JOINT CIRCULAR No. 01/2019/TTLT-TANDTC-BNG stipulates the procedures and formalities for cooperation between People's Courts and agencies representing the Socialist Republic of Vietnam abroad to carry out certain civil and administrative litigation activities abroad.

JOINT CIRCULAR

Regulations on the procedures and formalities for cooperation between the People's Court and the Agency representing the Socialist Republic of Vietnam abroad to carry out certain civil and administrative litigation activities abroad

representing the Socialist Republic of Vietnam abroad to carry out

certain civil litigation and administrative litigation activities abroad

Based on the Civil Procedure Code dated November 25, 2015;

Based on the Administrative Procedure Law dated November 25, 2015; litigationon November 25, 2015;

Pursuant to Based on the Law on Agencies Representing the Socialist Republic of Vietnam Abroad dated June 18, 2009;Article 6 of the Law on the National Office of Vietnam Abroad dated November 21, 2017;

Based on the Law Amending and Supplementing Certain Provisions of the Law on Agencies Representing the Socialist Republic of Vietnam Abroad dated November 21, 2017; Article of the Law on the National Office of Vietnam Abroad dated November 21, 2017;

Based on Decree No. 26/2017/NĐ-CP dated March 14, 2017 of the Government stipulating the functions, tasks, powers, and organizational structure of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs;The President of the Supreme People's Court and the Minister of Foreign Affairs issue this Joint Circular to regulate the procedures and formalities for cooperation between the People's Court and the Agency representing the Socialist Republic of Vietnam abroad (hereinafter referred to as the Court and the Agency) to carry out certain civil and administrative litigation activities abroad as follows:

The Chief Justice of the Supreme People's Court and the Minister of Foreign Affairs jointly issue this Circular to regulate the procedures for coordination between the People's Courts and the National Office of Vietnam Abroad to implement certainSocialist Republic of Vietnam abroad to carry out certaincivil litigation and administrative litigation activities litigationabroad.

PART I

GENERAL PROVISIONS

Article 1. Scope of Regulation

Article 1. This Joint Circular regulates the procedures and formalities for cooperation between the People's Court and the Agency representing the Socialist Republic of Vietnam abroad (hereinafter referred to as the Court and the Agency) to carry out certain civil and administrative litigation activities abroad as follows:

a) Serving civil procedural documents to Vietnamese citizens abroad according to Clause d, Point 1, Article 474, Point a, Clause 6, Point 1, Article 477, Clause 2, Article 479, Article 480 of the Civil Procedure Code, Clause d, Point 1, Article 303, Clause 2, Articles 307 and 308 of the Administrative Procedure Law;

b) Notifying civil procedural documents to Vietnamese citizens, foreign individuals, and foreign organizations residing abroad according to Clause 3, Article 474, Point c, Clause 6, Point 1, Article 477, Clauses 2 and 3, Article 479, Article 480 of the Civil Procedure Code, Clause 3, Article 303, Clauses 2 and 3, Articles 307 and 308 of the Administrative Procedure Law.

Article 2. This Joint Circular does not apply to the activities of serving civil procedural documents and collecting evidence as stipulated in Points a, b, and c, Clause 1, Article 474, Article 475 of the Civil Procedure Code, and Points a, b, and c, Clause 1, Article 303 of the Administrative Procedure Law.

Article 2. Applicability

This Joint Circular applies to the first-instance courts, appellate courts, the Agency, parties, and other individuals, agencies, and organizations related to civil and administrative litigation activities that the Court requests the Agency to perform abroad.

Article 3. Explanation of Terms

In this Joint Circular, the following terms shall be understood as follows:

1. "Serving civil procedural documents" means the Agency sending civil procedural documents of the Court to Vietnamese citizens abroad through guaranteed postal service.

2. "Notifying civil procedural documents" means the Agency publicly posting at its office or publishing on its electronic portal the civil procedural documents of the Court to notify Vietnamese citizens, foreign individuals, and foreign organizations residing abroad.

