Educational measures for minors
(Baonghean) - Education at the commune, ward, and town level is considered an effective administrative measure applied to minors who violate the law but whose actions do not warrant criminal prosecution or isolation from society. The purpose is to monitor and prevent these individuals from continuing to commit crimes, while simultaneously educating and helping them correct their mistakes and develop healthily in their place of residence.
Accordingly, the Law on Handling Administrative Violations divides minors into three groups for the application of educational measures at the commune, ward, or town level, specifically: Group 1: Persons aged 12 to under 14 who commit acts showing signs of a very serious crime committed intentionally as stipulated in the Penal Code; Group 2: Persons aged 14 to under 16 who commit acts showing signs of a serious crime committed intentionally as stipulated in the Penal Code; Group 3: Persons aged 14 to under 18 who commit theft, fraud, gambling, or disturbing public order two or more times in six months, but not to the extent of criminal prosecution. The duration of applying educational measures at the commune, ward, or town level is generally from 3 to 6 months.
For individuals aged 12 to under 14 and those aged 14 to under 16, educational measures at the commune, ward, or town level will be applied when their criminal behavior causes great or very great harm to society and shows signs of a crime. However, according to the age of criminal responsibility in the Penal Code, these individuals are not yet subject to criminal prosecution; therefore, administrative measures should be applied to educate and prevent crime.
According to Clause 2, Article 4 of Government Decree No. 111/2013/ND-CP dated September 30, 2013, regulating the application of administrative educational measures at the commune, ward, and town levels, the statute of limitations for applying educational measures at the commune, ward, and town levels for Group 1 is one year from the date of the violation, and for Group 2 is six months from the date of the violation.
For individuals aged 14 to under 18 who commit acts of theft, fraud, gambling, or disturbing public order, although the level of danger to society is insignificant, the repeated occurrence of these acts within a short period necessitates the application of administrative measures to prevent crime. The statute of limitations for these cases, according to Article 4 of Decree No. 111/2013/ND-CP, is 6 months from the date of the last administrative penalty imposed for any of the aforementioned violations. Specifically, Point c, Clause 2, Article 4 of this Decree stipulates: “For individuals aged 14 to under 18 who have been administratively penalized at least twice within 6 months for acts of theft, fraud, gambling, or disturbing public order, the statute of limitations is 6 months from the date of the last administrative penalty imposed for any of the aforementioned violations.”
Regarding this regulation, there are two differing viewpoints. The first group argues that this regulation contradicts Clause 3, Article 90 of the Law on Handling Administrative Violations. This viewpoint argues that, according to Clause 3, Article 90 of the Law on Handling Administrative Violations, the condition for applying educational measures at the commune, ward, or town level is that within six months, the subject has committed theft, fraud, gambling, or disturbing public order two or more times. Meanwhile, Point c, Clause 2, Article 4 of Decree No. 111/2013/ND-CP stipulates that the condition for applying administrative measures of education at the commune, ward, or town level is that within six months, the individual has been penalized for administrative violations related to these acts at least twice. Therefore, these regulations are incompatible and inconsistent.
The second group argues that this regulation is not contradictory, because according to the Law on Handling Administrative Violations, "Administrative sanctions are the application of sanctions and remedial measures by competent authorities to individuals and organizations committing administrative violations in accordance with the law on administrative sanctions." Meanwhile, Government Decree No. 73/2010/ND-CP dated July 12, 2010, regulating administrative sanctions in the field of security and social order and safety, stipulates that acts of theft, fraud, gambling, and disturbing public order that do not reach the level of criminal prosecution and are not crimes are administrative violations and must be subject to administrative sanctions. According to these regulations, when minors commit the above-mentioned acts, competent authorities will apply one of the forms of sanctions stipulated in Clause 2, Article 135 of the Law on Handling Administrative Violations to them. Thus, The commission of an administrative violation by a minor is confirmed by an administrative penalty decision issued by a competent authority.
Therefore, it can be understood that committing theft, fraud, gambling, or disturbing public order two or more times as stipulated in Clause 3, Article 90 of the Law on Handling Administrative Violations means having been administratively penalized at least twice for these acts as stipulated in Point c, Clause 2, Article 4 of Decree No. 111/2013/ND-CP.
LawyerTrong Hai
