Compensation for damage when there is no fault in Vietnam

Liability to compensate for damage outside the contract arises when the following conditions are met:

- Damage occurred. Liability for damages only arises when there is property damage or mental damage;

- Acts of causing damage are illegal acts;

- There is a cause-and-effect relationship between the illegal act and the damage caused

If the Civil Code 2005 sets forth three basic principles on compensation for non-contractual damage, as provided for in Article 605, the 2015 Civil Code of Vietnam has added the following two principles:

- When the aggrieved party is at fault in causing damage, it is not entitled to compensation for the damage caused by its fault.

- The party whose rights and interests are infringed shall not be compensated if the damage occurs due to the failure to apply necessary and reasonable measures to prevent or limit damage to itself.

Regarding the principle of compensation for damage in Article 585 of the Civil Code 2015:

- Actual damage must be fully and promptly compensated;

- The person responsible for claiming compensation may be entitled to a reduction in compensation if there is no fault or unintentional fault and the damage is too great compared to his or her economic ability;

- When the compensation level is no longer consistent with reality, the aggrieved party or the damage-causing party has the right to request a court or other competent state agency to change the compensation level;

- When the aggrieved party is at fault in causing damage, it is not entitled to compensation for the damage caused by its fault.

Specifically, in Judgment No. 142/2017/DS-ST on the dispute over compensation for damage due to infringing life of the People's Court of Giong Trom district, Ben Tre province for the first-instance trial:

“ At about 01:15 on July 16, 2016 at commune P road in hamlet 7, commune P, district G, province B, Nguyen L, born in 1997 (son of Ms. Tran C and Mr. Nguyen V) drove the car. The motorcycle collided with the rear of the truck with license plate 71N-1569, with the engine damaged and parked on the right side, driven by Nguyen T. As a result of the collision, Mr. L died at Nguyen C hospital. The fact that T parked his car on a commune road with no street lights and no signs to let other traffic know that led to Mr. L's death was one Mr. T's fault. Therefore, Ms. C sued to ask Mr. T to pay compensation.

According to Mr. T's self-declaration, when the truck was turned off, he asked a person named B to light a U-shaped light bulb to light it, but there was no evidence to prove it.

However, according to the provisions of point 1, Article 601 of the 2015 Civil Code, “Highly dangerous sources include motorized transport vehicles, power transmission systems, industrial plants in operation, weapons , explosives, inflammables, poisons, radioactive substances, wild animals and other sources of extreme danger as prescribed by law”. Therefore, Mr. T's truck was identified as a source of extreme danger. Moreover, Clause 3 of this Article also stipulates that "Owners, possessors and users of highly dangerous sources must compensate for damage even if they are not at fault" except in some cases as prescribed by law. Therefore, Mr. T must be responsible for compensation in this case.

Through the judgment and provisions of the law mentioned above, the parties need to have an accurate view of the liability to compensate for contractual damage even when there is no fault and no fault. From there, it is possible to negotiate a reasonable level of compensation in some cases without the assistance of the authorities.