Basis for liability to compensate for damages according to legal regulations

Article 584 of the Civil Code stipulates: Anyone who commits an act that infringes upon the life, health, honor, dignity, reputation, property, rights, or other legitimate interests of another person and causes damage must compensate (except in cases where otherwise provided by law). In case of damage to property, the owner or possessor of the property must be responsible for compensation for the damage.

Guiding the application of the provisions of the above-mentioned article of the Civil Code, Resolution No. 02/2022/NQ-HDTP of the Council of Judges of the Supreme People's Court has clarified the basis for the arising of liability for compensation for damages. Accordingly, the liability for compensation for damages caused by acts of infringement on the life, health, honor, dignity, reputation, property, rights, and other legitimate interests of others arises when all of the following elements are present:

a) Committing acts that infringe upon the life, health, honor, dignity, reputation, property, rights, and other legitimate interests of others;

b) Damages that occur include material damage and mental damage;

Material damage is the actual material loss that can be determined by the infringed entity, including irreparable property loss; reasonable costs to prevent, limit, and remedy the damage; actual income lost or reduced due to infringement of property, health, life, honor, dignity, reputation, rights, and other legitimate interests.

Spiritual damage is the spiritual loss caused by the infringement of life, health, honor, dignity, reputation, rights and other personal interests that the infringed subject or their relatives must suffer and must be compensated with an amount of money to compensate for that loss.

c) There is a causal relationship between the damage and the infringement. The damage must be the inevitable result of the infringement and vice versa, the infringement must be the cause of the damage.

In case of property causing damage, the owner or possessor of the property shall be liable for compensation for the damage. The owner of the property shall be liable for compensation for damage caused by the property, except in cases where the possessor of the property shall be liable for compensation according to regulations. The owner of the property shall be determined at the time the property causes damage according to the provisions of law. In case the property is being traded, the time of transfer of ownership must be determined to determine the owner of the property causing the damage. The possessor who is not the owner shall be liable for compensation for damage if he or she is holding or directly or indirectly controlling the property as the subject having rights to the property at the time of causing the damage.

The person causing the damage, the owner of the property, or the possessor of the property shall not be liable for compensation for damage in cases where the damage arises due to force majeure or is entirely due to the fault of the damaged person, unless otherwise agreed or otherwise provided by law. Force majeure is an event that occurs objectively and cannot be foreseen and cannot be overcome despite the application of all necessary and possible measures. The fault of the damaged person is entirely due to the fault of the damaged person, the person causing the damage is not at fault.