7 crimes of destroying family happiness will be punished from January 1, 2018

People who commit adultery, commit incest, abuse their parents, or avoid their support obligations… are all at risk of being imprisoned.

The 2015 Penal Code, effective from January 1, 2018, has a separate chapter regulating crimes against the marriage and family regime, including seven articles (181-187).

The Ministry of Justice said that this law criminalizes the act of organizing surrogacy for commercial purposes (Article 187), and converts the crime of illegal marriage registration (Article 149 of the 1999 Penal Code) into the crime of illegal household registration.

The new law also decriminalizes the crime of child marriage (Article 148 of the 1999 Penal Code) because in essence, the danger of this act is not high, so only administrative action is needed. The 2015 Penal Code only punishes people who organize child marriage.

The Code also specifies some circumstances for determining the crime. For example, the circumstance of "causing serious consequences" stipulated in the crime of violating the monogamy regime has been specified into the consequences: causing the marital relationship of one or both parties to lead to divorce, causing the wife, husband or child of one of the two parties to commit suicide.

The seven specific crimes are as follows:

Article 181: Forced marriage, divorce or obstruction of voluntary, progressive marriage, obstruction of voluntary divorce

Anyone who forces another person to marry against their will, prevents another person from marrying or maintaining a voluntary, progressive marriage relationship, or forces or prevents another person from divorcing by torture, ill-treatment, mental intimidation, property claims or other means, and has been administratively sanctioned for this act but continues to violate, shall be subject to a warning, non-custodial reform for up to three years, or imprisonment from three months to three years.

Article 182: Violation of monogamy

A person who is married and marries or lives as husband and wife with another person, or a person who is not married and marries or lives as husband and wife with a person whom he/she clearly knows to be married in one of the following cases: causing the marriage relationship of one of the two parties to lead to divorce, has been administratively sanctioned for this act but still violates, shall be subject to a warning, non-custodial reform for up to one year, or imprisonment from three months to one year.

Committing a crime in one of the following cases: causing the wife, husband or child of one of the two parties to commit suicide, having a court decision to annul the marriage or forcing the termination of cohabitation as husband and wife contrary to the monogamous regime but still maintaining that relationship shall be punished with imprisonment from six months to three years.

Article 183: Organizing early marriage

Anyone who organizes marriages for people under marriageable age, has been administratively sanctioned for this act and continues to violate it, shall be fined 10-30 million VND or be subject to non-custodial reform for up to two years.

Article 184: Incest

Anyone who has sexual intercourse with a person whom he/she knows to be of the same bloodline, a sibling, half-sibling, or half-sibling, shall be sentenced to 1-5 years in prison.

Article 185: Abusing or torturing grandparents, parents, spouses, children, grandchildren or people who have raised you

Anyone who mistreats or commits acts of violence against their grandparents, parents, spouses, children, grandchildren or the person who has raised them in one of the following cases: regularly causes the victim physical or mental pain; has been administratively punished for this act but still violates it shall be subject to a warning, non-custodial reform for up to three years or imprisonment from six months to three years.

Offenders in one of the following cases: against people under 16 years of age, women known to be pregnant, elderly people; against people with severe disabilities, especially severe disabilities or people with serious illnesses shall be sentenced to 2-5 years in prison.

Article 186: Refusal or evasion of alimony obligations

Any person who has the obligation to provide maintenance and has the actual ability to provide maintenance to the person he/she is obliged to provide as prescribed by law but refuses or evades the obligation to provide maintenance, causing the person receiving maintenance to be in a dangerous situation to his/her life or health, or has been administratively sanctioned for one of the acts specified in this article but still commits the violation, shall be subject to a warning, non-custodial reform for up to two years, or imprisonment from three months to two years.

Article 187: Commercial surrogacy organizations

Anyone who organizes surrogacy for commercial purposes shall be fined 50-200 million VND, sentenced to non-custodial reform for up to two years, or imprisoned from three months to two years.

A person who commits a crime in one of the following cases: against two or more people, commits the crime two or more times, takes advantage of the name of an agency or organization, or is a dangerous recidivist shall be sentenced to 1-5 years in prison:

Offenders may also be fined 10-50 million VND, banned from holding positions, practicing a profession or doing certain jobs for 1-5 years.

According to VNE