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)

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

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

Pursuant to Clause 1, Article 8 of the Law on mediation or dialogue at the Court 2020, the parties in mediation or dialogue at court 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 this Law;

- 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. Obligations of the parties to conciliation and dialogue at the Court in Vietnam

Pursuant to Clause 2, Article 8 of the the Law on mediation or dialogue at the Court 2020, the parties in mediation or dialogue at court in Vietnam 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.

3. Costs incurred in mediation or dialogue at court in Vietnam

Pursuant to Article 9 of the Law on mediation or dialogue at the Court 2020, costs incurred in mediation or dialogue at court are as follows:

- The costs incurred in mediation or dialogue at court shall be covered by the state budget, except for the cases specified in Clause 2 of Article 9 of the Law on mediation or dialogue at the Court 2020.

- The parties in mediation or dialogue at court must bear the following costs:

+ Mediation costs for disputes on business and trade related to monetary claim;

+ Costs incurred when the parties agree to select a place for mediation or dialogue outside the court's headquarters; costs incurred when the mediator examines the current state of assets related to the civil case or administrative lawsuit which are outside the administrative boundaries of the province where the competent court is located;

+ Costs incurred in foreign language interpretation.

- The Government shall elaborate the rates and procedures for collection and remittance, management and use of the costs prescribed in Clause 2 of Article 9 of the Law on mediation or dialogue at the Court 2020.

Ho Quoc Tuan

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