The solution when the Court requests the submission of documentary evidence confirming the residence address of the defendant, issued by a competent authority

In order to settle the case according to territorial jurisdiction, in fact, there are many Courts that have required the plaintiff to submit a written certtification of the defendant’s residence address issued or certified by a competent agency or organization. However, requesting the competent authority to confirm this address actually arises a lot of difficulties. In this article, TNTP’s lawyer will address and analyze the solution when the Court requests to provide documentary evidence which is the confirmation of the competent authority of the defendant’s residential address to the plaintiff when encountering this situation.

1.The form and contents of the lawsuit petition must clearly state the address of the defendant’s place of residence or work or the place where the defendant’s last head office is located.

• Pursuant to Clause 4 Article 189 of the 2015 Civil Procedure Code, the petition must contain the following: “dd) Name, place of residence, place of work of the defendant (applicable to individuals) or head office of the defendant (applicable to agencies/organizations); phone number, fax and e-mail address (if any). If the place of residence, place of work or head office of the defendant is indefinite, the last place of residence, place of work or head office of the defendant shall be specified”

Simultaneously, in Article 9 Section IV of Official Letter No.02/TANDTC-PC dated 02/08/2021 of the Supreme People’s Court on answering a number of problems in the trial, it is stipulated: “… the plaintiff has correctly and fully written the address of the defendant, the person with related interests and obligations according to the address stated in the transaction or contract the Court must accept the case without requiring the plaintiff to provide additional documents verifying the residence of the defendant and the person with related interests and obligations …”

• Therefore, it can be seen that according to the provisions of law, the plaintiff must clearly state the address of the defendant’s place of residence, specifically: house number, alley, street, residential group, hamlet, commune/ward, district, province, city, … to ensure the correct content and form that the lawsuit petition needs to have according to regulations.

From the perspective of law and practice at the procedural stage, the provision of information about the defendant’s whereabouts will help the Court determine the jurisdiction to settle the case according to the territory specified in Article 39 of the Civil Procedure Code 2015. Simultaneously, it is ensured that the Court, when accepting and settling the case, can serve procedural documents to the defendant in accordance with the provisions of law. However, in fact, many competent agencies often refuse or make it difficult for the plaintiff in verifying the address of the defendant.

2.Request the Court to collect documents and evidences in case the plaintiff fails to provide the certification of the competent authority on the address of the defendant’s residence.

• At the time of filing the petition, in many cases, although the plaintiff has clearly stated the address of the defendant’s residence and the attached documents but the Court still requires confirmation of the defendant’s residennce address of the competent agency or organization based on the provisions of Clauses 2 and 3, Article 5 of Resolution 04/2017/NQ-HDTP dated 05/05/2017 of the Council of Judges of the Supreme People’s Court:

“2. The plaintiff has provided the address “place of residence, work, or head office” of the defendant, the person with related interests and obligations to the Court in accordance with the provisions of law and the guidance in Clause 1 of this Article at the time of filing the lawsuit petition which is granted, certified by a competent agency or organization or has other grounds to prove that it is the address of the defendant, the person with related interests and obligations it is considered that the address of the defendant and the person with related interests and obligations has been recorded correctly according to the provisions of Point e Clause 1 Article 192 of the 2015 Civil Procedure Code.

3. Address of “place of residence, work or final head office” of the defendant and persons with related interests and obligations specified at Points dd and e Clause 4 Article 189 of 2015 Civil Procedure Code is the address of the defendant, the person with related interests and obligations who has resided, worked or had a head office that the plaintiff has known the latest up to the time of initiating the lawsuit and be granted, certified by a competent agency or organization or have other grounds to prove it”.

• However, at Point d Clause 3, Article 13 of Decree No.62/2021/ND-CP dated 29/06/2021 detailing a number of articles of the Residence Law: “d) Agencies, organizations, and citizens not specified under Points a, b, and c of this Clause who request to be provided with and exchange information, documents on database on residence of other citizens must obtain verified written consent of the information owners and consent of heads of police authorities of communes or districts in case commune division is not established where the information owners register for temporary residence or permanent residence.” 

Accordingly, it can be seen that, although the obligation to provide information about the address of the defendant belongs to the plaintiff, but without the written consent of the defendant, the competent agency or organization will not issue or certify the information of the defendant’s residence address. Therefore, the plaintiff is almost unable to verify and collect documents and evidence about the defendant’s residential address on their own.

• In this case, the plaintiff may explain the reasons regarding the failure to provide documents and evidence about the defendant’s residence address and point out legal grounds showing the Court’s responsibility in assisting the plaintiff in collecting documents and evidences that cannot be verified and collected by themselves. Specifically, based on the following legal grounds:

– Clause 2 Article 6 of the 2015 Civil Procedure Code:

“2. The Courts is responsible for assisting the involved parties to collect evidence and shall only collect and verify the evidence in the cases prescribed by this Code.”

– Clause 7 Article 70 of the 2015 Civil Procedure Code:

“7. To request the Court to verify and collect documents and evidences of the cases that the litigant cannot perform themselves; petition the Court to request other involved parties to present documents and evidences they are keeping; petition the Court to issue the decision to request the agencies, organizations and individuals that are keeping and managing the materials/evidences to supply such materials and evidences; request the Court to summon witnesses, to ask for expertise, evaluation or price appraisal”

– Point e Clause 1 Article 97 of the 2015 Civil Procedure Code:

“e) Requesting the Courts to collect materials and evidences, in case the involved parties cannot do it;”

Accordingly, if the Court requests the plaintiff to provide documents certified by the competent authorities for the address of the defendant. The plaintiff can proceed to request the Court to assist in the collection of these documents because it is not possible to collect these documents on their own.

This is TNTP’s legal article on the topic: “The solution when the Court requests the submission of documentary evidence confirming the residence address of the defendant, issued by a competent authority ”. We hope that this article will be useful to readers in the process of initiating a lawsuit at the Court.

Sincerely.