Chương II Bộ luật tố tụng dân sự 2015: Những nguyên tắc cơ bản

Chapter II

BASIC PRINCIPLES

Article 3. Compliance with laws in civil procedures

All civil procedural activities of presiding agencies, presiding officers, civil procedure-participants and of relevant individuals, agencies and organizations must comply with the provisions of this Code.

Article 4. Right to request Courts to protect legitimate rights and interests

1. Individuals, agencies and organizations defined by this Code shall have the right to institute civil lawsuits, request the resolution of civil matters at competent Courts in order to protect the justice, human’s rights, civil rights, benefits of the State, legitimate rights and interests of their own or of others.

2. Courts must not refuse to settle a civil case for the reason that there is no applicable law provision for such case.

A civil case without applicable law provisions is a civil case falling within the governing scope of civil laws but there is no applicable law provision at the time such civil case arises and an agency/organization/individual requests the Court to settle.

The settlement of civil case specified in this clause shall comply with the principles prescribed in the Civil Code and this Code.

Article 5. Involved parties' right to decision-making and self-determination

1. The involved parties shall have the right to decide whether to initiate civil lawsuits, petition jurisdictional Courts to settle the civil cases. The Courts shall only accept for settlement of civil cases when they have received lawsuit petitions and/or written requests from an involved party and shall settle the civil cases only within the scope of such lawsuit petition or written request.

2. During the settlement of a civil case, the involved parties shall have a right to terminate or change their petitions or voluntarily reach agreement with one another, which is not contrary to law and social ethics.

Article 6. Supply of evidences and proof in civil procedures

1. The involved parties shall have the right and obligation to initiatively collect and supply evidence to Courts and prove that their petitions are well grounded and lawful.

Agencies, organizations and individuals initiating lawsuits or file their petitions to protect legitimate rights and interests of their own or of other persons shall have the right and obligation to collect and supply evidence and to prove the ground and the lawfulness like the involved parties.

2. The Courts shall assist the involved parties to collect evidence and shall only collect and verify the evidence in the cases prescribed by this Code.

Article 7. Responsibility of competent individuals, agencies and organizations to supply materials and evidences

Agencies, organizations and individuals shall, within the scope of their tasks and powers, provide the involved parties, the Courts, the People’s Procuracy with materials and evidences currently being under their possession or management sufficiently and timely at the petition of the involved parties, the Courts and the Procuracy according to regulations in this Code and shall take legal responsibility for the supply of such materials and evidences; in case they cannot do so, a written notification containing the explanation shall be made and sent to the involved parties, the Courts and the Procuracy.

Article 8. Equality in rights and obligations in civil procedures

1. All people are equal before law regardless of their ethnics, religions, educational levels, occupations and social levels.

All agencies, organizations and individuals are equal in the implementation of rights and obligations in civil procedures.

2. The Courts have the responsibility to create equal conditions for agencies, organizations and individuals to exercise their rights and obligations in civil procedure

Article 9. Ensuring the involved parties' right to protect legitimate rights and interests

1. The involved parties have the right to defend themselves or to ask lawyers or other persons who satisfy conditions specified in this Code to protect their legitimate rights and interests.

2. The Courts have the responsibility to ensure the conditions for the involved parties to exercise their right to defense.

3. The State has the responsibility to provide legal assistant for such entities according to law provisions enabling them to exercise the right to protect their legitimate rights and interests before the Courts.

4. No one shall limit the right to protect legitimate rights and interests of the involved parties in civil procedures.

Article 10. Mediation in civil procedures

The Courts have the responsibility to conduct mediation and create favorable conditions for the involved parties to reach agreement with one another on the resolution of civil cases under the provisions of this Code.

Article 11. Participation of People’s Jurors in adjudication of civil lawsuits

1. The adjudication of first instance of civil lawsuits shall be attended by the People’s Jurors as prescribed in this Code, except for adjudication under the simplified procedures.

2. Upon the vote for decisions on settlement of civil lawsuits, the People’s Jurors are equal in powers to the Judges.

Article 12. Judges, People’s Jurors are independent in adjudication of civil lawsuits and settlement of civil matters and only comply with law

1. Upon trial over civil lawsuits, Judges and People’s Jurors shall be independent and only comply with law.

2. All acts of hindering or interfering the adjudication of Judges and People’s Jurors or the settlement of civil matters of Judges are strictly prohibited.

Article 13. Responsibilities of civil proceeding authorities and proceeding officers

1. Proceeding authorities/officers must respect people and submit to people’s supervision.

2. The Courts are responsible for the protection of the justice, human’s rights, civil rights, socialist regime, benefits of the State, legitimate rights and interests of organizations and individuals.

The procuracies are responsible for the protection of the law, human’s rights, civil rights, socialist regime, benefits of the State, legitimate rights and interests of organizations and individuals and contribute in the assurance that law is strictly and consistently complied with.

3. Proceeding authorities/officers must keep the State secrets and work secret according to law; preserve the nation’s fine customs and practices, protect minors, keep professional secrets, business secrets, personal secrets of the involved parties at their legitimate petitions.

4. The proceeding authorities/officers shall take legal responsibility for the performance of their tasks and powers. If a proceeding officer commits a violation against law, depending on the nature and severity of the violation, he/she shall be disciplined or liable to criminal prosecution according to law provisions.

5. If a proceeding officer, during the performance of his/her tasks and powers, commits illegal acts that causes damages to an agency/organization/individual, then the direct management agency of such officer shall pay the compensation to the aggrieved party according to law provisions pertaining to compensation responsibility.

Article 14. Collective trials by Courts

A Court shall conduct the collective trial over civil lawsuits and make decisions under the majority rule, except for adjudication according to simplified procedures.

