What are rights of individuals that own temporarily confiscated exhibits and vehicles under administrative procedures in Vietnam?

1. What are rights of individuals that own temporarily confiscated exhibits and vehicles under administrative procedures in Vietnam?

Pursuant to Article 10 of Decree 138/2021/ND-CP stipulating rights of organizations and individuals that own temporarily and permanently confiscated exhibits and vehicles, temporarily confiscated license of operation as follows:

1. Complain, accuse, recommend, and provide feedback regarding illegitimate actions or decisions of competent individuals entitled to detain, confiscate exhibits and vehicles, suspend license of operation in accordance with regulations and law on complaint and accusation.

2. Examine prior to reclaiming temporarily confiscated exhibits and vehicles and temporarily confiscated license of operation when the detention period expires.

3. Request individuals managing, maintaining temporarily and permanently confiscated exhibits and vehicles and temporarily confiscated license of operation to produce records on the loss, swap, damage of the items or parts thereof that occurs during the detention period and request agencies of individuals managing, maintaining temporarily confiscated exhibits, vehicles and temporarily confiscated license of operation to pay damages and/or compensation.

2. What are procedures for handling the transfer of vehicles involved in administrative violations to the violating organizations and individuals for storage and maintenance in Vietnam? 

According to Article 14 of Decree 138/2021/ND-CP stipulating transfer of vehicles involved in administrative violations to violating organizations, individuals for management and maintenance as follows:

1. In case vehicles involved in administrative violations are temporarily confiscated to enforce compliance with decisions imposing penalties for administrative violations, competent individuals entitled to temporarily confiscate the vehicles may transfer the vehicles to the violating organizations and individuals for storage and maintenance under the management of the competent individuals (except for cases under Clause 7 of this Article) when the violating organizations and individuals satisfy the following requirements:

a) The violating individuals have valid permanent or temporary residence or possess written workplace confirmation issued by employers of the violating individuals; violating organizations must have specific and defined address. The violating organizations and individuals must have spaces for storing and maintaining the vehicles;

b) The violating organizations and individuals must have the financial capability to deposit security.

2. Procedures for handling the transfer of vehicles involved in administrative violations to the violating organizations and individuals for storage and maintenance

a) The violating organizations and individuals must submit applications to competent individuals entitled to temporarily confiscate vehicles for storing and maintaining vehicles involved in administrative violations; the applications must contain full name, personal identification number or ID number, temporary residence, permanent residence, and occupation of the violating individuals or name, address of violating organizations, the administrative violations, name, quantity, characteristics, type, number, brand, origin, year of manufacture, engine number, chassis number (if any), current conditions, and proposed storage space.

The violating individuals must attach copies and master register for comparison or certified true copies of the ID Card or Citizen Identity Card or written workplace confirmation of employers of the individuals when submitting the applications, the violating organizations must attach documents proving their head office address when submitting the applications.

b) Within 2 working days from the date on which the applications are received, competent individuals entitled to temporarily confiscate must consider and decide to transfer vehicles involved in administrative violations to the violating organizations and individuals. For cases with complicated facts which need more time for verification, within 3 working days from the date on which the applications are received, competent individuals entitled to temporarily confiscate must consider and decide to transfer vehicles involved in administrative violations to the violating organizations and individuals. In case of rejection, the competent agencies must provide a written response with reason for rejection;

c) When handing vehicles involved in administrative violations over to violating organizations and individuals for storage and maintenance, competent individuals entitled to temporarily confiscate must produce records containing name, quantity, weight, characteristics, type, brand, origin, storage location, current conditions of the vehicles (if any), signatures of the violating organizations or individuals and the competent individuals, duration of storage provided by the violating organizations and individuals. The records shall be made into 2 copies and each party shall keep 1 copy.

In addition to the production of aforementioned records, the competent individuals must temporarily confiscate vehicle registration in case of road vehicles, railway vehicle registration in case of railway vehicles or inland waterway vehicle registration in case of inland waterway vehicles (hereinafter referred to as “vehicle registration”) to enforce compliance with decisions imposing penalties, unless the violating organizations and individuals have deposited security. The temporary confiscation of vehicle registration must be recorded in writing; the record must contain location and date on which the vehicle registration is temporarily confiscated; full name, title of the competent individuals; name of organizations and individuals that own the temporarily confiscated vehicle registration, personal identification number or ID Card number of the individuals that own the temporarily confiscated vehicle registration; reason and duration of temporary confiscation. The records must contain signatures of violating organizations and individuals that own the vehicle registration and signatures of the competent individuals; the records shall be made into 2 copies; each party shall keep 1 copy.

Competent individual shall hand the vehicles over to violating organizations and individuals after completing the records and the violating organizations and individuals have reclaimed the vehicles involved in administrative violations that they are handed over to. Organizations and individuals receiving the vehicles involved in administrative violations are responsible for transporting the vehicles to their storage and maintenance location.

3. Within 2 working days from the date on which the vehicles involved in administrative violations are handed over to the violating organizations and individuals, agencies of the competent individuals must inform People’s Committees of communes, wards, ward-level towns where the vehicles are temporarily stored by the violating individuals and organizations for supervision and management.

4. Violating organizations and individuals are not allowed to operate the vehicles or change storage locations without written consent of the competent individuals during the period in which they are assigned to maintain the vehicles.

Changing of storage location of the vehicles is permitted in case of natural disaster, fire, or any other risk which may damage the vehicles as long as it is immediately reported to the competent individuals afterwards.

5. Failure of violating organizations and individuals to comply with regulations under Clause 4 of this Article during the period in which they are assigned to store and maintain the vehicles involved in administrative violations, the competent individuals shall issue decision on transport of the vehicles to detention location of their agencies.

In this case, the violating organizations and individuals must transport the vehicles to the detention location as per the law. Failure to adequately transport the vehicles to detention location will cause the competent individuals to organize the transport of the vehicles to detention location and request the violating organizations and individuals to incur the transport costs.

6. If the vehicles are lost, missing, swapped, traded, exchanged, hypothecated, mortgaged, replaced, or damaged during the period in which the vehicles are stored and maintained by the violating organizations and individuals, the violating organizations and individuals must be responsible for all the ensuing damage and consequences as per the law.

7. Cases where vehicles involved in administrative violations shall not be handed over to the violating organizations and individuals:

a) The vehicles involved in the violations are evidence of a criminal case;

b) The vehicles are used in illegal street races, resisting law enforcement officer in the performance of his/her duty, causing public disorder, or traffic accidents;

c) The vehicles lack legitimate vehicle registration;

d) The vehicles carry fabricated license plate, chassis or engine with chassis, engine number illegally altered or erased;

dd) The vehicles involved in violations that mandate additional penalties in form of vehicle confiscation.

Best Regards!