Difficulties in the Reimbursement of Advance Court Fees

Typically, after a successful divorce, the enforcement agency must return to the litigant the 100,000 VND that was previously deposited as a court fee, but "no one bothers to take it back." This creates considerable difficulty for the bailiffs due to the backlog of files, and they may not meet their targets by the end of the year because there are many such 100,000 VND files. Some bailiffs are even permitted to deliver the money directly to the litigants' homes, which is very burdensome.

The public opinions on this matter are varied. Some people live far away, and spending hundreds of thousands of VND to retrieve 100,000 VND is not worthwhile. Others are busy with work, and administrative procedures consume much time, so they prefer "the state to keep it." In reality, the rate of people not coming to receive the money is very high, up to 98%. So how are these procedures regulated, leading to such a situation?

According to Article 36, Article 126 of the Law on Civil Judgment Enforcement 2008, amended and supplemented in 2014:

Step 1: The head of the civil judgment enforcement agency issues a decision to return the money or assets temporarily seized in cases where the judgment or decision declares the return of assets to the litigant.

Step 2: After the decision to return the money or assets temporarily seized is made, the bailiff notifies the litigant of the time and place to receive the money or assets. If:

- After 15 days from the notification date, the litigant does not come to receive the money, the bailiff deposits that money in a non-term savings account and notifies the litigant.- After 03 months from the notification date, if the litigant does not come to receive the assets without a legitimate reason, the bailiff handles the assets according to the provisions of this Law and deposits the proceeds in a non-term savings account, notifying the litigant.- After 05 years from the effective date of the judgment or decision, if the litigant still does not come to receive the deposited money without a legitimate reason, the civil judgment enforcement agency completes the procedures to transfer the money to the state treasury.

Thus, returning assets to the litigant is very time-consuming, regardless of the value of the assets. If the assets are of significant value, depositing in a non-term savings account is not an issue. However, for small values like 100,000 VND while having a large quantity, long-term savings deposits are unreasonable and create difficulties for banks in managing so many accounts. Therefore, a prompt solution is needed to remove obstacles and difficulties for bailiffs in executing judgment enforcement tasks.

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