What you should know when handing over documents and evidence in a civil case in Vietnam

What you should know when handing over documents and evidence in a civil case in Vietnam (Source: Internet)

1. Rights and obligations to hand over documents and evidence in civil cases in Vietnam

During the process of resolving civil cases by courts, the involved parties shall have the rights and obligations to hand over materials and evidences to the courts.

If the handed materials/evidences are inadequate to form the base for resolution of the matters/cases, the Judge shall request the involved parties to supplement the materials/evidences.

If the involved parties fail to hand over the materials/evidences or do not hand over adequately the materials/evidences requested by the Courts, the Courts shall resolve the civil cases pursuant to the materials and evidences handed over by the involved parties and those collected by the Courts according to regulations in Article 97 of of the Civil Procedure Code 2015 to settle civil cases.

(Clause 1, Article 96 of the Civil Procedure Code 2015)

2. Regulations on handing over documents and evidence in civil case in Vietnam

2.1. Electronic submission of documents and evidence in civil cases.

- Plaintiffs and procedure participants send documents and evidence electronically to the Court via the Court's portal, except for the case specified in Clause 2, Article 19 of Resolution 04/2016/NQ-HTP;

- After receiving documents and evidence from plaintiffs and procedure participants specified in Clause 1, Article 17 and Clause 1, Article 18 of Resolution 04/2016/NQ-HDTP, the Court examines documents and evidence received and sends the notice of receipt of documents and evidence from the Court's web portal to the registered email address of the plaintiff or procedure participant within 3 working days from the date of receipt of receipt of documents and evidence.

(Article 18, Resolution 04/2016/NQ-HDTP)

2.2. Presenting documents and evidence in civil court in Vietnam

- Plaintiffs and procedure Participants who have submitted documents and evidence via the Court's portal must submit the originals or lawful copies of such documents and evidence no later than:

+ Checking sessions for handover, access to and disclosure of evidence, and conciliation;

+ Checking sessions to ensure proper handover, access to and disclosure of evidence, and dialogue.

- For documents and evidence that procedure participants send to the Court by the following electronic means:

+ Checking sessions for handover, access to and disclosure of evidence, and conciliation;

+ At the meeting to check the handover, access, and disclosure of evidence and dialogue, the time limit for handing over the originals and lawful copies of such documents and evidence shall comply with the procedural law.

For documents and evidence specified in Clause 2, Article 109 of the Civil Procedure Code and Clause 2, Article 96 of the Law on Administrative Procedures, evidence is evidence; audio or visual documents or other documents and evidence that cannot be formatted as electronic data messages as guided in Clause 1, Article 6 of Resolution 04/2016/NQ-HDTP, then:

The courts, plaintiffs, and other procedural participants may not send them electronically but must hand them over by other methods as prescribed by the procedural law.

(Article 19, Resolution 04/2016/NQ-HDTP)

3. Minutes of handing over documents and evidence in civil cases in Vietnam

The hand-over of materials/evidences to Courts by involved parties must be recorded in the minutes. The minutes must clearly state:

- The appellations, forms, contents, characteristics of the materials/evidences;

- The number of copies, the number of pages and time of reception;

- The signatures or append finger prints of the deliverers, the signatures of the recipients and seals of the courts.

The minutes must be made in two copies, one of which shall be incorporated in the civil case files and the other shall be handed to the involved parties handing over the evidences.

(Clause 2, Article 96 of the Civil Procedure Code 2015).

4. Deadline for submitting documents and evidence in Vietnam

Deadline for handing over materials and evidences shall be defined by the Judges in charge of the cases provided that such time does not exceed the duration of preparation for adjudication according to first-instance procedures and/or the duration of preparation for resolution of civil matters according to regulations in Civil Procedure Code 2015.

- If the Courts request the involve parties to hand over materials and evidences but the involved parties fail to comply with due to good and sufficient reason and supply the required materials and evidences when decisions to bring the cases to trial according to first-instance procedures and the decisions to hold meetings to resolve the civil matters have been issued, such involved parties must prove the reasons for the lateness of supply of such materials/evidences.

- Regarding materials and evidences which the Courts did not request the involved parties to supplied or materials and evidences that the involved parties cannot know about during the resolution of the cases according to first-instance procedures, the involved parties may supply and present such materials/evidences in first-instance trial sessions or the meetings for resolving civil matters or later procedural stages of the resolution of such civil cases.

(Clause 4, Article 96 of the Civil Procedure Code of 2015).

5. Language in the handed documents and evidence 

The materials/evidences submitted in ethnic minority languages or foreign languages to Courts by the involved parties must be enclosed with their Vietnamese translations that are lawfully notarized or authenticated.

(Clause 3, Article 96 of the Civil Procedure Code of 2015).

Note:

When involved parties hand over documents and evidence to the court, they must make copies and send such documents and evidence to other involved parties or lawful representatives of other involved parties;

For documents and evidence related to state secrets, the nation's fine customs and traditions, and professional secrets, business secrets, personal secrets, family secrets, or documents and evidences that cannot be sent, must notify in writing to other involved parties or lawful representatives of other involved parties.

Ngoc Nhi

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