Proposal for couples who control each other's income to be fined up to 30 million VND

The Ministry of Justice recently announced the appraisal dossier of the draft Decree amending and supplementing a number of articles of Decree 144/2021/ND-CP.regulations on administrative sanctions for violations in the fields of security, order, and social safety; prevention and control of social evils; fire prevention and control; rescue; prevention and control of domestic violence (hereinafter referred to as the draft Decree.

Accordingly, in Clause 44, Article 1 of the draft Decree, it is proposed to amend and supplement Article 58.Decree 144/2021/ND-CP regulates acts of economic violence, including the act of controlling the income and assets of family members as follows:

A fine of from VND 20,000,000 to VND 30,000,000 shall be imposed for one of the following acts:

(1) Appropriating the family's common property or the private property of another family member;

(2) Destroying family property or private property of other family members;

(3) Forcing family members to work excessively or do heavy, dangerous work, expose them to toxic substances or do other work contrary to the provisions of labor laws;

(4) Forcing family members to beg or wander around for a living;

(5) Forcing family members to contribute financially beyond their means;

(6) Controlling the income and assets of family members to create a state of material, mental or other dependence.

In addition, the draft Decree also proposes remedial measures for violations as follows:

- Forced restoration of the original condition for act (2), except in cases where the property cannot be restored to its original condition;

- Forced return of illegally seized property or forced return of an amount equal to the value of illegally seized property that has been consumed, dispersed or destroyed in violation of the law to the legal owner for violations specified in points (1), (5) and (6) above.

From the above proposal to punish acts of economic violence, it can be seen that if the draft Decree is passed, anyone who controls the income and assets of family members to create a state of material, mental or other dependence can be fined up to 30 million VND.

In addition, this person is also forced to return the illegally possessed property or to pay back an amount of money equal to the value of the illegally possessed property that has been consumed, dispersed, or destroyed in violation of the law to the legal owner for the violation.