What are penalties for underage marriage in Vietnam?

Thank you for your question. Lawnet shall answer as follows:

According to the provisions of the Law on Marriage and Family of Vietnam, underage marriage means getting married when one or both partners has or have not reached the marriage age.

Both the person who marries the underage person and the person who organizes the marriage for the underage person are subject to administrative sanctions, even criminal prosecution, specifically:

Article 58 of Decree 82/2020/ND-CP stipulates:

"1. A fine ranging from VND 1,000,000 to VND 3,000,000 shall be imposed for organizing a marriage for an underage person.

A fine ranging from VND 3,000,000 to VND 5,000,000 shall be imposed for maintaining an illegal husband and wife relationship with an underage person even though there is a legally effective judgment or decision of the Court."

Those who have been administratively sanctioned for the act of organizing underage marriages but still violate them will be examined for criminal liability according to Article 183 of the Criminal Code 2015 (amended and supplemented in 2017).

Article 183. Organization of child marriage

Any person who organizes a marriage entered into by a person under the marriageable age despite the fact that he/she has incurred a administrative penalty for the same offence shall be liable to a fine of from VND 10,000,000 to VND 30,000,000 or face a penalty of up to 02 years' community sentence.

Thus, those who commit acts of underage marriage will be fined from VND 3,000,000 to VND 5,000,000. As for the act of organizing underage marriages, the heaviest will be prosecuted for criminal liability and fined non-custodial reform for up to 2 years.

It can be seen that underage marriage is a violation of the law, causing great impacts on individuals, families, and society. The fact that people are under age to get married can affect their physical, psychological, and reproductive health, especially in girls. At the same time, the population increases rapidly, but the quality of the population decreases. Underage marriage is currently one of the outdated practices and is being campaigned against by our state to remove it.

Article 10 of the Law on Marriage and Family stipulates that persons having the right to request annulment of illegal marriage include:

- A person who is forced or deceived into a marriage has, as prescribed by the civil procedure law;

- The following persons, agencies and organizations:

+ The spouse of a married person who gets married to another person; parent, child, guardian or another at-law representative of a person who gets married illegally;

+ The state management agency in charge of families;

+ The state management agency in charge of children;

+ The women’s union.

When detecting an illegal marriage, other persons, agencies or organizations have the right to propose an agency or organization prescribed at Point b, c, or d, Clause 2 of this Article to request a court to annul such marriage.

Regarding legal consequences of the annulment of illegal marriage

- When an illegal marriage is annulled, the two partners of such marriage shall stop their husband and wife relation.

- The rights and obligations of parents and children shall be settled according to provisions on rights and obligations of parents and children upon divorce.

- Property relations, obligations and contracts between the parties shall be settled according to Article 16 of this Law.

Best regard!

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