VietnameseLaw on domestic violence prevention and control, No.02/2007/QH12
ATTRIBUTE Law on domestic violence prevention and control
Law No.02/2007/QH12 dated December 05, 2007 of the National Assembly on domestic violence prevention and control
| Issuing body: | National Assembly of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam | Effective date: | Known Please log in to a subscriber account to use this function. Don’t have an account? Register here |
| Official number: | 02/2007/QH12 | Signer: | Nguyen Phu Trong |
| Type: | Law | Expiry date: | Known Please log in to a subscriber account to use this function. Don’t have an account? Register here |
| Issuing date: | 21/11/2007 | Effect status: | Known Please log in to a subscriber account to use this function. Don’t have an account? Register here |
| Fields: | Public order |
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THE NATIONAL ASSEMBLY | SOCIALIST REPUBLICOF VIETNAM Independence - Freedom- Happiness |
Law No.: 02/2007/QH12 | Ha Noi, November 21st, 2007 |
LAW
ON DOMESTIC VIOLENCE PREVENTION AND CONTROL
Persuant to the 1992 Constitution of the Socialist Republic of Viet Nam, a number of Articles of which had been amended and added in line with the Resolution No. 51/2001/QH10;
The National Assembly, hereby, promulgates this Law on Domestic Violence Prevention and Control.
Chapter 1
GENERAL PROVISION
Article 1. Scope of Regulation
1. This Law regulates the prevention and control of domestic violence, protecting and assisting the victims of domestic violence; the responsibilities of individuals, families, organizations, institutions in domestic violence prevention and control and dealing with the breach of the Law on Domestic Violence Prevention and Cotrol.
2. Domestic violence is defined as purposeful acts of certain family members that cause or may possibly cause physical, mental or economic injuries to other family members.
Article 2. Domestic violence acts
1.The acts of domestic violence consist of:
a) Corporal beating, ill-treating, torturing or other purposeful acts causing injuries to one’s health and life;
b) Insulting or other intended acts meant to offend one’s human pride, honour and dignity;
c) Isolating, shunning or creating constant psychological pressure on other family members, causing serious consequences;
d) Preventing the exercise of the legal rights and obligations in the relationship between grandparents and grand children, between parents and children, between husbands and wives as well as among brothers and sisters.
e) Forced sex;
f) Forced child marriage; forced marriage or divorce and obstruction to freewill and progressive marriage
g) Appropriating, demolishing, destroying or other purposeful acts to damage the private properties of other family members, or the shared properties of family members;
h) Forcing other family members to overwork or to contribute more earning than they can afford; controlling other family members’ incomes to make them financially dependent;
i) Conducting unlawful acts to turn other family members out of their domicile.
2. The violent acts stipulated in paragragh 1 of this Article shall also be applicable to family members in cases of divorcees or living together as husband and wife without marriage registration.
Article 3. Principles of domestic violence prevention and control
1. Taking combined and integrated measures to prevent and fight domestic violence with preventive measures as key and special attention paid to communication and education on family values, counselling and reconciliation in line with the fine traditional and cultural practices of Viet Nam.
2. Domestic violence acts must be timely discovered, stopped and dealt with in accordance with laws.
3. Victims of domestic violence must be timely protected and assisted in accordance with their actual conditions and situation, and the national socio-economic situation; giving priority in protecting the legal rights and benefits of children, elderly people, disabled people and women.
4. Promoting the role and responsibility of individuals, families, communities, institutions and organizations in preventing and controling domestic violence.
Điều 4. Obligations of persons committing domestic violence
1. Respecting lawful community interference, stopping immediately violent acts against family members.
2. Complying with decisions of the authorized institutions and organizations.
3. Timely sending the victims for first aid and medical treatments; taking care of the victims of domestic violence unless the victims refuse these offers.
4. Compensating for the damages and losses caused to the domestic violence victims when required in accordance with the Law.
