MENTAL SUFFERING AND DETERMINATION OF ITS EXTENT OF COMPENSATION

In order to understand mental suffering and determination of its extent of compensation, first of all, it is necessary to find out the concept of mental suffering. According to clause 3 Article 361 of the Civil Code 2015, mental suffering means emotional distress caused by infringement upon life, health, honour, dignity, prestige and other personal interests of a subject. The concept continues to be regulated in the Articles 590, 591 and 592 of the Civil Code 2015 which states mental suffering in the following certain circumstances (i) due to infringement upon health; (ii) due to infringement upon life; or (iii) due to infringement upon honour, dignity or prestige.

In order to know the material contents of mental suffering and determination of its extent of compensation, people need to analyse the following points of view on the ground of the Civil Code 2015 and the Resolution 03/2006/NQ-HDTP dated 8 July 2006 of the Judges’ Council of Supreme People’s Court.

Subjects to be compensated for mental suffering

The sum of money as compensation for mental suffering caused by infringement upon health, honour, dignity, prestige shall be paid to the aggrieved person. The sum of compensation for mental suffering caused by infringement upon life shall be paid to the aggrieved person’ relatives of first-rank inheritance, including his/her wife, husband, natural father, natural mother, adoptive father, adoptive mother, offspring, adopted children, or the person whom the aggrieved person has directly nurtured and the person who has directly nurtured the aggrieved person.

The extent of mental suffering

The determination of the extent of mental suffering upon health should be based on its impacts on profession, aesthetics, social relations, family life and individual, etc. of the aggrieved. The determination of the extent of mental suffering upon life must be based on the aggrieved person’s positions in his/her family, the life relations between the aggrieved person’s and his/her relatives, etc. The determination of the extent of mental suffering upon honour, dignity, prestige must be based on the forms of infringement (by words or by writings on printed or visual newspapers), acts of infringement, the spread of infringing information, etc.

The extent of compensation for mental suffering

In the principle of the provisions of the Civil Code 2015, the amount of compensation for mental suffering shall be agreed upon by the parties. However, if the parties fail to reach an agreement, the maximum sum of compensation for mental suffering to the aggrieved person, whose health has been infringed, shall not exceed fifty-month base salary; the maximum sum of compensation for mental suffering to the aggrieved person, whose life has been infringed, shall not exceed one-hundred-month base salary; the maximum sum of compensation for mental suffering to the aggrieved person, whose honour, dignity and prestige have been infringed the maximum sum shall not exceed ten-month base salary by the State.

The base salary by the State must be determined at the time of resolving the compensation. According to the Decree 38/2019/ND-CP date 9 May 2019 of the Government on the statutory pay rate for public officials and public employees and the armed forces, the current base salary is at 1,490,000 VND/month.

The above is an overview of the mental suffering and determination of its extent of compensation. If you have trouble with legal issues of the mental suffering and determination of its extent of compensation, please contact us: Phuoc & Partners is a professional consulting firm established in Vietnam which currently has nearly 100 members working in three offices in Ho Chi Minh City, Hanoi, and Danang. Phuoc & Partners. It is rated as one of the leading consulting firms specializing in civil litigation in Vietnam that has leading practice areas in the legal market such as Labour and Employment, Taxation, Merger and acquisition, Litigation. We are confident in providing customers with optimal and effective service.