Enforcement of Foreign Arbitral Awards in Vietnam

Procedures for Recognition and Enforcement of Foreign Arbitral Awards in Vietnam

In the era of globalization, cooperation between countries have been established in many aspects and fields. Especially in the judicial field, the recognition and enforcement of foreign arbitral awards are important procedure in order to facilitate law enforcement between countries and protect the legitimate interests of the litigants.

Arbitral Award Enforcement Law Firm in Vietnam

The recognition and enforcement of foreign arbitral awards in Vietnam is a specific procedure. Accordingly, the court will be the authority to conduct the review to recognize the validity of foreign arbitral awards to be enforced within the territory of Vietnam. When receiving a request for recognition of a foreign arbitral award, the court will consider and accept the settlement according to the prescribed principles. Specifically, Vietnamese courts only recognize and enforce foreign judgments in the following cases: (i) on the basis of international treaties; (ii) on the principle of reciprocity. Therefore, it can be seen that not all requirements are recognized in Vietnam.

To process the request for recognition and enforcement, depending on the case, the requesting individual or organization must file a request at the Ministry of Justice or directly at the court. Furthermore, in order to ensure that the petition is valid, the petition must satisfy the conditions of form, extent and status of the subject entitled to file according to the regulations that the applicant must pay attention to. In addition, the time limit for filing a request for recognition and enforcement of a foreign arbitral award is 03 years from the date on which the foreign arbitral award takes legal effect. However, this time limit can also be extended if it can be proved that the cause of the delay in filing the application is under force majeure circumstances.

After receiving the application and considering accepting the settlement, in case the dossier is sent to the Ministry of Justice, the Ministry of Justice shall consider the application and enclosed documents and request the applicant to pay the fee as prescribed at the Office of the Ministry of Justice, then transfer the file to the authoritative court. Within 05 working days from the date of receipt of the dossier, the authoritative court shall consider and accept it as prescribed.

Accordingly, after considering, the court will hold a meeting and issue a decision to recognize or not to recognize the foreign arbitral award and notify relevant parties. Relevant individuals and organizations have the right to appeal or protest against that decision within 07 to 15 days from the date the court issues the decision.

Where a recognized award is to be enforced in Vietnam, the parties concerned are obliged to enforce that award. In case the party does not voluntarily execute the judgment, the judgment enforcement agency will carry out similar enforcement according to the provisions of the law on judgment enforcement in Vietnam.

At present, foreign arbitral awards might encounter challenges in recognition and enforcement in Vietnam due to complexed procedures. Therefore, it is important for individuals and organizations to learn and strictly follow the procedures as prescribed by law so that the process of recognition and enforcement in Vietnam can be carried out smoothly.

You could learn more about enforcement of foreign arbitral awards in Vietnam or contact our Arbitration lawyers in Vietnam for advice via email ant@antlawyers.vn or call our office at (+84) 24 730 86 529       

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Extension of Answering the Questionnaise on Anti-dumping Case AD16

Trade Remedies Authority of Vietnam issued the announcement on extension of the term of answering theofficial questionnaire on investigating the application of anti-dumpingmeasures on some products of office desks and chairs originating from China andMalaysia (Case No. AD16).

On December 06th, 2021, the Trade Remedies Authority of Vietnam issued
the official Questionnaire for the foreign manufacturers, exporters in the case No. AD16.

On January 05th, 2022, the Investigation agency extended the term of answer the questionnaire for the first time on January 26th, 2022.

According to Article 35.2 Decision No.10/2018/ND-CP on guidelines for the law on foreign trade management on trade remedies dated January 15th, 2018, within 30 days after receiving the investigation questionnaires, the concerned parties must provide written replies to all questions in the questionnaire. In case of necessity or there are written requests for extension with reasonable reasons from the concerned parties, the investigating authority may extend the time limit but not more than 30 days.

The Investigation agency extended the term of answering the questionnaire for the second time at 17:00 P.M on February 09th, 2022.

If Client needs any more information or request for legal advice or potential dispute regarding trade remedies measures including, anti-dumping, countervailing duty and safeguard measures or international trade dispute matters, our competition, anti-dumping, and countervailing duty lawyers in Vietnam of International trade and tax practice at ANT Lawyers, a law firm in Vietnam always follow up anti-dumping cases and its development to update clients on regular basis.   

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What Are Changes on Enterprise Registration According to Decree No.01/2021/ND-CP?

On January 4, 2021, the Government issued Decree No. 01/2021/ND-CP on enterprise registration.

