1. Criminal Law Concept
The legal system of the State of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam has many constituent law branches. Each law branch regulates a certain field of social relations in order to protect the interests of the State and citizens, ensure the law, and prevent law violations. In which, the social relationship protected by the Penal Law is the relationship formed between the State and the offender when he / she commits an act defined by the State as a crime. Thus, the Criminal Law is the law branch that does not regulate all social relations, but only regulates social relations related to crime and punishment.
From the above analysis, the concept of the Criminal Law is determined as follows: “Criminal Law is a law branch in the legal system of criminal regulations, determining penalties for crimes in order to fight against crime, eliminate all behaviors that are dangerous to society. The Criminal Law includes a system of legal regulations promulgated by competent State agencies, identifying which acts that are dangerous to society are crimes, and also prescribing penalties for those crimes. . "
The Criminal Law has the following basic characteristics:
- Criminal Law is an independent law branch in the legal system of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam;
- The Criminal Law includes the legal system governing social relations related to the State and offenders;
- The Criminal Law is a law sector promulgated by the competent state agency regulating crime and punishment.
2. Subject to the Criminal Law
Criminal Law is considered to be an independent law branch in the legal system because it has its own subjects and methods of regulation.
Subjects of a law industry are social relations governed by the laws of that law. Social relations influenced by criminal laws are subject to the criminal law. The Criminal Law only regulates social relationships when a crime occurs - that is also criminal law relationships
The subject of the criminal law is the social relations that arise between the State and the offender when he commits a crime. This is the basis to distinguish the Criminal Law from other law branches in the legal system.
3. Tasks of the Criminal Law
The tasks of the Penal Law are specified in Article 1 of the 1999 Penal Code, focusing on 3 specific groups as follows:
1. The criminal law has the duty to protect the most basic and important social relations in social life. That is, protecting the social regime, the people's mastery, protecting the legitimate rights and interests of citizens, organizations, the State, and protecting the socialist legal order.
2. With a very important position in the legal system of our country, the Penal Code is one of the State's effective and sharp tools in the fight to prevent and fight crime.
3. The Criminal Law also has the task of educating people to raise awareness of the law, raising awareness of the fight to prevent and fight crime.
4. Adjustment method of the Criminal Law
The Penal Law has a separate adjustment method because the social relations governed by the Penal Law are the relationships formed between the State and offenders. The State uses authority to regulate that crime, impose penalties that compel the offender to bear that penalty. The authority in the adjustment method of the Criminal Law is:
- The State itself determines which behavior is dangerous to society as a crime;
- The State assigns the task of handling crimes to judicial agencies. These agencies have the right in the name of the State to investigate, prosecute, adjudicate, determine penalties, and compel the offenders to serve the penalty;
To conclude, the Criminal Law is an independent law branch in the legal system that defines the crime, determines the punishment for those crimes, and has a separate object and method of adjustment. This is the basis to distinguish the Criminal Law from other law branches in the legal system.