Criminal liability for domestic violence crimes under criminal law of vietnam

PREFACE The necessity of the Dissertation In recent years, domestic violence situation in Viet Nam is getting complicated, there is a tendency to increase in number and becoming more and more serious in nature and extent of the violation Domestic violence has infringed the fundamental rights of the family members, broken many families, affected the healthy and harmony development of the society Aware of the danger of domestic violence on families and society, the Communist Party and the State has established and implemented many solutions, outstanding of which is that the enactment and implementation of the Law on prevention and control of domestic violence Among the measures to prevent and control of domestic violence, criminal law has always played an important role Through the provisions of violent crimes, especially when the offender and the victim are members of the same family, criminal responsibility is applied Hence, criminal law has become a sharp instrument to combat the phenomenon of domestic violence However, the awareness of the danger of acts of domestic violence in general and domestic violence crimes in particular is still limited In addition to that, the regulations of the relationship related to domestic violence are stipulated in various different legal documents These regulations are still in general nature, have not covered all the contents related to the prevention and control of domestic violence The result is that, situation of domestic violence especially domestic violence crimes has not decreased, but tend to occur more seriously, more complicatedly Prevention and fight against domestic violence, especially domestic violence crimes has become an urgent and long term task, requiring application of multiple solutions and different measures Practical dealing with domestic violence crimes have showed that there hasn’t been adequated and unified awareness of criminal liability This leads to limitation in the process of drafting and implementation of criminal law on domestic violence behaviors The applications of penalties are either too heavy or too light; many offenders placed on probation, certain judgments are not strictly observed Besides, the application of other forms of criminal liability has not been focused, resulting to a deduction in efficiency of the fight against domestic violence by criminal law Criminal law was no longer a weapon of deterrence, warning and punishing many potential or actual offenders of domestic violence In other words, in this situation, criminal law has not met its social goals Deriving from the above mentioned reasons, the study of criminal liability in the fight against domestic violence crimes has become urgent requirement Therefore, the author has selected the subject: "Criminal liability for domestic violence crimes under criminal law of Vietnam" to be my research for PhD dissertation Research purposes and tasks 2.1 Research Purposes Base on clarification of theoretical and practical issues relating to criminal liability for domestic violence crimes under Viet Nam current criminal law, contents of the provisions of criminal law, the inadequacies, limitations or shortcomings of the regulations and criminal liability of domestic violence crimes, the cause of the limitations and shortcomings, the dissertation has proposed solutions in order to improve the provisions of criminal law and the efficiency in application of criminal liability for domestic violence crimes 2.2 Research Tasks Firstly, analyze theoretical aspects of domestic violence, criminal liability in general, domestic violence crimes in particular; introduce and clarify their concepts and characteristics Secondly, generalize situation of provisions regulating domestic violence crimes in Vietnam's penal legislation enacted before the adoption of current Penal Code Thirdly, assess provisions on criminal liability for domestic violence in Viet Nam criminal law and their application in practices Fourthly, propose orientations and solutions to improve the criminal law and effectiveness in criminal liability’s application for domestic violence crimes in Vietnam; propose in detail on how to improve the law and legislation as well as other measures to strengthen the efficiency of criminal liability for domestic violence crimes in Vietnam today 3 Object and scope of the research 3.1 Research scope The Dissertation will concentrate on criminal law and criminal law procedure aspects The data and statistics is used for research topics were collected from data of the People's Public Security Forces, People's Court, the magazines, the newspapers and online newspapers from 2009 to 2015 The study period: from 2009 to 2015 3.2 Research subjects The Dissertation focuses on study of theoretical issues and practices of criminal liability in general and criminal liability for domestic violence crimes in particular Methodology and research methodology 4.1 The approach of the Dissertation The Dissertation uses the approach of specialized criminal law and criminal procedure; historical approach; system approach, specialized and interdisciplinary social science At the same time, research on the regulation of criminal liability, criminal liability for domestic violence crimes in recent years to offer solutions in order to improve provisions of the criminal law on domestic violence crimes 4.2 Research methodology The Dissertation uses the research methods such as: Synthetic methods of analysis, statistics,comparison, investigation, survey and systematized, scie ntific seminars, expert interviews, survey sociology questionnaire, method of analysis and forecasting….to study to clarify the theoretical issues and application of the law on criminal liability for domestic violence and solutions to improve the efficiency in application of criminal liability for domestic violence crimes New scientific contribution of the research Firstly, giving grounds, scientific basis of legal provisions