Territorial jurisdiction of Courts to settle civil matters and lawsuits by territory in Vietnam

Territorial jurisdiction of Courts to settle civil lawsuits by territory in Vietnam

Pursuant to Clause 1, Article 39 of the Civil Procedure Code 2015, territorial jurisdiction of Courts to settle civil lawsuits shall be determined as follows:

- The Courts of the localities where the defendants reside or work, applicable to defendants being individuals, or where the defendants are headquartered, applicable to defendants being agencies or organizations, shall have the jurisdiction to settle according to first-instance procedures for civil, marriage- and family-related, business, trade or labor disputes prescribed in Articles 26, 28, 30 and 32 of the Civil Procedure Code 2015;

- The involved parties shall have the right to agree with each other in writing to petition the Courts of the localities where the plaintiffs reside or work, applicable to plaintiffs being individuals, or where the plaintiffs are headquartered, applicable to plaintiffs being agencies or organizations, to settle civil, marriage and family-related, business, trade or labor disputes prescribed in Articles 26, 28, 30 and 32 of the Civil Procedure Code 2015;

- Disputes over real estates must be settled by Courts where such real estates are located.

Note: If a civil lawsuits has been accepted by a Court and is being resolved according to regulations of the Civil Procedure Code 2015 on the territorial jurisdiction of Courts but the residence, headquarter or transaction place of the involved parties is changed, such civil lawsuits shall be continuously resolved by that Court.

Territorial jurisdiction of Courts to settle civil matters and lawsuits by territory in Vietnam (Internet image)

Territorial jurisdiction of Courts to settle civil matters by territory in Vietnam

Pursuant to Clause 2, Article 39 of the Civil Procedure Code 2015, territorial jurisdiction of Courts to settle civil matters shall be determined as follows:

- The Courts of the areas where persons who are to be declared to be incapable of civil acts or having limited capacity of exercise or having limited cognition or behavior control reside or work shall have the jurisdiction to resolve such petitions;

- The Courts of the areas where persons absent from their residential places are to be announced for search or to be declared missing or dead reside for the last time, shall have the jurisdiction to settle petitions for announcement of the search for persons absent from their residential places and management of such persons' properties or petitions for declaring a person missing or dead;

- The Courts of the areas where the persons petition to repeal the declaration of being incapable of civil acts or having limited capacity of exercise or having limited cognition or behavior control reside or work shall have the jurisdiction to repeal such declaration.

The Court which has issued a decision to declare a person missing or dead shall have the jurisdiction to resolve petitions to revoke its decision;

- The Courts of the areas where the persons who are obliged to execute foreign courts’ civil, marriage and family, business, trade, or labor judgments or decisions reside or work, applicable to judgment debtors being individuals, or where the judgment debtors are headquartered, applicable to judgment debtors being agencies or organizations, or where exists the property relating to the enforcement of such judgments or decisions of foreign courts, shall have the jurisdiction to resolve petitions for recognition and enforcement of foreign courts' civil, marriage and family, business, trade or labor judgments or decisions in Vietnam;

- The Courts of the areas where the petition senders reside or work, applicable to individuals, or where the petition senders are headquartered, applicable to agencies or organizations, shall have the jurisdiction to settle petitions for non-recognition of foreign courts' civil, marriage and family, business, trade or labor judgments or decisions, which are not requested to be enforced in Vietnam;

- The Courts of the areas where the persons who are obliged to execute award of foreign arbitrators reside or work, applicable to judgment debtors being individuals, or where the judgment debtors are headquartered, applicable to judgment debtors being agencies or organizations, or where exists the property relating to the enforcement of foreign arbitrators' award, shall have the jurisdiction to resolve the petitions for recognition and enforcement in Vietnam the award of foreign arbitrators;

- The Courts of the areas where illegal marriages are registered shall have the jurisdiction to resolve petitions to revoke such illegal marriages;

- The Court of the area where one of the parties to a voluntary divorce, agreed child custody or property division resides or works shall have the jurisdiction to resolve the petition for recognition of the voluntary divorces and the agreement on child custody and property division upon divorces;

- The Court of the area where one of the parties that petitions the Court to recognize their agreement on change of post-divorce child custodian resides or works shall have the jurisdiction to resolve that petition.

If the agencies, organizations and individuals petition for the change of post-divorce child custodian, the Court where the child resides shall have the jurisdiction to resolve that petition;

- The Court of the area where one parent of a minor child resides or works shall have the jurisdiction to resolve a petition to restrict rights of the father or mother towards the minor child or his/her right to see the child after the divorce;

- The Court of the area where an adoptive parent or adopted child resides or works shall have the jurisdiction to resolve a petition to terminate the child adoption;

- The Courts of the area where notary organization which have performed notarization are located shall have the jurisdiction to settle the petitions for declaration of notarized documents to be invalid;

- The Courts of the localities where competent judgment-executing bodies are headquartered or where exist properties related to the judgment enforcement shall have the jurisdiction to settle petitions for determination of property ownership or use rights and for division of common properties for judgment enforcement and other petitions according to provisions of Law on enforcement of civil judgments;

- The territorial jurisdiction of Courts to settle petitions related to the settlement by Vietnamese commercial arbitrations of disputes shall comply with the law on commercial arbitration;

- The Courts of the localities where a property is located shall have the jurisdiction to resolve the petitions for recognition of such property to be ownerless in Vietnam’s territory and the petition for recognition of the ownership of the person who currently use such ownerless property;

- The Courts of the locality where a surrogate mother resides or works shall have the jurisdiction to resolve petitions related to the surrogacy;

- The Courts of the locality where a person having a common property shall have the jurisdiction to resolve the petitions for recognition of the agreement on termination of effect of the division of common property during the marriage that is conducted according to the judgment/decision of the Courts;

- The Courts of the locality where the petitioner resides or works shall have the jurisdiction to resolve petitions for recognition of the successful medication at the Court;

- The Courts of the locality where the petitioner resides or works shall have the jurisdiction to resolve the petitions for declaration of nullification of the agreement on properties of spouses according to legislation on marriage and family; the petitions for determination of father and mother for a child according to legislation on marriage and family;

- The Courts of the locality where a headquarter of a enterprise is located shall have the jurisdiction to resolve the petitions for cancellation of the resolution of the Shareholder general assembly or a resolution of the Member assembly;

- The Courts of the locality where a labor contract/collective bargaining agreement is concluded shall have the jurisdiction to resolve the petitions for declaration of such labor contract/collective bargaining agreement to be invalid;

- The Courts of the locality where a strike occurs shall have the jurisdiction to resolve the petitions for determination of the lawfulness of the strike;

- The territorial jurisdiction of the Courts in resolving the petition for arrest of aircrafts/vessels shall comply with regulations in Article 421 of the Civil Procedure Code 2015.

Mai Thanh Loi

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