Concept of Law Application in First Instance Trials of Juvenile Criminals of the People's Court

People under 14 years old are not criminally responsible for the socially dangerous acts they commit because people under 14 years old have not fully developed intelligence, so they do not realize the social danger of their behavior, and do not have enough self-control when acting, so they are not considered to be at fault for the socially dangerous acts they commit. An act considered not to be at fault also means that it does not have enough elements to constitute a crime, so they are not criminally responsible (excluding criminal responsibility). People from 14 years old and above but under 16 years old are considered to have no full criminal capacity. Therefore, they are only criminally responsible for some crimes (very serious due to intention or especially serious) but not criminally responsible for all crimes. This provision also demonstrates the humane policy in the criminal law of our Party and State.

Article 50 of the current Criminal Procedure Code stipulates that a defendant is a person who has been decided by the Court to be brought to trial. Thus, based on this provision and the provision in Article 12 of the Criminal Code on the age of criminal responsibility mentioned above, it can be understood that a defendant is a minor who is from 14 years old to under 18 years old at the time the Court decides to bring him to trial.

From the above analysis, we can define juvenile offenders as follows:

A juvenile offender is a person from 14 to under 18 years old who commits a socially dangerous act defined by criminal law as a crime and is decided by the Court to be brought to trial.

Determining the age of a minor defendant is very important because it is the basis for preventing and applying special procedures to the defendant to ensure the legitimate rights and interests of minors. Determining the age of the defendant also helps the Prosecution Agency determine the trial and apply punishment to minors.

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1.1.1.2. Concept of law application in first instance trials of juvenile offenders by People's Courts

As mentioned above, minors are people at an age where their ability to perceive the social danger of criminal acts is limited and often due to the strong impact of external conditions. The State's criminal policy towards minors is mainly aimed at educating and helping them correct their mistakes to develop healthily and become useful citizens to society.

The law in general and criminal law in particular always consider children as special subjects that need to be protected, not only in daily life but also when children's rights are violated and need to be protected or when this subject violates the law. The criminal law protects minors who are considered criminals and also stipulates a separate sanction for handling them. The procedural process must also be appropriate for the age of minors to demonstrate the humanity in the legal policies of the Party and State of Vietnam. Therefore, the 2003 Criminal Procedure Code has a separate chapter (Chapter XXXII) regulating procedural processes for cases in which the detainee, the accused, and the defendant are minors. However, in Article 301 regulating the scope of application of "Procedures for minors", Vietnamese lawmakers do not record the legal concept of "procedures for minors". Through studying the provisions on procedural matters for minors in this chapter, we can understand: The provisions on procedural matters for minors have their own characteristics compared to the procedural matters applied to adults. These characteristics are reflected in the provisions on the standards of litigants, on the subjects that must be proven, on the application of preventive measures, on defense, on the participation of families, schools and social organizations in the proceedings.

as well as the trial and execution of judgments. The Criminal Procedure Code also stipulates procedural rights and ensures that the investigation, prosecution, and trial of cases are objective, comprehensive, and in accordance with the law for this subject.

To introduce the concept of ADPL in the first instance trial of juvenile offenders, it is first necessary to clarify the concept of first instance trial of juvenile offenders.

“Trial” is a Sino-Vietnamese word that means to consider and judge. According to the 2006 Law Dictionary, trial is “the activity of considering and evaluating the legal nature of a case, from which, on behalf of the State, a judgment corresponding to the nature and level of illegality or non-illegality of the case is made” [3]. Trial is a typical activity, a function and task of the Court, and the Court is the only agency that is authorized to undertake the trial function according to the provisions of current Vietnamese law. Although the 1946 Constitution stipulates that the Court organization is not yet completely independent because the Judges are appointed by the Government (Article 64), according to the spirit of the Constitution, the Court can be understood as a trial agency. The 1959, 1980 and 1992 Constitutions clearly stipulate the trial function of the Court. The 1992 Constitution stipulates: “ The Supreme People's Court, local People's Courts, Military Courts and other Courts prescribed by law are the judicial bodies of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam” [19, Article 127]. Based on the Constitution, the Law on the Organization of People's Courts stipulates the jurisdiction of the Court in Article 1, and at the same time specifically stipulates the judicial function of the Court: “ The Court adjudicates criminal, civil, marriage and family, labor, economic, administrative cases and resolves other matters as prescribed by law” [21, Article 1]. Adjudicating criminal cases is an important function of the Court, through which the Court performs the task of protecting the socialist legal system and social relations protected by criminal law.

