Court costs are the costs related to the trial of a case that the parties must pay in each case as regulated by the competent authority. In Vietnam, there are various types of court costs, including civil court costs, criminal court costs, administrative court costs, etc. For example, in disputes over land within the civil field, the amount to be paid will be based on the disputed value of the land use right.
Article table of contents
1. The responsibility for paying litigation costs according to Vietnam’s regulations
According to Article 195 of the Civil Procedure Code 2015 of Vietnam, the responsibility for paying litigation costs is specified as follows:
After receiving lawsuit petitions and accompanied materials and/or evidence, if deeming that the cases fall within the courts’ jurisdiction, the Judges shall immediately notify the litigators thereof so that they may come to Courts for carrying out procedures to advance the Court fees in cases where they are liable thereto.
Steps to make payment of court cost advances:
Step 1: Upon receiving the notice, the litigators go to the court to complete the procedure for making payment of court cost advances.
Step 2: The litigators receive the notice on payment of court fee advances
Step 3: Within 07 days from the day on which the courts' notices on payment of Court fee advances are received, the litigators must pay such advances.
Step 4: The litigators must submit the receipts for payment of court fee advances.
Note: The Court shall only accept the petitions when the litigators have submitted to the Courts the Court fee advance payment receipts.
However, in cases where the litigators are exempt from, or not required to pay, Court fee advances, the Judges must accept the petitions upon receiving the lawsuit petitions and accompanied materials and/or evidence.
According to Clause 9 Article 26 of the Civil Procedure Code 2015 of Vietnam, dispute over land is one of the civil disputes falling under the courts' jurisdiction. Therefore, the litigators in a dispute over land will also fulfill the obligation to make payment of court fee advances as stipulated above.
The use of the term "tạm ứng" (“advances”) originates from the fact that it is an “estimated” amount determined by the Judge based on the existing grounds. This advanced amount of court fees may change, and the party responsible for paying the fees is not necessarily the litigator but will depend on the result of settlement of the case.
2. Persons have the obligation to pay court fees in dispute over land
Obligations to pay for the advances are specified in Article 25 of the Resolution No. 326/2016/UBTVQH14 of the Standing Committee of the National Assembly of Vietnam as follows:
The litigator in a civil dispute must pay for the advances of the first-instance civil court costs. This means that the litigator in a dispute over land will be the one responsible for paying for the court fee advances.
However, it is important to distinguish between the obligation to make a payment of the court fee advances and the obligation to bear the court fees as prescribed in Article 26 of the Civil Procedure Code 2015. According to this article, if all the demands of the litigator are accepted by the court, the defendant will bear the entire preliminary first-instance civil court costs. Conversely, if none of the litigator's demands are accepted by the court, he/she will bear the entire first-instance civil court costs.
Thus, it can be seen that the obligation to make payment of court fee advances by the litigator is only temporary and serves as a guarantee. The determination of the party responsible for bearing the litigation fees depends on the result of settlement of the case. In other words, the party that loses the case will be the one responsible for paying the litigation fees.
3. Amount of court fee advances for disputes over land
According to Article 27 of the Resolution No. 326/2016/UBTVQH14 stipulating the obligations to bear the first-instance court costs in some specific cases, court fees for disputes over land shall be determined as follows:
- For disputes over the property ownership and land use rights of which the value is not determined by the Court but only the ownership of such property and rights is considered, then the involved parties shall bear the first-instance civil court costs as if the cases do not have a monetary value. This means that the court fee is VND 300,000.
- For disputes over the ownership of properties and land use rights when the Court has to determine the value of the property and the ownership by portion, the involved parties shall bear the first-instance civil court costs for the value enjoyed.
Detailed court fees are specified in the list of court costs and fees attached to Resolution No. 326/2016/UBTVQH14 as follows:
The above information provides details about the responsibility for paying court fees, the party responsible for paying these fees, and the amount of fees for civil disputes and specifically for disputes over land. LawNet hopes this information can be helpful for the needs of our Customers and Members.
Thuy Tram
