Vietnam: What rights and obligations does the defender of the legitimate rights and interests of litigants in civil proceedings have?
- What rights and obligations does the defender of the legitimate rights and interests of litigants in civil proceedings have in Vietnam?
- Who can act as a defender of the legal rights and interests of litigants in civil proceedings in Vietnam?
- What documents do lawyers have to present in order to be issued a certificate of participation in civil proceedings in Vietnam?
What rights and obligations does the defender of the legitimate rights and interests of litigants in civil proceedings have in Vietnam?
Pursuant to Article 76 of the 2015 Code of Civil Procedure of Vietnam, the rights and obligations of defenders of the legitimate rights and interests of litigants are as follows:
- To participate in the procedures right at the time of lawsuit initiation or at any stage in the civil procedures.
- To collect and supply materials and evidences to courts; to study case files and to take notes, to copy necessary materials in the case files in order to defend the legitimate rights and interests of the involved parties, except for materials and evidences specified in clause 2 Article 109 of this Code.
- To participate in mediation, Court sessions or make their written defense of the legitimate rights and interests of the involved parties to Courts for consideration.
- To petition on behalf of the involved parties the replacement of proceeding officers and/or other procedure participants according to the provisions of this Code.
- To provide involved parties with legal aid related to the defense of their legitimate rights and interests; if they are authorized by the involved parties, they shall receive the papers and procedural documents that are transmitted or notified by the Court on behalf of the involved parties and shall give then to the involved parties.
- To comply with rights and obligations specified in clauses 1, 6, 16, 17, 18, 19 and 20 of Article 70 of this Code.
- To have other rights and obligations prescribed by law.
Vietnam: What rights and obligations does the defender of the legitimate rights and interests of litigants in civil proceedings have?
Who can act as a defender of the legal rights and interests of litigants in civil proceedings in Vietnam?
Pursuant to Article 75 of the 2015 Code of Civil Procedure of Vietnam, it provides as follows:
Article 75. Defense counsels of involved parties' legitimate rights and interests
1. The defense counsels of involved parties' legitimate rights and interests are persons who participate in the procedures to protect the involved parties' legitimate rights and interests.
2. The following persons can act as defense counsels of the involved parties legitimate rights and interests when they were asked by the involved parties and have been accepted by Courts to participate in the procedures to protect the involved parties’ legitimate rights and interests:
a) Lawyers who participate in the procedures under the provisions of the legislation on lawyers;
b) Legal aid officers or persons participating in legal aid under the law on legal aid;
c) Representatives of employee collective’s representative organizations who are defense counsels of employee’s legitimate rights and interests in labor cases according to legislation on labor and trade union;
d) Vietnamese citizens who have full civil act capacity, have clean criminal records or have been expunged convictions, who do not fall into the cases subject to the application of administrative handling measures; who are not cadres or civil servants in the Court or procuracy sector, officers or non-commissioned officers in the public security force.
3. The defense counsels of the involved parties' legitimate rights and interests can defend the legitimate rights and interests of more than one involved party in the same case, if those persons' legitimate rights and interests do not conflict each other. Many defense counsels of the involved parties' legitimate rights and interests may jointly defend the legitimate rights and interests of one involved party in a case.
4. When applying the Court to carry out the registration procedure for defense counsels of involved parties’ legitimate rights and interests, the applicant shall present the following papers:
a) The lawyers shall present papers according to regulations in the Law on lawyers;
b) Legal aid officers or persons participating in legal aid under the law on legal aid shall present the written appointment for legal aid issued by the organizations providing legal aid and the cards of legal aids or lawyer’s card;
c) Representatives of employee collective’s representative organization shall present the writing that such organizations have appointed them to defend the legitimate rights and interests of the employees/collective labor;
d) Vietnamese citizens satisfying conditions specified in point d clause 2 of this Article shall present the written petitions of the involved parties and their identity papers.
5. After checking papers, if the applicant is satisfactory to act as the defense counsel of the involved parties’ legitimate rights and interests as prescribed in clauses 2, 3 and 4 of this Article, within 03 working days from the day on which the application is received, the Court shall record to the register the defense counsel of the involved parties’ legitimate rights and interests and shall certify the application for defense counsels of the involved parties. If the application is rejected, the Court shall send the applicant a written notification containing the explanation.
Accordingly, the following individuals can act as defenders of the litigant's legitimate rights and interests in civil proceedings.
- Lawyers participating in legal proceedings in accordance with the law on lawyers;
- Legal aid practitioners or participants in legal aid in accordance with the law on legal aid;
- The representative of a representative organization of the labor collective is the one who protects the legitimate rights and interests of employees in labor cases in accordance with the law on labor and trade unions;
- Vietnamese citizens with full civil act capacity, no criminal record or have had their convictions expunged, not in cases where administrative measures are being applied; are not cadres and civil servants in the courts, procuracies and civil servants, officers and non-commissioned officers in the Police.
What documents do lawyers have to present in order to be issued a certificate of participation in civil proceedings in Vietnam?
Pursuant to Clause 2, Article 27 of the 2006 Law on Lawyers of Vietnam as amended by Clause 14, Article 1 of the 2012 Amended Law on Lawyers of Vietnam provides as follows:
Article 27. The lawyer’s participation in proceedings
…
2. When participating in proceedings as a protector of the lawful rights and interests of a litigant in a civil case, an administrative lawsuit, protecting the lawful rights and interests of a victim, a civil plaintiff, a civil defendant, and persons having relevant rights and obligations in a criminal lawsuit, the lawyer must present the lawyer’s card and the written request for a lawyer of the client. Within 03 working days from the day the lawyer presents his or her lawyer’s card and the written request for a lawyer of the client, the presiding agency shall issue a certificate of the participation in the proceedings of the lawyers. The refusal must be notified and explained in writing.
In case an apprentice lawyer comes with an instructing lawyer in a civil case, an administrative lawsuit as prescribed in Clause 3 Article 14 of this Law, the instructing lawyer shall present the certificate of apprentice lawyer and written agreement of the client when contacting with other organizations and individuals.
According to the above provisions, lawyers will be granted certificates of participation in proceedings by the procedural agency when protecting the legitimate rights and interests of litigants in civil cases or administrative cases if they can present the following documents:
- Lawyer's Card
- A written request to the client's attorney.
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