3. "Costs for serving and notifying civil procedural documents" include the following amounts: domestic postal charges, international postal charges, bank transfer fees, translation costs, and certification fees for the translator's signature.

4. "Domestic postal charges" are the amount payable for the Court to send the file requesting service and notification of civil procedural documents to the Agency through guaranteed postal service.

5. "International postal charges" are the amount payable for the Agency to serve civil procedural documents and send the results of such service or the results of notification of civil procedural documents to the Court through guaranteed postal service.

6. "Bank transfer fees" are the amount payable to the bank when the Court transfers international postal charges to the Agency.

7. "Translation costs and certification fees for the translator's signature" are the amount payable for translating civil procedural documents and certifying the translator's signature in cases where these documents are notified to foreign individuals or foreign organizations.

8. "Guaranteed postal service" is a service that accepts, transports, and delivers mail to the recipient address; the mail is marked with a tracking number for monitoring and locating during delivery.

Article 4. Methods for preparing and sending case files requesting service and notification of procedural documents between the Court and the Representative Office

1. The Court and the Representative Office shall prepare and send to each other the following case files through registered mail services:

a) Case file requesting service of procedural documents;

b) Case file requesting notification of procedural documents;

c) Case file notifying the results of service or notification of procedural documents.

2. In cases where the management system of documents and operations between the Court and the Representative Office is interconnected, the Court and the Representative Office shall prepare and send to each other the case files specified in points b and c of Clause 1 of this Article via electronic documents with digital signatures.

Chapter II

PROCEDURE FOR PREPARING AND SENDING CASE FILES REQUESTING SERVICE,

NOTIFICATION OF PROCEDURAL DOCUMENTS TO THE REPRESENTATIVE OFFICE

Section 5. Preparing case files requesting service of procedural documents for Vietnamese citizens residing abroad

1. The case file requesting service of procedural documents includes:

a) A document requesting the Representative Office to serve procedural documents;

b) The procedural document to be served to the party;

c) Party's documents and materials in Vietnam requested by the Court to be sent to the party (if any);

d) Copy of postal charges invoice and receipt from abroad.

2. The Court shall prepare the case file requesting service of procedural documents in the following manner:

a) The document requesting the Representative Office to serve procedural documents shall be prepared according to Model No. 01 issued together with this Circular;

b) In cases where procedural documents need to be served to multiple parties at different addresses or to multiple parties at the same address, the case file shall be prepared separately according to each party's address or for each individual party;

c) The case file requesting service of procedural documents shall be prepared in two copies; one copy to be sent to the Representative Office and one copy to be kept in the case file.

Article 6. Preparing case files requesting notification of procedural documents for parties abroad

1. The case file requesting notification of procedural documents includes:

a) A document requesting the Representative Office to notify procedural documents;

b) The procedural document to be notified to the party;

c) Copy of postal charges invoice and receipt from abroad.

d) Party's documents and materials in Vietnam requested by the Court to be sent to the party (if any).

2. In cases where the party being notified of procedural documents is a foreign national, a foreign organization, the case file requesting notification of procedural documents also includes a translation of the procedural document into a foreign language certified by the translator's signature.

3. The Court shall prepare the case file requesting notification of procedural documents in the following manner:

a) The document requesting the Representative Office to notify procedural documents shall be prepared according to Model No. 02 issued together with this Circular;

b) The translation of the procedural document must be done in the official language of the country where the party has citizenship, the location where the party has an address, or another language accepted by that country;

c) The Court shall instruct the plaintiff, the person initiating the lawsuit, the person making the request, or the appellant to carry out the translation, pay for the translation of the procedural document, and certify the translator's signature. The party must submit the payment receipt to the Court for retention in the case file;

d) The case file requesting notification of procedural documents shall be prepared in two copies; one copy to be sent to the Representative Office and one copy to be kept in the case file.

Article 7. Time limit for the Court to send the file requesting service and notification of procedural documents to the Representative Authority

1. Within three working days from the date of completing the file requesting service and notification of procedural documents and transferring the postal charges for overseas delivery to the Representative Authority, the Court shall send such file to the Representative Authority in accordance with the method prescribed in Clause 1 of Article 4 of this Joint Circular.

