Sustainable Legacies: A Legal Inquiry into PwDs’ Rights in Vietnam’s Development

This chapter delves into the theoretical landscape surrounding the rights of Persons with Disabilities (PWDs) and their inclusion in society. It explores the evolution of thought on disability rights, tracing the journey from historical marginalization to contemporary advocacy. The chapter examines critical theoretical frameworks, including the Medical and Social Models of Disability, the Human Rights Approach, and Intersectionality. It also reviews international standards and national policies aimed at promoting PWDs’ rights and inclusion. The current landscape of inclusion in Vietnam is analyzed, highlighting successes and challenges in education, employment, and social participation. The chapter identifies barriers to inclusion, such as physical, attitudinal, and policy implementation gaps, and proposes future directions, including innovative approaches, policy recommendations, and the role of technology in enhancing accessibility and inclusion.

This chapter offers a thorough comparative analysis of the legal frameworks governing the employment of persons with disabilities in both international and Vietnamese contexts. It examines critical international instruments, such as the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities and ILO conventions, and juxtaposes these with relevant Vietnamese legislation. The analysis identifies critical gaps in Vietnamese law, particularly the reliance on a narrow, medical model of disability, the lack of clear definitions for essential concepts, and insufficient provisions for job retention and career advancement for persons with disabilities. Furthermore, the chapter addresses the challenges posed by stringent and inflexible employment incentive structures that limit the participation of small and medium-sized enterprises in hiring persons with disabilities. By proposing targeted legal reforms, the chapter aims to enhance Vietnam’s legal alignment with international standards, ultimately fostering more equitable and inclusive employment opportunities for persons with disabilities.

This article focuses on critical aspects of the Vietnamese Law on Persons with Disabilities. It addresses the conditions necessary to implement policies, including medical facilities, orthopedics, and rehabilitation centers, as well as provisions for educational needs, policies for learners, teachers, and educational infrastructure. It also examines regulations preventing the refusal of employment to qualified individuals with disabilities and the roadmap for investing in the construction, renovation, and upgrading of public buildings, transportation, and communication technologies to ensure accessibility. The article evaluates the legal framework concerning certification, initial healthcare, education, vocational training, employment opportunities, and cultural and spiritual conditions for persons with disabilities (PwDs). It identifies limitations and inadequacies within these provisions and offers recommendations to improve legal regulations, safeguarding the rights of PwDs in healthcare, education, vocational training, employment, and living conditions in Vietnam.

Ensuring the enforcement of laws regarding the right to education plays a crucial role in increasing opportunities for Persons with Disabilities (PwDs) to lead better lives. Within the scope of this article, the author addresses three fundamental aspects: the current legal provisions in Vietnam that ensure the right to education for PwDs, the practical challenges they face in accessing this right, and the solutions needed to ensure its implementation across various stakeholders, including the state, family, school, and society.

The right to work is always a pressing issue of paramount importance to ensure sustainable development. For disabled workers, the right to work aims to secure employment and promote their social integration. Through analysis and evaluation, this paper elucidates the working aspect of disabled individuals under Vietnamese law to provide a comprehensive and objective assessment of the regulations and the assurance of this right in Vietnam.

This chapter explores the critical role of legal assistance in ensuring that persons with disabilities (PwDs) can fully exercise their right to justice within the Vietnamese legal framework. The analysis delves into the successes achieved through the implementation of the 2017 Law on Legal Aid, which provides a comprehensive framework for offering legal services to PwDs. Despite these advancements, significant challenges remain, including restrictive eligibility criteria, inadequate awareness and communication strategies, and uneven quality and geographic reach of legal aid services. The paper proposes strategic solutions to overcome these obstacles, emphasizing the need for revisions to the legal framework, improved infrastructure, and better coordination with disability organizations. By addressing these challenges, Vietnam can strengthen its commitment to empowering PwDs, ensuring that legal assistance functions as an effective safeguard for their rights and access to justice.

