Draft revised law on children to further accord with UN convention
The draft revised Law on Child Protection, Care and Education will remove flaws in the existing law, adhere more closely to the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC) and improve the implementation of the 2013 Constitution, according to the drafting board.
The draft revised law, set to be submitted to the National Assembly’s 10th sitting on November 12, comprehensively and specifically stipulates the State, families and society’s responsibility to protect, care for and educate children, according to Do Hoa Nam, Director of the Child Care and Protection Department under the Ministry of Labour, Invalids and Social Affairs.
It fine-tunes the existing law, issued in 2004, to ensure the law system’s unity on child-related issues and solve emerging problems, he added, noting that it strictly prohibits injuring, mistreating, abandoning and abusing children, child labour, and acts that violate children’s rights. It also stipulates children’s rights to participate in child-related issues.
The drafting board suggests the draft be named the Law on Children to fully reflect its main goal, to assure children’s rights, such as the right to survival, the right to development, the right to protection and the right to participation.
The proposed name is also in conformity with the current law system, which includes the Law on Youth, the Law on the Elderly, and the Law on Persons with Disabilities, Nam noted.
Particularly, the draft stipulates that those under the age of 18 are children, instead of under 16, as stated in the current law.
The official said the new regulation is in line with actual physical and mental growth, as well as the CRC and international integration, in terms of statistics.
Data from the UNICEF office in Vietnam showed that by 2015, 10 out of 66 participating countries said children became adults at ages other than 18 – the number used in the CRC. Meanwhile, the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child also suggested Vietnam raise the age level to under 18.
Nam made it clear that the age level revision does not affect Vietnam’s engagement in related international conventions, while agreeing with current domestic regulations on children and people who have not reached maturity.
He added that the draft revised law’s applicability is not restricted to Vietnamese citizens like at present, but covers all of those under 18 residing in Vietnam.
Additionally, it does not stipulate things that children are not allowed to do, as proposed by the UN Committee and UNICEF. Punishments for children’s law violations have already been mentioned in other laws, and it is not necessary to specify them in the draft law, Nam stressed.
The draft will be scrutinised at National Assembly deputies’ group discussions on November 13 and at a plenary session on November 23.
It fine-tunes the existing law, issued in 2004, to ensure the law system’s unity on child-related issues and solve emerging problems, he added, noting that it strictly prohibits injuring, mistreating, abandoning and abusing children, child labour, and acts that violate children’s rights. It also stipulates children’s rights to participate in child-related issues.
The drafting board suggests the draft be named the Law on Children to fully reflect its main goal, to assure children’s rights, such as the right to survival, the right to development, the right to protection and the right to participation.
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Particularly, the draft stipulates that those under the age of 18 are children, instead of under 16, as stated in the current law.
The official said the new regulation is in line with actual physical and mental growth, as well as the CRC and international integration, in terms of statistics.
Data from the UNICEF office in Vietnam showed that by 2015, 10 out of 66 participating countries said children became adults at ages other than 18 – the number used in the CRC. Meanwhile, the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child also suggested Vietnam raise the age level to under 18.
Nam made it clear that the age level revision does not affect Vietnam’s engagement in related international conventions, while agreeing with current domestic regulations on children and people who have not reached maturity.
He added that the draft revised law’s applicability is not restricted to Vietnamese citizens like at present, but covers all of those under 18 residing in Vietnam.
Additionally, it does not stipulate things that children are not allowed to do, as proposed by the UN Committee and UNICEF. Punishments for children’s law violations have already been mentioned in other laws, and it is not necessary to specify them in the draft law, Nam stressed.
The draft will be scrutinised at National Assembly deputies’ group discussions on November 13 and at a plenary session on November 23.