Abstract

Older persons are particularly vulnerable to high-technology-enabled property appropriation due to certain limitations in digital literacy, their ability to identify fraudulent information, and their capacity for self-protection in the digital environment. This article examines the legal mechanisms for protecting older persons as victims of high-technology-enabled property appropriation under Vietnamese criminal and criminal procedure law. It analyses the achievements and limitations of the existing legal framework, with particular attention to the criteria for identifying older persons, frail older persons, and persons of advanced age and frailty; the extent to which the vulnerability of older persons is recognised in criminal law; and the mechanisms for ensuring the exercise of victims’ procedural rights, safeguarding their property, and preventing further victimisation in criminal proceedings. On this basis, the article proposes several recommendations for improving the legal framework, strengthening rapid-response mechanisms for recovering and preserving misappropriated assets, and enhancing preventive measures and support for older persons in the digital environment.

Keywords: Criminal law; criminal procedure; high technology; older persons; property appropriation; victims.