The Court's criminal trial is a step in the process.

Handling criminal cases includes investigation, prosecution, and trial. The trial of criminal cases by the Court is an independent stage of proceedings. The Court's judgments, in addition to being based on documentary evidence previously collected by the Investigation Agency and the Procuracy, must also be based on the results of public investigations at the trial. Currently, the requirements for ensuring objectivity, fairness, and legality in the Court's judgments to protect the legitimate rights and interests of citizens and organizations are increasingly emphasized, so organizing and implementing truly democratic and objective criminal trials is an urgent requirement. The requirements for the trial activities in general and the trial of criminal cases in particular of the Court are:

It is necessary to ensure that all citizens are equal before the law, truly democratic and objective, that judges and jurors are independent and only obey the law; that the Court's decision must be based primarily on the results of the debate at the trial, on the basis of full and comprehensive consideration of evidence and opinions of the Prosecutor, defense counsel, defendant, witnesses, plaintiff, defendant and those with legitimate rights and interests to issue judgments and decisions that are lawful and convincing within the time limit prescribed by law.

The current Vietnamese Criminal Procedure Law defines the principle of two levels of trial: First-instance trial and appeal trial in criminal matters, in which the first-instance trial is the focus and plays an important role in the activities of the Court. According to the Law Dictionary, "First-instance trial is a Sino-Vietnamese word, meaning the first time a case is brought to trial at a competent Court [3, p.870]. First-instance trial is defined as the final stage of the process of resolving a criminal case, all documents and evidence of the case collected by the Investigation Agency and the Procuracy during the investigation process are considered publicly at the trial, the rights and obligations of the litigant and the participants in the proceedings are implemented in the most public and complete manner.

According to the provisions of the Criminal Procedure Code (CPC) and the Law on Organization of People's Courts, the Courts with jurisdiction to hear first-instance trials are the District People's Court, the Provincial People's Court, the Regional Military Court, and the Military Court of the Military Region.

The first-instance criminal trial is understood as a stage of the proceedings, starting from when the Court receives the criminal case file along with the indictment or prosecution decision transferred by the Procuracy and the Court records it in the register, until the issuance of the first-instance criminal judgment or decision. The first-instance criminal judgment or decision may be appealed or protested according to the appellate procedure. If not appealed or protested within the time limit prescribed by law, it will be effective. The first-instance criminal trial of the Court is an independent stage in the criminal procedure. During this stage, the activities of the Court play a key and central role. Criminal trial activities in general, and first-instance criminal trial in particular, have their own characteristics that are different from the investigation and prosecution stages in the process of resolving criminal cases:

Firstly , the criminal trial activities of the Court are activities on behalf of the State power, the Court as an agency exercising judicial power and as a trial agency of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam. The Court, on behalf of the State, makes judgments on the criminal responsibility of the offender and the punishment in criminal trial activities.

Second , the criminal trial activities of the Court are public and democratic activities based on the law. It is expressed centrally in criminal trials and is a principle in the trial activities of the Court as prescribed by the Criminal Procedure Code.

Third, criminal trial activities are activities aimed at determining the objective truth about the crime, the perpetrator, deciding on criminal responsibility and punishment; and judicial measures for that person.

According to the provisions of criminal law in some countries, the trial of juvenile offenders is conducted by specialized courts.

Vietnam's criminal law does not prescribe a separate court model for criminal trials of minors who commit crimes, but prescribes the trial of minors who commit crimes within the unified court system, including the trial of adult criminals. According to Article 131 of the 1992 Constitution; Article 17 of the 2003 Criminal Procedure Code and Article 6 of the 2002 Law on Organization of People's Courts, the principle of collective trial and majority decision is recognized; according to Article 185 of the 2003 Criminal Procedure Code, the first-instance trial panel consists of one judge and two jurors; In cases of serious and complicated nature, the panel of judges may consist of two judges and three jurors... However, the subject of the crime is a minor with its own characteristics. To ensure the proper resolution of a criminal case with a minor as the defendant, in addition to the principles and regulations on trial in general, when trying a minor, it is also necessary to comply with specific regulations. The Law on Criminal Procedure stipulates that when trying a defendant who is a minor, the panel of judges must include a juror who is a teacher or a cadre of the Ho Chi Minh Communist Youth Union. This is a mandatory and specific provision to ensure that the panel of judges for juvenile offenders must have someone who is capable of understanding the psychology of the age group of minors and has certain experience in educating them.

