Infringing upon the honor and dignity of others and imposing sanctions in Vietnam

Currently, the law does not have a specific concept of what is insulting the honor and dignity of others. However, it can be understood that insulting honor and dignity is using vulgar and obscene words to insult in order to lower the reputation, causing damage to the honor and dignity of others.

Depending on the nature and severity of each case, it may be administratively sanctioned or examined for penal liability.

At the judgment 375/2020/DS-PT dated December 22, 2020 on the claim for damage to honor, dignity and reputation, the summary content is as follows:

''On June 30, 2019, Mr. T, Ms. N went to Mr. T1's house (Mr. T's biological brother) and Ms. M to attend the graduation ceremony of Mr. T's child. After returning home, Ms. M called to inform her. The house was stolen and reported to the police today. Then Mr. T1, Ms. M called to say that Mr. T and Ms. N were thieves, using vulgar words, swearing, insulting and saying not to pay threats to stab Mr. T and N, causing confusion for both. Mr. T's family and Ms. N's family are not secure in working for a long time. Because they were so scared, they reported the incident to the police of Phu Long commune, Chau Thanh district. The case has been administratively sanctioned by the Long Thang Commune Police by Decision No. 01/QD-XPHC, 02/QD-XPHC.

Now, Mr. T and Ms. N ask the court to settle Mr. T1 and Ms. M jointly with the responsibility of compensating Mr. T and Ms. N for 10 months' basic salary of 14,900,000 VND, and his wife and daughter. ask Mr. T1 and Ms. M to publicly apologize to Mr. T and Ms. N.

At the first-instance judgment decision, the Court ordered Mr. T1 and Mrs. M to jointly be responsible for compensating Mr. T and Ms. N for 2 months' base salary each, and did not consider the matter publicly. Sorry for not being under the authority.

Mr. T and Ms. N appealed against the entire first-instance judgment, asking Mr. T1 and Ms. M to pay compensation for each person's mental loss for 9 months' base salary and publicly apologize to Mr. T and Ms. N.

The trial panel upheld the decision on compensation and did not accept the request to force Mr. T1 and Ms. M to publicly apologize.

Infringing upon the honor and dignity of an individual will be sanctioned in accordance with the law, specifically:

About administrative sanctions

In Clause 1, Article 5 of Decree 167/2013/ND-CP as follows: "A caution or a fine of between VND 100,000 and 300,000 shall be imposed for one of the acts as having gestures and words which are rude, provocative, teasing or insulting to the honor and dignity of others"

Or "A fine ranging from VND 20,000,000 to VND 30,000,000 shall be imposed for providing false information with the aims of distorting, slandering, or damaging the prestige, honor and dignity of other organizations or individuals" (Point a, Clause 3, Article 99 of Decree 15/2020/ND-CP).

In this case, Mr. T1 and Ms. M were administratively sanctioned by the Long Thang Commune Police by Decision No. 01/QD-XPHC, 02/QD-XPHC.

About civil sanctions

 A person causing harm to the honor, dignity or reputation of another person must pay compensation for damage as provided in Clause 1 of this Article together with another amount of money as compensation for mental suffering of the aggrieved person. 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 ten-month base salary prescribed by the State. (According to Article 592 of the Civil Code of Vietnam).

The person receiving the information adversely affected his/her honor, dignity and/or prestige both has the right to request rejection of such piece of information and has the right to require to informing person gives a public apology and rectification and compensation.  (According to Clause 5, Article 34 of the Civil Code)

In this case, it is considered that the nature of the incident has not caused serious consequences, although it affects the spirit of the offended person, it does not affect the work. Therefore, the Court of First Instance and Appellate Court decided that the compensation level of 02 months' base salary for each person was reasonable.

Regarding the request for public apology: Initially, the first-instance court did not consider this request of Mr. T and Ms. N because it was deemed inappropriate to not be within its jurisdiction. Because each individual is protected by law, his honor, dignity, and reputation are regulated in Article 34 of the 2015 Civil Code. The appellate level accepted the settlement but said that Mr. T and Ms. N could not provide evidence to prove that Mr. T1 and Ms. M had insulted and insulted them in public places. The incident did not have a great impact on society, Mr. T and Ms. N still performed well, and no one discriminated against them. Besides, Mr. T1 and Ms. M realized that their behavior was wrong and also apologized to Mr. T and Ms. N at the mediation session. Therefore, the appellate level did not accept the public request not to apologize at Long Thang market.

About criminal sanctions

Serious acts of offending others may be examined for penal liability for the crime of humiliating others in Article 155 of the Criminal Code of Vietnam

Article 155. Insults to another person

1. Any person who seriously insults another person shall receive a warning, be liable to a fine of VND 10,000,000 - VND 30,000,000 or face a penalty of up to 03 years' community sentence.

2. This offence committed in any of the following circumstances carries a penalty of 03 - 02 years' imprisonment:

a) The offence has been committed more than once;

b) The offence is committed against 02 or more people;

c) The offence involves abuse of the offender's position or power;

d) The offence is committed against a law enforcement officer in performance of his/her official duties;

dd) The offence is committed against a person who cares for, teaches, raises or provides medical treatment for the offender;

e) The offence is committed using a computer network, telecommunications network or electronic device;

g) The victim suffers from 11% - 45% mental and behavioral disability because of the offence.

3. This offence committed in any of the following circumstances carries a penalty of 02 - 05 years' imprisonment:

a) The victim suffers from ≥ 46% mental and behavioral disability because of the offence;

b) The offence results in the suicide of the victim.

4. The offender might be prohibited from holding certain positions, practicing his/her profession or doing certain jobs for 01 - 05 years.

It can be seen that everyone has the right to inviolability of the body, to be protected by law in terms of health, honor, and dignity. Misconduct that damages the honor of others is morally and legally incorrect.

Individuals need to be aware of their behavior and have a good legal spirit in order to create a civilized and healthy lifestyle.

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