7 crimes against family happiness punishable from January 1, 2018

Adultery; incest; parental abuse; evasion of child support obligations… all carry the risk of imprisonment.

The 2015 Penal Code, effective from January 1, 2018, dedicates an entire chapter to offenses against the marriage and family system, comprising seven articles (181-187).

The Ministry of Justice stated that this law has criminalized the act of organizing surrogacy for commercial purposes (Article 187), transforming the crime of illegal marriage registration (Article 149 of the 1999 Penal Code) into the crime of illegal civil 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, therefore only administrative penalties are needed. The 2015 Penal Code only deals with those who organize child marriages.

The law also specifies several elements constituting a crime. For example, the aggravating circumstance of "causing serious consequences" stipulated in the crime of violating monogamy has been specified into consequences such as causing the marital relationship of one or both parties to lead to divorce, or causing the spouse or child of one of the parties to commit suicide.

The seven specific crimes are as follows:

Article 181: Coercion in marriage, divorce, or obstruction of voluntary and progressive marriage, obstruction of voluntary divorce.

Anyone who forces another person to marry against their will, obstructs another person from marrying, maintaining a voluntary, progressive marriage, or coerces or obstructs another person from divorcing by means of torture, abuse, mental intimidation, demanding property, or other means, and who has already been punished for this administrative violation but continues to violate the law, shall be punished with a warning, non-custodial correctional punishment for up to three years, or imprisonment from three months to three years.

Article 182: Violation of the monogamy principle

Any person who, while married, marries or cohabits with another person, or any person who, being unmarried, marries or cohabits with someone they know is already married, in any of the following cases: causing the marriage of one of the parties to lead to divorce; having already been subject to administrative penalties for this act and continuing to violate the law, shall be punished with a warning, non-custodial correctional punishment of up to one year, or imprisonment from three months to one year.

Committing an offense that falls under one of the following circumstances: causing the suicide of the spouse or child of either party; maintaining the relationship despite a court decision annulling the marriage or forcing the termination of cohabitation contrary to monogamy; shall be punishable by imprisonment from six months to three years.

Article 183: Organizing child marriage

Anyone who organizes marriages for individuals who have not reached the legal age for marriage, and who has already been fined for this offense but continues to violate the law, shall be fined 10-30 million VND or sentenced to non-custodial correctional labor for up to two years.

Article 184: Incest

Anyone who has sexual intercourse with a person whom they know to be a direct blood relative, such as a sibling with the same parents, a half-sibling, or a half-sibling, shall be punished with imprisonment for 1-5 years.

Article 185: Abusing or mistreating grandparents, parents, spouse, children, grandchildren, or those who have provided care and support.

Anyone who mistreats or commits acts of violence against the physical well-being of their grandparents, parents, spouse, children, grandchildren, or those who have provided care for them, in one of the following cases: regularly causing the victim physical or mental pain; having been previously penalized for this administrative violation and continuing to violate the law, shall be punished with a warning, non-custodial correctional punishment for up to three years, or imprisonment from six months to three years.

Offenders falling under one of the following categories will be sentenced to 2-5 years imprisonment: against a person under 16 years of age, a woman known to be pregnant, an elderly person; or against a person with severe or exceptionally severe disabilities or a person suffering from a serious illness.

Article 186: Refusal or evasion of alimony obligations

Any person who has an obligation to provide alimony and has the actual ability to do so to the person to whom they are legally obligated, but refuses or evades this obligation, causing the person to be in danger of losing their life or health, or who has been previously penalized for an administrative violation related to one of the acts specified in this article and continues to violate the law, shall be punished with a warning, non-custodial correctional punishment 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 between 50 and 200 million VND, sentenced to non-custodial correctional labor for up to two years, or imprisoned for three months to two years.

Offenders falling under one of the following categories: against two or more people, committing the crime two or more times, abusing the name of an agency or organization, or being dangerous repeat offenders, shall be sentenced to imprisonment for 1-5 years:

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

According to VNE