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MINISTRY OF EDUCATION AND TRAINING MINISTRY OF JUSTICE HANOI LAW UNIVERSITY LE THI DIEM HANG PROTECTING VULNERABLE PEOPLE BY VIETNAMESE CRIMINAL LAW Major: Criminal Law and Criminal Procedure Code: 9380104 SUMMARY OF DOCTORAL THESIS ON LAW Hanoi, 2023 HEADING Reason for choosing the topic Vulnerable person is one of the subjects that receive many protective priorities In fact, in recent years, Vietnam has been one of the pioneer countries in implementing international commitments on criminal justice for vulnerable people with appropriate and comprehensive policies which are specifically adjusted to this group of people In particular, criminal law, as a branch of law in the legal system, also has a responsibility to protect vulnerable people Moreover, because the specificity of this branch of law is to regulate the relationship between the State and offenders when committing serious acts of danger to society, it is even more necessary to protect vulnerable people Currently, the number of vulnerable people in Vietnam is not small However, the reality shows that the number of vulnerable people being victims of crime tends to increase; furthermore, vulnerable people who commit crimes not receive the “judicial priorities” necessary to protect their legitimate interests In addition, studies related to vulnerable people in the criminal law have only focused on a few specific groups such as children and women and have not been comprehensively and systematically analyzed about vulnerable people For the above reasons, the PhD student has chosen the topic "Protecting vulnerable people by Vietnamese criminal law" Research aims and objectives 2.1 Research aims The thesis is carried out to clarify the theoretical issues to build a theoretical framework for protecting vulnerable people by criminal law from the perspective of the impacted object and the subject of the crime, provisions of the criminal law of Vietnam and practical application of criminal law, thereby proposing some solutions to improve the effectiveness of protecting vulnerable people by Vietnamese criminal law 2.2 Research objectives To achieve the research purpose, the thesis must have the task of building a theoretical basis, analyzing the provisions of Vietnam from the feudal period to the 2015 Penal Code, assessing the practical application of criminal law, thereby proposing some solutions to improve the law 3 Object and scope of research 3.1 Research subjects The thesis focuses on researching theoretical issues, legal provisions, practical application of the law and solutions to strengthen the protection of the rights of vulnerable people by Vietnamese criminal law 3.2 Research scope The thesis selects 04 groups of vulnerable people: women, children, people with disabilities and the elderly These vulnerable groups are analyzed from the perspective of them being the impacted objects and the subjects of crime In terms of time, the thesis studies legal regulations from the feudal period to the present and analyzes practice from 2013 to 2022 within Vietnam Research Methodology In general, the thesis uses an approach based on human rights Besides, the thesis uses a number of research methods such as analysis, synthesis, historical research, comparison, statistics and survey Scientific and practical significance of the topic The research in the thesis contributes to a systematic assessment of the protection of vulnerable people by criminal law and proposes some solutions to improve the effectiveness of the application of criminal law to protect vulnerable people Therefore, this thesis will be a reliable scientific document for the legislature, the interpretation of the law, the application of the law as well as the reference of the researchers Structure of the thesis In addition to the introduction, conclusion, overview of the research situation, list of references and appendices, the thesis includes 03 chapters: - Chapter 1: Theoretical issues on protection of vulnerable people by criminal law - Chapter 2: Provisions of Vietnamese criminal law on protection of vulnerable people - Chapter 3: Practical application of the provisions of the criminal law of Vietnam and solutions to strengthen the protection of vulnerable people LITERATURE REVIEW Research in Vietnam After studying research on human rights from the perspective of criminal law, the author finds that there are very few general studies in this area, and they are mainly performed by the criminal justice research group However, specific studies on human group of rightss are quite diverse and rich Research on vulnerable groups has gradually received attention, but in the field of criminal law, it is still quite limited Currently, there are only a few articles and theses focusing on this content In the field of criminal law, currently, in the vulnerable group, the two most vulnerable groups are currently focused on children and women For people with disabilities and the elderly, these analyzes are very few and limited