Educational measures for minors
(Baonghean) - Education at commune, ward and town levels is considered an effective administrative measure applied to minors who violate the law but have not yet reached the level of criminal prosecution or do not need to be isolated from society. The purpose is to monitor and prevent these subjects from continuing to commit crimes, while educating and helping them correct their mistakes and develop healthily at their place of residence.
Accordingly, the Law on Handling of Administrative Violations divides minors into three groups to apply educational measures at commune, ward and town levels, specifically: Group 1: Persons from 12 to under 14 years old who commit acts showing signs of a very serious intentional crime as prescribed in the Penal Code; Group 2: Persons from 14 to under 16 years old who commit acts showing signs of a serious intentional crime as prescribed in the Penal Code; Group 3: Persons from 14 to under 18 years old who commit theft, fraud, gambling or public disorder twice or more within 6 months but not to the extent of criminal prosecution. The period of application of educational measures at commune, ward and town levels is generally from 3 to 6 months.
For persons aged 12 to under 14 and persons aged 14 to under 16, educational measures at the commune, ward or town level will be applied when their criminal acts cause great or very great harm to society and their acts show signs of a crime. However, according to the provisions on the age of criminal responsibility of the Penal Code, these subjects have not been prosecuted for criminal responsibility, so it is necessary to apply administrative measures to educate and prevent crime.
According to the provisions of Clause 2, Article 4, Decree No. 111/2013/ND-CP dated September 30, 2013 of the Government regulating the regime of applying administrative educational measures at communes, wards and towns, the statute of limitations for applying educational measures at communes, wards and towns for group 1 is 1 year from the date of committing the violation, for group 2 is 6 months from the date of committing the violation.
As for people from 14 to under 18 years old who commit acts of theft, fraud, gambling, or public disorder, although the level of danger to society is not significant, because they are committed many times in a short period of time, administrative measures should be applied to prevent crime. The statute of limitations applicable to these cases according to Article 4 of Decree No. 111/2013/ND-CP is 6 months from the date of the last time one of the above violations is punished for administrative violations. Specifically, Point c, Clause 2, Article 4 of this Decree stipulates: “For people from 14 to under 18 years old who have been punished for administrative violations at least twice within 6 months for theft, fraud, gambling, or public disorder, the statute of limitations is 6 months from the date of the last time one of the above administrative violations is punished for administrative violations according to regulations”.
There are two different views regarding this provision. The first group believes that this provision contradicts Clause 3, Article 90 of the Law on Handling of Administrative Violations. This view holds that according to Clause 3, Article 90 of the Law on Handling of Administrative Violations, the condition for applying educational measures at the commune, ward or town level is that within 6 months the subject has committed theft, fraud, gambling or public disorder twice or more. Meanwhile, Point c, Clause 2, Article 4 of Decree No. 111/2013/ND-CP stipulates that the condition for applying administrative educational measures at the commune, ward or town level is that within 6 months the subject has been administratively sanctioned for the above violations at least twice. Therefore, these provisions are inconsistent and inconsistent with each other.
The second group believes that this provision is not contradictory, because according to the Law on Handling of Administrative Violations, it is stipulated that “Administrative sanctions are the actions of competent persons to apply sanctions and remedial measures to individuals and organizations that commit administrative violations according to the provisions of the law on handling of administrative violations. Meanwhile, Decree No. 73/2010/ND-CP dated July 12, 2010 of the Government stipulating sanctions for administrative violations in the field of security, order and social safety, acts of theft, fraud, gambling, and disturbing public order that are not yet serious enough to warrant criminal prosecution, are not crimes, are administrative violations and must be subject to administrative sanctions. According to these provisions, when minors commit the above acts, competent persons will apply one of the sanctions prescribed in Clause 2, Article 135 of the Law on Handling of Administrative Violations to them. Thus, the commission of an administrative violation by a minor is confirmed by the decision to impose an administrative penalty by a competent authority.
Therefore, it can be understood that having committed theft, fraud, gambling, and public disorder two or more times in Clause 3, Article 90 of the Law on Handling of Administrative Violations means having been administratively sanctioned at least twice for theft, fraud, gambling, and public disorder in Point c, Clause 2, Article 4 of Decree No. 111/2013/ND-CP.
LawyerTrong Hai
