How to establish ownership rights with respect to buried or sunken objects which are found in Vietnam?

For your question, Lawnet would like to answer as follows:

Pursuant to Article 229 of Vietnam's Civil Code 2015, the establishment of ownership rights with respect to buried or sunken objects which are found are as follows:

- A person finding an object which is buried or sunken must notify and return to the owner; if the owner is not able to be identified, he/she must inform or deliver the object to the people's committee or police station of the nearest commune or a competent authority in accordance with regulations of law.

- Ownership rights with respect to a buried or sunken object which is found, but which has no owner or the owner of which is not able to be identified, shall be determined, after deducting search and maintenance expenses, as follows:

+ A found object which is an historic or cultural relic shall belong to the State as prescribed in Law on cultural heritage and the finder shall be entitled to enjoy a monetary reward in accordance with law.

+ A found object which is not an historic or cultural relic as prescribed in Law on cultural heritage, and which has a value equivalent up to ten-month base salary provided for by the State, shall belong to the finder; if the value of the found object is more than the equivalent of ten-month base salary provided for by the State, the finder shall be entitled to the value of ten-month base salary plus fifty (50) per cent of the remaining value of the object in excess of the ten-month base salary provided for by the State, with the remaining value belonging to the State.

 Thus, according to the above regulations, after discovering buried, hidden or sunk property without knowing who the owner is, people should immediately notify the commune-level People's Committee or the police of the nearest commune level or other competent state agencies.

When buried, hidden, buried or sunken property and property are not historical-cultural relics, the following shall be handled:

- If the property is found with a value less than or equal to 10 times the base salary prescribed by the State, it shall be owned by the finder.

- If the value of the found object is more than the equivalent of ten-month base salary provided for by the State, the finder shall be entitled to the value of ten-month base salary plus fifty (50) per cent of the remaining value of the object in excess of the ten-month base salary provided for by the State, with the remaining value belonging to the State.

Best regards!

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