Vietnam: Guidance on process for appointing a mediator

According to Article 6 of the Circular No. 04/2020/TT-TANDTC of the Chief Justice of the Supreme People's Court of Vietnam, the process of appointing a mediator is carried out as follows:

1. Notice of need for selection of mediators

Based on the demand and the approved number of mediators, People's Courts of the districts and provinces shall announce the selection of the mediators and publicly post it on the local mass media, post it at the headquarters of the People's Court where there is a need within 15 working days from the date of posting the notice or listing.

2. Receipt of application for appointment of mediators

- Persons who are eligible according to the notice of need for selection of mediators shall submit a dossier to request the appointment of a mediator at the court where he or she wishes to work.

- The People's Court of the place where the application is received shall examine and receive the dossier with all documents as prescribed.

- Within 05 working days from the expiration of the time limit for receiving the dossier, the Court where the dossier is received must conduct the classification of the dossier. For cases where a certificate of training in mediation and dialogue skills is required, a list of people sent for retraining shall be sent to the provincial-level People's Court to summarize and report to the Supreme People's Court.

- The Department of Organization and Personnel of the Supreme People's Court synthesizes the list sent by the provincial People's Court and makes a document to transfer to the Court Academy to organize training courses and grant certificates as prescribed.

- After the cases sent to training have been granted certificates, the Courts where the dossiers are received shall select qualified persons and request in writing to the Chief Justices of the provincial-level People's Courts for consideration and appointment (via the unit advising on personnel organization of the provincial People's Court).

3. Counseling on selection of mediators

- Within 07 working days from the date of receipt of a complete application for appointment of a mediator, the unit advising on personnel organization of the provincial People's Court shall report to the Advisory Council for consideration and selection of mediator.

- Within 03 working days from the date on which the advisory unit on personnel organization of the provincial-level People's Court issues a document, the Advisory Council shall hold a meeting to consider, agree and issue a resolution to select the person qualified as a mediator.

4. Issue a decision to appoint a mediator

- Pursuant to the Resolution of the Advisory Council, the unit advising on personnel organization of the provincial People's Court shall submit to the Chief Justice of the provincial People's Court for decision to appoint a mediator.

- Within 05 working days, the Chief Justice of the People's Court of the province shall consider and decide to appoint the mediator. In case of refusal to appoint, the Chief Justice of the provincial-level People's Court must notify in writing and clearly state the reasons therefor.

5. Public announcement of the list of mediators

Within 05 working days from the date of issuance of the appointment decision, the Chief Justice of the provincial People's Court shall publish the list of mediators on the website of the provincial People's Court and post it at the court office where the mediator works; concurrently, send it to the Supreme People's Court (via the Organization and Personnel Department) for management and publish it on the Website of the Supreme People's Court as prescribed.

View more details at the Circular No. 04/2020/TT-TANDTC of the Chief Justice of the Supreme People's Court of Vietnam, effective from January 01, 2021.

Thuy Tram

>> CLICK HERE TO READ THIS ARTICLE IN VIETNAMESE