Vietnam: Shall the person who infringes upon a grave face the penalty of imprisonment? Must such a person pay compensation for damage caused by the infringement of the grave?

Shall the person who infringes upon a grave face the penalty of imprisonment in Vietnam? - Question from Ms. Quyen (Ben Tre)

Shall the person who infringes upon a grave face the penalty of imprisonment in Vietnam?

Pursuant to Article 319 of the 2015 Criminal Code stipulates as follows:

Infringement upon human bodies, graves or remains
1. Any person who commits grave robbery or otherwise infringes upon a dead body, grave or human remains shall face a penalty of up to 02 years' community sentence or 03 - 24 months' imprisonment.
2. This offence committed in any of the following circumstances carries a penalty of 02 - 07 years' imprisonment:
a) The offence has a negative impact on social security, order or safety;
b) The offence involves appropriation or destruction of historically or culturally valuable items;
c) The offender is committed by despicable motives;
d) The offence is for the purpose of taking part of the body or remains.
According to the above regulations, the destruction of another person's grave because of personal conflicts, depending on the severity, will be punished by community sentence or imprisonment.

Specifically:

- Any person who commits grave robbery or otherwise infringes upon a dead body, grave or human remains shall face a penalty of up to 02 years' community sentence or 03 - 24 months' imprisonment.

- This offence committed in any of the following circumstances carries a penalty of 02 - 07 years' imprisonment:

+ The offence has a negative impact on social security, order or safety;

+ The offence involves appropriation or destruction of historically or culturally valuable items;

+ The offender is committed by despicable motives;

+ The offence is for the purpose of taking part of the body or remains.

Vietnam: Shall the person who infringes upon a grave face the penalty of imprisonment? Must such a person pay compensation for damage caused by the infringement of the grave?

Shall the person who infringes upon a grave compensate for damage in Vietnam?

Pursuant to the provisions of Article 606 of the Civil Code 2015 as follows:

Compensation for damage caused by infringement of corpses
1. Each natural person or juridical causing damage to a corpse must compensate.
2. Damage caused by infringement of a corpse shall include reasonable costs for mitigating and remedying the damage.
3. A person causing damage to a corpse must pay an amount of money as provided in Clause 2 of this Article together with another amount of money as compensation for mental suffering of the closest relatives in the first line of succession to the deceased. If there are no such relatives, this sum shall be paid to the persons who directly reared the deceased. The amount of compensation for mental suffering shall be as agreed by the parties; if the parties are not able to agree, the maximum sum shall not exceed thirty-month statutory pay rate prescribed by the State.

At the same time, based on Article 607 of the Civil Code 2015 stipulates as follows:

Compensation for damage caused by infringement of graves
1. Each natural person or juridical person causing damage to the grave of another must compensate.
2. Damage caused by infringement of a grave shall include reasonable costs for mitigating and remedying the damage.
3. A person causing damage to a grave must pay an amount of money as provided in Clause 2 of this Article together with another amount of money as compensation for mental suffering of the closest relatives in the first line of succession to the deceased. If there are no such relatives, this sum shall be paid to the persons who directly reared the deceased. The amount of compensation for mental suffering shall be as agreed by the parties; if the parties are not able to agree, the maximum sum for each damaged grave shall not exceed ten-month statutory pay rate prescribed by the State.

Accordingly, the compensation for damage caused by infringement of graves is regulated as follows:

- Compensation for damage caused by infringement of graves:

+ Each natural person or juridical person causing damage to the grave of another must compensate.

+ Damage caused by infringement of a grave shall include reasonable costs for mitigating and remedying the damage.

+ A person causing damage to a grave must pay an amount of money as provided in Clause 2 of this Article together with another amount of money as compensation for mental suffering of the closest relatives in the first line of succession to the deceased. If there are no such relatives, this sum shall be paid to the persons who directly reared the deceased.

Note: The amount of compensation for mental suffering shall be as agreed by the parties; if the parties are not able to agree, the maximum sum for each damaged grave shall not exceed ten-month statutory pay rate prescribed by the State.

How much is the statutory pay rate as a basis for determining the compensation level for mental suffering caused by caused by infringement of graves in Vietnam?

Pursuant to Article 3 of Decree 38/2019/ND-CP stipulating as follows:

Statutory pay rate
1. The statutory pay rate is the basis for:
a) Determining the levels of salaries in payrolls, allowances and other benefits as per the law with regard to individuals as defined in Article 2 hereof;
b) Determining subsistence allowances as per the law;
c) Determining contributions and benefits concerning the statutory pay rate.
2. From July 1, 2019, the statutory pay rate is VND 1,490,000 per month.
3. The Government shall request the National Assembly to consider adjusting statutory pay rate in conformity with the capacity of the state budget, consumer price index and national economic growth rate.

Accordingly, the statutory pay rate as a basis for determining the compensation level to compensate for mental loss caused by destroying other people's graves is 1,490,000 VND.

However, note that from July 1, 2023, the statutory pay rate will increase to VND 1.8 million/month.

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