Responsibilities for settling procedural expenditure and administrative fees in Vietnam under the Criminal Procedure Code 2015

Responsibilities for settling procedural expenditure and administrative fees in Vietnam under the Criminal Procedure Code 2015 (Internet image) 

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

1. Responsibilities for settling procedural expenditure and administrative fees in Vietnam under the Criminal Procedure Code 2015

Responsibilities for settling procedural expenditure and administrative fees according to Article 136 of the Criminal Procedure Code 2015 is as follows:

- The expenditure as defined in Section 4, Article 135 of the Criminal Procedure Code 2015 is paid by authorities or individuals requisitioning activities or assigned to make payments. If a governmental legal aid center appoints a defense counsel, it shall cover relevant expense.

- The person convicted or the government incurs the Court fee as per the laws. The person convicted must incur the Court fee according to the Court’s rulings. The amount of Court fee and calculation grounds shall be specified in the Court’s judgments and rulings.

- The crime victim, if petitioning for the lawsuit, shall incur the Court fee upon the Court’s declaration of the defendant’s innocence or upon the suspension of the lawsuit as per the stipulations in Section 2, Article 155 of the Criminal Procedure Code 2015.

- The coverage of administrative fees and expenses for proced

2. Regulations on procedural expenses in Vietnam under the Criminal Procedure Code 2015

Regulations on procedural expenses according to Article 135 of the Criminal Procedure Code 2015 are as follows:

- Procedural expenses are composed of Court fee, administrative fees and procedural expenditure.

- Court fee includes fees for criminal and civil first-instance and appellate Courts hearing criminal cases.

- Administrative fees include payables for copies of judgments, decisions and other documents from competent procedural authorities and other payables as per the laws.

- Procedural expenditure comprises:

+ Payables for witness testifiers, interpreters, translators, defense counsels appointed;

+ Payables for expert examination and valuation;

+ Other payables as per the laws.

3. Procedures for issuing and delivering procedural documents by hand in Vietnam

Procedures for issuing and delivering procedural documents by hand according to Article 138 of the Criminal Procedure Code 2015 are as follows:

- The individuals issuing and delivering procedural documents shall directly pass such documents to the recipients. The recipients must sign a record or delivery journal. The time limit for legal procedure commences on the date of the recipient’s affixture of signature onto the record or delivery journal.

- If the recipient is absent, procedural procedures may be given to his family members with adequate legal capacity and such persons must undertake to hand over documents to the recipient promptly. The date of the family member’s affixture of signature is the issue date or sending date of the procedural documents.

If procedural documents cannot be delivered to the recipient as stipulated in this Section, such documents may be handed to local authorities in the commune, ward or town where the recipient resides or his workplace or education facility and forwarded to the recipient.

The authorities and organizations concerned must report to the competent procedural authorities making requests about the outcome of the issuance and delivery of procedural documents. The date of the family member’s affixture of signature is the issue date or sending date of the procedural documents.

- If the recipient is absent or his address is unknown, the individuals issuing or delivering documents must execute a written record of their failure confirmed by the representative of authorities near the recipient’s dwelling, or his workplace or educational facility.

If the recipient disapproves delivery of procedural documents, the individuals issuing or delivering such documents must execute written records of the recipient's refusal, which shall be confirmed by  the representative of authorities near the recipient’s dwelling, or his workplace or educational facility.

- If procedural documents are delivered to an organization, they shall be handed to the representative of such organization, who affixes his signature. The time limit for legal procedure commences on the date of the said representative's affixture of signature onto the record or delivery journal.

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