Overseas research Research on human rights, especially in the field of criminal law, has had many in-depth studies with diverse approaches, receiving much attention The rights of vulnerable people is one of the topics attracting academic interest In the field of criminal law which is one of the branches of law that directly affects human rights, this is even more focused on Similarly, in Vietnam, women and children are also the focused group of the research For people with disabilities and the elderly, studies often focuse on certain crimes For example, older people are often associated with crimes of abuse, in which sexual or physical abuse is more popular As for people with disabilities, studies often focus on hate crimes Research question, research hypothesis 4.1 Research question - What is the protection of vulnerable people by criminal law? On what basis is the protection of vulnerable people by criminal law implemented? How does the protection method protect vulnerable people by criminal law? - What are the international standards for the protection of vulnerable people? - How are vulnerable people protected in Vietnam's criminal law from the past to the present? - How is the practice of protecting vulnerable people by criminal law implemented in Vietnam? - Which solutions are needed to strengthen the protection of vulnerable people by criminal law? 4.2 Research hypotheses - Theory on protection of vulnerable people has been studied in many fields, but it lacks systematic, comprehensive and unified characteristics, especially from the perspective of criminal law - Vietnam's criminal law on protection of vulnerable people, although has been modified through many times of codification based on international standards, still has several shortcomings - The practice of protecting vulnerable people by criminal law has limitations that need to be clarified - The causes of limitations in the application of criminal law to protect vulnerable people should be pointed out - Systematic solutions to enhance protection of vulnerable people by criminal law in the context of building a rule of law state, judicial reform and constitutional basis need to be supplemented and completed in a more comprehensive way RESEARCH RESULTS Chapter THEORETICAL ISSUES OF THE PROTECTION OF VULNERABLE PEOPLE BY CRIMINAL LAW 1.1 The concept of protecting vulnerable people by criminal law By analyzing the concept of vulnerable people, some vulnerable groups within the scope of the thesis, the concept of protection, criminal law, the author gives the concept as below: Protection of vulnerable people by criminal law is the regulation and application of legal norms on stipulating crimes and punishments in order to prevent and stop acts that are significantly dangerous to society and infringe upon their rights of people with disadvantaged personal characteristics 1.2 The basis to protect vulnerable people by criminal law Protection is the duty of the legal system, including criminal law - an important branch of law in the national legal system The recognition and protection of vulnerable people in the legal provisions as well as the application of criminal law derives from the fine traditional history of the Vietnamese nation, the humanitarian policy of the Party and the State, the legal basis includes requirements in international treaties, the Vietnamese legal system and the characteristics of the criminal law In addition, from a practical basis, the number of vulnerable people who are victims and offenders is not small according to statistics and recorded cases 1.3 Methods of protecting vulnerable people by criminal law The method of protecting vulnerable people by criminal law is the State's activity to protect vulnerable people by means of criminal law: Current methods are recognized and implemented by criminal law through the following activities: criminalization, decriminalization; application of criminal law and control of criminal legislation 1.4 International standards for the protection of vulnerable people by criminal law Although there is currently no international convention or legal document providing a definition of a vulnerable person, the spirit of protecting the rights of this group of people is reflected in important international instruments about human rights as well as a number of international treaties specific to each group of people Vulnerable people have both general human rights and specific rights based on their prejudices or psychological and physiological characteristics, in other words, rights to show their "weakness" And it is these special rights that are recognized in international treaties to protect them from violations of rights, and that the nations of the world must guarantee and recognize 1.4.1 Group of rights of vulnerable people who are victims of crime One of the special rights that are generally emphasized in international documents related to vulnerable groups is the right to not be discriminated against For each vulnerable group of people, most international legal