on domestic violence and criminal law on criminal liability for domestic violence Secondly, assessing the real situation of provisions on criminal liability for current domestic violence crimes, the limitations and inadequacies of law and its practical application and the criminal liability for the crimes of domestic violence, the Dissertation has put forward a system of solutions contributing to the improvement of criminal law as well as its application to improve the efficiency of criminal liability for domestic violence crimes Thirdly, contributing to the study of criminal liability and to develop legal provisions of criminal law in the near future Science and practical significance of the research The research results of the Dissertation shall have theoretical and practical meaning, the Dissertation is the first and the overall research project on "Criminal liability for domestic violence crimes under criminal law in Vietnam" The outcomes of the Dissertation can be applied and put into practice to build and improve the criminal policy, criminal law, to effectively serve the fight against domestic violence crimes in the current period The Dissertation is a scientific work which is valuable reference for research, teaching, learning about domestic violence and domestic violence crimes in Vietnam today The structure of the Dissertation Besides the introduction, conclusion, list of references, the Dissertation consists of chapters, as follows: Chapter Literature review Chapter General theory of criminal liability for domestic violence crimes Chapter Real situation of provisions on criminal liability for domestic violence crimes in existing criminal law of Viet Nam and practical application Chapter Improving provisions of criminal laws on criminal liability for domestic violence crimes Chapter LITERATURE REVIEW 1.1 Research Overview There are some researches in Vietnam and overseas about criminal liability in general, and criminal liability for domestic violence crimes in particular However, criminal liability for domestic violence crimes is new and complicated issue, and so far there is not yet any concreted and specialized study on criminal liability for domestic violence crimes 1.2 Assessing Dissertation the researching situation concerning to the 1.2.1 Regarding the advantages, the results of researche that the Dissertation could inherit and continue to develop - Studies mentioned on theoretical aspect of criminal liability, such as: the concept, the basis of the criminal liability, the forms of criminal liability, they would help authors to have further analysis on the basis of the criminal liability, the forms of liability for the crime of domestic violence - The studies which are put for reference, or were inherited highlight the nature and extent of the danger of violence in general, crimes of domestic violence in particular, which is considered the legal basis of the criminal liability for this kind of behavior 1.2.2 Matters that have not been solved thoroughly, or need to continue research First, most studies only mention domestic violence in general and ways, methods and means to prevent, to stop, and to push domestic violence out from social life Second, very few works have addressed the direct criminal liability studies for domestic violence crimes A number of works have addressed this problem but studies generally focus on conceptual, legal signs of acts of domestic violence Third, the mentioned studies analyse the basis of criminal liability for the crime of domestic violence but only focusing their analysis on its legal basis – constituent elements of crime provided corresponding in the Penal Code; they forget its factual basis, that is the criminal acts occuring in practice Furthermore, they have not analysed the characteristics of the relationship between the subject who committed the crimes and the person abused - victim This will be further clarified by the author in this Dissertation 1.3 Theoretical basis and research methods 3.1 Theoretical basis of the research topic 1.3.1.1 Research questions - The concept of violence, what is domestic violence? - The concept of criminal liability, what is criminal liability for the crime of domestic violence? - What is the current situation of domestic violence crimes in Vietnam? - Which solutions to make the application of criminal liability for the crime of domestic violence to be effective? 1.3.1.2 Theoretical research The Dissertation is done on the basis of Marxist - Leninism and Ho Chi Minh Thought, guidelines, directions and policies of the Communist Party of Vietnam on human rights, gender equality and protection of women's rights , children as well as the view of the Party and State's laws on the issue of domestic violence in general, and the role of criminal law against crime of domestic violence in particular 1.3.1.3 Research Hypothesis First, the criminal liability for the crime of domestic violence is a form of legal liability, with the purpose to prevent, curb domestic violence, improve the quality of life of each individual and promoting social stability Second, in the legislative practice of our country, the crime of domestic violence has been stipulated in the penal code over times, but it was scattered in different chapters Therefore, it lack of systematical, specified, then it would partly affect the prevention and fight against this crime Third, the desire to further improve the effectiveness of criminal liability for the crime of domestic violence in the direction of: supplementing a number of new born criminal behavior which danger to the society in the Penal Code, proposing measures to improve the effectiveness of criminal liability’s application for the crime of domestic violence CONCLUSIONS OF CHAPTER There have been some studies that mentioned criminal liability for domestic violence crimes However, these works only at the level of conceptual or liability forms analysis, not going into the nature, characteristics, limitations and requirements of liability for the crime