Vietnam: Provisional emergency measures in civil proceedings

Vietnam: Provisional emergency measures in civil proceedings (Internet image)

1. Right to petition the application of provisional emergency measures in Vietnam

According to Article 111 of the Civil Procedure Code 2015, during the resolution of civil lawsuits, the involved parties or their lawful representatives or agencies, organizations or individuals instituting the cases defined in Article 187 of Civil Procedure Code 2015 may petition the Courts handling such cases to apply one or more provisional emergency measures provided for in Article 114 of Civil Procedure Code 2015:

+ To provisionally deal with the urgent petitions of the involved parties,

+ To protect lives, health, properties,

+ To gather and protect evidences,

+ To preserve their current conditions in order to avoid irrecoverable damage and to ensure the lawsuit settlement or judgment execution.

In urgent cases where it is necessary to immediately protect evidences or to prevent possible serious consequences, relevant agencies, organizations and individuals may petition the competent Courts to issue decisions to apply provisional emergency measures prescribed in Section 2, simultaneously with the submission of applications to initiate the lawsuits to such courts.

The Courts shall issue decisions on their own to apply the provisional emergency measures only in the cases provided for in Article 135 of Civil Procedure Code 2015.

2. Provisional emergency measures in Vietnam

Provisional emergency measures prescribed in Article 114 of the Civil Procedure Code 2015 include:

- Sending minor persons, legally incapacitated persons, person with limited cognition or behavior control to individuals or organizations for looking after, nurturing, taking care of and educating.

- Forcing the prior performance of part of the alimony obligation.

- Forcing the prior performance of part of the obligation to compensate for damage to individuals whose lives and/or health have been infringed upon.

- Forcing the employers to provide the employees with advance wages, health insurance, social insurance, treatment cost for occupational accidents or occupational diseases or compensations, allowances for occupational accidents or occupational diseases.

- Suspending the execution of decisions on unilateral termination of labor contract or decisions on dismissal of employees.

- Distraining the disputed properties.

- Prohibiting the transfer of property right over the disputed properties.

- Prohibiting the change of the current conditions of disputed properties.

- Permitting the harvesting, sale of subsidiary food crops or other products, commodities.

- Freezing accounts at banks or other credit institutions, State treasury; freezing properties at places of their deposit.

- Freezing properties of the obligor.

- Prohibiting involved parties from performing, or forcing them to perform certain acts.

- Prohibiting the obligors from leaving Vietnam.

- Prohibiting the contact with victims of family violence.

- Suspending the bid closing and activities related to bidding.

- Arresting aircrafts or ships to ensure the lawsuit settlement.

- Other provisional emergency measures provided for by law.

3. Procedures for application of provisional emergency measures in Vietnam

Any person who petitions the Court to apply a provisional emergency measure must make an application and send it to a competent court. Such application according to the provisions of Clause 1, Article 133 of the Civil Procedure Code 2015 must contain the following principal details:

- Date of the application;

- Name, address; phone number, fax, e-mail address (if any) of the petitioner for the application of provisional emergency measures;

- Name, address; phone number, fax, e-mail address (if any) of the persons subject to the application of provisional emergency measures;

- Summarized contents of the dispute or act of infringing upon the legitimate rights and interests of his/her own;

- Reasons for the application of the provisional emergency measures;

- Provisional emergency measures to be applied and specific requirements.

Depending on the requests for application of provisional emergency measures, the petitioners must provide the Courts with evidences to prove the necessity to apply such provisional emergency measures.

4. Competence to decide on the application, change or cancellation of provisional emergency measures in Vietnam

Competence to decide on the application, change or cancellation of provisional emergency measures specified in Article 112 of the Civil Procedure Code 2015 is as follows:

- Before the opening of a Court session, the application, change or cancellation of provisional emergency measures shall be considered and decided by a Judge.

- In the Court sessions, the application, change, cancellation of provisional emergency measures shall be considered and decided by the trial panels.

5. Cases of courts making decisions on application of provisional emergency measures by themselves in Vietnam

Pursuant to Article 135 of the Civil Procedure Code 2015, the Courts shall make decisions on application of provisional emergency measures specified in clauses 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5 Article 114 of this Code by themselves in cases where the involved parties do not petition the application of provisional emergency measures. Specifically, these measures include:

- Sending minor persons, legally incapacitated persons, person with limited cognition or behavior control to individuals or organizations for looking after, nurturing, taking care of and educating.

- Forcing the prior performance of part of the alimony obligation.

- Forcing the prior performance of part of the obligation to compensate for damage to individuals whose lives and/or health have been infringed upon.

- Forcing the employers to provide the employees with advance wages, health insurance, social insurance, treatment cost for occupational accidents or occupational diseases or compensations, allowances for occupational accidents or occupational diseases.

- Suspending the execution of decisions on unilateral termination of labor contract or decisions on dismissal of employees.

Van Trong

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