instruments recognize this right such as the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW); Article of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC) 1989; Article of the International Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD) 2007… In addition, the rights to freedom, personal security and the righst to freedom and safety of sex are also recognized in international legal documents related to vulnerable groups The declarations of human rights have recognized the freedom and security of each individual However, due to specific characteristics such as physiological and psychological factors, some vulnerable groups often suffer acts of infringing upon the right to freedom, personal security in general and the right to freedom and safety of sex in particular, such as articles 2, 5, 11, 12 and 16 of the CEDAW Convention; Articles 16, 34, 35… UNCRC Convention 1989; Article 10, Article 14, Article 15, Article 16 and Article 17 of the CRPD Convention 2007 or Article 17 of the United Nations Principles on Aging 1991 Special group of rights of vulnerable people who are victims of crime: For women, the unique human right of women is the right to the protection of motherhood Besides, the rights to freedom of marriage are also considered as one of the characteristic rights of women For children, one of the unique rights, suitable to their characteristics and physicality, is the right to be cared for, nurtured and developed in a healthy manner For people with disabilities and the elderly, due to their specific disability or deformity or age-related decline in health, they need to be assured of their right to health care 1.4.2 Group of rights of people who are vulnerable as offenders International law with the Conventions and Charters on human rights in general and civil and political rights in particular, especially the United Nations Convention on Civil and Political Rights 1966, have set the standards of human rights of the accused Among those who commit crimes, there are also those who belong to weaker groups, that is, the vulnerable - Women: A number of conventions specifically target women who are the subject of crimes such as CEDAW Convention, Code of Rules for the Treatment of Women Prisoners and Non-custodial Measures for Women Offenders 2010 (referred to as the Bangkok Rules) - Children: Among the vulnerable groups, conventions to protect children who violate the law account for the largest number These include the UNCRC Convention, United Nations Principles for the Protection of Juveniles deprived of their liberty; The 1985 Beijing Rules; The 1990 Rirat guidelines… - Persons with disabilities: People with disabilities commit crimes recognized in the CRPD Convention, the Declaration of the Rights of Persons with Mental Disabilities 1971, or the Principles for the Protection of Persons with Mental Illness and for the Improvement of Psychiatry Health Care 1991… - The elderly: compared with other vulnerable groups, the system of international legal documents recognizing the rights of this group of people is still limited, especially when they are offenders., however, they have full human rights that should be guaranteed when participating in criminal proceedings Chapter PROVISIONS OF VIETNAM'S CRIMINAL LAW ON PROTECTION OF VULNERABLE PERSONS 2.1 An overview of the history of Vietnamese criminal law on the protection of vulnerable people 2.1.1 An overview of the history of Vietnamese criminal law on the protection of vulnerable people who are victims of crime 2.1.1.1 Criminal law provisions on the protection of vulnerable people who are victims of crime before the first codification in 1985 From the Hong Duc Code, from the feudal period to the time when the French colonialists invaded or the American and its henchmen dominated the South, all states agreed on the principle of protecting vulnerable people who were victims of crimes when stipulating the offense against them may constitute a crime or be an aggravating circumstance In particular, a number of documents are the basis for many provisions of the later Penal Codes 2.1.1.2 Provisions in the Penal Code 1985 and the Penal Code 1999 on protection of vulnerable people who are victims of crime Following the historical tradition, in the Penal Code 1985 and the Penal Code 1999, criminal acts against vulnerable people are the determining and framing circumstances of many crimes or can be viewed as is an aggravating circumstance of criminal liability For the protection of some basic rights of vulnerable groups, the Penal Code 1985 and the Penal Code 1999 inherited the provisions of previous legal documents, at the same time, there were additions to suit the requirements of practice Specifically, for the first time, the crime of infringing upon women's equal rights or the crime of infringing upon the right to life, the right to health insurance, the right to sexual inviolability, and the right to bodily freedom were prescribed In addition, a number of specific rights of each vulnerable group are also focused