* This translated version is originated from Ministry of Justice and for reference only.
Article 68.- Application of the Penal Code to juvenile offenders
Juvenile offenders are offenders who are aged between full 14 years and under 18 years. They shall bear penal liability under the provisions of this Chapter as well as the provisions of the General Part of this Code which are not contrary to the provisions of this Chapter.
Article 69.- Principles for handling juvenile offenders
1. The handling of juvenile offenders aims mainly to educate and help them redress their wrongs, develop healthily and become citizens useful to society.
In all cases of investigation, prosecution and adjudication of criminal acts committed by juveniles, the competent State agencies shall have to determine their capability of being aware of the danger to society of their criminal acts and the causes and conditions relating to such criminal acts.
2. Juvenile offenders may be exempt from penal liability if they commit less serious crimes or serious crimes which cause no great harm and involve many extenuating circumstances and they are received for supervision and education by their families, agencies or organizations.
3. The penal liability examination and imposition of penalties on juvenile offenders shall only apply to cases of necessity and must be based on the nature of their criminal acts, their personal characteristics and crime prevention requirements.
4. The courts, if deeming it unnecessary to impose penalties on juvenile offenders, shall apply one of the judicial measures prescribed in Article 70 of this Code.
5. Life imprisonment or the death sentence shall not be imposed on juvenile offenders. When handing down sentences of termed imprisonment, the courts shall impose on them lighter sentences than those imposed on adult offenders of the corresponding crimes.
Pecuniary punishment shall not apply to juvenile offenders who are from full 14 to under 16 years old.
Additional penalties shall not apply to juvenile offenders.
6. The judgement imposed on juvenile offenders aged under 16 years shall not be taken into account for determining recidivism or dangerous recidivism.
Article 70.- Judicial measures applicable to juvenile offenders
1. In the case of juvenile offenders, the courts may decide the application of one of the following judicial measures of educative and preventive character:
a) Education at communes, wards or district towns;
b) Sending them to reformatory schools.
2. The courts may apply the commune/ward/district town-based education measure for between one and two years to juvenile offenders of less serious crimes or serious crimes.
Persons placed under the commune/ward/district town-based education must fulfill their obligations on study and labor, abide by laws under the supervision of and education by the local commune/ward/district town administration or social organizations assigned such responsibility by the courts.
3. The court may apply the measure of sending juvenile offenders to reformatory schools for between one and two years if it is deemed that due to the seriousness of their offenses, their personal identification and living environment, such persons should be sent to reeducation organizations with strict disciplines.
4. If persons subject to education at communes, wards or district towns or persons sent to reformatory schools have already served half of the term decided by the courts and made good progress, the courts, at the proposal of the agencies, organizations or schools assigned the responsibility of supervising and educating them, may decide the termination of the duration of education at communes, wards, district towns or the duration at reformatory schools.
Article 71.- Penalties applicable to juvenile offenders
The juvenile offenders shall be subject to one of the following penalties for each offense:
1. Warning;
2. Fine;
3. Non-custodial reform;
4. Termed imprisonment.
Article 72.- Fine
Fine shall be applied as a principal penalty to juvenile offenders aged full 16 years and under 18 years, if such persons have income or private property.
The fine levels applicable to juvenile offenders shall not exceed half of the fine level prescribed by the relevant law provision.
Article 73.- Non-custodial reform
When applying non-custodial reform to juvenile offenders, the income of such persons shall not be deducted.
The non-custodial reform duration for juvenile offenders shall not exceed the term prescribed by the relevant law provision.
Article 74.- Termed imprisonment
The juvenile offenders shall be penalized with termed imprisonment according to the following regulations:
1. For persons aged between full 16 and under 18 when they committed crimes, if the applicable law provisions stipulate life imprisonment or the death sentence, the highest applicable penalty shall not exceed eighteen years of imprisonment; if it is termed imprisonment, the highest applicable penalty shall not exceed three quarters of the prison term prescribed by the law provision;
2. For persons aged full 14 to under 16 when committing crimes, if the applicable law provisions stipulate the life imprisonment or death sentence, the highest applicable penalty shall not exceed twelve years; if it is the termed imprisonment, the highest applicable penalty shall not exceed half of the prison term prescribed by the law provision.
Article 75.- Augmentation of penalties in cases of committing multiple crimes
For a person who commits more than one crime, of which some were committed before he/she reaches the age of 18, penalty augmentation shall apply as follows:
1. If the most serious crime is committed before he/she reaches the age of 18 years, the common penalty shall not exceed the highest level prescribed in Article 74 of this Code;
2. If the most serious crime is committed when such person has reached the age of 18 years, the common penalty shall be the same as that applicable to adult offenders.
Article 76.- Reduction of penalties already declared
1. If juvenile offenders, who are subject to non-custodial reform or imprisonment, have made good progress and already served one-quarter of their term, they shall be considered by the court for penalty reduction; particularly for imprisonment, their penalty can be reduced each time by four years but only if they have already served two-fifths of the declared penalty term.
2. If juvenile offenders, who are subject to non-custodial reform or imprisonment, have recorded achievements or suffered from dangerous illnesses, they shall be immediately considered for penalty reduction and may be exempt from serving the remainder of their penalty.
3. For juvenile offenders who are subject to pecuniary penalty but fall into prolonged economic difficulties due to natural calamities, fires, accidents or ailments or who have recorded great achievements, the courts, at the proposal of the directors of the procuracies, may decide to reduce or exempt them from the remainder of the pecuniary penalty.
Article 77.- Remission of criminal records
1. The time limit for criminal record remission for juvenile offenders shall be half of the time limits prescribed in Article 64 of this Code.
2. Juvenile offenders subject to judicial measures stipulated in Clause 1, Article 70 of this Code, shall be considered as having no criminal records.