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Author: TNTP LAW

Intentionally not paying debt can be criminal handled?

Borrowing must be paid, this is a basic principle in all activities of society and in business activities. But for many reasons, the debtor may not pay the debt or pay the debt on time, then the creditor may consider suing the debtor in Court according to civil procedures. However, in some cases, the debtor is qualified to pay the debt but deliberately does not pay the debt to the creditor, which can be criminally handled. Let’s find out with TNTP on this issue.

1. What is intentionally not paying debt ?

According to the provisions of the Civil Code 2015, the debtor is obliged to pay the debt in full when due, if the borrowed property is an object, it must return the object in the correct quantity and quality. In case the debt is unable to return the object, it may pay the equivalent amount borrowed if the creditor agrees. Thus, the debt repayment obligation is obligatory for the debt.

Intentionally not paying debt is when the debtor has enough money or property to pay the creditor but still does not make the payment for the purpose of avoiding liability to pay the debt.

Thus, the debtor has breached the payment obligation to the creditor, and the debtor’s actions, depending on the circumstances, may lead to criminal offenses under the provisions of the Criminal Code.

2. Intentionally not paying debt can be criminally handled

Many people mistakenly believe that the behavior of not paying debts on time will only be governed by civil relations. However, the fact that the debtor is qualified to pay the loan but intentionally not paying debt may be subject to criminal action.

Specifically, according to the provisions of Article 175 of the Criminal Procedure Code, the case where the debtor arrives at the time to return the property, despite having conditions and ability, but deliberately fails to pay it will be enough to constitute a crime of Abuse of trust to appropriate property.

In addition to being eligible for debt repayment but not paying the debt, if the debtor also has absconded, or intentionally destroys information and documents related to the loan/property for the purpose of not having to pay the debt can be considered as using deceitful tricks to appropriate property.

3. Form of sanction

Depending on the severity of the crime and the amount of non-repayment, the debtor may face sanctions such as imprisonment from 6 months to 3 years, or even up to 5 years to 12 years or even 20 years with the highest sanction frame.

In addition to the main sanction, the debtor may be subject to additional sanctions such as a fine of between VND 10,000,000 and VND 100,000,000, a ban from holding certain title, practicing certain professions or doing certain jobs from 01 to 05 years, or confiscate all or part of the property.

In the current difficult economic period, it is common for the debtor to fail to pay the debt on time, however, if the creditor determines that the debtor is qualified to pay the debt, but deliberately fails to pay the conditions to configure become a violation of the law, then the creditors can completely consider denouncing the crime against these subjects.

The above is an article by TNTP about the debtor’s intentionally not paying debt to the creditor, which can be prosecuted for criminal liability. Hope this article is useful to you.

Sincerely,

Cases of termination of civil contract according to law

A contract is an agreement of the parties on the establishment, change, and termination of civil rights and obligations. In which termination of the contract is defined as one of the agreements of the parties on the termination of civil rights and obligations. The question is under what circumstances will the parties termination of civil contract ?  Let’s find out the article below with TNTP.

1. What is the termination of a civil contract?

Termination is the fact that one of the parties does not have to perform the rights and obligations as previously agreed in the contract because of specific reasons. The effective time of termination of the contract is also the time of termination of rights and obligations between the parties.

2. Cases of contract termination

]According to Article 422 of the Civil Code (Civil Code) in 2015, the following cases of contract termination  :

  • The contract has been completed: When the parties have fully exercised their rights and obligations to each other and achieved the purpose of entering and performing the contract, in which case the contract will naturally be terminated from the moment the party is obliged to perform its final obligations to the party have rights. The contract is completed sooner or later depending on the contract performance, the nature and complexity of the contract…
  • By agreement of the parties: In this case, the contract is terminated by agreement between the subjects of the contract. Applicable law respects the parties’ agreement to establish, change and terminate civil rights and obligations, including the right to agree on the issue of termination of the contract. This agreement may be made verbally, in writing, or the form of electronic data. From the point of view of TNTP, when the Parties agree to terminate the contract, a record of liquidation of the contract or a certificate of termination should be made

In case one of the parties agrees on the termination of the contract to evade obligations to a third party or to infringe on other entities than the termination of the contract will not arise in effect, then the parties are required to continue to perform the contract;

  • The individual entering the contract dies, and the legal entity entering the contract ceases to exist, but the contract must be performed by that individual or legal entity.

The subjects performing the contract are identified as individuals and legal entities, so in case these entities die/ cease to exist, the contract will cease. The death event of the individual is understood as the actual biological death, that is, the individual has ceased all life activities such as respiration, giving metabolism, or division of cells.

Legal entity ceases to exist is a case in which such legal entity is bankrupt, dissolved, consolidated, or merged following the provisions of law and is acquired by an agency decision-making authority recognizes that termination.

Not in all cases where the individual dies, the legal entity ceases to exist, and the contract will be terminated, but in case the contract must be due to the individual himself. entities, that entities.

In many cases, the contract is terminated if the performance of the contract cannot be transferred to another entity. For example, the individual entering the contract dies but has no heirs to continue to perform the contract.

  • The contract is canceled, unilaterally terminated:  Cancellation, unilateral termination of the contract is one of the sanctions for acts violations of the parties during the contract. Accordingly, cancellation and unilateral termination of the contract shall apply when the parties agree; there is a serious violation of a party’s contractual obligations. A serious violation is a failure to properly perform the obligations of one party to the point of causing the other party to fail to achieve the purpose of entering a contract. In this case, the party canceling or unilaterally terminating the contract will not be obliged to compensate for damages.

However, the canceling Party unilaterally terminating the Contract should note that it must immediately notify the other party of the cancellation, if it does not notify but causes damage, compensation must be paid.

  • The contract cannot be performed because the subject of the contract is no longer available:

The subject of the contract is no longer defined as the case where the subject has lost, destroyed, or for other reasons resulting in the object no longer physically existing. The fact that the subject will no longer be the main reason why the parties cannot continue to perform the contract. When the subject matter of the contract is no longer available, the parties can agree again on changing the subject of the contract.

For example, A and B agree that to enter a purchase contract, Party A will buy 10 quintals of rice, but due to the impact of storms and floods, 10 rice was broken. In this case, the subject of the contract is determined to be 10 quintals of rice, so when 10 quintals of rice are damaged, the subject of the contract is no longer, and it will be grounds for termination.

  • The contract terminates in case of fundamentally changing circumstances: The fundamentally changing circumstances are identified as one of the grounds for termination of the contract. If a change is a fundamental change, it should be based on the following criteria:
  • The change of circumstances due to objective causes occurs after entering a contract.
  • At the time of entering the contract, the parties cannot anticipate a change in circumstances.
  • The circumstances changed so much that if the parties had known in advance, the contract would not have been entered into or entered but with a completely different content.
  • The continued performance of the contract without changing the content of the contract will cause serious damage to a party.
  • The party whose interest is affected has taken all necessary measures to the extent permissible, by the nature of the contract that cannot be prevented., minimizing the extent to which the benefit is affected

Above is TNTP’s article on “Cases of statutory civil contract termination”. Hope the above article provides you with useful information for you.

Best Respect.

TNTP & ASSOCIATES INTERNATIONAL LAW FIRM

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