1. What is committing a crime due to backwardness?
According to the guidance in Clause 12, Article 2 of Resolution 04/2025/NQ-HĐTP, committing a crime due to backwardness is a case where a crime is committed due to low awareness or poor education, leading to an incomplete understanding of the serious nature of one’s actions or failure to keep up with the general progress and development of society. The circumstance of “committing a crime due to backwardness” shall only be applied if such backwardness is caused by objective reasons (e.g., due to social circumstances leading to a lack of or poor knowledge of law, lack of education, or lack of practical conditions to distinguish right from wrong in life…).
Example: Sùng Văn A is an ethnic minority person living in an area with extremely difficult socio-economic conditions where the custom of early wife-kidnapping still exists. A kidnapped Vàng Thị B, aged 14, to be his wife without B’s consent, leading to B having a child at the age of 15. In this case, Sùng Văn A is eligible for the mitigating circumstance of criminal liability as stipulated in Point m, Clause 1, Article 51 of the Criminal Code.
2. Is committing a crime due to backwardness a mitigating circumstance for criminal liability?
The mitigating circumstances for criminal liability are stipulated in Article 51 of the Criminal Code of Vietnam 2015 (amended by Points a, Point b, Clause 6, Article 1 of the 2017 Law amending the Criminal Code) as follows:
– The offender prevented or mitigated the harm caused by the crime;
– The offender voluntarily rectified, compensated for damage, or remedied the consequences;
– Committing a crime in excess of the limits of legitimate self-defense;
– Committing a crime in excess of the requirements of an emergency situation;
– Committing a crime in excess of the necessary extent when arresting an offender;
– Committing a crime when provoked mentally by the victim’s unlawful act;
– Committing a crime due to extremely difficult circumstances not caused by oneself;
– Committing a crime but causing no damage or minor damage;
– Committing a crime for the first time and being a minor offense;
– Committing a crime due to being threatened or coerced by others;
– Committing a crime when having limited cognitive ability not caused by one’s own fault;
– Committing a crime due to backwardness;
– The offender is a pregnant woman;
– The offender is 70 years of age or older;
– The offender is a severely or exceptionally severely disabled person;
– The offender has a disease that limits their cognitive ability or their ability to control their behavior;
– The offender confessed voluntarily;
– The offender made a sincere declaration, repented and reformed;
– The offender actively cooperated with the competent authorities in detecting the crime or during the resolution of the case;
– The offender rendered meritorious service to atone for their crime;
– The offender is a person with outstanding achievements in production, combat, study, or work;
– The offender is a person who rendered meritorious service to the revolution or is the parent, spouse, or child of a martyr.
Thus, committing a crime due to backwardness is considered a mitigating circumstance for criminal liability.
3. Some notes when applying mitigating circumstances for criminal liability
– When deciding on a penalty, the Court shall base its decision on the provisions of the Criminal Code, considering the nature and social dangerousness of the criminal act, the personal background of the offender, and the mitigating and aggravating circumstances of criminal liability.
– The Court may decide on a penalty below the lowest level of the applicable penalty framework but within the immediately lighter penalty framework of the law when the offender has at least two mitigating circumstances as stipulated in Clause 1, Article 51 of the Criminal Code of Vietnam 2015.
– Mitigating circumstances belonging to any accomplice shall only be applied to that accomplice.
– Mitigating circumstances that have been stipulated by this Code as elements of the crime or elements of the penalty framework shall not be considered mitigating circumstances when deciding on a penalty.
– When imposing a prison sentence of not more than 03 years, based on the personal background of the offender and the mitigating circumstances, if it is deemed unnecessary to enforce the prison sentence, the Court shall grant a suspended sentence and set a probation period of 01 to 05 years, with obligations to be fulfilled during the probation period as stipulated by the Law on Execution of Criminal Judgments.
