Sessions 10 and 11

Civil Legal Relations

1
 Outline
I/ Overview of Civil Law in Vietnam
II/ Civil legal relations
III/ Ownership
IV/ Civil obligations
V/ Civil contracts
VI/ Tort law

2
 Outline
I/ Definition of Civil Legal Relations
II/ Elements of Civil Legal Relations
1. Subjects
2. Objects
3. Contents

3
 Session’s Objectives
• Being able to:
– DEFINE a civil legal relation
• WHAT is a civil legal relation?
– IDENTIFY elements in a civil legal relation
• WHAT are elements in a civil legal relation?
– CLARIFY particularities of elements in civil
legal relations (compared to those in other
legal relations)
• HOW are civil legal relations different from other
legal relations?
4
 Exercise 1: Review
• A legal relation
– WHAT is it?
– HOW is it different from a social relation?
• A civil legal relation
– WHAT is it?
– HOW is it different from legal relation?
– WHICH one is broader? Legal relations or
civil legal relations

5
 Legal Relations

Social relations + Legal norms = Legal relations

Elements of legal relations: parties, objects, contents

Capacity Things, conducts,

non-conducts

Grounds to raise, modify or terminate legal relations?

6
I. Civil Legal Relations: Definition
• A civil legal relation
– WHAT is it?
• Social relation + civil law
• Civil relation + civil law
• Objects of regulation of civil law
→ Relation established on the basis of
» Equality
» Freedom of will
» Independence of property
» Self-determination
– HOW is it different from legal relations?
– WHICH one is broader? Legal relations or
civil legal relations 7
 SOCIAL What is a
RELATIONS civil legal relation?
- Friendship
- Courtship/Mateship Types Legal Civil Legal
- Kinship Criteria Relations Relations
- Colleagues Similarities Social relations
- Etc. (i.e. relations among persons)
LEGAL Being regulated by law
RELATIONS 3 elements + legal events
Dissimilarities
CRIMINAL ADMININSTRATIVE Criminal legal
LEGAL LEGAL E.g.
RELATIONS RELATIONS relations
(Governing) Various laws Civil law
law

CIVIL LEGAL
RELATIONS

- Labour relations
- Business law
- Marital relations
- Family relations 8
- Etc.
II/ Civil legal relations: Elements
1) Subjects
2) Objects
3) Contents

9
1/ Civil legal relations: Subjects

a. Individuals
b. Organizations CAPACITY
c. State

10
 Exercise 2
1. Are you entitled to get married now?
Why (not)?
2. Are you entitled to conclude a labour
contract now? Why (not)?
3. Can you buy some textbooks for
your own courses at the university?
Does it matter whether or not you
can afford it? Why (not)?

11
1/ Civil legal relations: Subjects
a. Individuals/ Natural Persons

Capacity = Civil Legal Capacity + Civil Act Capacity

12
1/ Civil legal relations: Subjects
a. Individuals/ Natural Persons
Civil Legal Capacity
-Definition: capacity to have
civil rights and obligations
-Features:
• All individuals have the
same civil legal capacity
•Duration: from birth to death
Civil Act Capacity
-Definition: capacity to establish
and exercise civil rights and
obligations through the acts of
such natural person
-Features:
• Not all individuals have the same
civil act capacity.
• Types of civil act capacity
o No civil act capacity:
< 6 yrs old
o Limited civil act capacity:
6 yrs old ≤ < 18 yrs old
o Full civil act capacity
≥ 18 yrs old, except for
 Loss of civil act capacity
 Restriction of civil act capacity 13
Exercise 3 on Subjects: Individuals
A (5 years old) loves singing and would like to register for a
talent competition.
a. Advise A on how to do so! Can A register by herself?
b. After winning the 1st prize in the competition, A would like to
put the awarded money some in a saving account. Can A
do so by herself?
c. Lots of showmen are approaching A to offer performance
contracts. Advise these persons on how to conclude
contracts. Should they contact A directly?
d. Being determined to be a professional singer, five years
after the competition, A would like to be a trainee in an
entertainment company. Can A sign the training contract by
herself?
Hints:
- Art.s 16-24, Civil Code 2015
- Analyze the legal norms therein!
- Determine which assumptions are met in the case(s)! And so what?
- Put your answers in the IRAC template!
 Case-solving
• Part 3 of Exams
• IRAC model
– I (Issue): What is the issue/question?
– R (Rule): What is rule applicable to the
issue/question? Because
– A (Application): Apply the Rule to the Issue
– C (Conclusion): Answer to the Issue/question?
WRONG (Because) Apply Issue
Conclude
TEMPLATE Rule
CORRECT Apply
Issue Rule Conclude
TEMPLATE
 Exercise 4 on Subjects: Individuals
Born on 30/12/2002, B is leaving his hometown to start schooling at a
university. To settle down, B considers renting a room in an apartment
near the campus and fortunately has found a desirable place.
a. Can B by himself conclude a lease contract with the potential landlord?
b. After moving in, B is buying some personal stuffs, including lamps and
hangers. Can B do the shopping on his own?
c. To cover his monthly expenses, B plans to apply for a part-time job. If
successful, can B conclude the labour contract with the potential
employer?
d. Do your answer differ if B is found to be born on 17/11/2002 instead?
e. After one year at university, instead of concentrating on schooling, B gets
addicted to cocaine, therefore decides to quit the university and returns
home. From then on, he has sold out his household assets to cover his
drug expenses. How can his parents stop him from doing so from a legal
perspective?
f. What if B is a addicted gambler or game player instead?
Hints:
- Art.s 16-24, Civil Code 2015
- Analyze the legal norms therein!
- Determine which assumptions are met in the case(s)! And so what?
- Put your answers in the IRAC template!
1/ Civil legal relations: Subjects

b. Organizations

- Legal Entities
- Family Households
- Cooperative Groups
- Other organizations without legal entity status