Publicity and democracy in the trial of juvenile offenders is also a principle applied to the trial of cases where the defendant is a minor. The court conducts public trials, but can also conduct closed trials in some necessary cases, such as keeping secret the behavior and private life of juveniles and their families, in order to avoid negative impacts on the development and self-improvement of the juvenile in the future.

The openness and democracy in the trial of juvenile offenders is also demonstrated in that the Court must also ensure the right to self-defense or invite others to defend the juvenile:

In case the accused or defendant is a minor or their legal representative cannot choose a defense attorney, the Investigation Agency, the Procuracy, or the Court must request the Bar Association to assign a law office to appoint a defense attorney for them or request the Vietnam Fatherland Front Committee or a member organization of the Front to appoint a defense attorney for a member of their organization [22, Article 305].

On the other hand, the Criminal Procedure Law stipulates that the trial of a juvenile must have the presence of a representative of the defendant's family (except in cases where the family is intentionally absent without a valid reason), and a representative of the school or organization.

The activity of determining the objective truth about the crime and the perpetrator in the trial of juvenile offenders as well as determining the synthesis of the elements constituting the crime: the object, the objective aspect, the subject, the subjective aspect of the crime must pay attention to: age, level of physical and mental development, level of awareness of the criminal behavior of the juvenile; living and educational conditions; whether or not there is an adult instigating; causes and conditions for committing the crime.

The above regulations demonstrate the viewpoint of attaching importance to handling juvenile offenders in court proceedings. It requires full consideration of all aspects related to juvenile offenders in order to apply appropriate and effective handling measures in educating and reforming juvenile offenders, while also being meaningful in crime prevention.

ADPL is a form of law enforcement, ADPL in the first instance trial of juvenile offenders is a form of general law enforcement. This is the case where the subject of ADPL is a minor from 14 years old to under 18 years old who commits a violation of the law that is considered a crime as prescribed in the Penal Code. The State through the Court through trial activities decides on criminal responsibility and criminal sanctions for juvenile offenders.

in the first instance trial. It can be said that ADPL is the content of criminal trial activities in general, ADPL in the first instance trial of juvenile offenders in particular, the procedural acts in the trial of the Panel of Judges are the form of expression of ADPL content. ADPL in the trial of juvenile offenders, in addition to ensuring the general principles of ADPL in the criminal trial of the Court, must also comply with specific principles to meet the humane requirements in the State's criminal policy: Handling juvenile offenders is mainly aimed at educating, helping them to correct mistakes, develop healthily and become useful citizens for society. Therefore, the study of ADPL in the first instance trial of juvenile offenders of the People's Court is of important significance in developing the theory of ADPL in general in specific fields. On the other hand, the study of ADPL in the first instance trial of juvenile offenders also has practical significance in order to improve the quality of ADPL of the Court, specifically the Panel of Judges ensures the consistency of ADPL of criminal, civil and procedural cases in the Court's judgments on juvenile offenders.

As analyzed, the first instance criminal trial is an independent stage in criminal proceedings, this stage is calculated from the time the Court receives the file with the prosecution decision transferred by the Procuracy and the Court records the case. Also starting at this time, the first instance Court conducts ADPL.

Vietnamese Law on Criminal Procedure divides the first instance criminal trial stage into specific steps according to the procedural process of the Court: trial preparation and trial at the court session. The ADPL in these steps is different.

Preparing for the first instance trial of a criminal case is to prepare the necessary conditions to bring the criminal case to trial according to the provisions of law. The 2003 Criminal Procedure Code stipulates that during the preparation for the first instance trial, the Court may make the following ADPL decisions: a) Bring the case to trial; b) Return the file for further investigation; c) Suspend or temporarily suspend the case; d) Apply changes or

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