Workshops and nationwide conference on juvenile criminal law in Hanoi

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Published: August 8, 2023
Workshop with the Supreme People's Prosecutor's Office on aspects of criminal prosecution and supervision of criminal proceedings, including human rights guarantees for female and juvenile offenders in Hanoi (2nd row from bottom, from left to right): Annette Eisenhardt, judge at the Berlin-Tiergarten Local Court Prof. Dr. Georg Güntge, Deputy Attorney General Schleswig-Holstein, Angela Lummel, Project Manager IRZ, Dr. Nguyen Van Khoat, Director of the Academy of People's Procuratorate; Ms. Hoang Thi Thuy Hoa, Head of the International Program Management Department, Department of International Cooperation and Legal Assistance in Criminal Matters (Dept. 13) of the Supreme People's Procuratorate; and Prof. Dr. Mai Dac Bien, Deputy Director of the People's Procuratorate Academy.
Workshop with the Supreme People's Prosecutor's Office on aspects of criminal prosecution and supervision of criminal proceedings, including human rights guarantees for female and juvenile offenders in Hanoi (2nd row from bottom, from left to right): Annette Eisenhardt, judge at the Berlin-Tiergarten Local Court Prof. Dr. Georg Güntge, Deputy Attorney General Schleswig-Holstein, Angela Lummel, Project Manager IRZ, Dr. Nguyen Van Khoat, Director of the Academy of People's Procuratorate; Ms. Hoang Thi Thuy Hoa, Head of the International Program Management Department, Department of International Cooperation and Legal Assistance in Criminal Matters (Dept. 13) of the Supreme People's Procuratorate; and Prof. Dr. Mai Dac Bien, Deputy Director of the People's Procuratorate Academy.
Vietnam

In mid-June 2023, the IRZ held several face-to-face events in Hanoi with the Supreme People's Court and the Supreme People's Prosecutor's Office on juvenile criminal law. These events are embedded in the German-Vietnamese dialogue on the rule of law between the Justice Ministries of both countries, which was implemented in 2010.

The Supreme People's Court is responsible for modernising the juvenile criminal law and plans to pass its own juvenile court law in 2024. Based on the translated draft law, the main features of German juvenile criminal law were discussed and recommendations made in a one-day workshop with around 40 participants.

The talks focused on:

  • The aims of juvenile criminal law and the concept of education
  • The scope of application of the Juvenile Court Act and system of legal consequences of juvenile offences with its own sanction system
  • The aims, criteria and forms of the diversion
  • The tasks and duties of juvenile legal support agencies

The theoretical basics were supplemented by the IRZ training film “Theft of a jacket and its consequences: a main hearing in juvenile criminal proceedings”. The expertise required for the events was provided by the German juvenile court judge Annette Eisenhardt from Berlin and the Deputy Prosecutor General of Schleswig-Holstein, Prof. Dr. Georg Güntge, who gave a clear and fascinating explanation of the various process steps. At the explicit request of the Supreme People's Court, the legal training film was also shown at the nationwide conference of the Supreme People's Court on 15 June, where approx. 10,000 judges took part online along with 300 participants.

The Supreme People's Procuratorate was the partner for the two-day workshop involving approx. 60 participants and focused on aspects of criminal prosecution and the monitoring of criminal proceedings, including human rights guarantees for female and juvenile offenders. The legal training film was also shown here which, following the overwhelmingly positive response, both the Supreme People's Court and the Supreme People's Procuratorate are planning to use for training purposes at their own advanced training academy. The German team of experts used examples in practice to convey the observance of human rights and the rights of the accused in measures involving deprivation of liberty, and analysed the specific features of juvenile criminal law.

These events enabled the IRZ use a film to raise awareness of differentiated criminal law for young persons in an important phase of the modernisation of juvenile criminal law and to potentially incorporate various elements into the legislation. The IRZ will continue to assist the development of juvenile criminal law in Vietnam.