The level of crime is increasingly serious and complicated. In recent times, along with the development of policies and guidelines in all areas, our Party and State have always paid attention and taken care of minors in all aspects. Most of them meet the expectations of their families and society, live with ideals, constantly cultivate morality, strive to study and acquire knowledge to contribute their strength and intelligence to the cause of building and defending the Fatherland. However, there is also a large number of underage youth who do not want to practice, live a loose life, and compete, leading to illegal acts.
Therefore, the viewpoint of our Party and State on the issue of solving crimes against minors is not simply to try a case, punish a certain criminal, the important thing is to find every way to reduce illegal activities and, better yet, to prevent such wrongdoings from happening. In order to thoroughly grasp that spirit, the 2003 Vietnamese Criminal Procedure Code has devoted a separate chapter (Chapter XXXII) to regulating the procedural procedures for minors.
This is the legal basis for application when dealing with detainees, defendants and accused persons who are minors. However, in practice, the application of these regulations has given rise to many difficulties and shortcomings. Through the process of studying the theory and the actual application of the provisions of the criminal procedure law in resolving cases where the defendant is a minor, we see that those who conduct the proceedings must not only have a firm grasp of the provisions of the law, strictly comply with these special procedural procedures, but must also have certain knowledge of the psychological characteristics of minors to serve the trial work to achieve high quality.
Thanh Hoa is a coastal province in the North Central region with a large natural land area, geographical conditions including plains, mountains and midlands, is a
in provinces with large populations. In recent years, in line with the country's innovation and development integration, the socio-economic situation in Thanh Hoa province has had positive developments, many economic zones and industrial parks have been formed. The small and medium-sized economic sector has developed strongly, the urbanization rate has taken place rapidly, and the social appearance has changed a lot, both in rural and urban areas. However, the negative side of the market economy has given rise to many new crimes, in which crimes committed by minors have become extremely complicated, and the above acts not only occur in urban areas but have spread to remote areas. The number of minors committing crimes each year is higher than the previous year, and the nature and severity of crimes are increasingly serious. In addition, the trial of crimes committed by minors has also revealed shortcomings and limitations. This is the reason why some cases are amended or annulled by higher courts, the rights of juvenile offenders are sometimes and somewhere not respected and protected, and the educational and crime prevention effects caused by juveniles are limited.
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In recent times, there have been many research works related to the issue of law application by people's courts, law application in criminal trials, research on measures to prevent juveniles from committing crimes, decision on punishment for juveniles committing crimes... However, there has not been any systematic research on the application of law in the first instance trial of juvenile offenders by the People's Court of Thanh Hoa province, creating a theoretical basis to propose practical solutions, improve the effectiveness of law application in trials and contribute to effectively preventing juveniles from committing crimes. The current situation of ADPL in the first instance trial of cases against juvenile offenders in Thanh Hoa also has many limitations and weaknesses. Originating from the reasons
For the above reasons and the requirements of the fight against crime, in-depth research on ADPL's trial of cases in which the defendant is a minor in the Vietnamese criminal procedure law in general and the application of the law in the first instance trial of juvenile offenders by the People's Court in Thanh Hoa Province in particular is a matter of profound significance both in theory and in practice of law application. For those reasons, the author chose the topic: " Application of the law in the first instance trial of juvenile offenders - Through practice in Thanh Hoa Province" as his master's thesis in Law.
2. Research status of the topic
Research on issues related to juvenile offenders and the application of law in criminal trials and juvenile trials has been conducted by a number of scientists and practitioners, and published in many scientific works. There are a number of doctoral theses, master's theses, some teaching materials, articles in magazines and a number of monographs that have researched this issue.
Specifically, there are the following typical projects:
- Some monographs and a thesis, dissertation mention the application of law in general, the application of law by people's courts in criminal trials and the application of law to juvenile offenders:
+ Professor, Doctor of Science Dao Tri Uc in " Basic theoretical issues of law " has deeply analyzed the application of law and the trial activities of people's courts.
+ Doctoral thesis in Law by Le Xuan Than on " Application of law in the trial activities of People's Courts in Vietnam today ", 2004.
+ Master's thesis in Law by Vu Thi Thu Quyen on " Improving the law to ensure the rights of juvenile offenders in Vietnam today ", 2003.
+ Hanoi National University - Faculty of Law: " Judicial reform in Vietnam in the period of building a rule-of-law state " co-edited by Dr. Le Cam and Dr. Nguyen Ngoc Chi.
- Some articles in specialized magazines by the authors:
+ Do Thi Phuong: The necessity of establishing a Juvenile Court in Vietnam ; People's Court Magazine No. 21,22-11/2009.
+ Cao Thi Oanh: Perfecting regulations on criminal responsibility of minors who commit crimes ; Journal of Law No. 10/2007.
+ Nguyen Tat Vien: “ Juvenile Court ”, For Children Magazine, special issue, 2000.
+ Le Cam: " Some general theoretical issues on criminal procedure stages ", Procuracy Magazine No. 2/2004.
+ Dang Thanh Nga: " Psychological aspects of juvenile crime need attention in investigation, prosecution and trial ", Journal of Psychology No. 5/2002.
+ Duong Tuyet Mien: " Decision on punishment for minors who commit crimes ", Journal of Law No. 4/2002.
+ Tran Van Dung: " Decision on punishment in cases where minors commit multiple crimes ", Journal of Law No. 5/2000.
+ Chuong Minh Manh: " Classification of crimes with the regulation of criminal responsibility of minors ", Procuracy Magazine No. 8/2002.
However, up to now, there has been no systematic research from a general theoretical perspective on the issue of state and law on the application of law in the first instance trial of juvenile offenders by people's courts in general and by people's courts at all levels in Thanh Hoa province in particular.
