Forms of arbitration agreement in Vietnam

Forms of arbitration agreement in Vietnam (Internet image)

1. Forms of arbitration agreement in Vietnam

Article 16 of the Law on Commercial Arbitration 2010 stipulates the form of arbitration agreement as follows:

- An arbitration agreement may be made in the form of an arbitral clause in a contract or in the form of a separate agreement.

- An arbitration agreement must be in writing. The following forms of agreement may also be regarded as written form:

+ Agreement made through communication between the parties by telegram, fax, telex, email or other forms provided for by law;

+ Agreement made through exchange of written information between the parties;

+ Agreement recorded in writing by a lawyer, notary public or competent institution at the request of the parties:

+ In their transactions, the parties make reference to a document such as a contract, document, company charter or other similar documents which contains an arbitration agreement;

+ Agreement made through exchange of petitions and self-defense statements which reflect the existence of an agreement proposed by a party and not denied by the other party.

2. Consumer right to select dispute settlement modes in Vietnam

Article 17 of the Law on Commercial Arbitration 2010 stipulates consumer right to select dispute settlement modes as follows:

For disputes between goods or service providers and customers, though an arbitral clause has been included in general conditions on goods and service provision drafted by goods or service providers, consumers may select arbitration or a court to settle these disputes. Goods or service providers may initiate lawsuits at arbitration only if so consented by consumers.

3. Invalid arbitration agreements in Vietnam

Article 18 of the Law on Commercial Arbitration 2010 stipulates the cases of invalid arbitration agreements as follows:

- Disputes arise in the domains falling beyond the arbitration's jurisdiction defined in Article 2 of the Law on Commercial Arbitration 2010.

- The arbitration agreement maker has no competence defined by law.

- The arbitration agreement maker has no civil act capacity under the Civil Code.

- The form of the arbitration agreement is incompliant with Article 16 of the Law on Commercial Arbitration 2010.

- A party is deceived, intimidated or compelled in the course of making the arbitration agreement and requests a declaration that such arbitration agreement is invalid.

- The arbitration agreement breaches prohibitions specified by law.

4. Independence of arbitration agreement in Vietnam

Article 19 of the the Law on Commercial Arbitration 2010 stipulates the independence of arbitration agreement as follows:

An arbitration agreement is entirely independent from the contract. Any modification, extension, cancellation, invalidation or nonperformance of the contract will not invalidate the arbitration agreement.

Ngoc Nhi

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