on; for example, the provision of illegal abortion, crime of instigating or enticing children to commit crimes or committing crimes against children is a determining or framing circumstance in drug-related crimes, acts of spreading depraved cultural products, etc 2.1.2 Overview of the history of Vietnamese criminal law on the protection of vulnerable people who are offenders 2.1.2.1 Criminal law provisions on the protection of vulnerable people as offenders before the first codification in 1985 Starting from the remaining decrees, the spirit of protecting the vulnerable as offenders has been recorded, in which the protection of the elderly or children is first and foremost Then, in the Hong Duc Code or the Criminal Law of Hoang Viet, protecting vulnerable people by not providing strict punishments for women or children, the elderly was shown more clearly and comprehensively And in the legal documents of the later period, the provisions on the age of criminal responsibility, the details of the offender being a minor, the pregnant woman, etc were also considered when deciding the penalty 2.1.2.2 Provisions in the Penal Code 1985 and the Penal Code 1999 on protection of vulnerable people who are offenders Inheriting the good values of the previous legal provisions, the Penal Code 1985 and the Penal Code 1999 also had provisions to protect vulnerable people who are offenders For the first time, the criminal law recognizes the equal rights of people, including vulnerable groups when dealing with them committing crimes The Penal Code 1985 and the Penal Code 1999 both recorded that offenders had specific personal details such as: pregnant women, elderly people, people with diseases that have limited cognitive ability or ability to handle things or control their actions is an extenuating circumstance of criminal liability For women who are offenders, the object of special protection is usually women who are pregnant or nursing a small child This is the subject of non-application or non-execution of the death penalty, or is the basis for deferring or temporarily suspending the issuance of the death penalty In addition, women are special subjects of the crime of killing or disposing of newborn babies Vietnam also attaches great importance to the protection of the human rights of children who commit crimes, as shown by the fact that in the first time of codification in 1985 and the next time of codification, the problem of dealing with this group of offenders has been resolved was built into a separate chapter by the legislator For offenders who are disabled or elderly, although it is not clear, in the Penal Code 1985 and the Penal Code 1999, there were also provisions to protect these vulnerable groups of people 2.2 Regulations of the Vietnam Penal Code 2015 on protection of vulnerable people The 2015 Penal Code is considered to be the only source of Vietnam's criminal law industry, following the criminal policy of previous periods, to clearly demonstrate the protection of vulnerable people of the State of Vietnam 2.2.1 Protecting vulnerable people who are victims of crime The 2015 Penal Code protects the rights of vulnerable groups, as the subject of influence, by regulating that an offense against them can be a sign of crime, or a sign of framing aggravating circumstances or aggravating circumstances of criminal liability First of all, the 2015 Penal Code stipulates that all criminal acts against vulnerable groups of people shall be considered as aggravating circumstances of criminal liability at Article 52.1.i, Article 52.1.k and Article 52.1.o of the Penal Code 2015 The Penal Code 2015 also protects the rights of vulnerable groups of people who are victims of crimes when considering this as a determining factor or setting punishments in the Section on crimes such as the protection of the right to not be discriminated against in Article 165, protection of the right to life is reflected in the Penal Code 2015 in 11 Articles of Law (from Article 123 to Article 133), the recognition of the right to protect human health directly in 07 Articles from Article 134 to 140, the protection of sexual inviolability from Article 141 to 147, Article 328 and 329… In addition, to protect the specific rights of some vulnerable groups, the Penal Code 2015 protects women with the right to motherhood in Article 187 and 316 or the right of women to freely marry in Chapter XVII In order to protect the right to healthcare, upbringing and development, the Penal Code contains provisions in Article 296, Article 297, Article 325, Article 326 Provisions that indirectly protect people with disabilities are expressed through the Penal Code 2015 through the determining or framing circumstances in Articles 134, 141, 142, and 185… Particularly for the elderly, at present, in the Penal Code 2015, there are three concepts, but they are all general to the elderly who are “people who are fully 70 years old or older”, “the elderly” and “people who are too old and weak” These are all criminal circumstances and framing