Exhausted but satisfied faces after the mock trial in Ho Chi Minh City Vietnam
Vietnam passed a new juvenile criminal law in 2024, taking a significant step toward a more modern and youth-friendly criminal justice system. IRZ provided technical support for the development of the law, which will come into force in early 2026.
Similar to German criminal law, the focus is now on education. The aim is to positively influence the development of young people through elements such as the involvement of social workers or the use of outpatient measures such as leisure activities or skills training.
In order to prepare the Vietnamese judiciary for the practical application of the new law, IRZ carried out several measures on this topic with various partners in Ho Chi Minh City in August. A particular highlight was a mock trial with the Vietnamese Judicial Academy, i.e., a simulated court hearing based on a practice case. Here, future legal practitioners were able to try out the application of the law in practice in various roles and thus became aware of the specific aspects of juvenile criminal law. Our German experts also used the practice case to demonstrate a possible course of action under German law, which was followed by an in-depth analysis and fruitful exchange on similarities, differences, and special features of juvenile criminal law in Vietnam and Germany.
In addition, a successful training course on the application and enforcement of juvenile criminal law in practice was held with the Supreme People's Court, attended by approximately 40 judges from various regions of Vietnam. Our training film “Raub einer Weste” (Theft of a Vest) on juvenile criminal law, which had also been used in a guest lecture at the University of Saigon and in previous training courses, and had even been shown in the Vietnamese National Assembly, met with particular interest.
Middle: Vietnamese Deputy Minister of Justice Nguyễn Khánh Ngọc, third from right: Director of the Department for International Cooperation: Nguyen Huu Huyen, left next to him: Anne Zimmermann, Head of the International Legal Cooperation Divi-sion at the Federal Ministry of Justice, 4th from the left: Dr Mario Györi, political atta-ché at the German Embassy Hanoi Vietnam
On the basis of the 2024 work plan of the German-Vietnamese Rule of Law Dialogue, the IRZ, in cooperation with the Vietnamese Ministry of Justice, held a workshop on the abolition of the death penalty on 10 December 2024. In the context of evaluating the penal code, which was reformed ten years ago, there are considerations to reduce further offences punishable by death. Prof Dr Henning Rosenau, Professor for Criminal Law, Criminal Procedure and Medical Law at Martin-Luther-University Halle-Wittenberg and Executive Director of the Interdisciplinary Centre for Medicine, Ethics and Law, highlighted the global trends towards the abolition of the death penalty. The focus of the exchange with the Vietnamese participants was on the long-term process of how the death penalty can be eliminated.
A workshop on the topic of commercial arbitration, which is important for the economy, was held with the Vietnam Lawyers Association from 10 to 11 December 2024. Prof Dr Stephan Wernicke, DIHK Chief Legal Officer and Vice-President of the IRZ Board of Trustees, and lawyer Jan Schäfer represented the IRZ. Together with the participants from Vietnamese arbitration institutions, the scientific community, the ordinary courts and others, they held interesting and lively discussions on how modern and attractive arbitration models for investors can be set up. The relevant Vietnamese law from 2011 is to be amended in 2025, so the IRZ would like to continue its advisory services.
The last of the events was a lecture by Prof Dr Henning Rosenau on ‘Euthanasia and the right to a self-determined death’ at Hanoi Law University, attended by around 80 students, who contributed many questions to the subsequent discussion.
Together with Anne Zimmermann, Head of the International Legal Cooperation Division at the Federal Ministry of Justice, and Dr Mario Györi, political attaché at the German Embassy, Angela Schmeink, the IRZ Head of Division for Vietnam and Ukraine, visited the Vietnamese Ministry of Justice to discuss the 2025 work plan for the German-Vietnamese rule of law dialogue with Mr Nguyen Huu Huyen, Director of the Department for International Cooperation.
Head of Section Angela Schmeink and the Vietnamese Deputy Minister of Justice, Nguyễn Khánh Ngọc during the presentation of the order Vietnam
During a festive ceremony, the Vietnamese Deputy Minister of Justice Nguyễn Khánh Ngọc presented the ‘Order of Merit for Justice’, the highest award given by the Ministry of Justice to foreign citizens, to the IRZ Head of Division for Vietnam and Ukraine, Angela Schmeink. In his laudatory speech, she was honoured for her commitment to German-Vietnamese cooperation over the past 15 years.