2. Within three working days from the date of completing the file requesting electronic notification of procedural documents with digital signature, the Court shall send such file to the Representative Authority in accordance with the method prescribed in Clause 2 of Article 4 of this Joint Circular.

Chapter III

PROCEDURES FOR RECEIVING AND HANDLING REQUESTS FOR SERVICE AND NOTIFICATION OF PROCEDURAL DOCUMENTS AND REPORTING THE RESULTS AT THE REPRESENTATIVE AUTHORITY

ANNOUNCEMENT OF LITIGATION DOCUMENTS AND DELIVERY OF RESULTS IMPLEMENTATION

AT THE NATIONAL OFFICE

Article 8. Procedures for receiving and handling requests for service and notification of procedural documents from the Court

1. Within five working days from the date of receipt of the file requesting service and notification of procedural documents from the Court, the Representative Authority shall handle as follows:

a) Checking the file and entering it into the service and notification procedural documents register;

b) Implementing the service and notification of procedural documents in accordance with Articles 9 and 10 of this Joint Circular, except in cases provided for in Clause 2 of this Article.

2. In case the address of the party who is a Vietnamese citizen residing abroad does not contain sufficient information or does not comply with the regulations of the country where they reside or work, the Representative Authority shall suspend the implementation and notify the Court via email to establish a substitute file. After receiving the new file from the Court, the Representative Authority shall handle the request for service of procedural documents in accordance with Clause 1 of this Article.

3. The address of the party who is a Vietnamese citizen residing abroad without sufficient information or not complying with the regulations of the country where they reside or work as stipulated in Clause 2 of this Article means that the address lacks at least one of the following pieces of information: name of the country, state, territory, city name, street name, house number of the place of residence or work, or the postal box of the party if they only accept documents and papers through this method, or the address does not exist, no longer exists, or has been transliterated into Vietnamese.

Article 9. Implementation of service of procedural documents to parties who are Vietnamese citizens residing abroad and reporting the results to the Court

1. The Representative Authority shall serve procedural documents to the party through the postal service's guaranteed mail service.

2. Within five working days from the date of receiving the result of the mail dispatch, the Representative Authority shall report the result of implementation according to Model No. 01 (reverse side) issued together with this Joint Circular and send along with the postal charge invoice and the result of the mail dispatch to the Court in accordance with the method prescribed in Article 4 of this Joint Circular.

3. If within one month from the date of sending, the Representative Authority has not received the result of the mail dispatch, it shall request the postal organization to provide the reason. Within five working days from the date of receipt of the reply, the Representative Authority shall report the result of implementation according to Model No. 01 (reverse side) issued together with this Joint Circular and send along with the postal charge invoice and the result of the mail dispatch to the Court in accordance with the method prescribed in Article 4 of this Joint Circular.

Article 10. Implementation of notification of procedural documents to parties abroad and reporting the results of implementation to the Court

1. The representative agency shall simultaneously or separately post the procedural documents publicly at its headquarters and publish them on the electronic portal of the agency within the time limit specified by the Court in the request for notification of procedural documents.

2. In cases where the actual conditions in the receiving country do not allow for the publication of the Court's procedural documents on the electronic portal as stipulated in Clause 1 of this Article, the representative agency shall handle it as follows:

a) Publicly post the procedural documents at the representative agency's headquarters within one month from the date of posting;

b) Clearly state the reasons for not being able to publish the procedural documents on the electronic portal in the report on the results of implementation.

3. If the party comes to the representative agency's headquarters to receive the procedural documents within the time limit prescribed in Clause 1 or Clause 2 of this Article, the representative agency shall hand over the documents to the party. The handover of procedural documents must be recorded in a protocol with signatures of both the giver and the receiver.

4. Within ten days from the end of the time limit prescribed in Clause 1 or Clause 2 of this Article, the representative agency shall notify the results of implementation according to Model No. 02 (reverse side) issued together with this Joint Circular and send along with the postal receipt, the protocol of handover of procedural documents (if the party receives directly) to the Court in accordance with the method prescribed in Article 4 of this Joint Circular.

