Vietnam but also a regular

concern of every family and organization and society as a whole8 Following Party and State guidance

on education, punishment and protection of the legitimate rights of juvenile offenders, the Government

of Vietnam has made every effort to incorporate the principles of the Convention on the Rights of

the Child into the national legal system Principles of juvenile justice were thoroughly stated in the

1992 and 2013 Constitutions, the 1999 and 2015 Penal Codes, the 2003 and 2015 Criminal Procedure

Codes, and various guiding documents These documents have clearly defined such important issues

as assurance of human and children’s rights; investigation, prosecution and trial procedures suitable

to the physical and psychological conditions of children to ensure their comprehensive physical and

mental development; and the roles and duties of functional bodies, social organizations, schools and

1 Pamela Cox, “Juvenile Justice Reform and Policy Convergence in the New Vietnam”, Youth Justice 10(3):227-244 ·

December 2010, DOI: 10.1177/1473225410381685.

2 Pamela Cox, ibid.

3 Pamela Cox, ibid.

4 Pamela Cox, ibid.

5 Pamela Cox, ibid.

6 Pamela Cox, ibid.

7 Pamela Cox, ibid.

8 Tran Van Do, Juvenile justice, http://vietnamlawmagazine.vn/juvenile-justice-3325.html