Yes. The act of battered women defending themselves in abusive and life-threatening situations may be considered "justifiable self-defense," which can be used as an affirmative defense for crimes that they have committed toward their abusers.
Accordingly, the use of justifiable self-defense does not constitute a crime and it can be used as evidence for a battered woman's affirmative defense where she commits a crime with the abuser as long as: (i) the use of force against the abuser is reasonably necessary where the abuser infringes upon her legitimate rights and interests; and (ii) this force does not exceed the reasonable necessity toward the nature and danger posed by the abuser's infringement.[18]
In addition, if a battered woman is suffering from a mental illness or another illness that causes her to lose her awareness or lose control of her behavior, the lawyer can also use this lack of criminal capacity as an affirmative defense to exempt her from criminal liabilities of the crimes that she committed.[19]
Yes, under a criminal lawsuit, courts are entitled to issue orders to protect employees suffering from domestic violence when it is established that the life, health, property, honor or dignity of the employees are harmed or threatened due to their provision of evidence, documents and information related to the crimes.[20]
Yes. Under the old Labor Code, an employee was entitled to unilaterally terminate their employment with the employer based on maltreatment, sexual harassment or forced labor.[21] The new Labor Code, which came into force on 1 January 2021, extends these termination grounds to circumstances where an employee is subject to physical or verbal insults by their employer in a manner that affects the employee's health, dignity or honor.[22]
Under the old Labor Code, the employee had to serve a three-day notice to their employer, which was regarded as an unreasonable requirement given the urgent need of the employee to exit the toxic workplace.[23] However, under the new Labor Code, this notice requirement has been removed, meaning that the employee can terminate their employment on the above legitimate grounds without having to serve any notice.[24]
Vietnamese law does not provide any specific leave regime for this purpose. However, family members may consider making use of their annual leave or they may negotiate with their employers for unpaid leave in accordance with the Labor Code and their employer's policies.
Arguably, yes. Vietnamese immigration law prohibits entering into or exiting from Vietnam for the purposes of infringing upon the life, health, legal rights and interests of an individual.[25] Additionally, an exit suspension may be imposed on cases in which there is sufficient evidence that the abusers are going to escape from Vietnam due to their crimes.[26] This measure is regulated in both the CPC and Criminal Procedure Code 2015.[27]
Currently, there is no provision regulating this matter.
For visitation of children: During the settlement of civil cases involving the victim of domestic violence and the abuser (noting that civil cases also include divorce cases and domestic violence cases), the judge may discretionally decide to apply to forbid the person committing violent acts from contacting the victim of domestic violence for no longer than four months if: (i) there is a written request from the victim of domestic violence, the custodian or the legal representative or the authorized institution/organization; (ii) the domestic violence is causing physical damage or threatening to cause serious injury to the health and life of the victim of domestic violence; and (iii) the person committing violence and the victim are not living in the same domicile during the forbidden contact duration.[28]
For custody of children: In case (i) there are any legal grounds proving that the person directly raising the child no longer has the sufficient conditions to directly look after, care for, raise and educate the child, or (ii) the judge sees that both parents fail to have sufficient conditions to directly raise a child, the judge can decide to assign the child to a guardian in accordance with the Civil Code.[29] In general, while it is not clearly stipulated in law, the domestic violence may affect the conditions to directly look after, care for, raise and educate the child and it will be taken into consideration by the judge when determining child custody.
Yes, pursuant to Article 208.3 of the CPC, when settling disputes over child custody after divorces, the judge must obtain the opinions of the children being juvenile from 7 years old. The collection of opinions of the children must be friendly, suitable for the psychology, age, maturity level and the awareness of the children, and must ensure the legitimate rights and interests and personal secrets of the children.
There is no provision in law explicitly providing for this issue. In general, the relations between the landlord and the tenant must be governed by the lease agreement.
There is no provision in law explicitly providing for this issue. In general, the relations between the landlord and the tenant must be governed by the lease agreement.
There is no provision in law explicitly providing for this issue. However, during the settlement of civil cases involving the victim of domestic violence and the abuser (noting that civil cases also include divorce cases and domestic violence cases), the judge may discretionally decide to apply to forbid the person committing violent acts to contact the victim of domestic violence for no longer than four months if: (i) there is a written request from the victim of domestic violence, the custodian or the legal representative or the authorized institution/organization; (ii) the domestic violence is causing physical damage or threatening to cause serious injury to the health and life of the victim of domestic violence; and (iii) the person committing violence and the victim are not living in the same domicile during the forbidden contact duration.[30]