THE PROCESS OF DRAFTING AND SUBMITTING A PETITION FOR CIVIL JUDGMENT ENFORCEMENT IN VIETNAM

At the end of the dispute settlement process at a Court or Commercial Arbitration in Vietnam, one or both parties must perform their obligations under the judgment, decision or arbitral award having taken legal effect (hereinafter referred to as Judgment, Decision). However, in case the judgment debtor does not voluntarily perform his/her obligations, the judgment creditor has the right to request the Competent civil judgment enforcement agency to carry out the judgment enforcement procedures. In this article, we would like to share our legal experience and guidance on the process of drafting and submitting a Petition for civil judgment enforcement in Vietnam.

1. Issues to note before drafting and submitting the Petition for civil judgment enforcement

1.1. Statute of limitations for requesting judgment enforcement

Under regulations of the law, the parties have the right to request the Competent civil judgment enforcement agency to issue the Decision on judgment enforcement within 05 years from the date the Judgment or Decision takes legal effect.

In case a time limit for fulfilling an obligation is set, the statute of limitations for requesting judgment enforcement is 5 years from the date of expiration of the set time limit.

Similar to the case where the obligation is periodically performed, the statute of limitations for requesting judgment enforcement is 5 years from the date the obligation is due on a periodical basis.

In addition, the judgment enforcement requester should note two cases that are not included in the statute of limitations for judgment enforcement, including (i) Time to postpone or suspend judgment enforcement, except for the case of the judgment creditor allows the judgment debtor to postpone the judgment enforcement; (ii) Time occurring an objective obstacle or a force majeure circumstance that prevents the judgment enforcement request on time if there are proven grounds.

Therefore, the judgment enforcement requester should note the above regulations on the statute of limitations for requesting civil judgment enforcement so as not to lose this right due to the expiration of the statute of limitations, and to ensure his/her legitimate rights and interests in case the judgment debtor intentionally delays his/her obligation performance.

1.2. Cases not requested for judgment enforcement

Under regulations of the law, the Competent civil judgment enforcement agency at its own issues the Decision on judgment enforcement and carries out judgment enforcement procedures for parts of the Judgments or Decision in the following cases:

(i) Fines, retrospective collection of illicitly earned money and assets; court fees;

(ii) Refund of money and assets to involved parties;

(iii) Confiscation into the state budget or destruction of material evidence and assets;

(iv) Recovery of the right to use land and other assets subject to remittance into the state budget;

(v) Decision on application of provisional urgent measures;

(vi) Decision on bankruptcy settlement issued by Courts.

Accordingly, the parties do not request judgment enforcement of the part of the judgment or decision in the above cases, but the Competent civil judgment enforcement agency must issue the Decision on judgment enforcement after receiving the Judgment or Decision under regulations of the law.

2. Drafting the Petition for civil judgment enforcement

2.1. The form and contents of the Petition for civil judgment enforcement

The form and contents of the Petition for civil judgment enforcement must comply with the regulations of the applicable law. Accordingly, the petitioner can draft a Petition for civil judgment enforcement that meets the form and contents specified in the law, or use Form No. D 04-THADS (Issued attached with Circular No. 01/2016/TT-BTP dated 01 February 2016 issued by the Ministry of Justice).

Please refer to Appeal Petition Form No. D 04-THADS as follows:

2.2. Some issues to note in the process of drafting the Petition for civil judgment enforcement

(i) To accurately determine the Competent civil judgment enforcement agency under the law to avoid the case where the request for judgment enforcement is refused, which prolongs the case settlement process.

(ii) To specify the contents of judgment enforcement request, information about the judgment debtor’s judgment enforcement assets or conditions, and accurately present these contents in the Petition for civil judgment enforcement.

(iii) In case the judgment enforcement requester authorizes another person to draft and submit the Petition for civil judgment enforcement, the Petition must entirely present the authorized party’s information and be attached with the Power of Attorney.

(iv) The judgment enforcement requester must send the Judgment or Decision requested for enforcement and other relevant documents (if any) attached to the Petition for civil judgment enforcement to prove his/her request.

3. Submitting the Petition for civil judgment enforcement

3.1. Methods of the submission of the Petition for civil judgment enforcement

After preparing the Request Dossier (including the Petition for judgment enforcement and relevant documents), the civil judgment enforcement requester can send it to the Competent civil judgment enforcement agency by 02 methods as follows: (i) Submit directly at the Competent judgment enforcement agency, or (ii) Send to the Competent judgment enforcement agency by post.

3.2. Results of the submission of the Petition for civil judgment enforcement

Upon receipt of the Petition for judgment enforcement, the Competent civil judgment enforcement agency will conduct the examination and notify in writing the judgment enforcement requester of such receipt.

Within 5 working days from receiving the Petition for judgment enforcement, the Competent civil judgment enforcement agency may refuse the judgment enforcement request and notify in writing the judgment enforcement requester if it considers that the request for judgment enforcement falls into the following cases: (i) The judgment enforcement requester has no right to request judgment enforcement, or the requested content is not related to the content of the Judgment /Decision, or the Judgment/ Decision does not give rise to rights and obligations of the involved parties; (ii) The requested civil judgment enforcement agency does not have competence for request settlement; (iii) The statute of limitations for requesting judgment enforcement has expired.

If the Petition for judgment enforcement is not falling into the above cases, the Competent civil judgment enforcement agency will issue the Decision on judgment enforcement and carry out the procedures of judgment enforcement.

Above is our legal experience share on the process of drafting and submitting the Petition for civil judgment enforcement in Vietnam. We hope this article can help you better understand this process and protect your legitimate rights and interests when participating in the stage of judgment enforcement. At the same time, we will continue to share our experiences on procedures of participation in civil judgment enforcement in Vietnam. Please continue to follow us.

Best regards.

TNTP & Associates International Law Firm