From January 4, 2021, the following 04 procedures will be carried out in conjunction: Registration of establishment of enterprises, branches, representative offices in Vietnam; Labor usage declaration; Granting the number of the social insurance participant; Register to use invoices of the enterprise.

The enterprise code is also the enterprise’s taxpayer identification number and the unit participating in social insurance number of the enterprise. According to previous regulations, only the enterprise code was specified as the enterprise’s taxpayer identification number.

The Business Registration Office has the right to accept or reject the intended name for registration of the enterprise. The opinion of the Business Registration Office is the final decision to avoid the identical, mistaken enterprise name and violation of the regulations on enterprise naming. In case of disagreement with this decision, an enterprise may initiate a lawsuit in in Vietnam accordance with the law on administrative procedures.

In case an enterprise registers the date of business commencement after the date of being granted an enterprise registration certificate, the enterprise is entitled to do business from the date it is registered, except in the case of conditional business investment.

The person competent to sign the application for enterprise registration may authorize other organizations or individuals to carry out enterprise registration procedures. Authorized subjects may be individuals, organizations or non-public postal service providers or single service providers of public postal services. In case of authorizing a public postal service provider to carry out enterprise registration procedures, when carrying out enterprise registration procedures, postal staff must submit a copy of the application form according to the form provided by the operator. Public postal service providers to issue with certified signatures of postal staff and persons competent to sign written application for enterprise registration. In case of authorizing a non-public postal service provider to carry out enterprise registration procedures, the enterprise registration dossier must be accompanied by a copy of the service contract with the organization providing services to perform procedures related to enterprise registration, referral of that organization to the individual directly performing procedures related to enterprise registration and copies of legal papers of the individual introduce.

In addition, the Decree also stipulates that in addition to the way of paying fees and charges directly at the Business Registration Office, the fee payer can transfer money to the account of the Business Registration Office or use an electronic payment service. The enterprise registration fee is not refundable to an enterprise in the event that an enterprise is not granted an enterprise registration certificate. Online payment of fees and charges will also be supported on the National Business Registration Portal. However, the fee for using this service will not be included in the business registration fee, the fee for providing and disclosing information. In the event of an error in the electronic payment process, the fee or fee paying organization or individual should contact the service provider intermediary for settlement.

ANT Lawyers – A Law Firm in Vietnam with international standard, local expertise and strong international network. We focus on customers’ needs and provide clients with a high quality legal advice and services. For advice or services request, please contact us via email ant@antlawyers.vn, or call us +84 24 730 86 529.    

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India To Investigate Anti-dumping of Vinyl Tiles from Vietnam

On January 24th, 2022, the Ministry of Commerce and Industry of India (Directorate General of Trade Remedies) has issued initiation of anti-dumping investigation of imports of “Vinyl Tiles other than in roll or sheet form” originating in or exported from China PR, Taiwan and Vietnam (Case No. AD (OI) -16/2021). Ministry of Commerce and Industry received the allegations that the dumping of the product under consideration from the mentioned countries above is materially retarding the establishment of the domestic industry in India.

India To Investigate Anti-dumping of Vinyl Tiles from Vietnam

According to the Initiation notification, the product under consideration for the present investigation is “Vinyl Tiles, other than in roll or sheet form” under the following HS codes: 39181090, 39181010, 39189010, 39189020 and 39189090. However, is only indicative and not binding on the scope of the product under consideration in the present investigation. The period of investigation will be applied for the duration from October 1^st, 2020 to September 30^th, 2021.

According to the affirmation, imported products originating in or exported from the mentioned countries has no significant differences in the products produced by the domestic industry. As per the practice of the authority, the PCN methodology would be decided post initiation after inviting comments from all the interested parties. The interested parties may provide their comments/suggestions for the finalization of PCNs for the purpose of this investigation within 15 days from the date of the initiation of this investigation.

Accordingly, on the basis of proving that the conditions about dumping of the product under consideration originating in or exported from the mentioned countries and prove the damages cause from the causality alleged dumping in accordance with regulations. The Authority initiates an investigation to determine the existence, degree and effect of any alleged dumping in respect of the product under consideration originating in or exported from the mentioned countries and to recommend the amount of anti-dumping duty.

Besides, the relevant parties can send the submission within “confidential” or “non-confidential” and make a mark at the top of each page. The Authority may accept or reject the request for confidentiality on examination of the nature of the information submitted. If the Authority is satisfied that the request for confidentiality is not warranted or if the supplier of the information is either unwilling to public, it may disregard such information.

Therefore, the relevant parties should submit the investigate information to Designated Authority in India 30 days from the date of receipt of the notice as per Rule 6(4) of the Anti-Dumping Rules.

