Vietnam: Is mediation or dialogue at Court mandatory? Is there a fee for mediation or dialogue at court?
Is mediation or dialogue at Court mandatory?
Pursuant to Article 3 of the 2020 Law on Mediation or Dialogue at Court in Vietnam stipulating:
Principles of mediation or dialogue at court
1. Parties in mediation or dialogue (hereinafter referred to as parties) must voluntarily participate in mediation or dialogue.
2. Respect the willingness and agreement of the parties; it is forbidden to force the parties to agree against their will.
3. Ensure equality of rights and obligations between the parties.
4. The content of a mediation or dialogue agreement does not violate the prohibition of the law, is not contrary to social morality, is not intended to evade obligations to the State or other agencies, organizations or individuals, and does not infringe lawful rights and interests of other entities.
5. Information relating to mediation or dialogue must be kept confidential in accordance with Article 4 of this Law.
6. Methods of mediation or dialogue are conducted flexibly and in accordance with the actual situation and features of each type of case.
7. Mediators shall conduct mediation or dialogue in an independent manner and in accordance with law.
8. The spoken and written language used in mediation or dialogue is Vietnamese. Participants in mediation or dialogue have the right to use the spoken and written language of their ethnic group; in this case, they may, by themselves or request the mediator to, engage an interpreter for them.
Participants in mediation or dialogue are people who have hearing, speech, or vision disabilities have the right to use language, symbols and words dedicated for people with disabilities; in this case, sign language interpreters, oral interpreters, or cued-speech interpreters must be engaged.
9. Ensuring gender equality, protecting children's legitimate rights and interests in mediation or dialogue.
Thus, the organization of mediation or dialogue at Court must be voluntarily participated by the parties, not required.
Vietnam: Is mediation or dialogue at Court mandatory? Is there a fee for mediation or dialogue at court?
Is it possible to choose a mediator at the Court?
According to Clause 1, Article 8 of the 2020 Law on Mediation or Dialogue at Court in Vietnam:
Rights and obligations of parties in mediation or dialogue at court
1. The parties have the following rights:
a) Agree or refuse to participate in mediation, dialogue or terminate mediation or dialogue;
b) Participate in mediation or dialogue in person or through a representative as specified in Clauses 2 and 3, Article 25 of this Law;
c) Choose a mediator from the list of mediators of a court that has jurisdiction to settle civil cases or administrative lawsuits; in cases falling under the jurisdiction of People's Court of district, a mediator of other People's Court of district in the same administrative boundaries with the People’s Court of province may be selected;
d) Propose to change the mediator in accordance with this Law;
d) Engage an interpreter, by themselves or upon request to the mediator, in case where the participants in the mediation or dialogues do not know Vietnamese or have hearing, speech or vision disabilities;
e) Request the mediator, participants in mediation or dialogue, other entities, and the judge who attends the meeting to record the outcome of mediation or dialogue to keep their provided information confidential;
g) Express will, propose methods and solutions for settling disputes, requests and complaints; agree on the content of mediation or dialogue;
h) Request the court to recognize the successful mediation or successful dialogue;
i) Request the obligor to fulfill obligations as agreed in the successful mediation or successful dialogue;
k) Request the competent court to reconsider the decision on recognition of successful mediation or successful dialogue in accordance with this Law.
Thus, when participating in mediation and dialogue at the Court, the parties have the right to choose a mediator from the list of mediators of a court or to propose to change the mediator.
Is there a fee for mediation or dialogue at court?
Pursuant to Clause 1, Article 6 of the 2020 Law on Mediation or Dialogue at Court in Vietnam stipulating:
Budget for mediation or dialogue at court
1. The State shall set aside funding for mediation or dialogue at court from the state budget and other lawful funding sources in accordance with law.
Thus, in principle, the funding for mediation or dialogue at court is taken from the state budget. However, except for the cases specified in Clause 2, Article 9 of the 2020 Law on Mediation or Dialogue at Court in Vietnam, guided in Article 3 of Decree No. 16/2021/ND-CP as follows:
Expenses for mediation and dialogue at Court as prescribed in Clause 2, Article 9 of the Law on Mediation or Dialogue at Court in Vietnam
1. Mediation expenses for business and commercial disputes with the value specified at Point a, Clause 2, Article 9 of the Law on Mediation and Dialogue at Court include:
a) Paying the mediator's remuneration, administrative expenses in service of the mediation (expenses for stationery, drinking water, postage and telecommunications charges directly serving the mediation);
b) Expenses specified in Clause 2, Article 3 of this Decree.
2. For the remaining mediation and dialogue cases, the parties participating in the mediation or dialogue at court must bear expenses in the following cases:
a) Expenses when the parties to the mediation or dialogue agree to choose a venue for the mediation, the dialogue outside the court's headquarters as prescribed at Point b, Clause 2, Article 9 of the Law on Mediation or Dialogue at Court shall include: including: Travel expenses, accommodation allowance, room rental of the Mediator; the cost of renting the venue and other expenses directly serving the actual mediation and dialogue;
b) Expenses when the mediator examines the current state of assets related to civil cases or administrative lawsuits, which are outside the administrative boundaries of the province where the court has jurisdiction to settle the case of mediation and dialogue at the head office as prescribed at Point b, Clause 2, Article 9 of the Law on Mediation or Dialogue at Court, including: travel expenses, accommodation allowance, and room rental of the mediator; expenses for renting equipment and machinery or for hiring functional units or organizations to serve the purpose of reviewing the current state of assets;
c) Expenses for foreign language interpretation as prescribed at Point c, Clause 2, Article 9 of the Law on Mediation or Dialogue at Court include: expenses for hiring translators and interpreters from foreign languages into Vietnamese and opposite.
LawNet
