During the operation of enterprises, it is unavoidable that disputes arise between enterprises. When the parties are unable to settle the dispute by themselves, the parties have the right to initiate a lawsuit in the competent court. To litigate, an important step is preparing a lawsuit dossier. In this article, we will show the way to prepare for initiating a lawsuit at the court in a commercial business case.
Pursuant to Article 189 of the Civil Procedure Code 2015 (CPC 2015), an enterprise that wants to litigate must prepare: (i) Petition; and (ii) Documents and evidence can prove the enterprise’s claims in the Petition.
1. The Petition
The first thing that enterprises must prepare for initiating a lawsuit is the Petition.
Pursuant to Clause 4, Article 189 of the CPC 2015 regulating the contents of a Petition, a Petition must have the following contents: (i) Date of the petition; (ii) Name of the competent court; (iii) Name, working address, or place of residence of the petitioner, the defendant, and the person having related rights and obligations; (iv) Legal rights and interests of the petitioner are infringed; specific issues that are requested the Court to settle with respect to the defendant and the persons having related interests and obligations; (v) Name and address of the witness (if any); and (vi) Checklist of documents and evidence enclosed with the petition.
Among the above contents, the most important content of the petition is that the petitioner must clearly mention “The legal rights and interests of the petitioner have been infringed, specific issues that are requested the Court to settle with respect to the defendant and the persons having related interests and obligations” because these things are directly related to the interests of the enterprise and they are the first basis for the Court to understand the incident and have a direction to research the dossier as well as make a suitable plan to settle the case.
2. Documents, evidence attached to the Petition
To prove that the enterprise’s claims are reasonable, as well as to ensure that the Court understands the nature of the incident, besides the petition, the enterprise must submit the enclosed documents and evidence if enterprise wants to prepare for initiating a lawsuit. Depending on the complexity and nature of each case, the enclosed documents and evidence are different. However, normally, the enterprise always has to prepare several documents and evidence, including:
- Evidence and documents related to the legal capacity of the petitioner: including the latest Enterprise Registration Certification (ERC); ID Card/ Citizen Identity Card/ Passport/ Other personal identification papers of the legal representative; ID Card/ Citizen Identity Card / Passport/ Other personal identification papers of the authorized representative and Power of Attorney (in case of another person submit the lawsuit petition).
- Evidence and documents related to the establishment of the contract, transaction including: the Contract, agreement between the parties.
These are documents proving that the parties have agreed and established a civil transaction binding rights and obligations between the parties. Only when it is proved that a civil transaction has arisen, an enterprise can request the Court to protect its infringed rights and interests when the other party fails to perform or fulfill its obligations. However, in some cases of oral transactions and agreements, there will be no contracts or agreements, the enterprise must clearly explain in the petition and submit documents, evidence to prove that this oral transaction, the agreement is real and has been agreed to execute, and guarantee that the obligations must be performed.
- Evidence and documents related to the performance of the contract and transaction: Purchase orders; Goods receipt/Delivery note; Delivery bill; Payment request; etc.
For some disputes arising from the performance of the contract such as late delivery, late payment, goods’ quality, etc., the enterprise needs to submit evidence and documents related to the performance of the contract.
- Evidence and documents related to the arising of disputes: Official documents, Payment request; Notice, discussion about force majeure events; Documents on penalty for violations and compensation for damage; E-mails, Exchanging messages, Negotiations between the parties, etc.
These are documents to prove that the violation by one or several parties has caused damage to the petitioner. These documents are important bases to prove whether the enterprise’s claim in the petition is reasonable and legal.
- Evidence and documents related to the participation of the authorized representative in the proceedings or the defense of the legal rights and interests of the litigant: Power of attorney and ID card/ Citizen Identity Card of the authorized representative to participate in the proceedings; or the Lawyer Appointment Letter (it must be enclosed with the lawyer’s card, law practice certificate, and operation registration certificate of a law firm if the lawyer is working for a law practicing organization). If the enterprise authorizes an authorized representative or has a lawyer to participate in the lawsuit at Court, the enterprise must submit documents proving their capacity.
After completing the preparation of the lawsuit dossier, the enterprise will submit the petition with the attached evidence and documents to the competent Court. Regarding this content, we have analyzed in the article “Guide enterprises through the initiation of lawsuit at the Court“, enterprises can read more in this article to have a basic understanding of their process.
The proceedings at the Court can go through many different stages and times. Whether the lawsuit is convenient and fast depends on the judge as well as the provided documents and files. If enterprises prepare for a lawsuit with a full petition right from the beginning, it will help enterprises save a lot of time and costs, as well as create favorable conditions for the Court to settle the Petition quickly and guarantee the maximum benefits for enterprises. We hope that our shares are useful to you.
Best regards.
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TNTP & Associates International Law Firm
Lawyer: Nguyen Thanh Ha
Email: ha.nguyen@tntplaw.com
