Rights and obligations of parties in mediation or dialogue at court in Vietnam

Rights and obligations of parties in mediation or dialogue at court in Vietnam (Internet image)

1. What is mediation and dialogue at court?

Mediation at court refers to mediation activity conducted by a Mediator before the court accepts a civil case in order to assist parties in mediation to negotiate the civil case settlement as per the Law on mediation or dialogue at the Court 2020.

Dialogue at court means a dialogue conducted by a mediator before the court accepts an administrative case, in order to assist the parties in dialogue to negotiate the settlement of administrative lawsuit as per the Law on mediation or dialogue at the Court 2020.

(Clause 2 and 3, Article 2 of the Law on mediation or dialogue at the Court 2020)

2. Rights and obligations of parties in mediation or dialogue at court in Vietnam

2.1. Rights of parties in mediation or dialogue at court in Vietnam

According to Clause 1, Article 8 of the Law on mediation or dialogue at the Court 2020, the parties have the following rights:

- Agree or refuse to participate in mediation, dialogue or terminate mediation or dialogue;

- Participate in mediation or dialogue in person or through a representative as specified in Clauses 2 and 3, Article 25 of the Law on mediation or dialogue at the Court 2020;

- Choose a mediator from the list of mediators of a court that has jurisdiction to settle civil cases or administrative lawsuits; in cases falling under the jurisdiction of People's Court of district, a mediator of other People's Court of district in the same administrative boundaries with the People’s Court of province may be selected;

- Propose to change the mediator in accordance with the Law on mediation or dialogue at the Court 2020;

- Engage an interpreter, by themselves or upon request to the mediator, in case where the participants in the mediation or dialogues do not know Vietnamese or have hearing, speech or vision disabilities;

- Request the mediator, participants in mediation or dialogue, other entities, and the judge who attends the meeting to record the outcome of mediation or dialogue to keep their provided information confidential;

- Express will, propose methods and solutions for settling disputes, requests and complaints; agree on the content of mediation or dialogue;

- Request the court to recognize the successful mediation or successful dialogue;

- Request the obligor to fulfill obligations as agreed in the successful mediation or successful dialogue;

- Request the competent court to reconsider the decision on recognition of successful mediation or successful dialogue in accordance with the Law on mediation or dialogue at the Court 2020.

2.2. Obligations of the parties to conciliation and dialogue at the Court

The parties have the following obligations:

- Comply with law;

- Participate in mediation, dialogue in an amicable and cooperative manner to promote the mediation process, dialogue to achieve positive outcome;

Present accurately the details and contents of the case, promptly provide complete information, documents and evidence related to the case at the request of the mediator;

- Take responsibility for the authenticity of the information, documents and evidence provided during the mediation or dialogue process; 

If any information, document or evidence provided is fake, the outcome of mediation or dialogue will be invalidated; in case of any criminal indication, they shall be handled as per the criminal law;

If causing damage to other entities, they must pay restitution therefor as per the law;

- Respect mediators and relevant parties; execute requests of mediators in accordance with this Law;

- Abide by the regulations on mediation or dialogue at court;

- Fulfill obligations as agreed in the successful mediation or successful dialogue.

(Clause 2, Article 8 of the Law on mediation or dialogue at the Court 2020)

3. Principles of mediation or dialogue at court in Vietnam

According to Article 3 of the Law on mediation or dialogue at the Court 2020, principles of mediation or dialogue at court include: 

- Parties in mediation or dialogue (hereinafter referred to as parties) must voluntarily participate in mediation or dialogue.

- Respect the willingness and agreement of the parties; it is forbidden to force the parties to agree against their will.

- Ensure equality of rights and obligations between the parties.

- The content of a mediation or dialogue agreement does not violate the prohibition of the law, is not contrary to social morality, is not intended to evade obligations to the State or other agencies, organizations or individuals, and does not infringe lawful rights and interests of other entities.

- Information relating to mediation or dialogue must be kept confidential in accordance with Article 4 of this Law.

- Methods of mediation or dialogue are conducted flexibly and in accordance with the actual situation and features of each type of case.

- Mediators shall conduct mediation or dialogue in an independent manner and in accordance with law.

- The spoken and written language used in mediation or dialogue is Vietnamese. Participants in mediation or dialogue have the right to use the spoken and written language of their ethnic group; in this case, they may, by themselves or request the mediator to, engage an interpreter for them.

- Participants in mediation or dialogue are people who have hearing, speech, or vision disabilities have the right to use language, symbols and words dedicated for people with disabilities; in this case, sign language interpreters, oral interpreters, or cued-speech interpreters must be engaged.

- Ensuring gender equality, protecting children's legitimate rights and interests in mediation or dialogue.

Thanh Rin

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