Robbery or Assault in Vietnam: Reporting and Compensation

After a robbery or assault in Vietnam, victims often lose the precious first hours to panic and checking losses, while that is exactly when evidence is freshest and the chance of a hot pursuit is highest. This article rearranges the reporting and compensation procedure for a person robbed or assaulted in the correct order: safety and medical care first, reporting right after, and the compensation file built in parallel with the criminal investigation.

Legal basis for robbery or assault reporting and compensation in Vietnam

Robbery and assault are handled at the criminal layer by the 2015 Penal Code (amended and supplemented in 2017): the offence of robbery of property in Article 168 targets using violence or threatening violence to appropriate property, and the offence of intentionally inflicting injury in Article 134 targets harming another person’s health according to injury rates. These two offences are the starting point of the whole reporting procedure, because they decide that the police open a file aimed at pursuing the offender rather than treating an ordinary property loss.

A victim’s right to report is guaranteed by the 2015 Criminal Procedure Code (100/2015/QH13) through the mechanism of denunciations and crime reports: every individual may denounce conduct showing signs of a crime to the police, the procuracy or the People’s Committee where the incident occurred, and the receiving body must record it and forward it for handling within its authority. A foreigner robbed or assaulted in Vietnam holds full victim status in criminal proceedings just like a Vietnamese citizen.

Compensation for the victim runs on two rails: in the criminal case, the victim may claim from the offender damages for appropriated property, treatment costs and mental suffering under Articles 584, 590 and 592 of the 2015 Civil Code; and where the offender is not yet caught or has no ability to pay, the victim may still file a separate civil lawsuit to keep the compensation claim from being lost along the investigation timeline.

Applying the rules to each question about robbery or assault reporting and compensation in Vietnam

Being robbed, do we report to the police? Being robbed, report to the police right where the incident occurred or at the nearest ward, both by emergency call and in person, because early reporting activates the ability to extract security camera footage around the scene before data is overwritten. In the robbery report, the victim should describe in chronological order: the time, the place, the offender’s features, the property taken and the escape direction, because these four information groups are the first material of the investigation direction.

Can we get compensation? How much compensation is obtained depends on whether the victim builds the damage file from the start: the report record, the injury certificate and treatment invoices, value evidence for the robbed property and income lost due to injury are four evidence groups deciding the compensation figure. The compensation claim should be stated in writing in the case file to be resolved together with the criminal case, instead of waiting until the judgment ends to start claiming money.

What about travel insurance? Travel insurance is a payment layer independent of proceedings in Vietnam: a travel insurance contract usually pays medical costs from accidents and supports property loss under its terms, with the prerequisite of a local police confirmation record of the incident. Reporting to the police therefore not only serves the robbery or assault investigation but is also the key unlocking the victim’s own travel insurance benefits, even if they do not expect to recover the property.

Safe steps for robbery or assault reporting and compensation in Vietnam

Get yourself to a safe place and the nearest medical facility, photographing injuries and the scene if safely possible.
Report to the police where the robbery or assault occurred the same day and request a stamped copy of the record.
List the lost property with value evidence and all medical invoices into a separate compensation file.
File a written compensation claim into the case file and notify the travel insurer within the policy period.

Common risks in robbery or assault reporting and compensation in Vietnam

The biggest risk for a robbery or assault victim is leaving Vietnam before the report and compensation file is locked, because afterwards every evidence supplement must be done remotely by authorisation at a far slower pace. Another risk is privately negotiating compensation with the offender’s family without going through the investigation agency: that oral deal is neither enforceable nor safe, and can cost the victim their standing as the aggrieved party in the criminal case.

The reporting and compensation procedure for robbery or assault in Vietnam works best when the victim does three things on the same day: go to a medical facility for injury evidence, report to the police to open the file and obtain the record, and start the damage file for the compensation claim. Those three actions lock in the victim’s entire rights, from pursuing the offender to compensation money and travel insurance benefits.

Frequently asked questions about robbery or assault reporting and compensation in Vietnam

Being robbed, do we report to the police?

An assault victim should seek examination and an injury certificate the same day, even if the wound looks minor, because the assessed injury rate is the basis for the charge and the compensation level, and a wound left for many days becomes hard to reconnect to the incident. Being robbed, report to the police right where the incident occurred or at the nearest ward, both by emergency call and in person, because early reporting activates the ability to extract security camera footage around the scene before data is overwritten. In the robbery report, the victim should describe in chronological order: the time, the place, the offender’s features, the property taken and the escape direction, because these four information groups are the first material of the investigation direction.

Can we get compensation?

In reporting a robbery, a foreign victim may request an interpreter and should keep a stamped copy of the report record from the police, because that copy is used simultaneously for travel insurance, for the consulate and for every procedure replacing lost documents. How much compensation is obtained depends on whether the victim builds the damage file from the start: the report record, the injury certificate and treatment invoices, value evidence for the robbed property and income lost due to injury are four evidence groups deciding the compensation figure. The compensation claim should be stated in writing in the case file to be resolved together with the criminal case, instead of waiting until the judgment ends to start claiming money.

What about travel insurance?

A compensation claim in a robbery or assault criminal case needs to be quantified with documents rather than an emotional figure, because a court only accepts damage items proven by papers in the file. Travel insurance is a payment layer independent of proceedings in Vietnam: a travel insurance contract usually pays medical costs from accidents and supports property loss under its terms, with the prerequisite of a local police confirmation record of the incident. Reporting to the police therefore not only serves the robbery or assault investigation but is also the key unlocking the victim’s own travel insurance benefits, even if they do not expect to recover the property.

Reviewed by the Legal Practice Group – FLAT LAW FIRM

This legal analysis has been verified against current Vietnamese regulations and cross-border FDI transaction practices by the attorneys at FLAT LAW FIRM.

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