of high serious nature and high degree of danger as the crime of domestic violence At the same time, these researches have not come up with concrete proposals in order to contribute to the improvement of the regulations on criminal liability in general and criminal liability for domestic violence crimes in particular In the upcoming chapters the author of this Dissertation would have tasks to clarify these issues CHAPTER GENERAL THEORY OF CRIMINAL LIABILITY FOR DOMESTIC VIOLENCE CRIMES 2.1 Definition, base of criminal liability for domestic violence crimes The author think that domestic violence crimes are acts dangerous to the society prescribed in the Penal Code, committed intentionally by a family member having the penal liability capacity, infringing upon the life, health, honor, dignity, freedom, property, as well as other legitimate rights and interests of other members in the family It would be meaningless if domestic violence crimes were prescribed in the Penal Code without legal impact i.e., criminal liability Criminal liability is a category of criminal law which covers various forms of legal impact to crimes and criminals aiming at protection of social relationships preserved by the criminal law They are penalty - the most severe coercise measure applied by the State, judicial measures or even measure as penalty exemption etc In any of the above mentioned impacts, criminal liability is still a bad legal consequence suffered by offenders of domestic violence crimes Therefrom, the definition of criminal liability for domestic violence crimes can be understood as on form of criminal liability defined and applied to the crime of domestic violence, which represents obligations of a family member who suffers adverse legal consequences to the State for his/her criminal acts against other members of the family, under which offenders are deprived or restricted certain rights and benefits by a judgement of the court Article of the Penal Code 1999 and Article of the Penal Code 2015 stipulated that: “only those persons who have committed crimes defined by the Penal Code”, thus, offender of domestic violence crimes is a person who violates any crime of domestic violence prescribed in the Penal Code and has to bear criminal liabilities therefor To consider whether a person is guilty or not guilty of violating the provisions of the Penal Code and penalties apply to them, the court has to determine whether or not the offenders have satisfied the constituent elements of the specific crime Constituent elements of crime are legal basis of criminal liability and one person suffers criminal liabilities for domestic violence crimes only when his/her acts satisfy all constituent elements of a crime Specifically, to distinguish between acts considered criminal and acts are not considered criminal, paragraph 4, Article of the Penal Code 1999 and paragraph of Article of the Penal Code 2015 provided: “Acts showing signs of crime but which pose minimal danger to society are not crimes and shall be handled by other measures” Thus, a behavior is considered as crime if satisfied legal signs i.e., it’s significant dangerous to society, mens rea, unlawful and punishable Constituent elements of crime are synthesize of common/general specific characteristics of a particular crime defined in the penal law The conviction of someone of offenses under the Penal Code and forcing them to bear criminal liability can only be based on a legal basis that are constituent elements of crime Constituent elements of crime includes elements, not separate existence, but are divided as follows: the object of the crime, the objective of the crime, the subject of the crime, the subjective of the crime In their unity, the four factors mentioned above fully reflect politic – social nature and contents of the crime A notable point is that the Penal Code 2015 has added a group of new subject of crime that are trade legal entity, however, it is no way being subject of domestic violence crime, so later on we will not mention therefor The compulsory legal signs required in alll constituent elements of crime include: dangerous act to the society which is objective aspect of crime; guilty mind (mens rea) which is subjective aspect of crime; perpetrator is at the ages subject to penal liability and having penal liability capacity which are necessary requirements to subjects of crime The signs are not required in all constituent elements of crime include: dangerous consequences for sociaty; place of crime; time to commit crime; instruments of crime; criminal motives; level of crime etc these signs may be required for some certain crimes but are not mandatory for all crimes Legal basis of criminal liability for domestic violence crimes is similar to those of general crimes, it also stems from the guilty acts and constituent elements of domestic violence crimes The Penal Code has divided crimes into groups of offences basing on different groups of social relations protected by criminal law These groups are stipulated in different chapters of the Penal Code with specific constituent elements of crimes Constituent elements of domestic violence crimes are scattered in various chapters of the Penal Code, with 38 articles of the Penal Code 1999 and 42 articles under the Penal Code 2015 Though, the Penal Code has no separate chapter for the crime of domestic violence, but to facilitate the research, based on objective elements of the crime, from personal point of view, the author of the dissertation has divided specific offenses (38 related offenses) into groups of physical trespassing, sexual abuse, spiritual infringement, infringing upon democratic freedom, ownership rights, marriage and family regimes and other crime groups 2.2 The forms of criminal liability for domestic violence crimes For domestic violence crimes, forms of criminal liabilities are expressed mainly through the provisions on penalties to be defined in each specific offense 2.2.1 Penalty – basic and main form of criminal liability for domestic