English - CEDAW Southeast Asia

A Gendered and Rights-Based Review of Vietnamese Legal Documents through the Lens of CEDAW
Code states that criminal procedure will be conducted and applied on the principle that all
citizens are equal before law, regardless of their nationality, sex, belief, religion, social strata
and social position. Article 8 of the Civil Procedure Code has a similar provision: “All citizens
are equal before law and courts regardless of their nationalities, sexes, social status, beliefs,
religions, educational levels and occupations.” Article 8 also provides that all agencies and
organizations are equal regardless of their forms of organization, ownership and other matters.
This gives a formal guarantee of equality to those juridical entities owned and managed by
women.
Additionally, equality before the law is further underscored through provisions on equal
civil capacity. The Civil Code provides that, in civil relations, the parties are equal and cannot
invoke differences in ethnicity, gender, social status, economic situation, belief, religion,
educational level and occupation as reasons to treat each other unequally. 661 It also provides
that the civil legal capacity of an individual must not be restricted unless otherwise provided
for by law. 662 An adult has full civil act capacity, except in the cases specified in Article 22 and
23 of the Civil Code. There is no restriction on capacity to act (termed in English translations
of Vietnamese legal documents as ‘civil act capacity’) on the basis of gender, nor is consent
or authorization required simply because one is a member of a particular gender.
There are no restrictions explicit in legal documents to women’s right to enter and
conclude contracts. Article 638 of the Civil Code provides how an estate administrator is
chosen. There are also no restrictions explicit in law on the women becoming estate
administrators.
Legal documents also guarantee equality before the courts. The Criminal Procedure
Code states: “Procurators, defendants, defense counsels, victims, civil plaintiffs, civil
defendants, persons with interests and obligations related to the cases and their lawful
representatives and defense counsels of interests of the involved parties shall all have the
equal rights to present evidences, documents and objects, make claims and argue
democratically before court. Courts shall have to create conditions for them to exercise these
rights with a view to clarifying the objective truths of the cases.” 663 The Civil Procedure Code,
on the other hand, states “The involved parties are equal in rights and obligations in civil
procedures; the courts have the responsibility to create conditions for them to exercise their
rights and perform their obligations.” 664
Indicator 105 Do women have the same right with respect to ownership,
acquisition, management, administration, enjoyment and
disposition of property, including land
Article 58 of the Constitution states: “The citizen enjoys the right of ownership with
regard to his lawful income, savings, housing, goods and chattel, means of production, funds
and other possessions in enterprises or other economic organizations, with regard to land
entrusted by the State for use, the matter is regulated by the provisions of Articles 17 and 18
[of the Constitution]. The State protects the citizen’s right to lawful ownership and inheritance.”
291
661
Civil Code, Article 5
662
Ibid., Article 16
663
Criminal Procedure Code, Article 19
664
Ibid., Article 8
Equality before the law (Article 15 of CEDAW)