The relevant parties could consult with international trade dispute lawyers in Vietnam whom work with Indian counterparts for assistance in responding to India authorities.

If Client needs any more information or request for legal advice or potential dispute regarding trade remedies measures including, anti-dumping, countervailing duty and safeguard measures or international trade dispute matters, our competition, anti-dumping, and countervailing duty lawyers in Vietnam of International trade and tax practice at ANT Lawyers, a law firm in Vietnam always follow up anti-dumping cases and its development to update clients on regular basis.      

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What Are Regulation for Automatic Conviction Expungement?

In order to show the spirit of humanity, create conditions for those who have been convicted to reintegrate into the community and stabilize their lives, the Vietnam Penal Code has built a system to automatically have criminal records in Vietnam removed. Accordingly, former convicted persons who have met the prescribed conditions will be considered as unconvicted and they will not have to continue to bear any consequences due to their former convictions. However, the implementation of regulations on the issue of automatically expunging criminal records in practice encounters a number of difficulties and problems.

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It can be seen that, the need for recognition of criminal record removal is very obvious. Remission of criminal records will show a more positive recognition of the law for people who have been convicted of crimes and facilitate their participation in work and encourage them to quickly integrate into life. In the case of automatic conviction expungement, there are a number of changes that the former convicts should pay attention.

The natural condition of automatic conviction expungement.

In order to be automatically expunged, a convicted person must satisfy the conditions for automatic criminal record remission according to the provisions of the Penal Code. Accordingly, a person who has been convicted must satisfy the following conditions: (i) have fully served the legally effective conviction of the court or the statute of limitations for judgment enforcement, including the principal penalty, has expired. and additional penalties (fines, damages, court fees…); (ii) not to commit a new offense within the prescribed time limit. These are the basic conditions proving that the former convicted person has fulfilled all the obligations for his/her offense.

The implementation procedure, if an individual who has been convicted has a request for a certificate of criminal record remission.

Accordingly, the agency competent to handle the case is the agency that manages the judicial record database. Therefore, the National Center for Criminal Records – the Ministry of Justice will guide the Department of Justice to directly regulate the Detailed procedures to clear criminal records for cases where criminal convictions are automatically cleared. Individuals who wish to carry out the procedure of automatically expunging their criminal records will only need to prepare a set of documents requesting the issuance of a criminal record card and submit it to the Judicial Records Center or the Department of Justice of a province/ city where convicted person is a residence without having to provide any other documents. After receiving the dossier, the agency managing the judicial record database will be responsible for verifying the automatic conditions for criminal record remission and issuing a criminal record card confirming “no criminal record” if the individual has no criminal record eligible individuals as prescribed by law. Therefore, the provisions of the 2015 Penal Code on criminal record remission have naturally created more favorable and flexible conditions for individuals who have been convicted than in the previous procedure.

Regarding the verification of information about former convicts, the Department of Justice will send a written request for verification to the commune-level People’s Committee or the agency or organization where the convict resides and works after serving the sentence about whether that person is prosecuted, investigated, prosecuted or tried during the criminal conviction period. Commune-level People’s Committees and agencies and organizations will send a written notice of verification results to the Department of Justice. After receiving the written notification of verification results from the commune-level People’s Committees, agencies and organizations, the Department of Justice will handle criminal record remission for citizens.

Contrary to the previous regulations that the court will be the authority to issue a certificate of automatically expunging criminal records for convicts. According to current regulations, the authority belongs to the agency managing the judicial updates database information on the convict’s criminal history and, upon request, issue a judicial record card certifying that he or she has no previous criminal record, if all conditions are met. However, in reality, sometimes the current national database might not be synchronous. Therefore, when a convicted person requests for a judicial record card, the agency managing the judicial record database must take time to coordinate with relevant agencies such as the court, the procuracy, and the public prosecutor’s office… to verify the natural condition to delete the criminal record, which takes much time.

Therefore, at present, the confirmation of criminal record remission for the case of automatically expunging criminal records remission has specific regulations, but the implementation still faces many difficulties and complications affecting the interests of the requester. Hence individuals who have been convicted must keep relevant papers and documents to easily prove their claims are legal and save time and costs.  The individual could authorize a law firm to help with criminal record procedures in Vietnam.

ANT Lawyers - a Law firm in Vietnam with international standard, local expertise and strong international network. We focus on customers’ needs and provide clients with a high quality legal advice and services. For advice or service request, please contact us via email ant@antlawyers.vn, or call us +84 24 730 86 529.     

