Joint Circular No. 01/2013/TTLT- TANDTC-VKSNDTC-BCA-BQP- BTP of July 23,2013, guiding the penal liability examination against persons who commit acts of human trafficking; trading in, fraudulently exchanging or appropriating children

 THE SUPREME PEOPLE’S COURT - THE SUPREME PEOPLE’S PROCURACY - THE MINISTRY OF PUBLIC SECURITY - THE MINISTRY OF NATIONAL DEFENSE - THE MINISTRY OF JUSTICE

Joint Circular No. 01/2013/TTLT- TANDTC-VKSNDTC-BCA-BQP- BTP of July 23,2013, guiding the penal liability examination against persons who commit acts of human trafficking; trading in, fraudulently exchanging or appropriating children

For the correct and consistent application of the provisions of Articles 119 and 120 of the 1999 Penal Code, which was revised by the 2009 Law Amending and Supplementing a Number of Articles of the Penal Code (below referred to as the Penal Code) in the examination of penal liability against persons who commit acts of human trafficking; trading in, fraudulently exchanging or appropriating children, the Supreme People's Court, the Supreme People’s Procuracy, the Ministry of Public Security, the Ministry of National Defense and the Ministry of Justice promulgate the joint circular guiding the penal liability examination against persons who commit acts of human trafficking; trading in, fraudulently exchanging or appropriating children.

Chapter I

PENAL LIABILITY EXAMINATION AGAINST PERSONS WHO COMMIT ACTS OF HUMAN TRAFFICKING UNDER ARTICLE 119 OF THE PENAL CODE

Article 1. Definition of human trafficking acts

Human trafficking means the act of using money, property or other material benefits to exchange persons (aged full 16 or older) as a kind of commodity, specifically one of the following acts:

1. Selling persons to other persons, regardless of buyers’ purposes.

2. Buying persons for resale to other persons, regardless of subsequent buyers and their purposes.

3. Using persons as property for exchange or payment.

4. Buying persons for exploitation of labor, forced labor or other illegal purposes.

5. Persons who organize, incite or assist persons who commit one of the human trafficking acts prescribed in Clauses 1,2,3 and 4 of this Article, shall all be examined for penal liability for the crime of human trafficking.

Article 2. On a number of circumstances determining the penalty frame

1. “For the purpose of prostitution”, defined at Point a, Clause 2, Article 119 of the Penal Code, means the case where human trafficking aims to serve prostitution activities (for instance: trafficking in persons then sending them to brothels or organizing them to sell sex, etc.).

2. “In a professional manner”, defined at Point c, Clause 2, Article 119 of the Penal Code, means the case where a human trafficker commits the crime for five times or more (regardless of whether or not he/she has been examined for penal liability if the penal liability examination statute of limitations has not yet expired or his/ her criminal record has not yet been remitted) and the offender takes human trafficking as his/ her means of livelihood and the fruits of human trafficking as a main source of livelihood.

For offenders who have committed the crime for five times or more, for which they have been once sentenced and have not yet enjoyed criminal record remission, the penalty frame-determining circumstances or aggregating circumstances of “committing the crime more than once”, “against more than one person”, “recidivism” (or “dangerous recidivism”) and “ in a professional manner” can be applied to them.

3. “For the extraction of organs of victims”, defined at Point d, Clause 2, Article 119 of the Penal Code, means the case where human trafficking aims to take body parts formed from different tissues for the performance of certain physiological functions of such person.

4. “For the purpose of sending abroad”, defined at Point e, Clause 2, Article 119 of the Penal Code, means the case where human trafficking aims to send victims out of the Vietnamese territory, including the case where victims have not yet been sent abroad but there are grounds to determine that the offenders have the intention to send the victims abroad.

5. “Against more than one person”, defined at Point f, Clause 2, Article 119 of the Penal Code, means the case of trafficking in two persons or more at a time of committing the crime.

6. “Committing the crime more than once”, defined at Point g, Clause 2, Article 119 of the Penal Code, means the case where human trafficking is committed for two or more times, regardless of such trafficking acts are conducted against one or more than one persons and the offenders have not yet been examined for penal liability once and the penal liability examination statute of limitations has not yet expired.

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