04 cases of civil lawsuits which cannot be mediated in Vietnam

04 cases of civil lawsuits which cannot be mediated in Vietnam (Internet image)

Regarding this issue, LawNet would like to answer as follows:

1. What is mediation in civil procedures?

Pursuant to Article 10 of the Civil Procedure Code 2015, the Courts have the responsibility to conduct mediation and create favorable conditions for the involved parties to reach agreement with one another on the resolution of civil cases under the provisions of the Civil Procedure Code 2015.

2. 04 cases of civil lawsuits which cannot be mediated in Vietnam

Cases of civil lawsuits which cannot be mediated in Vietnam include:

- The defendant and people with related rights and obligations have been duly summoned by the Court for the second time but are still intentionally absent.

- The litigant cannot participate in mediation for legitimate reasons.

- The litigant who is the spouse in the divorce case is the person who has lost civil act capacity.

- One of the litigants requested not to proceed with mediation.

(Article 207 of the Civil Procedure Code 2015)

3. Principle for conducting mediation in Vietnam

- During the period of preparation for the first-instance trial over cases, the Courts must carry out mediation for the involved parties to reach agreement on the resolution of the cases, except cases which must not be mediated or cannot be mediated as stipulated in Articles 206 and 207 of the Civil Procedure Code 2015 or cases settled under simplified procedures.

- The mediation must be conducted on the following principles:

+ Respect for the voluntary agreement of the involved parties, non-use of force or non-threat to use force to compel the involved parties to reach agreements against their will;

+ The contents of agreements between the involved parties must not contravene law and social ethics.

(Article 205 of the Civil Procedure Code 2015)

4. How are cases of civil lawsuits which cannot be mediated in Vietnam handled?

According to Article 208 of the Civil Procedure Code 2015, notification about meetings for checking the handover of, access to and disclosure of evidences and mediating is prescribed as follows:

- The Judges shall hold meetings for checking the handover of, access to and disclosure of evidences and mediating between involved parties. Before holding the meetings, the Judges shall notify the involved parties, their lawful representatives and defense counsels of their rights and interests of time, venue and contents of the meetings.

- If the mediation over the civil lawsuits as cannot be conducted as prescribed in Articles 206 and 207 of the Civil Procedure Code 2015, the Judge shall hold the meetings for checking the handover of, access to and disclosure of evidences without mediation.

- Regarding marriage and family cases involving minors, before hold the meetings for checking the handover of, access to and disclosure of evidences and mediating between involved parties, the Judges and/or Ombudspersons assigned by the Courts shall collect materials and evidences to determine reasons for the arising of the disputes.

When it is deemed necessary, the Judges may refer to opinions of family affair authorities and children affair authorities about the situations of the families, reasons for the arising of disputes and the expectation of the wives, husbands and children related to the cases.

Regarding disputes over child rearing after divorces or change of post-divorce child custodian, the Judges shall depend on the expectation of the children who are underage and not younger than 7; when it is deemed necessary, representatives of family affair authorities and children affair authorities shall witness and contribute opinions.

The collection of expectation of underage children and the conduct of other procedures for minors must be friendly, suitable for the psychology, age, mature level and the awareness of the minors, ensuring legitimate rights and interests and personal secret of minors.

Thus, if a civil case is not conciliated or cannot be conciliated, the Judge will conduct a meeting to check the handover, access, and disclosure of evidence without conciliation.

Nguyen Ngoc Que Anh

>> CLICK HERE TO READ THIS ARTICLE IN VIETNAMESE