Not only in Vietnam but in all countries, persons with disabilities (PwDs) face discrimination and exclusion from certain policies related to healthcare, education, employment, and community life (Humanity & Humanity in Disability: The global picture, 2023). They struggle to access essential services and have their rights restricted due to the lack of legal mechanisms. Consequently, they are unable to contribute income to their families or society and are instead seen as burdens, especially in low-income families. Disability is both a cause and effect of poverty, with disabled individuals often being among the poorest, creating a vicious cycle. To combat discrimination and injustice against PwDs, there needs to be a correct understanding of their position and role in society. Companies are changing the lives of many disabled people through focused projects that enhance their abilities and confidence. Examples include India’s Spark Minda Group with its “SAKSHAM” project, and Larsen & Toubro, Tech Mahindra: ARISE+ & SMART+ (The CSR Journal, 2020) despite state policies favoring businesses employing disabled workers, few companies comply in Vietnam, and there is little voluntary participation in promoting community integration for PwDs. This paper evaluates the current situation and proposes policy and legal solutions for corporate social responsibility towards PwDs in Vietnam, especially in the context of amending the 2010 Law on Persons with Disabilities.

The article does not study all legal provisions on financial support for persons with disabilities (PwDs), but the article only focuses on the following contents: (i) Personal income tax (PIT) support when earning income from wages and salaries; (ii) PIT support when income from business is obtained; (iii) Corporate income tax (CIT) support if setting up a business enterprise and (iv) support for loans when doing business. Accordingly, the article will assess the current status of the law on financial support for PwDs according to the above contents in order to find out the limitations and inadequacies of this regulation. Finally, the article will make recommendations to improve the legal provisions on financial support for PwDs to create conditions for PwDs to develop well and contribute much to society and the country’s economic development.

International conventions, laws of various countries, and Vietnamese law recognize the right of persons with disabilities (PwDs) to own and operate Social Enterprises. Disabled persons who own Social Enterprises are entitled to various incentives, including tax reductions, lower tax rates, reduced fees, favorable pricing, access to loans, financial aid, rental of premises, and land leasing. Law enforcement agencies apply these incentives to disabled persons running Social Enterprises in Vietnam. This paper proposes enhancing incentives for disabled individuals in Social Enterprise ownership by codifying these incentives into specific legal provisions within relevant legislative documents and ensuring effective implementation according to these laws.

Along with the completion of the policy and legal system ensuring the rights and social assistance for persons with disabilities in general and children with disabilities in particular, the monitoring of the implementation of policies and laws regarding persons with disabilities is also of concern to the Party and the State. This concern provides a basis for policy adjustments and finding suitable solutions to adapt to the increasing disability situation. It aims to fulfill international commitments to ensuring the rights of vulnerable groups in general and persons with disabilities in particular, especially recognizing and managing the assets of children with disabilities in Vietnam today.

The right to participate in traffic is a human right for persons with disabilities (PwDs). Vietnamese law recognizes and ensures this right, from the highest legal document, the Constitution, to specialized laws. However, there remain inadequacies in regulations and difficulties in traffic participation for PwDs. This article focuses on analyzing policies and Vietnamese law on traffic participation for PwDs, evaluating the practical implementation in Hanoi, and proposing recommendations to enhance the effectiveness of traffic participation for PwDs in Hanoi.

The rights of persons with disabilities (PwDs) are essentially human rights specifically tailored to accommodate individuals with disabilities, ensuring their equality in exercising their rights. Due to physical or mental impairments, individuals with disabilities often face significant challenges in communication and coordination with investigators to present the details of a case. Investigators, on the other hand, may inadvertently or intentionally limit the exercise of legally stipulated rights for PwDs due to a lack of skills in dealing with specific disabilities. Therefore, during the investigation phase, lawyers must identify violations of the rights of PwDs and propose solutions to ensure that these individuals can fully exercise their rights. Based on the provisions of international conventions related to human rights, the rights of PwDs, and Vietnamese law, as well as the actual practice of protecting the rights of clients with disabilities during the investigation phase of criminal cases, this paper discusses the difficulties faced by PwDs and investigators during the investigation process. It also proposes solutions for each stakeholder (lawyers, investigators, the state) to ensure the rights of PwDs during the criminal investigation phase. These solutions aim to uphold the humanitarian and strict principles of both international and national laws concerning PwDs in the criminal justice system in Vietnam.