circumstances of many crimes However, compared with other vulnerable groups, currently, the concept of the elderly in the Penal Code 2015 are not consistent and there is no specific explanation in each case 2.2.2 Protecting vulnerable people who are the offenders The Penal Code 2015 also has very specific provisions to protect vulnerable people when they are the subject of a crime Right from Article - Rules for punishing crimes, the Penal Code 2015 stipulates that all offenders are treated fairly by the Criminal Law of Vietnam in accordance with the law, and no individual is entitled to special privileges and no one shall be discriminated against for any reason and in any form The Penal Code 2015 also protects when vulnerable people are the subject of a crime by stipulating that the subject of the crime is a mitigating circumstance for criminal liability specified at points n, o, p and q of Article 51.1 In order to protect motherhood - a unique human right of women, the Penal Code 2015 has recorded provisions to reduce criminal liability, postpone or completely eliminate the application of some sanctions to women who are pregnant or nursing a child under 36 months old commit the crime Of the four groups of vulnerable people who are offenders, children are the ones who receive the most attention in the Penal Code 2015 when there is a separate chapter on criminal responsibility of persons under 18 years old who commit crimes In particular, it clearly stipulates the principles, punishments, etc., which are lighter when applied compared to those aged full 18 years or older Notably, the Penal Code 2015 stipulates that when declaring an exemption from criminal responsibility for persons under 18 years old, competent agencies shall apply supervisory and educational measures including: reprimand, reconciliation in the community or education in communes, wards and townships The Penal Code 2015 also contains provisions to protect people with disabilities who are offenders At this juncture, the main protected subjects are people with severe or particularly severe disabilities, especially people with intellectual disabilities This may be the basis for not considering the act as a crime or the basis for exemption from criminal liability, the basis for applying the measure of compulsory medical treatment, the basis for applying a number of regulations related to compliance of penalty The Penal Code 2015 related to the elderly as offenders also has its own provisions to protect them when they are offenders when considering it as a consideration when applying penalties and serving sentences Chapter THE REALITY OF APPLYING CRIMINAL LAW AND SOLUTIONS TO ENHANCE THE PROTECTION FOR VULNERABLE PEOPLE BY DINT OF VIETNAMESE CRIMINAL LAW 3.1 The reality of implementing Vietnamese criminal codes of protecting vulnerable citizens The protection of groups involving vulnerable citizens, through data and judged sentences, as can be seen that the 1999 Criminal Code and then the 2015 Criminal Code has basically guaranteed the rights of this group 3.1.1 Practically enforcing Vietnamese legal regulations about the issue that the protection of vulnerable people are victims of crime With regard to the right to non-discrimination, not only in the law-making process but also in the practical law enforcement, this group of rights is always guaranteed with certainty, which can be presented through a great many datum and judgments For 10 years, the number of cases and defendants standing trial for crimes is cases along with 08 defendants As regards the rights to freedom and personal security, this is defined as a group of rights that vulnerable citizens are prone to be harrassed A typical example is the behavior that maltreats or tortures grandfathers, fathers, spouses, children, grandchildren, and people contributing to bring up you Between 2013 and 2022, 61 cases were judged with 70 defendants Regarding the group of crimes infringing upon sexual freedom, among the cases studied by the author, the majority of victims are women and children; Also, these people possess special features such as the elderly, the disabled Within 10 years, the Court has judged 16,728 cases Noticeably, child sexual abuse acts take the lion’s share of sex offence groups, from 2013 to 2022, there are 14,698 cases brought to trial, accounting for 87.9% of the total number of sex crimes cases for 10 years Additionally, some new acts criminalized in the 2015 Criminal Code such as shagging have been judged practically Crime of human trafficking and trafficking people under 16 years old tends to decline Over a five-year period from 2018, the number of cases and defendants submitted for human trafficking acts is less than half of the previous five-year period Regarding the specific rights of some vulnerable groups, through the datum as well as sentences, it can be seen that criminal law has been applied to provide maximum protection for these people, specifically: The provisions on the protection of women's motherhood in the Penal Code have been strictly