1. Deadline for Submitting an Application for Recognition and Enforcement
• Within 03 years from the date the foreign arbitral award takes legal effect, the party entitled to enforcement, the person with legitimate rights and interests involved, or their representative has the right to submit the application to the Ministry of Justice of Vietnam in accordance with the provisions of international treaties to which Vietnam is a member. If there are no specific provisions in the international treaty, or if Vietnam is not a participant, the application will be submitted to the competent Court in Vietnam.
• If the applicant can prove that due to force majeure events or objective obstacles, they could not submit the application within the prescribed time, the period during which the force majeure event or objective obstacle occurred will not be counted in the submission deadline.
2. Submission of applications, accompanying documents, fees, and costs for requesting the recognition and enforcement of foreign arbitral awards in Vietnam
2.1 Application and Accompanying Documents
• The application must include the following information:
– Full name and address of residence or workplace of the party entitled to enforcement, along with the details of their representative in Vietnam. If the party entitled to enforcement is an organization, the name and address of its headquarters must be clearly stated;
– Full name and address of residence or workplace of the party obligated to enforcement; if the obligated party is an organization, its full name and headquarters address must be provided. In cases where the obligated party is an individual without residence or workplace in Vietnam or an organization without headquarters in Vietnam, the application must specify the address and assets related to the enforcement of the award in Vietnam;
– Specific requests of the party entitled to enforcement.
• The documents and materials accompanying the application must comply with the provisions of international treaties to which Vietnam is a member. If there is no such treaty or the treaty does not provide specific requirements, the applicant must submit the original or a certified copy of the foreign arbitral award and the arbitration agreement between the parties.
• If the application, documents, and materials are in a foreign language, the applicant must submit a Vietnamese translation of these documents, duly notarized or certified.
2.2 Fees and Costs
The applicant requesting the Vietnamese Court to recognize and enforce a foreign arbitral award must pay the fees prescribed by law and bear the costs related to the service of process abroad. Currently, the fee for recognizing and enforcing a foreign arbitral award in Vietnam is 3,000,000 dong.
3. Acceptance of the Application
• Within 05 working days from the date of receipt of the application and accompanying documents, the Ministry of Justice must transfer the file to the competent Court. If the Ministry of Justice subsequently receives information from a foreign authority that the arbitral award is being reviewed, annulled, or suspended, the Ministry of Justice must immediately notify the Court in writing.
• Within 05 working days from the date of receipt of the file from the Ministry of Justice or directly from the applicant, the competent Court will review, accept, and notify the relevant parties, the Procuracy of the same level, and the Ministry of Justice.
• After accepting the case, the Court finds that the matter is under the jurisdiction of another Court, the Court that accepted the case will issue a decision to transfer the civil cases dossier to the competent Court and cross out the civil cases in its acceptance book. The Court will send this decision to the Procuracy of the same level and the involved parties.
• The involved parties have the right to complaints, and the Procuracy has the right to petition this decision within 03 working days from the date of receipt. The procedure for resolving complaints and jurisdictional disputes will follow the provisions of Article 41 of the 2015 Civil Procedure Code.
4. Preparation for reviewing the application
• Within 02 months from the date of acceptance, the Court will issue one of the following decisions: i) Suspend the review of the application; ii) Terminate the review of the application; iii) Open meeting for considering the application.
• The party entitled to enforcement must clarify any unclear points in the application as requested by the Court. The preparation period for reviewing the application may be extended but not beyond 02 months.
• The hearing to review the application must be held within 20 days from the date of the decision to open the meeting.
5. The meeting for considering the application
5.1 Attendees of the Meeting
• Court: The meeting consists of three Judges, one of whom will be assigned as the presiding Judge by the Chief Judge of the Court.
• Procuracy: A Procurator from the Procuracy of the same level is required to attend the meeting; if the Procurator is absent, the meeting will still proceed.
• Involved parties: The party entitled to enforcement, the party obligated to enforcement, or their representatives.
If any of the parties mentioned above are absent during the first summons with a legitimate reason, the meeting must be postponed.
The meeting will proceed if the parties entitled to enforcement, the parties obligated to enforcement, or their representatives request the Court to hear the case in their absence, or if the parties obligated to enforcement or their representatives, after being duly summoned for the second time, are still absent.
The panel will issue a decision to terminate the review of the application if the party entitled to enforcement or their representative, after being duly summoned for the second time, are still absent, or if there are any grounds for the Court to issue a decision to terminate the review.
5.2 Issuing the Decision
• The Court does not review the substance of the dispute adjudicated by the foreign arbitral tribunal. The Court only verifies and cross-checks the foreign arbitral award with the documents and materials accompanying the application to provide a basis for the decision on whether to recognize the award.
• After reviewing the application, documents, and related materials, and after hearing the opinions of the involved parties and the Procurator, the panel will make a decision based on the majority principle.
• The panel may issue a decision to recognize and enforce the foreign arbitral award in Vietnam or another decision in accordance with the law.
6. Sending of the Court’s Decision
Within 15 days from the date of issuing the decision to recognize and enforce or not recognize the foreign arbitral award in Vietnam, the Court must send this decision to the involved parties or their representatives, the Ministry of Justice, and the Procuracy of the same level. In cases where the involved party resides abroad and has no representative in Vietnam, and the Court has issued the decision in absentia, the decision will be sent by postal service or through the Ministry of Justice in accordance with the international treaties to which Vietnam is a party.
Above is the article “Procedures for Reviewing Applications for Recognition and Enforcement of Foreign Arbitral Awards in Vietnam” provided by TNTP to our readers.
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