Joint Circular No. 06-TT/LN provides guidance on the jurisdiction and procedures for handling divorce cases involving Vietnamese citizens where one party resides in a country without a judicial assistance agreement regarding family matters with Vietnam.

CIRCULAR

Guidelines on jurisdiction and procedures for handling divorce cases between

Vietnamese citizens where one party resides in a country without an Agreement on judicial assistance in matters of marriage and family with our country

Currently, there are divorce cases between Vietnamese citizens where one party resides in a country without an Agreement on judicial assistance in matters of marriage and family with our country. Among these countries, some have diplomatic relations with our country while others do not.

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Based on the Constitution and the Law on Marriage and Family, after reaching consensus with the Ministry of Interior and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Supreme People's Court, the Supreme People's Procuracy, and the Ministry of Justice issued this Circular guiding the jurisdiction and procedures for handling the aforementioned divorce cases as follows:

1. For the aforementioned divorce cases, to protect the legitimate rights and interests of the parties involved and to make clear the correct attitude of our State towards those residing abroad, provincial, municipal, and special zone people's courts directly under the central government must accept and resolve such cases regardless of whether the party residing abroad has been granted permission to leave the country, is a refugee, or has fled abroad.

2. Vietnamese citizens residing in the aforementioned countries who wish to divorce their spouse in the country may request the relevant diplomatic or consular authorities of our country in their place of residence or another country to forward their petition and necessary documents to the country. Alternatively, they can directly submit their divorce petition to the Ministry of Justice or the Supreme People's Court. The local people's court that directly receives such petitions from parties residing abroad must immediately report to the Ministry of Justice and the Supreme People's Court.

3. In cases where one party resides in a country with which our country has diplomatic relations, during investigation and trial, the court may entrust the relevant diplomatic or consular authorities of our country in that country or the local court to take statements from the party and serve them with necessary documents as guided by the Supreme People's Court in Circular No. 11-TATC dated July 12, 1974 (refer to Civil Procedure Law System, Volume 1, page 198).

If the plaintiff resides in a country without diplomatic relations with our country but has entrusted the relevant diplomatic or consular authorities of our country in another country to forward their petition to the country, the court may also communicate through these authorities to deliver court documents to the party or request the party to send relevant statements to the court.

If it is not possible to contact the defendant as described above, but the party has relatives in the country, the court may require these relatives to inform the party to send relevant statements or necessary documents to the court. The plaintiff in the country may also themselves or through their lawyer contact the defendant abroad to request the defendant to send relevant statements or necessary documents to the court. The court may base its judgment on these statements and documents if the party in the country acknowledges that the statements or documents sent back are indeed from their spouse abroad.

4. For the aforementioned divorce cases, the court investigates, tries, and does not mediate. Before the trial, the court informs the parties of the date of the hearing according to the method of communication mentioned in Point 3 of this Circular without summoning them to participate in the hearing.

In cases where the address of the defendant is unknown, or there has been no news from the defendant for a long time, or it is impossible to contact the defendant abroad, the court may grant a divorce according to the procedure for divorcing a person whose address is concealed or a person who has been out of touch for a long time, as guided by the Supreme People's Court in Circular No. 3-TATC dated March 3, 1966 (refer to Civil Procedure Law System - Volume I, pages 126-127).

During the trial of the aforementioned divorce cases, the People's Procuracy at the same level must participate in the proceedings.

When trying the aforementioned divorce cases, the court must pay attention to protecting the rights and interests of the wife or husband and their children in the country. The property of the couple will be divided according to the principles stipulated in the Law on Marriage and Family. In cases where divorce aims to take children abroad or involves complex issues, before the trial, the court must consult with the Procuracy and other relevant agencies.

The court must serve copies of the judgment to the parties residing abroad according to the method of communication mentioned in Point 3 of this Circular so that they can exercise their right to appeal according to the law.

6. In cases requiring contact with the relevant diplomatic or consular authorities of our country abroad, the local people's court must send a document to the Supreme People's Court to transfer it to the Ministry of Justice; the Ministry of Justice will then transfer it to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

7. For this type of case, in addition to regular litigation fees, parties residing in and outside the country must also pay postal charges incurred by the court for sending necessary documents abroad for the resolution of the case. Therefore, the plaintiff residing in or outside the country, in addition to temporarily paying regular litigation fees, must also prepay postal charges determined by the court based on the postage rates for each country and the complexity of the case. At the time of judgment, the court will calculate the specific amount of litigation fees.

During the implementation of this Circular, if there are any difficulties, provinces and cities must report to seek guidance from higher-level departments.

Nguyen Lu;Nguyen