17
1/ Civil legal relations: Subjects

b. Organizations

Legal Entities
-Conditions to become a legal entity: Art. 74
-Legal Representative: Art. 85
-Liability: Art. 87
• Legal entity
• Members

18
Exercise 5 on Subjects: Legal Entities

Are the following entities legal persons? Why and Why not?
– FTU
– A sole proprietorship
– A limited liability company
– A joint stock company
– The headquarter/branch/subsidiary of an enterprise
• Clues: Art. 74.1 → Art.s 83, 87, 84 Civil Code 2015
– Analyze the legal norms therein!
– Determine which assumptions are met in the case(s)! And so
what?
– Do the above entities meet conditions stated therein? If so, how?
Can you describe the manners?
– Are conditions therein cumulative or mutually exclusive?
Exercise 6 on Subjects: Legal Entities
An enterprise bears a debt of 10 billion VND
while its assets total 1 billion VND.
– Determine the threshold of the enterprise’s
liability?
– Do its owners have to cover its debt by their
own private assets in the following cases?
• The enterprise is a sole proprietorship
• The enterprise is a limited liability company
• The enterprise is a joint stock company
Hints:
- Article 74, Civil Code 2015
- Analyze the legal norms therein!
- Determine which assumptions are met in the case(s)! And so what?
- Put your answers in the IRAC template!
Exercise 7 on Subjects: Legal Entities
If you want to start up an enterprise, which of the
following are you choosing? Explain your
choice!
– A sole proprietorship
– A limited liability company
– A joint stock company
Hints: Article 74, Civil Code 2015.
• What are your preferences when it comes to
your liability, as an enterprise employee, for
the enterprise’s debt?
• Does your choice change if you are now an
employee in the enterprise?
1/ Civil legal relations: Subjects

b. Organizations

Family households
-Conditions to become a Family household: Art. 106
-Legal Representative: Art. 107
-Liability: Art 103
• Family household
• Members

22
1/ Civil legal relations: Subjects

b. Organizations
Cooperative Groups
-Conditions to become a cooperative group: Art. 111
-Legal Representative: Art. 113
-Liability:
• Cooperative Group
• Members

23
1/ Civil legal relations: Subjects
c. States

24
2/ Civil legal relations: Objects
- Properties
- Conducts
- Non-conducts

25
 2/ Civil legal relations: Objects
EXAMPLES
- Properties (Art. 105) -Laptops
• Objects - Cell-phones
o Primary and Auxiliary (Art. 110)
o Divisible and Indivisible (Art. 111) - Motorbike
o Consumable and Non-consumable (Art. 112) - Clothing
o Identified and Unidentified (Art. 113)
-Breakfast
• Money
OF WHICH TYPE
• Valuable papers ARE EXAMPLES?
- Electricity
• Property rights (Art. 115) - Banknotes
- Properties (Art. 107) - Coins
• Movables - Personal ID cards/Student cards
• Immovables - Bank cards (e.g. ATM cards)
(Art. 106) - Stocks/Shares/bonds/cheques
-Copyright
- Land-use right
26
Exercise 9 on Objects: Properties
1. You are buying a PC set at an electronics shop. Can the shop
require you to pay extra money for the screen, keyboard on
the grounds that they do not accompany the PC?
Hints: Article 110, Civil Code 2015
2. At the moment of dissolution, remaining assets of an
enterprise comprise of:
– A 500m-VND automobile
– A 20m-VND set of computer
– A 10m-VND printer
– A table and a dozen of chairs of 20m-VND worth in total
a. How can you divide them equally among two owners of the
enterprise?
b. What if, either of the two owners insists on keeping the
automobile for himself?
Hints: Article 111, Civil Code 2015
Exercise 10 on Objects: Properties
3. You are renting a car to travel to the countryside. When
returning the car to the leaser, you are requested to
either refill the car or to pay for the used amount of
petroleum. Are you obligated to do so?
Hint: Article 112, Civil Code 2015
4. Believing that the number series of 8888 is good for your
fate, you are buying a motorbike with the plate-number
of xxx-8888. The seller, initially agreeing so, but then
changed his mind and is replacing it with another bike
of the same model, year of production and quality, but
with another number plate. Do you have to accept the
replacement?
Hint: Article 113, Civil Code 2015
 II/ Civil legal relations (cont)
• Immovable v moveable properties
– Real estates; Land patches; Islands
– Dwellings: Housing; Building blocks; Villas; Apartments; Resorts; Hotels;
Hostels; Dormitories
– Offices; Schools; Hospitals; Farms; Factories; (Power/Solar/Wind)
Mills/Plants; Zoos; Gardens; Shops/Shopping-Malls; Theaters; Cinemas;
Restaurants; Parks; Parking-lots
– Roads; Airports; Rail tracks; Bridges; Canals; Tunnels; Cellars;
Lighthouses; Reservoirs; Wells; Underground stations; Bus-stations
– Fences; Gates; Light poles; Lighting rods
– Natural Minerals (gas, nickels, bronze, silver, etc.)
– Plantations, plants, trees
 Review
• What are types of properties? Can you give
examples of each type?
Hints:
– Legal basis: Article 105.1, 105.2 → 107 → 106; 108
– Examples: Look around you to find various
properties and classify them
• What are types of objects? Can you give
examples of each type?
Hints:
– Legal basis: Article 110, 111, 112, 113
– Examples: Look around you to find various objects
and classify them
 Homework
1. Create your own
mind-map for
today’s session!
(It works for you in
exams! :D)
2. Read Articles
158, 165-168, 179-
181, 186-195, 230,
236 in the Civil
Code