Article 5. Rights and obligations of domestic violence victims
1. Victims of domestic violence shall have the following rights:
a) To request the authorized institutions, organizations and individuals to protect their lives, dignity and other rights and legitimate benefits
b) To request the authorized institutions and individuals to apply measures to prevent, protect and forbid contact as stipulated by this Law.
c) To be provided with medical services as well as psychological and legal advice;
d) To be provided with temporary domicile which shall be kept confidential as well as with other information that is regulated by this Law;
e) Other rights stipulated by laws.
2. Victims shall be obliged to provide information relating to the domestic violence to the authorized individuals, institutions and organizations when required
Article 6. State policies on domestic violence prevention and control
The State shall allocate an appropriate budget for domestic violence prevention and control activities.
2. Encouraging institutions/organizations and individuals to provide financial support for domestic violence prevention and control; developing the domestic violence prevention models and assisting the victims.
3. Encouraging research and production of literature and art works on the domestic violence prevention and control.
4. Organizing and assisting the training of officials involved in domestic violence prvention and control.
5. Persons directly involved in the fight against domestic violence shall be rewarded for their good contributions and given proper entitlements in accordance with laws in return to resulting losses/damages to their health, lives and properties.
Article 7. International cooperation in domestic violence prevention and control
1. The State encourages international cooperation in domestic violence prevention and control on the basis of equality, respect for sovereignty and compliance with national and international laws.
2. International cooperation activities include:
a) Developing and implementing programes/projects and activities to prevent and fight domestic violence;
b) Joining international organizations; signing, acceeding to and implementing the related international treaties and agreements on domestic violence prevention and control;
c) Exchanging information and experiences in domestic violence prevention and control.
Article 8. Acts strictly forbidden
1. Domestic violence acts defined in Article 2 of this Law.
2. Forcing, provoking, urging and enabling other persons to commit domestic violence acts
3. Using and diffusing information, images and sounds to provoke domestic violence acts
4. Revenging or threatening to revenge the people who help the victims of domestic violence, discover, report and prevent the domestic violence acts.
5. Obstructing the discovery, reporting and settlement of domestic violence acts.
6. Making use of domestic violence prevention and control to make profits or to carry out other illegal activities.
7. Complicity, covering up, avoiding settlement and mis-settlement of domestic violence acts and non-compliance with the Law.
Chapter II
PREVENTION OF DOMESTIC VIOLENCE
Part 1. INFORMATION AND COMMUNICATIONON DOMESTIC VIOLENCE PREVENTION AND CONTROL
Article 9. Objectives and requirements of information and communication on domestic violence prevention and control
1. Information and communication on domestic violence prevention and control, are meant to change perception and behaviour related to domestic violence acts in order to gradually eliminate domestic violence as well as to raise awareness of good traditions and morality of the Vietnamese people and families.
2. Information and communication on domestic violence prevention and control must meet the following requirements:
a. Accurate, specific, simple and realistic;
b. Suitable to specific cases, qualification, age, gender, tradition, culture, religion and ethnic identity;
c. No impact on the gender equality, pride and honour of the victims and other family members.
Article 10. Contents of information and communication on domestic violence prevention and control
1. Policies and laws on domestic violence prevention and control, gender equality, rights and obligations of family members.
2. Good traditions and moral standards of the Vietnamese people and families
3. Negative impacts of domestic violence.
4. Measures, models and experiences in domestic violence prevention and control.
5. Knowledge of marriage and family issues; behavioural skills, cultural family building.
6. Other elements related to domestic violence prevention and control.
Article 11. Forms of information and communication on domestic violence prevention and control
1. Direct implementation
2. Through the mass media
3. Mainstreaming this issue into the teaching and learning programmes at training institutions of the national education system.
