Handbook seeks to enhance legal communications for minors

In her opening remarks, Deputy Director of the Ministry of Justice’s Law Dissemination and Education Department Ngo Quynh Hoa said that juveniles are in the mental and cognitive development process, and they have mental and physiological problems and are easily affected by both positive and negative factors in society, leading to unusual behaviour.

Statistics showed that the number of adolescents who break the law is still high every year, she added.

The dissemination and education of the law for minors is very important, contributing to preventing crime in society, Hoa said. With their unique psychological and physiological characteristics, the provision of information on the law for minors requires appropriate methods and forms. Thus, the ministry coordinated with UNICEF to develop a handbook for legal communicators, aimed at preventing minors in conflict with the law.

The handbook comprises five topics, namely current laws on preventing and combating violations of the law by minors, minors and drugs, reproductive health, basic life skills for adolescents, and effective dissemination and legal education skills for minors.

Participants at the seminar agreed that minors want to learn practical skills they can apply to make the right decisions and how to respond when being manipulated by friends or others, thus staying away from conflict with the law. They hope to exchange and join discussions to find their own solutions with the support of legal communicators, the participants added.

To meet requirements, it is necessary to apply legal dissemination and education methods in an interdisciplinary approach, with the integration of relevant topics such as narcotics and reproductive health into the content.

Interactive communication methods to suit the audience is a must, the participants said, noting that the compiling the handbook to promote the effectiveness of legal dissemination and education is very necessary.