applied, demonstrating the State's special protection regime for this particular human right of women Specifically, the competent agencies, especially the People's Courts at all levels, have applied criminal circumstances against pregnant women in order to thoroughly frame the aggravation of the punishment during the trial For the crime of organizing surrogacy for commercial purposes – a new crime that was first regulated in the 2015 Penal Code in the period 2018-2022, the Court heard 15 cases with 30 defendants To protect women's marriage freedom, in the period 2013-2017, the People's Courts at all levels have tried 26 cases; from 2018 to 2022, there are 05 cases of a number of acts belonging to the group of crimes infringing on the marriage and family regime For children, disabled people and the elderly, basically when examining cases and trial data, it can be seen that the basic spirit of protecting vulnerable people has been shown, aiming to ensure their rights as much as possible However, the practical application of criminal law to protect vulnerable people still has some obstacles and limitations Specifically, compared with reality, the cases brought to trial are still quite modest, for example crimes of infringing upon gender equality rights; crime of illegal abortion, crime of enticing, forcing or harboring a person under the age of 18 to commit a crime… In addition, many behaviors that are dangerous to society have not been criminalized, leading to inadequate and incomplete protection of vulnerable people For example, many acts of sexual abuse have not been criminalized, such as sexual harassment of people aged 16 and over; or sexual coercion in marriage; sex crimes through internet… Additionally, the prosecuting agencies not have a consensus in their perception of some criminal circumstances related to vulnerable people, such as considering as framing or aggravating circumstances; considering criminal behavior… 3.1.2 Practical application of the provisions of the criminal law of Vietnam on the protection of vulnerable people who are offenders For women who are criminals, in the 10-year-period from 2013 to 2022, the People's Courts at all levels tried a total of 57.693 female defendants This is the unofficial statistics of the Supreme People's Court Of the total 1,089,993 defendants brought to trial during this period, the total number of female defendants accounted for just over 5% (specifically 5.18%) The trial of these defendants basically complies with the provisions of the law, ensuring human rights in general and the specific rights of women in particular For the crime of murder or abandonment of a newborn child, in 10 years, only 33 defendants were brought to trial, among which, the majority also received suspended sentences (19/28 defendants, accounting for 67.9%) However, women who are pregnat or nursing a child under 36 months old and have been serving the sentence pregnancy will still be sentenced to prison, although they can postpone or temporarily suspend the execution of the prison sentence according to regulations of the Penal Code 2015 Or in fact, the provisions of Article 124 – The crime of killing or discarding a newborn child has not yet ensured the rights of the mother after birth For children who are offenders, the number of cases and the number of children committing crimes in the 10-year-old from 2013 to 2022 is 22.538 cases with 31863 defendants, accounting for 3.58% and 2.9% compared to the sum of cases and numbers of criminals On average, each year, the number of cases and the number of juvenile offenders is 2253.8 cases and 3186.3 defendants When studying the offenses committed by children, nearly 71% of juvenile defendants were prosecuted for one of the following four crimes: theft of property (34%), willful bodily harm or harm to the health of others (16.8%); robbery (11.9%) and snatching (8.1%) Among the applied penalties, the most common for people under 18 years of age (children) to commit a crime is a prison sentence of less than years, accounting for 73.62% There were 22 cases (out of a total of 12,864 defendants brought to trial, accounting for 0.17%) in the 05 year-period from the time the Penal Code 2015 took effect However, in the process of applying criminal law to children, there are still some limitations Specifically, prison sentences applied to children committing crimes from 2013 to 2022 still account for a high rate, accounting for 92.29% of the total number of major penalties applied This is a significant limitation when deciding penalties for juvenile offenders, although in Article 91.6 of the Penal Code 2015 has specified and emphasized more specifically the principle of limiting the application of prison sentence to juvenile offenders In addition, when analyzing a number of judgments and punishments applied to children, the regulations are still inaccurate or unclear An issue that in many recommendations of international conventions as well as the current legislative trend of some countries to protect children is “peer consent” or “age consent” in some sexual acts, especially between minors, however, the Penal Code of Vietnam has not yet regulated For offenders who are disabled, there are currently no statistics on the number of cases and the number of defendants brought to trial each year However, in the process of studying a number of cases involving disabled defendants, in general, the author found that the prosecuting agencies consider the defendant's disability when assessing the sentence For the measure of compulsory medical treatment for offenders suffering from mental illness or other diseases that cause loss of cognitive ability or ability to control behavior in the past 10 years is 494 people Accordingly, the number of disabled people who commit crimes that can be applied this measure accounts for about 0.045% of the sum of defendants brought to trial However, in some cases, the determination of the degree of the offender's disability has not yet been agreed, leading to inadequate judgment or punishment As for the elderly as offenders, at present, there are no official statistics on the number of elderly offenders all over the country Only from 2018 to 2022, the Supreme People's Court has statistics on the personal characteristics of offenders, including 281 people aged 75 and over, accounting for 0.051% of the accused brought into court The application of criminal law in handling elderly crimes is basically implemented properly, providing maximum protection for the elderly group 3.1.3 Causes stemming from the limitations and obstacles in the application of criminal law on the protection for vulnerable people On the basis of theoretical research, regulations and practical application of criminal law on the protection for vulnerable people by Vietnamese criminal law, in the author’s opinion, the causes of these limitations stem from the limitations of the criminal law, of specialized laws which protect vulnerable people and of the agencies that apply the law as well as the community’s awareness of protecting vulnerable people 3.1.3.1 Causes stemming from the limitations of criminal law - Firstly, there has not been a definite definition of people belonging to vulnerable groups, namely children, the handicapped and the elderly, or in other words the concept of children, people with disabilities and the elderly has not been uniformly used in the 2015 Penal Code - Secondly, there are no guidelines on determining the will of the offender when harming a vulnerable person At present, there is only an objective consensus on committing crimes against people under 16 years old and this applies whether knowing the victim's age or not; but for pregnant women, people with disabilities, the elderly, there has not been any regulation - Thirdly, many regulations not fully protect the rights of vulnerable people, especially when they are offenders Especially, using the word “may” for regulations that favor vulnerable people leads to the discretion in its application - Fourthly, currently, there are some dangerous acts that directly infringe on the rights of vulnerable people but have not been criminalized in the Vietnam Penal Code such as sexual harassment or rape or in marriage… - Fifthly, sanctions imposed on groups of vulnerable people who are offenders should be considered The lack of diversity of penalties leads to the fact that imprisonment is still the main punishment for groups of vulnerable people, which is mostly imprisonment sentences for a limited period of time Or the capital punishment – the most severe penalty of the State is still applied for some groups of vulnerable people 3.1.3.2 Causes stemming from the limitations of specialized laws on vulnerable groups One of the positive points of Vietnam when it comes to protecting groups of vulnerable people, in the author’s analysis, is that there are specialized laws aimed at this object These include the 2016 Law on Children, the 2010 Law on People with Disabilities, the 2009 Law on The Elderly or the one that relates to women’s equality rights named the Law on Gender Equality in 2006 However, the specialized laws themselves also have certain limitations, specifically: Firstly, most of these laws have been formulated for a long time, leading to the application of many regulations that are no longer appropriate Secondly, the compatibility between the laws in the legal system and the Vietnamese Penal Code is still quite limited Thirdly, the current concept of vulnerable people groups in some laws is not compatible with international standards as well as other laws and practices 3.1.3.3 Causes stemming from the limitations of competent authorities and agencies or people conducting proceedings In addition to the causes stemming from legislative limitations, the lack of effectiveness in protecting the vulnerable also comes from the agencies/individuals that have the authority to formulate and law enforcers First of all, there is a lack of unanimous awareness in the process of applying regulations relating to groups of vulnerable people