4. Through art, literature and community life or other popular cutural activities.
Part 2. RECONCILIATION OF CONFLICTS AND DISPUTESAMONG FAMILY MEMBERS
Article 12. Principles of reconciliating conflicts and disputes among family members
1. Timely, proactive and patient;
2. In harmony with the policy of the Communist Party, the Law of the State, the social morality and the good customs and practices of the people;
3. Respect for the free will of all conflicting parties to come to reconsiliation;
4. Impartiality, fairness, sensibility and sentiment;
5. Maintaining one’s privacy;
6. Respect for the rights and legitimate interests of other people; no encroachment on the State and public interests.
7. No reconciliation of conflicts and disputes among family members stipulated in Articles 14 and 15 of this Law, in the following cases:
a) Incidents of criminal nature, unless the victims request for an exemption from Criminal proceeding
b) Violations of Administrative laws subject to civil fines.
Article 13. Reconciliation of conflicts and disputes by the family and clan
The family shall be reponsible for timely discovering and reconciliating conflicts and disputes among family members.
In the case that the family cannot reconcile or at the request of any family member, the head or the prestigious person in the clan or the prestigious person in the comminity shall actively conduct the reconciliation.
Article 14. Reconciliation of conflicts and disputes by an institution/organization
Institutions/organizations shall be responsible for conducting reconciliation of conflicts and disputes between their employees and their family members at the family members’ request. if necessary, they shall cooperate with their local counterparts in conducting reconciliation.
Article 15. Reconciliation of conflicts and disputes by the grassroots reconciling teams
1. The grassroots reconciling team shall conduct reconciliation of conflicts and disputes among family members in accordance with legislation on reconciliation at the grassroots level .
2. The People’s Committees of communes, wards and townships (referred to as Commune People’s Committee) shall be responsible for cooperating with the Committee of Viet Nam Fatherland Front at the same level and its members in giving guidance, assistance and good conditions to the grassroots reconciling teams to reconcile conflicts and disputes among family members.
Part 3. COUNSELLING, COMMENTS AND CRITICISM OF COMMUNITIES ON DOMESTIC VIOLENCE PREVENTION
Article 16. Counselling about family issues at the grassroots level
1. The State shall facilitate and encourage organizations and individuals to provide counselling services on family issues at the grassroots level to help local inhabitants prevent and fight domestic violence.
2. Counselling on family issues at the grassroots level shall include the following:
a) Provision of information, knowledge, laws and regulations about marriage, family and domestic violence prevention and control;
b) Guidance on behavioural skills in the family and on dealing with conflicts and disputes among family members.
3. Counselling on family issues shall target at the following cases:
a) Persons committing domestic violence acts;
b) Victims of domestic violence;
c) Alcholic and drug addicts, gamblers;
d) Fiancees and fiances.
4. The commune People’s Committee shall play the lead role and collaborate with the Committee of Viet Nam Fatherland Front at the same level and its members in providing counselling services on family issues.
Article 17. Comments and criticizm of communities
1. Comments and criticizm of a community shall be targeted at persons aged 16 and above committing family violence acts and continuing to do so after reconciliation by the grassroots reconciliation teams.
2. The head of a village, hamlet, township or group of local inhabitants or a head of a similar body (refered to following as community leader) shall decide and organize communal meetings to collect comments and criticism of community. The participants in such events shall include family reprentatives, nextdoor neighbours and other concerned people shall be invited by the community leader.
3. The commune People’s Committee shall be responsible for supporting the community leader in organizing communal meetings to collect comments and criticism of the community on the person(s) committing domestic violence.
Chapter III
PROTECTING AND ASSISTING VICTIMS OF DOMESTIC VIOLENCE
Part 1. MEASURES TAKEN TO PROTECT AND ASSISTVICTIMS OF DOMESTIC VIOLENCE
Article 18. Discovering and reporting domestic violence acts
1. The person who discovers domestic violence acts shall report these to the nearest police station or to the commune People’s Committee or the community leader at the scene of violence, except for the cases referred to in paragragh 3 of Article 23 and paragragh 4 of Article 29.
2. The Police station, the commune People’s Committee and the comminity leader, that have discovered or been informed of domestic violence acts shall be responsible for timely dealing with the case or requesting the relevant authorities or individuals to do it and keep the identity of the reporter confidential, and as/if necessary, protect the person reporting domestic violence acts.