Chapter IV

COSTS OF SERVICE AND NOTIFICATION OF PROCEDURAL DOCUMENTS

Article 11. Parties have the obligation to pay advance funds for costs of service and notification of procedural documents

Parties specified in Article 152 of the Civil Procedure Code, Article 353 of the Administrative Procedure Law must pay advance funds for costs of service and notification of procedural documents as prescribed in Clause 3 of Article 3 and Article 13 of this Joint Circular.

Article 12. Opening a bank account to manage, settle, and refund excess advance funds for costs of service and notification of procedural documents to the parties

1. The first-instance court shall open a foreign currency settlement account at a commercial bank where the court has its headquarters to manage, settle, and refund excess advance funds for costs of service and notification of procedural documents to the parties.

2. The Chief Judge of the first-instance court may issue a regular power of attorney for judges to act as account holders to sign documents and transaction certificates related to advance funds for costs of service and notification of procedural documents with the bank.

3. The Chief Judge of the first-instance court shall notify the bank where the court opens an account in writing about the termination of the power of attorney for judges to perform tasks as prescribed in Clause 2 of this Article when such judges are transferred, rotated, detailed, relieved of duty, or dismissed from office in accordance with the law and other cases deemed necessary by the Chief Judge of the court.

4. The appellate court shall open a bank account, grant, and terminate the power of attorney for judges to sign documents, papers, and transaction certificates with the bank as prescribed in Clauses 1, 2, and 3 of this Article.

Article 13. Requesting parties to pay advance funds for costs of service and notification of procedural documents to the Court

1. The Court requests parties to pay advance funds for costs of service and notification of procedural documents in US dollars. The Court determines the amount of advance funds for costs of service and notification of procedural documents to request the parties to pay as follows:

a) The Court requests the representative agency to provide information on the postage rates for international mail as prescribed in Article 16 of this Joint Circular. Based on the international postage rates provided by the representative agency and the number of times service and notification of procedural documents are required, the Court estimates the first advance payment that the party must make. This advance payment must be sufficient to cover the costs of service and notification of procedural documents including notification of case acceptance, judgments, decisions of the Court, and notifications regarding appeals to parties abroad;

b) If the first advance payment has been exhausted or is insufficient to cover the costs of service and notification of procedural documents, including judgments, decisions of the Court, and notifications regarding appeals in subsequent requests for service and notification of procedural documents, the Court bases the previous costs of service and notification of procedural documents to estimate the second advance payment that the party must make;

c) If the party does not fall under the circumstances prescribed in point a of this clause and has filed an appeal, the Court bases the previous costs of service and notification of procedural documents to estimate the advance payment that this party must make;

d) Other cases where the Court requests the representative agency to serve and notify procedural documents in accordance with the Civil Procedure Code or the Administrative Procedure Law, the Court bases the international postage rates provided by the representative agency and the number of times service and notification of procedural documents are required to estimate the advance payment that the party must make.

Example: In cases where the Court requests the representative agency to implement the notification of procedural documents as prescribed in Clause 3 of Article 474, point c of Clause 6 of Article 477 of the Civil Procedure Code, Clause 3 of Article 303 of the Administrative Procedure Law, the Court requests the representative agency to provide the international postage rate for one-time notification of procedural documents. Based on the international postage rate provided by the representative agency, the Court estimates the advance payment that the party must make. This advance payment must be sufficient for the representative agency to cover the international postage cost when sending the result of the procedural document notification, including judgments, decisions of the Court, and notifications regarding appeals to parties abroad.

2. The Court shall prepare a document requesting the parties specified in Clause 1 of this Article to pay advance funds for costs of service and notification of procedural documents as follows:

a) If the party is within the country, the Court prepares the document according to Model No. 03 issued together with this Joint Circular;

b) If the party is abroad, the Court prepares the document according to Model No. 04 issued together with this Joint Circular.