Besides, the detection, investigation, prosecution and trial of cases relating to the abuse of groups of vulnerable people are still ineffective In addition, the cause comes from the people who apply the law such as limitations regarding expertise, techniques, and psychology, which leads to errors, inconsistencies or incompatibility with the law when receiving, investigating, prosecuting and adjudicating 3.1.3.4 Causes stemming from the limited awareness of family and community in recognizing rights and denouncing infringement on vulnerable people’s rights Vietnamese have a tradition of loving people, especially the vulnerable However, the awareness of the human rights, especially those of vulnerable people, is not guaranteed, even within their own families or from the perspective of society Even vulnerable people - victims of crime are not aware of their own rights They have fears about public opinion, fear of their own weakness or dependence, which leads to their not daring to report criminal acts against them 3.2 Measures to reinforce the protection for vulnerable people by criminal law Measures to improve the effectiveness of protecting vulnerable people by criminal law must ensure the requirements of the policy, the harmony of the legal system, the compatibility with international standards and the requirements of practice 3.2.1 Completing criminal law 3.2.1.1 There is a need for regulation and a uniform interpretation of the perception of some vulnerable groups in the criminal law First of all, in terms of the concept of children, it is necessary to raise the age of the victim as the circumstances that determine the crime or frame the punishment, specifically, from "committing a crime against a person under 16 years old" to "committing a crime against a person under the age of 18” Regarding the disabled, it is necessary to agree on the term "person with severe disability or particularly severe disability" in all framing or aggravating circumstances to increase the protection for this group of people When it comes to the elderly today, it is crucial to have a consensus on the concept Accordingly, it is urgent to clearly define and agree on the interpretation in the current Penal Code instead of using many concepts It is important to unify the term “people over 70 years old” in the regulations protecting the elderly However, to ensure the compatibility in the legal system and maximize the rights of this group of people, the Penal Code needs to consider the age corresponding to the age defined as a senior citizen in the Law on the Elderly 3.2.1.2 There should be a unified explanation in determining the will of the offender when there is an act of abusing a vulnerable person It is not recommended that the offender's will know that the victim is a pregnant person, a disabled person or an elderly person, but only needs to objectively state that the victim is a pregnant woman, disabled person or elderly person Therefore, this circumstance may apply, similar to the circumstance of aggravating criminal liability specified in Clause 1, Article 52 of the Penal Code 2015 3.2.1.3 Phrases that are arbitrary for vulnerable offenders should be removed In the 2015 Penal Code, there are provisions in favor of vulnerable people who are offenders However, these regulations are arbitrary as we have analyzed Therefore, there is a need to revise and amend, removing the word “may” in these regulations with a view to ensuring that all offenders belonging to a vulnerable group will be able to apply these beneficial provisions 3.2.1.4 It is necessary to criminalize and decriminalize a number of criminal acts that infringe on vulnerable people - It is imperative to criminalize sexual harassment behaviours This is the trend of many countries in the world these days - It is necessary to consider supplementing regulations on marital rape to be consistent with the recommendations of the United Nations Commission on Human Rights for Vietnam as well as the trends of some countries around the world - It is necessary to develop these acts into constituting new crimes, or more simply, some legal regulations can be changed or supplemented to handle some acts of infringing upon children's sexual freedom - It is vital to consider that criminalization and de-criminization in the criminal law must ensure consistency with other specialized laws such as: Adding discriminatory acts against some vulnerable groups as a crime besides infringing on gender equality rights; criminalizing the act of taking advantage of vulnerable people for personal gain - The age of children should be raised for acts of killing or disposing of newborn babies Because, as analyzed, 07 days old is a short period of time and is not suitable for the characteristics of the postpartum woman as well as protecting the mother's rights as much as possible - It is necessary to unify the circumstances aggravating criminal liability for all vulnerable offenders, especially for crimes in the group of crimes infringing upon honor, dignity and human's life