Article 15. Prompt, equal and public trials by Courts

1. The Court trials shall be conducted promptly and within the time prescribed in this Code and must ensure the equality.

2. The Court trials shall be public. In special cases that it is necessary to keep the State secrets, preserve the nation’s fine customs and practices, protect minors or to keep professional secrets, business secrets, personal secrets of the involved parties at their legitimate claims, the Courts may conduct the trials behind closed doors.

Article 16. Ensuring impartiality and objectiveness in civil procedures

1. Chief Justices, Judges, People’s Jurors, ombudspersons, Court clerks, procurators chairpersons, prosecutors, inspectors, interpreters, expert-witnesses and members of Price Assessment Councils must not conduct or participate in civil procedures if there are good reasons to believe that they may not be impartial in performing their tasks and exercising their powers.

2. The assignment of proceeding officers must ensure the conditions for them to be impartial and objective when exercising their tasks and powers.

Article 17. Following the two-level adjudication regime

1. The Courts shall follow the two-level adjudication regime.

The first-instance judgments or decisions of the Courts can be appealed against under the provisions of this Code.

First-instance judgments or decisions of the Courts which are not appealed against according to appellate procedures within the time limit provided for by this Code shall become legally effective. Where first-instance judgments or decisions are appealed against, the cases must undergo appellate trials. The appellate judgments or decisions shall be legally effective.

2. The Courts' first-instance judgments or decisions of the Courts which have already taken legal effect but have been detected with law violations or new details according to provisions of this Code shall be reviewed according to the cassation or reopening procedures.

Article 18. Cassation of trials

The Supreme People’s Court shall conduct cassation of trials of all Courts; Collegial People’s Courts shall conduct cassation of trials of People’s Courts of central-affiliated cities and provinces (hereinafter referred to as People’s Courts of provinces), People’s Courts of districts, towns, provincial-affiliated cities and cities affiliated to central-affiliated cities (hereinafter referred to as People’s Courts of districts) within their competence to ensure that law is applied strictly and consistently.

Article 19. Assurance of the effect of Courts' judgments and decisions

1. Legally effective judgments and decisions of Courts must be enforced and strictly observed by all agencies, organizations and individuals.

2. Within the scope of their respective tasks and powers, Courts and agencies or organizations which are assigned the tasks to enforce Courts' judgments or decisions must strictly enforce them and bear responsibility before law for the performance of such tasks.

3. Courts may request the enforcement authorities to notify them of the progress and the result of the enforcement of the Courts’ judgments/decisions. The enforcement authorities directly in charge of the enforcement of the Courts’ judgments/decisions shall respond the Courts’ request.

Article 20. Spoken and written language used in civil procedures

Spoken and written language to be used in civil procedures shall be the Vietnamese.

Participants in civil procedures may use the voices and scripts of their ethnic groups; in this case interpreters are required.

Participants in civil procedures being people having hearing, speaking or visual disability may use the language of disabled people; in this case interpreters are required.

Article 21. Supervising the law observance in civil procedures

1. The Procuracies shall supervise the law observance in civil procedures and exercise the rights to petition, recommendation or appeal according to law provisions in order to ensure lawful and timely resolution of civil cases.

2. The Procuracies shall participate in first-instance meetings for civil matters; first-instance trials of lawsuits where evidence are collected by the Courts or where matters under dispute are public properties, public benefits, land use right, housing use right or involved parties are minors, legally incapacitated persons or, persons with limited capacity of exercise, people with limited cognition or behavior control or cases specified in clause 2 Article 4 of this Code.

3. The procuracies shall participate in appellate, cassation and reopening trials/meetings.

4. The Supreme People’s Procuracy shall preside over and cooperate with the Supreme People’s Court in providing guidance on the implementation of this Article.

Article 22. Courts' responsibility for forwarding documents and papers

1. The Courts shall have the responsibility to delivery, forward and notify of their judgments, decisions, summons, invitations and other relevant documents to the participants in the civil procedures according to the provisions of this Code.

2. People’s Committees of communes or relevant agencies, organizations and individuals shall forward the judgments, decisions, summons, invitations and other relevant documents of the Courts at the request of the Courts and shall notify the Courts of the result of such forwarding.

Article 23. Participation of agencies, organizations and individuals in civil procedures

Agencies, organizations and individuals shall have the right and obligation to participate in civil procedures according to the provisions of this Code, contributing to the lawful and prompt resolution of civil cases at courts.

Article 24. Assurance of oral argument in adjudication

1. The Courts shall ensure that the involved parties and people protecting legitimate rights and interests of the involved parties implement the right to get involve in oral argument in first-instance trials, appellate trials, cassation trials and reopening trials according to provisions of this Code.

2. The involved parties and the people protecting the legitimate rights and interests of the involved parties may collect and submit the evidences and relevant materials to the Courts since the Courts accepted civil lawsuits and shall notify to each other of the submitted materials and evidences; present, give question and answer, express opinions about evidences and present applicable provisions to defend their claims and their legitimate rights and interests or to reject others’ claims according to provisions of this Code.

3. During the process of adjudication, every material and evidence shall be reviewed sufficiently, obviously, comprehensively and publicly, except for cases where materials and evidences must not be published prescribed in clause 2 Article 109 of this Code. The Courts shall direct the oral argument, make question about unclear matters and issue judgments/decisions on the basis of the argument result.

Article 25. Assurance of the right to complaints and denunciations in civil procedures

Agencies, organizations and individuals shall have the right to complain about, individuals shall have the right to denounce, illegal acts of proceeding authorities/officers or of any agencies, organizations and individuals in civil proceedings.

Competent agencies, organizations or individuals must accept, consider and settle promptly and lawfully complaints and denunciations; notify in writing the settlement results to the complainants and denouncers.