Compilation of aggravating circumstances for criminal liability under legal provisions in Vietnam

Hello, Lawnet would like to address your inquiry as follows:

1. What are the aggravating circumstances for criminal liability in Bietnam?

Aggravating circumstances for criminal liability are factors that increase the severity of a criminal act's danger to society. These form the basis for increasing the offender's criminal liability within a prescribed sentencing framework compared to other similar offenses without these aggravating factors.

2. Aggravating circumstances for criminal liability in Vietnam

According to Article 52 of the Vietnam Criminal Code 2015 (amended in 2017), the aggravating circumstances for criminal liability include:

1. Committing the crime in an organized manner;
2. Committing the crime in a professional manner;
3. Abusing position or power to commit the crime;
4. Committing the crime in a ruthless manner;
5. Committing the crime for despicable motives;
6. Persistently committing the crime to the end;
7. Committing the crime two or more times;
8. Reoffending or dangerously reoffending;
9. Committing the crime against a person under 16 years old, a pregnant woman, or a person aged 70 years or older;
10. Committing the crime against a person unable to defend themselves, a severely or particularly severely disabled person, a person with limited cognitive abilities, or a person dependent on the offender materially, mentally, or in other respects;
11. Taking advantage of war, emergency situations, natural disasters, epidemics, or other exceptional social difficulties to commit the crime;
12. Using sophisticated, cunning, or cruel methods to commit the crime;
13. Using methods or means capable of endangering many people to commit the crime;
14. Inciting a person under 18 years old to commit the crime;
15. Acting cunningly or violently to evade or conceal the crime.

3. Aggravating circumstances for criminal liability for commercial juridical persons in Vietnam

Article 85 of the Vietnam Criminal Code 2015 (amended in 2017) stipulates aggravating circumstances for criminal liability applied to commercial juridical persons:

1. Colluding with another commercial juridical person to commit the crime;
2. Persistently committing the crime to the end;
3. Committing the crime two or more times;
4. Reoffending or dangerously reoffending;
5. Taking advantage of war, emergency situations, natural disasters, epidemics, or other exceptional social difficulties to commit the crime;
6. Using sophisticated tactics to commit the crime or to evade or conceal the crime.

* Note that according to Clause 2, Article 52 of the Vietnam Criminal Code 2015, factors that the Criminal Code defines as constitutive elements of the crime or sentencing framework will not be considered as aggravating circumstances.

4. Judicial opinion on aggravating circumstances for criminal liability in Vietnam

Judgment Title: Judgment 53/2023/HS-ST on the crime of illegal possession of narcotics.

+ Level of trial: First instance

+ Adjudicating body: People's Court of Vinh Bao District, Hai Phong City

+ Case details: At about 09:20 on April 27, 2023, on the inter-communal road in Linh Dong 3 village, Tien Phong commune, Vinh Bao district, Hai Phong city, the working group of Vinh Bao District Police inspected and caught Nguyen Van K, born in 1979, in the act of illegally possessing narcotics. Two yellow paper packages containing white powder (which K claimed to be heroin) were seized from the back pocket of his jeans; 275,000 VND and a red Yamaha motorbike with license plate number 16N8-X were confiscated from his jacket pocket.

The court noted that the defendant had four previous convictions, two of which had been expunged and two had not. Specifically: Judgment No. 36/2019/HS-ST dated November 29, 2019, People's Court of Hai Ha district, Quang Ninh province, sentenced to 12 months of non-custodial reform for abusing trust to appropriate property, followed by Judgment No. 09/2020/HS-PT dated February 18, 2020, People's Court of Quang Ninh province, sentenced to six months in prison, waiving the additional penalty; Judgment No. 28/2020/HS-ST dated May 5, 2020, People's Court of Mong Cai city, Quang Ninh province, sentenced to 18 months in prison for illegal possession of narcotics (occurred on December 7, 2019), as the time of the crime of Judgment No. 28/2020/HS-ST dated May 5, 2020, was before Judgment No. 36/2019/HS-ST dated November 29, 2019, took legal effect.

Therefore, defendant Nguyen Van K must face aggravating circumstances for criminal liability as specified at Point h, Clause 1, Article 52 of the Vietnam Criminal Code 2015 for "Reoffending."

Sincerely!

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