What is Adultery? Some Related Judgments Involving Adultery

1. What is Adultery?

Currently, according to the Vietnamese laws on marriage and family and related legal documents, there is no definition for the term "adultery." However, "adultery" can be understood as follows:

Adultery is an act where a person engages in an emotional or sexual relationship with another while being married or a married person engages in an emotional or sexual relationship with another person. The act of adultery is a violation of the law and social ethics, contrary to Vietnamese customs and traditions.

Adultery affects the current marital life, violates human cultural standards, and infringes on the marriage and family policies protected by the law. Depending on the severity, adultery can be administratively handled or criminally prosecuted under the law.

According to Clause 1, Article 59 of Decree 82/2020/ND-CP, the following acts can be fined from 3,000,000 VND to 5,000,000 VND:

- Being married and marrying another person, or not being married and marrying a person whom one knows to be married;- Being married and cohabiting as husband and wife with another person;- Not being married and cohabiting as husband and wife with a person whom one knows to be married;- Cohabiting as husband and wife between a person who used to be a parent, adoptive parent with the adopted child, father-in-law with daughter-in-law, mother-in-law with son-in-law, stepfather with a wife’s child from a previous marriage, stepmother with a husband’s child from a previous marriage;- Obstructing marriage, demanding property in marriage, or obstructing divorce.

Thus, violations related to marriage, divorce, and violations of the one husband, one wife policy can be fined administratively from 3,000,000 VND to 5,000,000 VND.

2. Some Court Judgments on Adultery in Marital Cases

Below are some judgments related to "adultery" handled by courts in Vietnam:

Judgment 10/2019/HNGD-PT dated March 13, 2019 on divorce

- Jurisdiction: People’s Court of Ba Ria - Vung Tau Province.- Excerpt: “The cause of divorce is due to Mr. K violating the one husband, one wife policy. Since Mr. K is at fault, it is appropriate to divide 50% of the value.”- Resolution: Partially accepted Mr. Nguyen Phuoc K's request for divorce from Mrs. Nguyen Thi My D.

Judgment 04/2018/HNGD-PT dated March 19, 2018 on requesting a divorce

- Jurisdiction: People’s Court of Lam Dong Province.- Excerpt: “It is seen that Ms. L was married and cohabited with Mr. S but had an emotional relationship with another man, which is a violation of Article 19 of the Marriage and Family Law regarding spousal affection.”- Resolution: The request for divorce by Ms. Vo Thi Thuy L from Mr. Nguyen Tien S was not accepted.

Judgment 39/2019/HNGD-ST dated September 11, 2019 on marriage and family dispute, divorce request, child custody, and property division upon divorce

- Jurisdiction: People’s Court of Thap Muoi District, Dong Thap Province.- Excerpt: Mrs. U stated that one of the reasons leading to her filing for divorce from Mr. K was his unfaithfulness with another woman. Since Mrs. U did not request the court to address Mr. K’s one husband, one wife policy violation, the trial council did not consider this issue.- Resolution: Accepted the plaintiff's lawsuit request.

Judgment 352/2019/HS-ST dated November 6, 2019 on charges of fraud and abuse of trust to appropriate property

- Jurisdiction: People’s Court of Hanoi.- Excerpt: It is noted that Ms. T... and TT... divorced not because TT... had an illegal cohabitation as husband and wife with Ms. HH..., thus TT...'s actions do not constitute the crime of violating the one husband, one wife policy under Article 182 of the Penal Code 2015.- Resolution: Sentenced defendant Nguyen Van TT... to 09 (nine) years in prison for fraud and 09 (nine) months in prison for abuse of trust to appropriate property.

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