Tort VN Law

Under Vietnamese Law
1. Legal issue
Whether Con and the Radio station committed the defamation of tort against Peter.
2. Rules
Civil Code 2015: Article 34, Article 584, Article 592.
3. Analysis
According to Article 584 of the Civil Code 2015, in order to bring someone under a
lawsuit of a tort, the plaintiff needs to prove 4 elements:
- The defendant have a wrongful behavior;
- The fault of the defendant is intentional;
- The plaintiff suffers damages;
- There is a causal relationship between the defendant's wrongful behavior and the
plaintiff's damages.
To begin, according to Article 34 of the Civil Code 2015 regulating the right to protection
of honour, dignity and reputation, clause 1 states that “The honour, dignity and
reputation of an individual is inviolable and is protected by law”.
In this case, Con had accused Peter of using illegal drugs to enhance his physical
endurance and performance during soccer matches. This accusation was heard by the
soccer team, the coach, the manager and a radio interviewer in the changing room. In
detail, when giving the accusation, Con did not have any evidence to demonstrate for his
statement. Moreover, Peter then rejected all of these allegations. Hence, this accusation is
considered as an untrue statement, which means a defamatory statement about Peter.
On the side of the Radio station, its employee recorded the argument of Con and Peter,
which was later broadcast on the evening news without checking the truth of the
accusations. This can lead to the misunderstanding of Peter to the viewers because
according to Peter, the broadcasted news is untrue.
Therefore, Con and the Radio station violated Peter's right to protection of honour,
dignity and reputation according to Article 34 clause 1. As a result, their actions were
considered as wrongful behavior.
Secondly, based on the conduct of Con, it is clear that he was intentional at fault in
spreading the defamatory statement about Peter. In detail, Con accused Peter without any
reliable evidence. Additionally, Con obviously knew that after the match, the changing
room is the place where many people (at least there are the members of the team soccer)
went to, therefore, he obviously knew that the argument between him and Peter could
easily be heard by third parties. The intention is also demonstrated through the fact that
Con refuses to apologize and maintains that the accusations are all true but still have no
evidence to prove his allegation.
Regarding the Radio station, the interviewer had not considered or checked the reliability
of the accusation of Con about Peter in the recording yet, but still uploaded it in their
news.
The news was shown on public media, which has a number of people watching, which
means that the news could surely be watched by third parties.
Therefore, both Con and the Radio station intentionally spread defamation statements
about Peter.
Thirdly, following Article 592 of the Civil Code 2015 regulated about loss and damage
caused by harm to honour, dignity or reputation, damages include financial damages
specified in clause 1 and mental suffering stated in clause 2. Therefore, Peter has to prove
the financial loss and damage to ask for compensation, including reasonable costs for
mitigating and remedying the damage; loss of or reduction in actual income; or other loss
and damage as provided by law. Besides, there is absolutely the mental suffering since
Peter’s reputation has been negatively affected because of the defamation of Con and the
disclosure of news of the Radio station without considering the truth of facts. This is
because Peter is a famous soccer player, hence, his story can easily be gossiped about.
Hence, Peter’s mental suffering is obvious, and there can be financial damages if Peter
can point out the effects because of defamation.
Finally, there is a causal relationship between the wrongful behavior of both Con and the
Radio station and the damages of Peter. Because of the false statement of Con, the team
players, the coach and the manager can misunderstand Peter. The Radio station spreads
this defamation to broadcast, which badly affects the reputation of Peter. The honour,
dignity and reputation of Peter has been violated by both Con and the Radio station’s
conduct.
4. Conclusion
Peter can ask for compensation from Con and the Radio station about the mental
suffering. Besides, the financial compensation can be requested if Peter can indicate the
relevant loss and damage. Moreover, according to clause 3 and 5 Article 34 of the Civil
Code, Peter can request the Radio station to remove or correct the news by the same mass
media means on which such information was previously published, and publicly
apologize.

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