Age of criminal responsibility in Vietnam according to the Criminal Code

Age of criminal responsibility in Vietnam according to the Criminal Code (Internet image)

1. What is crime?

According to Article 8 of the Criminal Code 2015, crime is:

- An act that is dangerous for society and defined in Criminal Code 2015;

- Committed by a person who has criminal capacity of corporate legal entity, whether deliberately or involuntarily,;

infringes the sovereignty and territorial integrity of the nation, infringes the political regime, economic regime, culture, national defense and security, social order and safety, the lawful rights and interests of organizations, human rights, the lawful rights and interests of citizens, other aspects of socialist law and leads to criminal prosecution as prescribed by this document.

Note: An act that resembles a crime but is actually not remarkably dangerous for society is not a crime and shall be dealt with otherwise.

2. Age of criminal responsibility in Vietnam

Article 12 of the Criminal Code 2015 (amended in 2017) stipulates the age of criminal responsibility as follows:

- A person from 16 years of age and above shall bear criminal responsibility for every crime, except for those otherwise prescribed by this document.

- A person from 14 years of age to be low 16 years of age shall bear criminal responsibility for murder, deliberate infliction of bodily harm upon other people, raping, raping people under 16 years of age, sexual abuse of people from 13 to under 16 years of age, robbery, kidnapping for ransom; very serious crimes and extremely serious crimes defined in the following Articles:

+ Article 143 (Sexual abuse); Article 150 (Human trafficking); Article 151 (Trafficking of people under 16 years of age);

+ Article 170 (Extortion); Article 171 (Snatching); Article 173 (Theft of property); Article 178 (Vandalism or deliberate destruction of property);

+ Article 248 (Illegal production of narcotic substances); Article 249 (Illegal possession of narcotic substances; Article 250 (Illegal trafficking of narcotic substance; Article 251 (Illegal trading of narcotic substances); Article 252 (Appropriation of narcotic substances);

+ Article 265 (Organization of illegal racing); Article 266 (Illegal racing);

+ Article 285 (Producing, dealing in tools, equipment, software programs serving illegal purposes); Article 286 (Spreading software programs harmful to computer networks, telecommunications network or electronic devices); Article 287 (Obstruction or disruption of computer network, telecommunications network or electronic devices); Article 289 (Illegal access to others' computer network, telecommunications network or electronic devices); Article 290 (Appropriation of property by computer network, telecommunications network or electronic devices);

+ Article 299 (Terrorism); Article 303 (Destruction of works, facilities or vehicles important to national security); Article 304 (Illegal fabrication, possession, traffic

3. Classification of crimes in Vietnam

Pursuant to the provisions of Article 9 of the Criminal Code 2015 (amended in 2017), crimes are classified as follows:

- Crimes defined in this document are classified into four categories according to their nature and danger to society:

+ Less serious crime means a crime whose danger to society is not significant and for which the maximum sentence defined by this document is a fine, community sentence (non-custodial) or 3 years' imprisonment;

+ Serious crime means a crime whose danger to society is significant and for which the maximum sentence of the bracket defined by this document is from over 3 years' to 7 years' imprisonment;

+ Very serious crime means a crime whose danger to society is great and for which the maximum sentence of the bracket defined by this document is from over 7 years' to 15 years' imprisonment;

+ Extremely serious crime means a crime whose danger to society is enormous and for which the maximum sentence of the bracket defined by this document is from over 15 years' to 20 years' imprisonment, life imprisonment or death.

- Crimes committed by commercial juridical persons are classified based on the nature and degree of danger to society of the offenses according to the aforesaid provisions and corresponding provisions for the crimes specified in Clause 1 of Article 76 of the Criminal Code 2015.

Nhu Mai

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