Vietnam Criminal Code (1999 and 2015): ecocide

Summary

The 1999 Criminal Code of Vietnam included one of the earliest criminal provisions addressing severe environmental destruction. Article 342 stated that individuals who committed acts described in English translations as “ecocide” or the destruction of the natural environment could be sentenced to between ten and twenty years’ imprisonment, life imprisonment, or the death penalty. Although the term “ecocide” appears in some English translations of the 1999 code, it is not a direct translation from Vietnamese, and earlier translations did not use the term. Rather, later English versions adopted “ecocide” as a shorthand for the underlying offense.

In the 2015 Criminal Code, which replaced the 1999 code, Article 422 states criminal liability concerning crimes against humanity, provides that any person who, in peacetime or wartime, commits genocide, destroys the sources of life or the cultural or spiritual life of a nation or sovereign territory, undermines the foundations of a society, or commits “destruction of the environment” may be punished by ten to twenty years’ imprisonment, life imprisonment, or the death penalty. Thus, while the English-translated language of “ecocide” is no longer largely used in the revised code, environmental destruction continues to be criminalized under Vietnam’s provisions addressing crimes against humanity.