3. In case it is determined that the party has not submitted the full amount of the advance payment for serving process and notifying litigation documents as stipulated in Clause 1 of this Article, the Court shall issue a document requesting the party to submit the remaining advance payment.

Article 14. Time for the Court to Issue a Document Requesting the Party to Pay the Advance Payment for Serving Process and Notifying Litigation Documents

1. The first-instance Court shall issue a document requesting the party to pay the advance payment for serving process and notifying litigation documents within the following timeframes:

a) Within three working days from the date of receipt of the document from the Representative Office regarding the postal charges abroad or the appeal of the party against the cases specified at points a, c, and d of Clause 1 of Article 13 of this Joint Circular;

b) Within three working days from the date when the Court determines that the first advance payment has been exhausted or is insufficient to cover the costs of serving process and notifying litigation documents in subsequent requests for serving process and notifying litigation documents as specified at point b of Clause 1 of Article 13 of this Joint Circular.

2. The appellate Court shall issue a document requesting the party to pay the advance payment for serving process and notifying litigation documents within the following timeframes:

a) Within three working days from the date of receipt of the document from the Representative Office regarding the postal charges abroad in the case where the Court requests the party to make the first advance payment;

b) Within three working days from the date when the Court determines that the first advance payment has been exhausted or is insufficient to cover the costs of serving process and notifying litigation documents, including judgments and decisions of the Court in subsequent requests for serving process and notifying litigation documents.

Article 15. Payment of Domestic Postal Charges for Sending Requests for Serving Process and Notifying Litigation Documents to the Representative Office

1. In the case where the party specified in Article 11 of this Joint Circular is located in Vietnam, the first-instance Court and the appellate Court shall request such party to directly pay the postal charges when the Court sends the request for serving process and notifying litigation documents to the Representative Office. The party shall return the postal charge invoice to the Court for record-keeping purposes.

2. In the case where the party specified in Article 11 of this Joint Circular is located abroad, the first-instance Court and the appellate Court shall sell to the bank an amount of foreign currency advance payment submitted by the party to cover the postal charges when sending the request for serving process and notifying litigation documents to the Representative Office. The Court shall retain the foreign currency sale document, invoices, and transaction documents in the case file.

Article 16. Request for Provision of Information to Transfer Postal Charges Abroad to the Representative Office

1. The Court shall prepare a document requesting the Representative Office to provide information on the postal charges abroad and the bank account for the Court to transfer this amount to the Representative Office according to Model No. 05 issued together with this Joint Circular.

2. Within three working days from the date of receipt of the Court's request, the Representative Office shall prepare a document providing the information to the Court according to Model No. 06 issued together with this Joint Circular.

3. The Court and the Representative Office shall send each other the documents stipulated in Clauses 1 and 2 of this Article through the main email box of each agency.

Article 17. Transfer of foreign postal charges and postal invoices between Courts and Diplomatic Agencies

1. Within three working days from the date of receipt of the advance payment for service fees for delivery and notification of procedural documents submitted by the parties, the Court shall process the transfer of foreign postal charges to the Diplomatic Agency through the bank where the Court has an account. The Court shall pay the transfer fee from the advance payment for service fees for delivery and notification of procedural documents submitted by the parties.

2. The dossier required by the Court for the bank to transfer foreign postal charges to the Diplomatic Agency includes:

a) A request for the bank to transfer foreign postal charges to the Diplomatic Agency, prepared according to Model No. 07 issued together with this Joint Circular;

b) A copy of the document prescribed in Point a Clause 1 Article 5 or Point a Clause 1 Article 6 of this Joint Circular;

c) A copy of the document prescribed in Clause 2 Article 16 of this Joint Circular.

3. After completing the transfer of foreign postal charges, the Court shall send along with it one copy of the bank's invoice and transfer documents, together with the dossier requesting delivery and notification of procedural documents to the Diplomatic Agency.

The Court shall retain all related papers and documents concerning the transfer of foreign postal charges to the Diplomatic Agency in the case file.

