Conditions for returning money to victims during criminal case investigation and trial in Vietnam

Conditions for returning money to victims during criminal case investigation and trial in Vietnam

The judicial authority shall consider and decide on the refund of seized, temporarily held, or frozen monetary assets to the aggrieved party or their representative as per the provisions of point a, clause 1, Article 3 of Resolution 164/2024/QH15 when the following bases and conditions are satisfied:

- The ownership of the seized, temporarily held, or frozen monetary assets has been clearly identified;

- The aggrieved party, the total damages, and the amount of damage attributed to each aggrieved party have been clearly determined;

- There is a written request from the aggrieved parties or their representatives for the refund of the damaged monetary amount;

- There is a written request from the accused, the defendant, or another owner for the refund of the damaged amount.

The amount to be considered for refunding to the aggrieved party is determined as follows:

- The amount considered for refunding to the aggrieved party is calculated by subtracting the provisional amount for court fees, charges, and other prioritized enforcement amounts according to civil enforcement laws from the total seized, temporarily held, or frozen amount;

- In cases where the amount considered for refund according to point a of this clause is equal to or exceeds the total damages of the aggrieved parties, the entire amount is refunded to the aggrieved parties. Any remaining money (if any) is handled according to Article 5 of Joint Circular 01/2025/TTLT-VKSNDTC-BCA-TANDTC-BQP;

- In cases where the amount considered for refund under point a of this clause is less than the total damages of the aggrieved parties, each aggrieved party is refunded proportionally based on the total amount considered for refund to all aggrieved parties under point a of this clause relative to the total damage caused by the criminal act;

- If the seized, temporarily held, or frozen money is in the currency of another country, territory, or a common currency used in international and regional payments, when deciding to refund money to the aggrieved party, the judicial authority must request a competent financial institution to convert and pay in Vietnamese Dong at the exchange rate at the time of payment;

- If during the trial phase, the Court determines that the amount refunded to the aggrieved party does not correspond to the actual damage they incurred, the Trial Panel shall decide how to address this in the judgment or decision.

Refer to Joint Circular 01/2025/TTLT-VKSNDTC-BCA-TANDTC-BQP effective from March 1, 2025.

>> CLICK HERE TO READ THIS ARTICLE IN VIETNAMESE