Article 19. Prevention and protection measures
1. Prevention and protection measures shall be applied to protect the victim of domestic violence, stop violent acts and minimize the consequences of domestic violence, including:
a) Stopping domestic violence acts;
b) Making first aid arrangements for the victim of domestic violence;
c) Taking preventive measures in accordance with the Law in dealing with the violations of civil and criminal nature applicable to the person committing domestic violence;
d) The person committing violent acts shall not be allowed to approach the victim and not to use telephone or other medium to get in touch with the victim in order to commit violence (hereinafter referred to as a measure of forbidden contact);
2. The person present at the scene of violence, depending on the severity of the violent acts and their ability, shall be reponsible for taking measures referred to in points a and b, paragragh 1 of this Article;
3. Authority and conditions for the application, change and cancelation of measures referred to in point c, paragragh 1 of this Article shall be in accordance with the legislation on dealing with violations of civil or criminal nature;
4. The application of measures stipulated in point d, paragragh 1 of this Article shall comply with Articles 20 and 21 of this Law.
Article 20. Contact forbidden upon decision of the Chairperson of the commune People’s Committee
The commune People’s Committee at the site of domestic violence can decide to apply the measure of forbidding contact for no longer than three days when meeting the following conditions:
a) There is a written request from the victim of domestic violence, the custodian or the legal representative of the relevant organization/agency. In case of the institution, organization of authority request, it must be agreed by the victim of domestic violence,
b) Domestic violence acts cause or threaten to cause serious physical injury to health or life of the victim of domestic violence
c) The domestic violence victim and the violence committing person are living at different domiciles at the time of contact
2. By the latest of 12 hours from the receipt of the request, Chairperson of communal People’s Committee shall decide to apply the forbidden contact measure with the victim of domestic violence; In case no decision shall be made, a written notice with specific reasons shall be sent to the requesting person.
Decision forbidding contact with the victim of violence shall be in force right after its issuance, and sent to the person conducting violence, the victim of violence, the community leader at the victim’s domicile.
3 The chairperson of communal People’s Committee deciding to forbid contact with the victim, shall cancel that decision when the victim of violence request this cancelation, or when the measure is found not necessary any more
4. In case there happen the wedding or funeral, or some special events in their families that require the violence victims and the violence committed persons to contact each other, the violence committed person has to inform the victim’s community leader..
5. The violence committing person breaching the forbidden contact decision can be seized for civil breach of Law and fined
6. The Government shall stipulates specifically the application, cancellation of the measure to forbid contact with the victim of violence, the person of supervising authority , and the treatment of the person who commits domestic violence and breach the forbidden contact rule in this Article.
Article 21. Forbidding contact upon decision of the court
1. In collecting evidence or processing civil case between the victim of domestic violence and the person conducting violent acts, the courts shall have the authority to forbid the person committing violent acts to contact the victim of domestic violence for no longer than 4 months when having sufficient conditions as following:
a) Written request from the victims of domestic violence, the custodian or the legal representative or the authorized institution/organization. In case the authorized institution/organization requests, they must be agreed to by the victim of domestic violence,
b) The domestic violence causing physical damages or threatening to cause serious injury to the health and life of the victim of domestic violence.
c) The violence committing person and the victim are not living in the same domicile during the forbidden contact duration.
2. The decision of forbidden contact with the victim of domestic violence shall be effective after signing and shall be notified to the violence committed person, the victim of violence and the community leader at the victim’s domicile and the people’s Inspecting Institute at the same level.
3. The people’s court that decided on the forbidden contact measure, shall cancel that decision when receiving the written request for cancellation from the violence victim or when it sees that this measure is no longer needed
4. In case there is a wedding or funeral, or some special events in their families that require the victim of violence and the violence committing person to contact each other, the violence committing person must inform the victim’s community leader.
5. Authority, sequence of steps and procedures, changes, cancelation of forbidden contact measure with the domestic violence victim referred to in this Article shall be similarly applied in accordance with the Law on Civil Proceedings for temporary emergency measures.
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