With the deepening of international economic integration, more and more foreign partners are doing business with Vietnamese enterprises in many business fields. In the process of cooperation, it is inevitable that there will be disputes that may arise between the parties. Therefore, in the event of a business and commercial contract dispute, which is resolved by a judgment or a decision of foreign court, can foreign partners have the right to request recognition and enforcement of such judgment or a decision of foreign court in Vietnam to protect their legitimate rights and interests? Let’s find out some information related to the request for recognition and enforcement of judgments or decisions of foreign court in Vietnam with KAV Lawyers in this article.
1. Prescription for requesting recognition and enforcement
According to Article 432 of the 2015 Civil Procedure Code, the prescription for requesting recognition and enforcement of foreign court’s judgments / decisions on business and commerce is 03 years from the effective date of these foreign court’s judgments / decisions, unless the applicant can prove that because of a force majeure event or an objective obstacle, the applicant cannot submit the application within the above time limit, the time of such force majeure event or objective obstacle does not count towards the application deadline.
2. Conditions for recognition and enforcement
According to the provisions of clause 1, Article 423 of the 2015 Civil Procedure Code, the following foreign court’s judgments / decisions on business and commerce will be considered for recognition and enforced in Vietnam:
– Foreign court’s judgments / decisions on business and commerce are prescribed in international treaties to which that country and the Socialist Republic of Vietnam are signatories;
– Foreign court’s judgments / decisions on business and commerce of which that country and the Socialist Republic of Vietnam are not a contracting party to an international treaty with provisions on recognition and enforcement of foreign court’s judgments / decisions on the basis of the principle of reciprocity.
According to Article 439 of the 2015 Civil Procedure Code, foreign court’s judgments / decisions on business and commerce that are not recognized and enforced in Vietnam are prescribed as follows:
– Foreign court’s judgments / decisions on business or commerce fail to satisfy one of the conditions for recognition specified in an international treaty to which the Socialist Republic of Vietnam is a signatory.
– Foreign court’s judgments / decisions on business or commerce have not yet taken legal effect according to the provisions of the law of the country where the court has issued these judgments / decisions.
– Judgment debtors or their lawful representatives are absent from the Court sessions of the foreign Courts because they have not been duly summoned or documents of the foreign Courts have not been delivered to them in a reasonable time period as prescribed in law of country of such foreign Court so that such persons can exercise the right to self-defense.
– The foreign Courts that have issued the judgments / decisions do not have jurisdiction to settle civil cases as prescribed in Article 440 of the 2015 Civil Procedure Code.
– Such cases have been settled in legally effective judgments / decisions of Vietnamese Courts, or before the foreign agencies in charge accepted such cases, they have been accepted and are being proceeded by Vietnamese Courts, or such civil cases have been settled with judgments / decisions issued by Courts of third countries which have been recognized and allowed to be enforced by Vietnamese Courts.
– Time limit for enforcement of judgments prescribed in law of the home countries of the Courts issuing such judgments / decisions or in Vietnam’s law on civil judgment enforcement has been exceeded.
– The enforcement of the judgments / decisions has been canceled or terminated at the home country of the Court issuing such judgments / decisions.
– The recognition and enforcement of judgments / decisions of foreign Courts in Vietnam are contrary to basic principles of law of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam.
3. Competent court to recognize and enforce
According to the provisions of clause 1, Article 432 of the 2015 Civil Procedure Code, within 3 years from the date on which a judgment / decision of a foreign court takes legal effect, the judgment creditor, the person with the relevant rights and interests or their lawful representatives have the right to submit an application to the Ministry of Justice of Vietnam according to the provisions of international treaties to which the Socialist Republic of Vietnam and the country whose courts have issued judgments / decisions are both members or a competent Vietnam court prescribed in this Code to request recognize and enforce such judgments / decisions in Vietnam.
Pursuant to clause 4, Article 31; point c, clause 2, Article 35; point b, clause 1, Article 37, and point d, clause 2, Article 39 of the 2015 Civil Procedure Code, the Court is competent to accept and handle the recognition and enforcement of judgments / decisions on business and commerce in Vietnam is the provincial People’ s Court where the Vietnam enterprise – the judgment debtor is headquartered or the provincial People’ s Court where the assets related to the enforcement of the foreign court’s judgments / decisions are located.
The above is some information related to the request for recognition and enforcement of judgments / decisions of foreign courts on business and commerce in Vietnam that KAV Lawyers wishes to share with Clients. KAV Lawyers is a Vietnamese law firm based in District 4, Saigon (Ho Chi Minh City), Viet Nam. With a team of experienced lawyers and associates in the field of litigation in Vietnam, Vietnam lawyers from KAV Lawyers can help and support the Clients in this field.
In case Clients have questions or need legal advice regarding the request for recognition and enforcement of judgments / decisions of foreign courts on business and commerce in Vietnam, please contact KAV Lawyes with the following information:
Email: info@kavlawyers.com or vu@kavlawyers.com
Tel.: (+84) 28 6270 7075 or (+84) 949 761 861
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