Members of a married couple found to be committing adultery will be fined up to VND3m under a proposal by the Ministry of Justice.
Illustrative photo. Members of a married couple found to be committing adultery will be fined up to VND3m
The proposal was contained in a revised draft decree by the Ministry on fines covering such areas as marriage and family, civil sentences, and liquidation of cooperatives and enterprises .
Under the draft decree, a person who is still married can be fined VND1-3m for having sex out of wedlock. The same fine is also applied to single people getting married to someone they know to already be married and not divorced.
A fine of VND10-20m has also been proposed for taking advantage of divorce to avoid asset responsibilities.
The fine for adultery was criticised as being too low, because many men who commit adultery are rich, and that public shaming was a more effective deterrent.
Mrs. Kieu in Nam Tu Liem District, Hanoi, said the workplace and neighbours of adulterers should be told of the offense, and one admitted adulterer said he was not bothered by the prospect of a fine, but rather the fear of his family finding out.