violence crimes Penalty is an important measure used by the State to fight against crimes It is one of strict enforcement measures applicable to person or legal entity who committed crimes in general and in particular domestic violence crimes 10 2.2.2 The forms of punishment applied to domestic violence crimes under criminal law of Vietnam Due to the complexity and diversity nature of domestic violence crimes, the punishment prescribed for the crime is also diverse and of differen severity levels: the most severe punishment is the death penalty and warning is the most gentle one In addition to the main punishment for the crime of domestic violence, there are certain supplementary forms of punishment The principle penalties provided to the respective offenses include: warning, fine, non-custodial reform, termed imprisonment, life imprisonment, death pelnaty Additional penalties include: Ban from holding certain posts, practicing certain occupations or doing certain jobs; Ban on residence; Probation; Confiscation of property; Fine, when it is not applied as a principal penalty; 2.2.3 Immunity from criminal liability, exemption of punishment other forms of criminal responsibility for domestic violence offences 2.2.3.1 Immunity from criminal liability It’s quite common that the statutory exemption of criminal liability is applied to domestic violence crimes due to their characteristic that family members often have emotional, psychological bonds between themselves in addition to guilty acts 2.2.3.2 Exemption of punishment There are different in pelnaty range between categories/groups of domestic violence crimes prescribed in the Viet Nam Penal Code 1999 and the Penal Code 2015 Analyzing provisions of the existing criminal law could see that penalty for groups of physical abuse crimes in domestic violence offences is very high because they may cause great danger and harm to family members as well as to society Therefore, the criminal policy of our State towards offenses in this group is extreme strict As for the group of offences infringing/harming to spirit, the danger caused is at lower level; hence, punishment to this group is less severe compared to groups of physical harm or sexual abuse crimes 11 2.2.3.3 Judicial measures Practical application of the law on domestic violence crimes in recent years shows that judicial measures have great contribution to crime prevention and offender education, especially measures of compelling to make public apologies or compulsory medical treatment CONCLUSION OF CHAPTER Criminal responsibility arises from the moment that the competent authorities institute criminal proceedings against one person and terminates when he/she wiped out his/her criminal records or exempted from criminal liability One person has to liable for domestic violence crimes which is understood “as acts dangerous to the society prescribed into specific crimes (violent) in the chapter: XII, XIII, XIV, XV, XVII, XIX of the Penal Code 1999 and Chapter XIV, Chapter XV, Chapter XVI, Chapter XVII, Chapter XX, section Chapter XXI of the Penal Code of 2015 ” The dissertation shows that, legal bases of the criminal liability are the constituent elements of crime which also being necessary and sufficient conditions of criminal liability The constituent elements of a crime in general and that of a domestic violence crime in particular include: object, objectivity, subjectivity and subject of the offense One of the characteristics of the crime of domestic violence is that subject of criminal acts is a member of family who violate rights and legitimate interests of other family members Criminal liability is recognized and reflected in the many forms, and punishment is the main and basic form with the purpose of punishment, rehabilitation and education of offenders become useful citizens of the society CHAPTER REAL SITUATION OF PROVISIONS ON CRIMINAL LIABILITY FOR DOMESTIC VIOLENCE CRIMES IN EXISTING CRIMINAL LAW OF VIET NAM AND PRACTICAL APPLICATION 3.1 Real situation of provisions on criminal liability of domestic violence crimes in the Penal Code 1999 In the Penal Code 1999, the crimes of domestic violence were prescribed in 38 scattered provisions of different chapters In many crimes, there’s no discrimination between members of the family with other subjects who are not having family ties There is no separate chapter in the Penal Code 12 for the crime of domestic violence, however, to facilitate the research, the author has divided these specific offenses (38 related offenses) into groups of offenses having the same nature of object Namely: Group of physical harm crimes, group of sexual abuse crimes, group of spiritual harm crimes, group of crimes infringing upon democratic freedom, group of crimes infringing upon ownership rights, group of crimes infringing upon marriage and family regimes and other crime groups Through introducing basic constituent elements as well as the characteristics of the object and the objectivity of crime, shows: a) Group of physical harm crimes include 12 offences, namely: Murder (Article 93); Murdering one’s new-born (Article 94); Murdering people under strong provocation (Article 95); Murder beyond the limit of legitimate selfdefense (Article 96); Forcing suicide (Article 100); Inciting or assisting other persons to commit suicide (Article 101); Threatening to murder (Article 103); Intentionally inflicting injury on or causing harm to the health of other persons (Article 104); Intentionally inflicting injury on or causing harm to the health of other persons due to strong provocation (Article 105); Intentionally inflicting injury on or causing harm to the health of other persons due to an excess of legitimate self-defense limit (Article 106); Ill-treating other persons (Article 110); Spreading HIV to other persons (Article 117) b) Group of sexual abuse crimes consist of offences, namely: Rape (Article 111); Rape against children (Article 112); Forcible sexual intercourse (Article 113); Forcible sexual intercourse with children (Article 114); Having sexual intercourse with children (Article 115); Obscenity against children (Article 116) c) Group of spiritual harm crimes include only offences, namely: Humiliating other persons (Article121); Slander (Article 122) d) Group of crimes infringing upon democratic freedoms include offences, namely: Illegal arrest, custody or detention of people (Article 123); Infringement upon citizen’s places or residence (Article 125); Infringement upon women’s rights to equality (Article 130) đ) Group of crimes infringing ownership rights include offences, namely: Plundering property (Article 133); Extortion of property (Article 135); Destroying or deliberately damaging property (Article 143) 13 e) Group of crimes infringing upon marriage and family regimes include offences, namely: Forcible marriage or prevention of voluntary and progressive marriage (Article 146); Bigamy (Article 147); Organizing underage marriage, entering into underage marriage (Article 148); Incest (Article 150); Il-treating or persecuting grand-parents, parents, spouses, children, grandchildren and/or fosterers (Article 151); Refusing or evading the obligation to provide financial support (Article 152); g) Group of other crimes include offences, namely: Trafficking in women (Article 119); Trading in, fraudulently exchanging or appropriating children (Article 120); Forcing, inducing other persons into illegal use of narcotics (Article 200); Breaching the regulations on employment of child labor (Article 228); Illegal abortion (Article 243); Enticing, compelling juveniles to commit offenses or harboring juvenile offenders (Article 252) 3.2 Practical application of the regulations on criminal liability of domestic violence crimes Regulations on crimes of domestic violence and their respective measures of criminal liability primarily aimed at preventing and blocking them from occurring However, due to many different causes, domestic violence crimes still occur in society, there is a tendency to increase, year after year The statistics show that: criminal cases of domestic violence handled with criminal sanctions, relating mainly criminal acts of violence against the life, health and property of others They are usually very serious crimes and extremely serious ones Once have been the cases that the police force set up a file to handle, are usually of serious nature, the reconciliation at grassroots level could not achieved any result; it’s impossible to dealt by administrative measures, thus it must be dealt by criminal justice 3.3 The limitations and shortcomings in the application of criminal liability to domestic violence crimes and their causes - Basis of the criminal responsibility (Article of the Penal Code): the Penal Code provide basis of criminal responsibility but not explain what is the criminal liability, starting and ending time of criminal liability; authority to determine criminal responsibility thus its awareness has not been unified especially, when dealing with a number of specific criminal cases of general crimes and crimes of domestic violence in particular 14 Although, acts of domestic violence trespassing honor, dignity and reputation of other family members; infringing upon marriage and family regime, are rarely handled with criminal justice, but this does not mean that this type of crime is rare in practice There’re many reasons leading to a great difference between the total number of offenses occurred and the number of cases being processed in criminal procedure - System of penalties and application of certain penalties: Practice of the court show that certain penalties prescribed in the Penal Code but have not been applied or rarely applied in reality - Bases for deciding penalties: some grounds for sentencing are neither really clear, specific, nor consistent with the other provisions of the Penal Code, may cause even difficulties in carrying out the principle of penalty personalization for offender such as: the courts may also consider other circumstances as extenuating, but must clearly inscribe them in the judgment (paragraph 2, Article 46) or circumstances of “inciting juveniles to commit crimes” - Legal signs of some crimes have not been suitable with reality, are difficult to prove in practice, may result in difficulties in investigation, prosecution and adjudication of crimes - Penalties prescribed in some provisions in the Penal Code have not been reasonable, thus may lead to inaccurate or subjective application - Some provisions on domestic violence crimes in the current Penal Code provided for grafted offence, such as: Trading in, fraudulently exchanging or appropriating children (Article 120), Illegal arrest, custody or detention of people (Article 123), Forcible marriage or prevention of voluntary and progressive marriage (Article 146) etc The biggest shortcoming is that these crimes are of different nature and different serious level but are subjected to the same policy for the same treatment because they are stipulated in the same provision This also causes difficulties in deciding crime and penalties as well as determining the circumstances of recidivism, dangerous recidivism Moreover, provision of graft crime cannot describe all objective acts and constituent elements of each crime, thus making it difficult to decide crime and penalty Some behaviors are dangerous for family and society but has not been defined in the Penal Code For example: acts of forcing family members to 15 overwork; ill-treatment to exploit child labor being family members; using force or threat to use force to compel abortion for reasons of sex selection; acts of forcible sexual intercourse Should it be mentioned the inadequacy of the provisions of the Penal Code, in only which crime and punishment is stipulated According to Article of the current Penal Code: "Only those persons who have committed crimes defined by the Penal Code shall bear the penal liabilities therefor." Being bound by this principle, in all other legislations when it comes to a violations of