When to file a lawsuit and when to make a denunciation?

In reality, civil disputes and conflicts are quite complex and intertwined. We need to differentiate between the nature of the incident and the subject in the situation to find a suitable method of resolving civil disputes or other methods to protect the rights of ourselves and other subjects. For the same act violating the legitimate rights and interests of individuals and organizations, which cases will be sued and which cases will be denounced? In the following article, PL & Partners Law Firm would like to share some characteristics so you can better understand “When to file a lawsuit and when to make a denunciation?”

1. CONCEPT OF CIVIL LAWSUIT AND DENUNCIATION.

Initiating a civil case is the act of filing a lawsuit to request the Court to protect legitimate rights and interests of oneself, the State, a collective or another person, individual, agency or organization. It can be seen that this is a method of resolving civil disputes as well as protecting your legitimate rights and interests in case of violation. On the basis of the lawsuit request, the Court will decide to force the person who committed the illegal act to stop that act, contributing to maintaining social order and demonstrating the deterrent and educational properties of the law.

On the other hand, denunciation is an individual’s act according to the procedures prescribed by the Law on Denunciation to notify a competent agency, organization or individual of a violation of the law by any agency, organization or individual. that causes damage or threatens to damage the interests of the State, the legitimate rights and interests of agencies, organizations, or individuals.

Thus, right in the concepts we can see the difference between the two activities above. For lawsuits, the cause comes from conflicts in the civil relationship of the litigants and the desire that through the Court, they can resolve disputes and regain legal rights and interests. For themself or for the subject being violated.

On the other hand, denunciation is an activity that occurs when there is a violation of the law by an individual or agency during performance of duties or when there is a violation of the law on state management causing damage or threatening to cause damage to State interests and legal rights of other organizations and individuals (mainly managed and organized by the State). Therefore, denunciation does not originate from the civil law relationship between the denouncer and the denounced party. In addition, the denouncer can also choose the form of denunciation by presenting directly to the competent authority without being confined to the form of a written petition like filing a civil lawsuit.

From the nature and causes of the two activities above, we can choose the appropriate method for your case and reason in accordance with the law.

*Differentiate between filing a lawsuit and giving denunciations through concepts, causes and purposes.*

2. SUBJECTS EXERCISE RIGHTS IN CIVIL LAWSUITS AND DENUNCIATIONS AND SUBJECTS WHO ARE SUED AND DENOUNCED.

As can be seen in the concept, subjects exercising these rights also have differences. In Article 186 of the 2015 Civil Procedure Code, individuals, agencies and organizations have the right to initiate a lawsuit on their own or through a legal representative at a competent court to request protection of their legitimate rights and interests. The right of agencies, organizations and individuals to sue to protect the legitimate rights and interests of others, public interests and state interests is specifically stipulated in Article 187 of the 2015 Civil Procedure Code. .These subjects must meet the conditions on capacity for civil act in civil proceedings specified in Article 69 of the 2015 Civil Procedure Code. According to this regulation, we see that subjects exercising their rights in initiating civil lawsuits are individuals, agencies, and organizations. However, unlike civil lawsuits, the subject exercising the right of denunciation can only be an individual.

Besides, the difference is also shown in the subjects being sued and denounced. For a lawsuit, the defendant of a lawsuit can be individuals or organizations that violates the legitimate rights and interests of the plaintiff or the person who authorizes another person to exercise his/her right to sue. However, for denunciations, the denounced party is clearly defined in the 2018 Law on Denunciation as follows:

Cadres, civil servants, public employees; Other people assigned to perform duties commit violations of the law during performance of duties;
People who are no longer cadres, civil servants, or public employees but have committed illegal acts when they were in office; people who are no longer assigned to perform duties but have committed illegal acts during the period when they were assigned to perform duties;
Agencies and organizations that violate the law during performance of duties;
Any agency, organization or individual that violates the law on state management in all fields, except for violations of the law during performance of duties.

Thus, if the subject commits a violation in the above cases, the individual should make a denunciation. If any subject commits an act that violates your legitimate rights, then you should sue them.

3. PURPOSE OF DENUNCIATION AND RESOLUTION OF DISPUTES BY CIVIL LAWSUIT.

Also from the concept, it can be understood that the purpose of suing is to seek the help of the law to claim legitimate rights and interests have been violated. Initiating a civil lawsuit is a legal basis for plaintiff to have full means to protect their legitimate rights and interests in addition to other methods such as self-defense, negotiation, conciliation, and arbitration. Each method can have certain advantages and disadvantages, however, the method of asking the Court to protect legitimate rights and interests is “the most effective tool among all the different methods that society and the State can use to resolve disputes and conflicts of interest”.

Resolving civil disputes by filing a lawsuit is also an important initiative step for the Court to conduct other proceedings to protect the legitimate rights and interests of litigants, and is the basis for the Court to exercise its rights to protect justice, the stability of social relations in accordance with the Constitution, and also create a proactive self-protection mechanism for litigants when their rights and interests are violated.

On the other hand, the purpose of denunciation is to stop illegal acts that cause damage or threaten to cause damage to the interests of the State, the legitimate rights and interests of agencies, organizations and individuals.

In short, we can consider the nature of the incident, the subject exercising the right, and the subject performing the action to know when to sue and when to denounce our case.

The above are some distinctions to help readers better understand the issue of ” When to file a lawsuit and when to make a denunciation?

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