A week of juvenile criminal law in Ho Chi Minh City

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Published: August 14, 2025

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.