criminal law, it shall be referred to the Penal Code in very general way as: " shall be punished in accordance with the provisions of the Penal Code" but it's unclear about what kind of crime, under which provision of the Penal Code This can be illustrated in the provisions of the Law against domestic violence, Law against human trafficking - Title of chapters in the crimes section of the Penal Code 1999 has not been unified Most of the chapter is named in accordance with the object of infringement Furthermore, in many of domestic violence crimes, the penalties are applied to offenders are similar to those that not have marital relations and family ties with the victim CONCLUSION OF CHAPTER Through studying provisions of the current laws regarding criminal liability for domestic violence crimes and their application as well as current situation of domestic violence crimes, the dissertation draws the following conclusions: The situation of domestic violence crimes has not decreased but has a tendency to increase instead The dissertation has analyzed elements constituting a crime including: objective aspect of crime, subjective aspect of crime, subjects of crime, objects of crime; principal penalties, additional penalties applied to each group of domestic violence crimes The investigation, prosecution and adjudication of these crimes still have some limitations and shortcomings for many different reasons Hence, it’s necessary to continuously research aiming at amendment and supplementation of certain provisions of the Criminal Procedure Code and 16 law on organization of criminal investigation in order to meet practical requirements of investigation, prosecution and adjudication of domestic violence crimes in the new situation For the time being, it’s very urgent to promulgate guidance on the Criminal Procedure Code 2015 and the Law on organization of criminal investigation agencies 2015 CHAPTER IMPROVING PROVISIONS OF CRIMINAL LAWS ON CRIMINAL LIABILITY FOR DOMESTIC VIOLENCE CRIMES 4.1 The necessity, viewpoints, directions for improving criminal laws and solutions to increase the efficiency in application of criminal liability for domestic violence crimes The Penal Code is an effective tool of the State for administration of society, prevention and fight against crimes, maintenance of political security, social order and security, and protection of the interests of the State, organizations and citizens, contributing significantly to building socialism and protecting sovereignty of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam However, after almost 15 years of implementation of the Penal Code 1999, Vietnam has experienced drastic changes in all aspects, which reveals limitations and shortcomings of the Penal Code’s provisions as they has become no longer consistent with the socio-economic conditions It triggers the need for fundamental and comprehensive amendments of the current Penal Code to meet the requirements of the fight against crimes in the new situations, including domestic violence crimes In implementation of the program on building laws and ordinances of the National Assembly session XIII, the Penal Code, Criminal Procedure Code, as well as many other important laws have been considered and discussed by the National Assembly in order to be adopted The Government’s Statement and verification reports of the Standing Committee of the National Assembly has presented clearly and persuasively on the necessity, purposes, requirements and principles of the amendment and supplementation the current Penal Code and as a result, many new regulations have been incorporated into the Penal Code 2015 Hereafter, the author would like to put forward some ideas and recommendations related to the research in order to further amend and supplement provisions of the Penal Code 2015 concerning determination of criminal liability for domestic violence crimes 17 From theoretical and practical research on the application of criminal liability, the author reckons that it is necessary to improve provisions of criminal liability for domestic violence crimes in the following directions: Firstly, improving criminal policies for domestic violence crimes, focusing on the efficiency in prevention and building goodwill in offenders’ treatment; respecting and ensuring the full enforcement of human rights and fundamental rights of citizens as recognized in the Constitution 2013; Secondly, improving the institutions for exemption of criminal liability, exemption or reduction of penalty and remission of criminal record to bring opportunities for convicted persons, especially those sentenced to imprisonment, to reintegrate into the community; Thirdly, criminalizing certain dangerous acts to the society; Fourthly, considering the amendment of criminal laws in the direction that crimes and punishment are not only stipulated in the Penal Code, but also in specialized statutes such as the Law on domestic violence and other relevant legislations; Fifthly, researching on amendment and supplementation of the provisions in the Crimes section of the Penal Code, especially domestic violence crimes to overcome the shortcomings in practice, such as reducing circumstances of qualitative nature; circumstances that are difficult to prove in reality; making provisions of the Penal Code more transparent, simple and ease for use; Sixthly, studying on transformation of relevant provisions of the international treaties to which Vietnam is a party into domestic laws to strengthen international cooperation in the fight against domestic violence crimes; Lastly, improving criminal legislative techniques and skills aiming at enhancing transparency, feasibility and predictability characteristics in provisions of the Penal Code 4.2 Specific recommendations on improving laws and legislations as well as other solutions to improve efficiency in application of criminal liability for domestic violence crimes 4.2.1 Amending the provisions of the Penal Code in parallel with forms of criminal liability 18 