4. The Diplomatic Agency shall send to the Court the postal invoice, the document notifying the results of the delivery and notification of procedural documents, and related papers as prescribed in Articles 9 and 10 of this Joint Circular.

5. The Diplomatic Agency, the Court, and the parties shall settle the foreign postal charges in accordance with current laws.

Chapter V

RESPONSIBILITIES OF RELATED AUTHORITIES

Article 18. Responsibilities of the Supreme People's Court

1. Directing and guiding courts at all levels to implement cooperation with Diplomatic Agencies on delivery and notification of procedural documents as prescribed in this Joint Circular.

2. Annually organizing and coordinating with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to perform the following tasks:

a) Reviewing and summarizing the situation and results of cooperation between the Court and the Diplomatic Agency on delivery and notification of procedural documents;

b) Organizing inspections at the Court regarding cooperation with the Diplomatic Agency on delivery and notification of procedural documents;

c) Organizing training sessions for staff and Judges of the Court on procedures for delivery and notification of procedural documents as prescribed in this Joint Circular;

d) Organizing meetings to exchange information, discuss, and decide on measures to resolve difficulties and issues arising from cooperation between the Court and the Diplomatic Agency on delivery and notification of procedural documents.

3. Requesting the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to direct Diplomatic Agencies to send notifications of the results of delivery and notification of procedural documents when the time limit prescribed in this Joint Circular has expired but the Court has not yet received such notifications from the Diplomatic Agency.

4. Providing the Ministry of Foreign Affairs with a list of primary email boxes of courts at all levels to be transferred to the Diplomatic Agencies.

Article 19. Responsibilities of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs

1. Directing and urging Diplomatic Agencies to implement cooperation with the Court on delivery and notification of procedural documents as prescribed in this Joint Circular.

2. Organizing training sessions for staff of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs on procedures for delivery and notification of procedural documents.

3. Cooperating with the Supreme People's Court to perform the tasks prescribed in Clause 2 Article 18 of this Joint Circular.

4. Providing the Supreme People's Court with a list of primary email boxes of Diplomatic Agencies to be transferred to courts at all levels.

Article 20. Responsibilities of the Representative Office

1. Carry out coordination work with the Court regarding service of process and notification of procedural documents as prescribed in this Joint Circular.

2. Timely notify the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of any difficulties, limitations, or obstacles arising from the work of service of process and notification of procedural documents.

3. Establish and provide to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs a list of primary email boxes for receiving and exchanging information with the Court during the implementation of service of process and notification of procedural documents.

4. Annually report to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs on the situation and results of implementing the work of service of process and notification of procedural documents as prescribed in this Joint Circular.

Article 21. Responsibilities of Courts at all levels

1. Carry out coordination work with the Representative Office regarding service of process and notification of procedural documents as prescribed in this Joint Circular.

2. Provide complete and accurate information about the address of parties who are Vietnamese citizens residing abroad and be responsible for such information.

3. Publish the results of service of process and notification of procedural documents on the Court's electronic portal.

4. Timely notify the Supreme People's Court (through the International Cooperation Department) of any difficulties, limitations, or obstacles arising from the work of service of process and notification of procedural documents, and cases where notifications of the results of service of process and notification of procedural documents have not been received after requesting the Representative Office to provide them as prescribed in this Joint Circular.

5. Report every six months or upon request to the Supreme People's Court (through the International Cooperation Department) on the situation and results of coordinating with the Representative Office regarding service of process and notification of procedural documents.

6. Establish and provide to the Supreme People's Court a list of primary email boxes for receiving and exchanging information with the Representative Office during the implementation of service of process and notification of procedural documents.

Chapter VI

IMPLEMENTING PROVISIONS

Article 22. Effectiveness

This Joint Circular takes effect from February 3, 2020.

Article 23. Implementation Organization

During implementation, if there are any issues or new problems arising from this Joint Circular, Courts at all levels, the Representative Office, and related agencies, organizations, and individuals should reflect these issues to the Supreme People's Court (through the International Cooperation Department) and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (through the Consular Department) for timely explanation and guidance./.