What are the cases of re-commencement of prescriptive period for initiating legal action for civil cases in Vietnam?

What are the cases of re-commencement of prescriptive period for initiating legal action for civil cases in Vietnam? (Internet image) 

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

1. What is prescriptive period?

According to Article 149 of the Civil Code 2015, prescriptive period means a time limit provided by law where, upon its expiry, a legal consequence arises as prescribed by law.

The prescriptive periods shall apply as prescribed in the Civil Code 2015 and relevant laws.

- A court only applies provisions in terms of prescriptive periods at the request of a party or the parties provided that such request is filed before the first trial court of first instance gives a judgment and/or a decision on settlement.

The person benefiting from the application of the prescriptive period may refuse to apply such prescriptive period, unless such refusal is aimed at evading his/her obligations.

2. What are the cases of re-commencement of prescriptive period for initiating legal action for civil cases in Vietnam?

Article 157 of the Civil Code 2015 stipulates that the prescriptive period for initiating legal action for a civil case shall re-commence in any of the following cases:

- The obligor has acknowledged part or all of its obligations to the plaintiff;

- The obligor has acknowledged or fulfilled part of its obligations to the plaintiff;

- The parties have become reconciled.

The prescriptive period for initiating legal action for a civil case shall re-commence from the date following the date on which the event provided above occurs.

3. What is the commencement of prescriptive periods for initiating legal action for civil cases in Vietnam?

- The commencement of the prescriptive period for initiating legal action for a civil case shall be calculated from the date on which the eligible person knows or should know that his/her legal rights or interests are infringed, unless otherwise provided by law.

- The commencement of the prescriptive period for requesting resolution of a civil case shall be calculated from the date when the right to request arises, unless otherwise provided by law.

(Article 154 of the Civil Code 2015)

4. What are the cases of non-applicability of prescriptive periods in Vietnam?

A prescriptive period for initiating legal action for a civil case shall not apply in any of the following cases:

- Request for the protection of personal rights not associated with property;

- Request for the protection of ownership rights, unless otherwise provided by this Code or relevant laws.

- Dispute over land use right as prescribed in the Law on land;

- Other cases as provided by law.

(Article 155 of the Civil Code 2015)

5. Time periods excluded from prescriptive periods for initiating legal action for civil cases in Vietnam

The time period during which one of the following events occurs shall be excluded from prescriptive periods for initiating legal action for civil cases and from prescriptive periods for requesting resolution of civil cases:

- An event of force majeure or other objective hindrance which renders the person with the right to initiate legal action for a civil case or make the request not able to do so within the prescriptive period.

An event of force majeure is an event which occurs in an objective manner which is not able to be foreseen and which is not able to be remedied by all possible necessary and admissible measures being taken.

An objective hindrance is a hindrance which in an objective context results in a person with civil rights or obligations not knowing that his or her lawful rights and interests have been infringed or not being able to exercise his or her rights or fulfill his or her civil obligations;

- The person with the right to initiate legal action for a civil case or to make the request is a minor or a legally incapacitated person, a person with limited cognition and behavior control or a person with limited legal capacity, and does not yet have a representative.

- The representative of a minor or a legally incapacitated person, a person with limited cognition and behavior control or a person with limited legal capacity has not yet been replaced in any of the following cases:

= The representative being natural person dies or the representative being juridical person ceases to exist;

= The representative, for good reasons, cannot continue his/her representation.

(Article 156 of the Civil Code 2015)

Nguyen Ngoc Que Anh

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