Vietnam: Conceptual distinction between people from full 18 years old and people under 18 years old

According to Articles 20 and 21 of the Civil Code 2015 of Vietnam, the conceptual distinction between people from full 18 years old and people under 18 years old is as follows:

“Article 20. Adults

1. Adults are persons who are eighteen years of age or older.

2. Each adult shall have full legal capacity, except for the cases prescribed in Articles 22, 23 and 24 of this Code.”

Thus, according to the above provision, persons who are eighteen years of age or older are adults. In simple words, in principle, full age is full days, full months, full years and a person is considered to be from full 18 years of age when turning 18 on that person's birthday.

Example: Nguyen Thi Mai was born on October 19, 2002, then on October 19, 2020, she will be considered full 18 years old, and from full 18 years old determined from October 19, 2020.

Article 21. Minors

1. Minors are persons who are under eighteen years of age.

2. Civil transactions of each child under six years of age shall be established and performed by his/her legal representative.

3. Each person who is from six to under eighteen years of age must have the consent of his/her legal representative to enter in and perform civil transactions, except for civil transactions which are performed for the purpose of meeting the needs of daily life suitable for the age group.

4. Each person who is from fifteen to under eighteen years of age is entitled to enter in and perform civil transactions by himself/herself, except for civil transactions related to real estate, movables required registration and other civil transactions as prescribed by law that are subject to the consent of his/her legal representative.

According to the above provisions, persons who are under eighteen years of age are minors and and in principle, a person under 18 years old is understood to have not yet reached his 18th birthday.

Example: Nguyen Thi Mai was born on October 19, 2002, on October 19, 2020, she will be considered full 18 years old, less than October 19, 2020 will be considered underage.

It can be seen that persons who are under eighteen years of age are minors. This is a general rule for all ages from under 18 years old and people from full 18 years old are adults, with full citizenship rights and obligations as prescribed by Vietnamese law. In particular, persons from full 18 years of age and older have the right to elect and vote when the State holds a referendum according to the Constitution 2013 of Vietnam and is also the age of marriage for women according to the Law on Marriage and Family of Vietnam. However, according to Vietnam’s regulations, persons under 18 years of age must be divided into several age groups to determine their rights and obligations, specifically:

- If a person is under 6 years old, a civil transaction shall be established and performed by his/her legal representative;

- From full 6 years old to less than 15 years old, when establishing and performing civil transactions, the consent of the legal representative must be obtained, except for civil transactions serving daily living needs appropriate to age;

- Persons from full 15 years old to under 18 years old may establish and perform civil transactions by themselves, except for civil transactions related to real estate, movable property must be registered and other civil transactions as prescribed by law must be approved by the legal representative.

Moreover, the current Criminal Code of Vietnam stipulates the age of "persons under 18 years old", not "persons under 18 years of age". However, it should be clearly understood that basically, a person under the age of 18 is also understood as a person under the age of 18 and a minor. The current law has not yet agreed on the name, so each law may have different provisions, but the concept and method of determining age are the same.

Ty Na

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