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Dispute Resolution Through Arbitration in Vietnam

Dispute resolution methods are litigation, negotiation, mediation and arbitration. Handing disputes requires litigation dispute law firm in Vietnam with dispute lawyers in Vietnam having experience and knowledge to provide resolutions to complex cross-border issues, commercial and civil disputes.

 Arbitration Law Firm in Vietnam 

In the current business environment, most business agreements could contain a clause stipulating that disputes arisen must be resolved in arbitration. For a dispute to be referred to arbitration, there must be a valid arbitration agreement in writing, either as an arbitration clause within a contract or a separate agreement.  If the agreement is included within the context of a contract, the arbitration clause is considered independent, and any modification, extension, or termination of the contract does not affect the validity of the arbitration clause. Vietnamese law allows for a written arbitration agreement to take the form in any written form, so long as the writing clearly indicates the parties’ intent to resolve any dispute via arbitration. If a dispute falls within the scope of a valid arbitration agreement, but a party attempts to initiate court proceedings, the residing court does not have jurisdiction over the matter, and must drop the case. Moreover, an arbitration agreement does not have to stipulate specific dispute matters and/or the arbitration organization authorized to resolve disputes without supplemental agreement.  Even if there is a valid arbitration agreement, Vietnamese Arbitration Law stipulates that in order for a dispute to go to arbitration, it must also fit into one of three categories:

(1) disputes arising from “commercial activities”;

(2) disputes where at least one party is engaged in commercial activities;

(3) other disputes where the law stipulates that arbitration is a permissible means of resolution.

In category (1), the term “commercial activity” is defined in Commercial Law No. 36-2005-QH11 (31 December 2005) as “activity for profit-making purposes comprising the purchase and sale of goods, provision of services, investment, commercial enhancement, and other activities for profit-making purposes.”  The types of disputes that often fall into the second category are noncommercial disputes, such as civil disputes, where at least one party to the dispute is engaged in commercial activities. However, this category does not apply in disputes between a good/service provider and a consumer. In this case, the law allows the party to choose between litigation and arbitration. Even the agreement includes a standard arbitration clause in the supply of goods or services contract, the dispute may not be arbitrated without the consumer’s consent. The final category of disputes permissible for arbitration gives legislators discretion to expand or maintain the types of disputes resolved through arbitration.  An example of a category (3) dispute is a dispute arising from investment activities governed by the Law on Investment.

Arbitration has become an extremely popular method of dispute resolution, as many businesses prefer it over the high costs of litigation.

Contact Us for Mediation Services in Vietnam  provided by qualified mediators and lawyers, supported by field experts.

ANT Lawyers – Arbitration law firm in Vietnam, recognized by Legal500, IFLR1000. We are an exclusive Vietnam member of Prea Legal, the global law firm network covering more than 150 jurisdictions. The firm provides a range of legal services to multinational and domestic clients. For advice or services request, please contact us via email ant@antlawyers.vn, or call us +84 24 730 86 529.       

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Extension of time for submitting questionnaise for Anti-dumping case

Extension of time for submitting questionnaire for Anti-dumping case AD16

Extension of time for submitting questionnaire for Anti-dumping investigation on table and chair products from the China and Malaysia (Code of case AD16).

On December 06th, 2021, The Department of Trade Remedies- The Ministry of Industry and Trade (Investigating Authority) issued anti-dumping investigation questionnaire on quantity and value for foreign manufacturers/exporters.

The goal is to facilitate foreign manufacturers/exporters to cooperate to respond the questionnaire, the Investigating Authority decided to extend the time to respond to the questionnaires for the relevant parties in the code of case AD16.

The extent of the response will be the same with the following instructions in official investigation questionnaire dated December 06th, 2021. After the extension period, the Investigating Authority does not receive timely responses from foreign manufacturers/exporters or the information provided is incorrect or incomplete, the Investigating Authority will use information and documents provided by related parties, the information and documents collected by the Investigating Authority or available information and documents for giving the result according to the regulation of Law on Foreign trade management.

The relevant parties must respond to the Investigation Authority before 17:00 January 26^th, 2022 (Hanoi time).

To ensure its rights and interests, the relevant parties need to answer and submit the questionnaire or authorize international trade dispute law firm with experience in anti-dumping area to assist.

If Client needs any more information or request for legal advice or potential dispute regarding trade remedies measures including, anti-dumping, countervailing duty and safeguard measures or international trade dispute matters, our competition, anti-dumping, and countervailing duty lawyers in Vietnam of International trade and tax practice at ANT Lawyers, a law firm in Vietnam always follow up anti-dumping cases and its development to update clients on regular basis.       

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