Improving the Treatment of Child Victims and Witnesses of Crime in the Vietnamese Justice System: Unfinished Reforms

Crime victims are forgotten in criminal proceedings. Criminal justice systems tend to treat crime victims quite poorly, but, when they deal with child victims, their frequent failure to respect the child’s rights finds no excuse. Law enforcement and criminal justice interventions made in the name of protecting children against violent crime often fail to consider what is truly in the best interests of the child and end up further victimizing the child victims. Vietnam has instituted justice reforms that recognize the need for special measures to protect the rights of child victims and witnesses of crime. This article reviews the progress achieved in implementing these reforms and points at several areas where implementation has been slow or further reforms are needed. Based on a comparative legal analysis, the article exemplifies how legal semiotics can contribute to an understanding of the complexity of policy transfer in the area of justice and human rights.