First, adding several new offenses and separating some offenses in the Chapter XV of the current Penal Code regarding crimes of infringing upon the marriage and family regimes, namely: adding new provisions: Article… Crime of forcing family members to overwork, making financial contributions beyond their capabilities; controlling income of family members to create financial dependence Article… Crime of child labor abuse and ill-treatment to exploit child labor being family members Article… Crime of sexual coercion against wife (or husband) - Dividing 02 articles (combined crimes) into 04 articles to identify offenses more accurately and transparently Specifically: crime of illegal arrest, custody or detention, will be divided into 02 articles with 02 offenses: Illegal arrest and Illegal custody and detention Crime of forcible marriage or prevention of voluntary and progressive marriage will be divided into 02 articles with 02 offenses: Crime of forcible marriage and Crime of prevention of voluntary and progressive marriage Article 151 of the Penal Code 1999 defined the crime of ill-treating or persecuting grandparents, parents, spouses, children, grandchildren and fosterers will be divided into 02 offenses: Crime of ill-treating grandparents, parents, wife husband, children, grandchildren, fosterers and Crime of persecuting grandparents, parents, spouses, children, grandchildren and fosterers 4.2.2 Strengthening interpretation and guidance on uniform application of laws to improve efficiency of application of criminal liability for domestic violence crimes There are still many different interpretations of the provision saying "act that has been administratively sanctioned for such act." Whether "such act" is collectively understood as crime or in the narrow sense for each specific act of crime? The identification of signs of administrative breach regarding domestic violence is not simple In order to identify the exact crime and on that basis to decide the penalty for specific domestic violence offenses, it is necessary to identify exactly acts of administrative violations regarding domestic violence first; therefore, there must be detailed and clear guidelines about such acts 19 One of the signs which are controversial and difficult to identify in domestic violence crimes is “dangerous consequence for the society” that results from acts of domestic violence Besides, it is necessary to consider another factor which is identity of domestic violence offenders Thus, the study of offender’s identity is important for this type of crime 4.2.3 Other solutions to improve efficiency of criminal liability for domestic violence crimes First, building legal documents related to handling crimes in general and domestic violence crimes in particular such as documents guiding Law on custody or detention; guiding the Law on organization of criminal investigation agencies In particular, it is necessary to add some provisions on principles of investigation, prosecution and trial of domestic violence crimes Second, building the Law on filial piety to create more legal basis for dealing with violations among family members Third, amending and supplementing other related specialized laws such as the Law on prevention and control of domestic violence, in which crimes and punishment are regulated Fourth, improving the propagation, dissemination and education in laws to wider public, especially contents regarding human rights, gender equality, and harmful effects of stimulant abuse such as drugs, alcohol, or gambling Fifth, establishing and strengthening new counseling centers, grassroots conciliation units to resolve conflicts and disputes over rights and interests among family members Sixth, strengthening coordination and cooperation between the police and relevant sectors as well as political and social organizations Seventh, local authorities and social - political organizations should be responsible for keeping track of and identifying those potentially to commit domestic violence, and implement measures to monitor and help Eighth, implementing smooth coordination between Police Agencies investigating crimes of social order and Local Police to strictly perform the basic professional duties Ninth, strictly punishing perpetrators who seriously violate the law 20 Tenth, strengthening coordination between agencies conducting legal proceedings with local government; bringing some typical cases of domestic violence to public hearing for educational and general prevention purposes Eleventh, in investigating and processing cases, immediately after receiving reports denouncing acts of domestic violence crimes, it is necessary to conduct prompt verification and collect evidence, especially obtain statements of witnesses and support victims on mental aspects Twelfth, people's courts at all levels should keep in mind that adjudicating domestic violence cases requires court staff to have legal qualifications, extensive social knowledge and understanding of human psychology Thirteenth, improving institution, organization and operation of the Family and Juvenile Court; the judges of this court, apart from having strong specialist knowledge, must also be trained through courses on psychological skills to be able to adjudicate domestic violence cases Fourteenth, in legislative aspect, it is necessary to study and amend the Law on prevention and control of domestic violence promptly after the Penal Code is amended and added with domestic violence crimes – if the proposal of building specialized laws regulating also on crimes is adopted; and supplementing some new contents in accordance with the amendments in the Penal Code Fifteenth, the State should provide funding to create better conditions for enforcement of judgments and set appropriate priority policies for those working in this sector CONCLUSION OF CHAPTER In the future, the improvement of laws and regulations on domestic violence crimes should focus on the following main issues: First, governing problems related to criminal liability for