Can the owner always reclaim stolen property?

Based on the subject currently possessing the property, the reclaiming of stolen property will occur in the following three cases:

Case 1: the person possessing the property is the thief

Clause 1 of Article 166 of the Civil Code 2015 (CC 2015) stipulates: "The owner and parties with other rights to property have the right to reclaim property from persons possessing, using, or benefiting from the property without legal grounds."

Moreover, Article 165 of CC 2015 stipulates the cases considered as possessing property with legal grounds as follows:

"1. Possessing property with legal grounds is the possession of property in the following cases:

a) The owner possesses the property;

b) The person authorized by the owner to manage the property;

c) The person transferred possession rights through a civil transaction in accordance with the provisions of law;

d) The person who discovers and retains unclaimed property, property whose owner cannot be identified, property that is lost, abandoned, buried, concealed, submerged, in accordance with the conditions prescribed by this Code and other related legal provisions;

e) The person who discovers and retains lost livestock, poultry, aquatic animals in accordance with the conditions prescribed by this Code and other related legal provisions;

f) Other cases as prescribed by law.

2. Possession of property that does not comply with the provisions of Clause 1 of this Article is possession without legal grounds."

Theft is an illegal act. Depending on the value of the property (above or below 2 million VND), the person committing the act may face criminal liability or only administrative liability. Therefore, possessing property acquired through theft will be considered possessing without legal grounds. If your property is being possessed by the thief, you fully have the right to reclaim the property if you have sufficient evidence to prove that it is yours. The return of the property will be based on the court's or the responsible police agency's decision to recover and return the property to you.

The court will order the return of the property when adjudicating on the theft case. Additionally, you may request compensation if your property is damaged or harmed while being possessed by the thief, according to Article 170 of CC 2015.

Case 2: the person possessing the property is a third party not in good faith

Article 181 of the Civil Code 2015 stipulates: "Possession not in good faith means possession where the possessor knows or should have known that they have no right to the property they are possessing."

For example, a third party decides to buy a motorbike without the vehicle's registration papers. This person knows and should know that the motorbike is an asset requiring ownership registration but still deliberately buys it. Thus, this case is considered possession not in good faith, and the possession is without legal grounds. Similarly, based on Article 165 and Clause 1 of Article 166 of CC 2015 mentioned above, the owner has the right to reclaim the stolen property that the third party not in good faith is possessing.

At this point, some may ask how to resolve the situation if the third party possesses a property that does not require ownership registration. The answer falls into the third case below.

Case 3: the person possessing the property is a third party in good faith

Determining whether the owner has the right to reclaim the property depends on whether the possession is with legal grounds. If the possession is without legal grounds, the owner has the right to reclaim the property.

In cases where the third party acquires the stolen property through a legitimate civil transaction, the third party is considered in good faith, and the possession of the property is with legal grounds according to Point c, Clause 1 of Article 165 of CC 2015.

However, current legal regulations lean towards protecting the property's owner. The owner has the right to reclaim movable property that does not require ownership registration from the third party in good faith if the property was stolen, lost, or otherwise possessed against the owner’s will, according to Article 167 of CC 2015.

Similarly, the owner has the right to reclaim property from a third party in good faith for movable property requiring ownership registration (Article 168 of CC 2015). The only case where the owner does not have the right to reclaim property from a third party in good faith is as stipulated in Clauses 2 and 3 of Article 133 of CC 2015. According to this, if the third party acquires the movable property based on the presumption that the property was registered for ownership to enter into and establish the transaction, the owner has no right to reclaim the property. However, the owner still has the right to sue and request that the responsible party causing the transaction to be established with the third party, return reasonable costs and compensate for damages.

Thus, in almost every case where your property is stolen, you have the complete right to reclaim your property regardless of whether the property is being possessed by someone else through a legal transaction or not; the only exception is in cases outlined in Clause 2 of Article 133 of CC 2015.

>> CLICK HERE TO READ THIS ARTICLE IN VIETNAMESE