English - CEDAW Southeast Asia

CEDAW and the Law:
Birth registration
It is obvious that an efficient system of birth registration will ensure effective monitoring of the
marriage age. Article 29 of the Civil Code provides that individuals have the right to have their
births registered. The Law on Children further states that children have the right to be
registered at birth. 701 Responsibility for birth registration rests with parents and guardians. 702
People’s Committees of communes, wards and townships are responsible for ensuring that all
births are registered. 703 Children of poor households are exempt from birth registration fees. 704
Ethnic minorities
Article 6 of the Marriage and Family Law clarifies that, on the application of marriage and
family-related customs and practices, the customs and practices embodying the identity of
each nationality and not running counter to the principles laid down in the law are to be
respected and promoted. This is reiterated and further elaborated in the Decree on Marriage
and Family Law (Ethnic Minorities), which provides: “The fine marriage and family customs
and practices of the ethnic minority people… which demonstrate the identity of each ethnic
group and do not run counter to the principles prescribed in the Marriage and Family Law shall
all be respected and promoted.” 705 However, the decree also emphasizes that “backward
marriage and family customs and practices of the ethnic minority people… which contravene
the principles prescribed in Marriage and Family Law shall be strictly prohibited or eradicated
through mobilization.” 706 Specifically, it was drafted for application of the Marriage and Family
Law for ethnic minorities. The Decree on Marriage and Family Law (Ethnic Minorities)
reiterates the age of marriage being 20 years for men and 18 years for women. 707 It also states
that marriage is decided voluntarily by men and women regardless of nationality, religion and
belief and without coercion or deception. 708 The decree explicitly provides that the practice of
underage marriage and forced marriage must be eradicated through mobilization by People’s
Committees, the Viet Nam Fatherland Front, village patriarchs, hamlets chiefs and religious
dignitaries. 709
The Decree on Marriage and Family Law (Ethnic Minorities) also strictly prohibits the
custom of wife snatching or kidnapping women in order to coerce them into marriage. 710 It also
provides that no one be allowed to take advantage of physiognomy reading or other forms of
superstitious practice to obstruct the exercise of the right to freedom of marriage of men and
women. In particular, the decree protects the rights of widows and widowers. It states that they
have the right to remarry and they are not compelled to return marriage offerings to families of
their ex-spouses. 711 The practice of forcing widowers or widows to marry other persons in the
304
701
Law on Children, Article 11
702
Ibid., Article 23 (1)
703
Ibid., Article 23(2)
704
Ibid., Article 23. This is reiterated in Article 14 of the Decree on Children Law.
705
Decree on Marriage and Family Law (Ethnic Minorities), Article 2(1)
706
Ibid., Article 2(2)
707
Ibid., Article 4
708
Ibid., Article 5
709
Ibid., Articles 4 and 5
710
Ibid., Article 5
711
Ibid., Article 6(1)
Review of key legal documents and compliance with CEDAW