3. Research object and scope
* Regarding the research object, the thesis focuses on researching the following issues:
- Theoretical issues on ADPL in general and ADPL in first instance trials of juvenile offenders in particular.
- ADPL practice in first instance trials of juvenile offenders in Thanh Hoa.
- The existence and causes of the existence of ADPL in the first instance trial of juvenile offenders.
- Solutions to contribute to improving the quality of ADPL in the first instance trial of juvenile offenders.
* About the scope of the research topic
Based on the theory of ADPL in trial activities, the thesis mainly focuses on studying the practice of ADPL in the first instance trial of juvenile offenders of the People's Court of Thanh Hoa province from 2009-2014.
4. Purpose and tasks of the thesis
About the purpose:
The purpose of the study is to establish the theoretical basis for the application of law in the first instance trial of juvenile offenders; to assess the current situation and propose solutions to ensure correct application of law in the first instance trial of juvenile offenders of the People's Court in Thanh Hoa province at the present stage.
About the mission:
- Analyze the theoretical basis of law application and law application in the trial of juvenile offenders of the People's Court in Thanh Hoa province such as building concepts, stating characteristics and clarifying the ADPL process in the first instance trial of juvenile offenders.
- Evaluate the achievements and limitations of ADPL in the first instance trial of juvenile offenders of the people's court.
- Presenting viewpoints and proposing feasible solutions to ensure ADPL in the first instance trial of juvenile offenders of the People's Court in Thanh Hoa province at the present stage.
5. Theoretical basis and research methods
- Theoretical basis: The thesis is researched based on the theoretical basis of Marxism-Leninism, Ho Chi Minh's thought on the state and law: the viewpoints of our Party and State on strengthening the rule of law in the fight against crime, building a rule of law state of the people, by the people, for the people. Especially the Party's guiding viewpoints on judicial reform in Resolution No. 08-NQ/TW, dated January 2, 2002 and Resolution No. 49-NQ/TW, dated June 2, 2005 of the Politburo.
- Research method: The thesis uses the methodology of Marxist-Leninist philosophy, combining the following methods: practice, synthesis, statistics, comparison, and analysis.
6. Meaning of the thesis
To a certain extent, the research results of the thesis can be used as reference material to serve the requirement of improving the quality of ADPL in the trial of juvenile offenders of the People's Court in the current period. In addition, the thesis can be used as reference material for teaching and researching some other topics, in teaching and learning related to trial activities in general, and the trial of juvenile offenders of the People's Court in Thanh Hoa province in particular.
On the other hand, the content of the thesis can be used to build professional skills and operational practices for officers working in adjudication in response to the requirements of the current judicial reform.
7. Structure of the thesis
In addition to the introduction, conclusion and list of references. The thesis consists of 3 chapters.
Chapter 1
THEORETICAL BASIS OF LAW APPLICATION
IN THE FIRST INSTANCE TRIAL OF JUVENILE OFFENDERS BY THE PEOPLE'S COURT
1.1. Concept and characteristics of law application in first instance trials of juvenile offenders by People's Courts
1.1.1. Concept of law application in first instance trials of juvenile offenders by People's Courts
1.1.1.1. Concept of juvenile offenders
According to the Vietnamese Dictionary, the concept of a minor is defined as follows: "A minor is a person who has not fully developed physically, mentally, and spiritually and does not have full rights and obligations as a citizen" [28]. According to the provisions of the 1990 International Convention on the Rights of the Child, "A child means a person under the age of 18, unless the law applicable to that child stipulates an earlier age of majority" [15, Article 1]. In addition to the Convention on the Rights of the Child, the United Nations Common Minimum Rules for the Administration of Juvenile Justice (Beijing Rules) adopted by the United Nations General Assembly on December 14, 1992 is also an important international legal document referring to the concept of "a minor is a person under the age of 18" as a successor to the Convention on the Rights of the Child. The Riyadh Rules for the Prevention of Juvenile Delinquency adopted by the United Nations on December 14, 1990, although not specifically defining the concept of juveniles, through the provisions also help us understand that juveniles are people under the age of 18. However, due to the different development of each country, the concept of juveniles in each country is also different, besides
Although this concept is introduced, the Convention on the Rights of the Child still has provisions that leave open for countries to regulate the age of minors, and even within a country, legal documents do not have uniform regulations on this issue.
According to Vietnamese law, from the experiences recognized in the past, based on the achievements brought by other branches of science as well as the absorption of international legal documents, lawmakers have proposed the concept of minors, depending on the field of regulation of each branch of law, as follows: Article 18 of the Vietnamese Civil Code stipulates: "A person aged eighteen years or older is an adult. A person under eighteen years of age is a minor" [23] and the Vietnamese Labor Code also stipulates: "A minor worker is a person under 18 years of age" [25]. Thus, it is possible to agree on a point of view that a minor is a person under 18 years of age. This concept is also completely consistent with the International Convention on the Rights of the Child dated February 20, 1990, of which the Socialist Republic of Vietnam is a member.
According to the provisions of the Penal Code, minors are those under the age of 18, but only minors from 14 to under 16 years old are criminally responsible for criminal acts, while minors under 14 years old are not criminally responsible. In particular, those who are 14 years old or older but under 16 years old are only criminally responsible for very serious intentional crimes or especially serious crimes, while those who are 16 years old or older are criminally responsible for all crimes [20, Article 12].
The question is why does the criminal law stipulate that people under 14 years old are not criminally responsible and people from 14 to under 18 years old are only criminally responsible for certain crimes? This provision of the Criminal Code can be understood in theory that people under 14