domestic violence crimes; Second, adopting more rational views and criminal policies regarding domestic violence crimes; Third, strengthening additional sanctions against persons committing domestic violence crimes; 21 In addition to improving the provisions of the Penal Code, it is necessary to improve provisions of other relevant laws, and at the same time implement economic and social measures comprehensively to increase the efficiency of criminal liability for domestic violence crimes CONCLUSION For a doctoral dissertation, basing on research and summary of recent practice of domestic violence prevention and control in Vietnam and provisions of Penal Code regarding domestic violence crimes, the author has proposed some theoretical issues, assessment of the status quo as well as solutions to improve provisions regarding criminal liability and application of criminal liability for domestic violence crimes as stipulated in Vietnamese criminal laws The dissertation has addressed the following issues: The dissertation clarifies the concept of domestic violence, domestic violence crimes, criminal liability for domestic violence in general; types of criminal liability for domestic violence; criminal policy and the stipulation of criminal liability for domestic violence The dissertation also clarifies the status quo of criminal liability provisions in the current criminal law; analysis of the practical application of the provisions on criminal liability for domestic violence From the above findings, the author seeks for causes of shortcomings (from the laws, application of the laws, and other causes) and proposes solutions to improve the efficiency of the application of criminal liability for domestic violence crimes in Vietnam at present, with a focus on improving criminal laws and enhancing the quality of investigation, prosecution and trial to improve the efficiency of criminal liability for such crimes in Vietnam [...]... domestic violence crimes as stipulated in Vietnamese criminal laws The dissertation has addressed the following issues: 1 The dissertation clarifies the concept of domestic violence, domestic violence crimes, criminal liability for domestic violence in general; types of criminal liability for domestic violence; criminal policy and the stipulation of criminal liability for domestic violence 2 The dissertation... quo of criminal liability provisions in the current criminal law; analysis of the practical application of the provisions on criminal liability for domestic violence 3 From the above findings, the author seeks for causes of shortcomings (from the laws, application of the laws, and other causes) and proposes solutions to improve the efficiency of the application of criminal liability for domestic violence. .. provisions of the Penal Code 2015 concerning determination of criminal liability for domestic violence crimes 17 From theoretical and practical research on the application of criminal liability, the author reckons that it is necessary to improve provisions of criminal liability for domestic violence crimes in the following directions: Firstly, improving criminal policies for domestic violence crimes, ... adjudication of domestic violence crimes in the new situation For the time being, it’s very urgent to promulgate guidance on the Criminal Procedure Code 2015 and the Law on organization of criminal investigation agencies 2015 CHAPTER 4 IMPROVING PROVISIONS OF CRIMINAL LAWS ON CRIMINAL LIABILITY FOR DOMESTIC VIOLENCE CRIMES 4.1 The necessity, viewpoints, directions for improving criminal laws and solutions... domestic violence offenders Thus, the study of offender’s identity is important for this type of crime 4.2.3 Other solutions to improve efficiency of criminal liability for domestic violence crimes First, building legal documents related to handling crimes in general and domestic violence crimes in particular such as documents guiding Law on custody or detention; guiding the Law on organization of criminal. .. bases of the criminal liability are the constituent elements of crime which also being necessary and sufficient conditions of criminal liability The constituent elements of a crime in general and that of a domestic violence crime in particular include: object, objectivity, subjectivity and subject of the offense One of the characteristics of the crime of domestic violence is that subject of criminal. .. in the Penal Code 12 for the crime of domestic violence, however, to facilitate the research, the author has divided these specific offenses (38 related offenses) into groups of offenses having the same nature of object Namely: Group of physical harm crimes, group of sexual abuse crimes, group of spiritual harm crimes, group of crimes infringing upon democratic freedom, group of crimes infringing upon... For a doctoral dissertation, basing on research and summary of recent practice of domestic violence prevention and control in Vietnam and provisions of Penal Code regarding domestic violence crimes, the author has proposed some theoretical issues, assessment of the status quo as well as solutions to improve provisions regarding criminal liability and application of criminal liability for domestic violence. .. of family who violate rights and legitimate interests of other family members Criminal liability is recognized and reflected in the many forms, and punishment is the main and basic form with the purpose of punishment, rehabilitation and education of offenders become useful citizens of the society CHAPTER 3 REAL SITUATION OF PROVISIONS ON CRIMINAL LIABILITY FOR DOMESTIC VIOLENCE CRIMES IN EXISTING CRIMINAL. .. commit offenses or harboring juvenile offenders (Article 252) 3.2 Practical application of the regulations on criminal liability of domestic violence crimes Regulations on crimes of domestic violence and their respective measures of criminal liability primarily aimed at preventing and blocking them from occurring However, due to many different causes, domestic violence crimes still occur in society, there