Developments in the right to defence for juvenile offenders since Vietnam’s ratification of the Convention on the Rights of the Child

This article examines Vietnam’s legal changes and law enforcement practices in regards to the right to defence of juvenile offenders since Vietnam ratified the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child in 1990. A combination of research methods is employed, including document analysis, statistical analysis, and selected case studies. The findings of the research indicate that Vietnam has demonstrated considerable improvement in acknowledging the right to defence of juvenile offenders in its law. The contemporary Vietnamese regulations are similar to the CRC’s requirements about legal assistance for juvenile offenders. The implementation of the law, however, confronts difficulties as juvenile offenders and their parents’ misunderstand the right to defence, and the procedure-conducting persons and defence councils’ lack commitment to their responsibilities. Therefore, Vietnam needs more effective mechanisms in order to realise the right to defence for juvenile offenders, closing the gap between the rights on paper and in practice.