Process for initiating commercial disputes involving foreign elements in Vietnam

For each commercial dispute with a foreign element, in case the parties cannot reach a general agreement through negotiation or conciliation, one of the parties will File a lawsuit to request dispute resolution at commercial arbitration or at a competent people's court. In general, the process of initiating a commercial dispute involving a foreign element will include the following tasks:

1. Determine the jurisdiction of the commercial arbitrator/court

1.1. Jurisdiction of commercial arbitration

Article 2 of the 2010 Commercial Arbitration Law stipulates the arbitration's dispute resolution authority for disputes including: (i) disputes between parties arising from commercial activities; (ii) a dispute arises between parties in which at least one party has commercial activities; and (iii) other disputes between the parties that are prescribed by law to be resolved by Arbitration.

In addition to the dispute falling under one of the above cases, the parties must agree to resolve the dispute by arbitration through the establishment of an arbitration agreement before or after the dispute occurs.

1.2. Jurisdiction of the People's Court

In case it is determined that a business or commercial dispute with a foreign element falls under the general or separate jurisdiction of the Vietnamese People's Court according to Article 469 and Article 470 of the 2015 Civil Procedure Code, the disputing parties The dispute must identify a specific court to file the lawsuit and related documents, specifically as follows:

• Determining jurisdiction according to the case: Pursuant to Article 30 of the 2015 Civil Procedure Code, commercial disputes with foreign elements fall under the court's jurisdiction;
• Determining jurisdiction by court level: depending on the type of dispute, commercial disputes with foreign elements fall under the jurisdiction of the district court according to Article 35.1.b of the 2015 Civil Procedure Code or fall under the jurisdiction of the district court according to Article 35.1.b of the 2015 Civil Procedure Code. the right to resolve disputes of the provincial court according to Article 37.1.(a) of the 2015 Civil Procedure Code.
• Determination of territorial jurisdiction: based on Article 39 of the 2015 Civil Procedure Code.

In addition, the plaintiff has the right to choose a court to resolve commercial disputes involving foreign elements in some cases according to Article 40 of the 2015 Civil Procedure Code.

2. Prepare a lawsuit

To sue a commercial dispute with a foreign element at a commercial arbitrator or a people's court with jurisdiction to accept it, the litigating party must prepare a petition with all the contents as prescribed in Article 30 of the Law on Arbitration. commercial arbitration for cases of lawsuits filed at commercial arbitration; or Article 189.4 of the 2015 Civil Procedure Code for cases of lawsuits in court.

3. Prepare documents and evidence to prove the lawsuit request

The party initiating a trade dispute involving a foreign element must prove that its legitimate rights and interests have been violated as well as prove facts related to the disputed content based on documents and evidence. filed with the petition. When the parties cannot collect evidence and make a request, the commercial arbitrator or court will consider and participate in the evidence collection process (if necessary).

4. Submit the lawsuit petition and documents and evidence

In case of dispute resolution in court, the litigating party may submit directly or by post the petition along with relevant documents and evidence to the competent people's court. In case of dispute resolution at an arbitration center, the plaintiff must send the lawsuit dossier to the arbitration center. In case the dispute is resolved by ad hoc arbitration, the plaintiff must send a petition to the defendant. Note that in case of dispute resolution by arbitration, the litigating party's lawsuit documents must be submitted along with the arbitration agreement.