Joint Circular No. 12/2010/TTLT-BTP-BTC-TANDTC guiding certain provisions of Government Decree No. 61/NĐ-CP dated July 24, 2009 on the organization and operation of Notaries for pilot implementation in Ho Chi Minh City related to the costs of Notary work and financial regulations for Notary offices.

JOINT CIRCULAR

Guidelines for certain provisions of Decree No. 61/2009/NĐ-CP dated July 24, 2009 of the Government on the organization and operation of Notaries conducting pilot programs in Ho Chi Minh City related to the costs of Notary work and financial regulations for Notary offices

in Ho Chi Minh City related to the costs of Notary work

and financial regulations for Notary offices

__________________________

Pursuant to the Civil Enforcement Law dated November 14, 2008;  Resolution No. 24/2008/QH12 dated November 14, 2008 of the National Assembly, Session XII, on the implementation of the Civil Enforcement Law

On the basis of Pursuant to Decree No. 60/2003/NĐ-CP dated June 6, 2003 of the Government detailing and guiding the implementation of the State Budget Law,;

Pursuant to Decree No. 61/2009/NĐ-CP dated July 24, 2009 of the Government on the organization and operation of Notary Publics piloted in Ho Chi Minh City;

The Ministry of Justice, the Ministry of Finance, and the Supreme People's Court issue guidelines for certain provisions of Decree No. 61/2009/NĐ-CP dated July 24, 2009 of the Government related to the costs of Notary work and financial regulations for Notary offices as follows:

Article 1. Costs of service of process to be paid from the state budget   

PART I

EXPENSES FOR NOTARIES' TASKS

1. Civil enforcement agencies at all levels and People's Courts at all levels in Ho Chi Minh City (excluding the Ho Chi Minh City branch of the Supreme People's Court of Appeals) shall agree with Notary offices on the costs of serving process as follows:

a) Within the district where the court is located, not exceeding VND 50,000 per case (including VAT);

b) Outside the district where the court is located but within Ho Chi Minh City, not exceeding VND 100,000 per case (including VAT).

c) In cases where it is deemed necessary to have a Notary serve process outside Ho Chi Minh City, the court or civil enforcement agency must specify the time frame to enter into a contract with the Notary office to carry out the service of process. The cost to agree upon with the Notary for this situation includes: travel expenses for transportation by public means (excluding air travel); accommodation expenses not exceeding VND 130,000 per day; lodging expenses not exceeding VND 70,000 per person per day (including VAT).

The costs mentioned in points a, b, and c of Clause 1 of this Article include the costs of publicly posting notices when direct service is impossible and public posting is required under the procedural laws and civil enforcement laws.

2. The state budget will cover the costs of service of process, except for cases where the parties are responsible as stipulated in Clause 1 of Article 3 of this Joint Circular.

3. The service contract between the court or civil enforcement agency and the Notary office shall be sent to the Treasury where these agencies maintain their accounts immediately after signing.

Article 2. Payment of service of process costs

The Notary office is responsible for issuing and delivering the service invoice to the court or civil enforcement agency. Within five days of receiving the invoice, the court or civil enforcement agency is responsible for transferring payment to the Notary office via bank transfer.

1. The payment of service fees for delivery shall be carried out monthly. 2. Documents for the Treasury to control expenditures when making monthly payments include: A list of completed tasks and the service invoice.

2. The vouchers for the State Treasury to control expenditures when making monthly payments include: The list of completed work volumes and Service Invoices.

Article 3. Costs of service of process shall be borne by the parties involved

1. The parties shall bear the costs of service of process in the following cases:

a) In the case of serving documents from the Civil Enforcement Agency:

The person subject to enforcement shall bear all costs of service of process, except where the person entitled to enforcement bears such costs or the state budget pays for them.

The person entitled to enforcement shall bear the costs of service of process in cases where they themselves request verification of enforcement conditions, revaluation of assets; construction of partitions or demolition according to judgments or decisions that stipulate the person entitled to enforcement shall bear the costs.

b) In the case of serving documents from the Court: Costs of service of process when the Court applies provisional measures at the request of the parties in civil, commercial, and administrative cases.

2. The level of costs of service of process shall be implemented in accordance with the provisions of Clause 1, Article 1 of this Joint Circular.

3. If at the time of payment the funds from the parties involved have not been collected, the Court, the Civil Enforcement Agency shall advance the budget to pay the Notary Office from the allocated budget funds in accordance with the State Budget Law. These agencies Court, Civil Enforcement Agency shall be responsible for urging the collection of the service of process costs that the parties involved must pay to repay the state budget. Article 4. Costs of civil enforcement proceedings

1. When organizing civil enforcement proceedings, the Notary may collect fees according to the enforcement fee rates, costs of verifying enforcement conditions, and other costs as prescribed by law. For complex cases, the Notary may negotiate additional costs with the parties.

2. In cases where costs of civil enforcement proceedings are exempted or reduced in accordance with the law, the person subject to enforcement shall submit a request to the Notary Office along with supporting documents. Within ten days from the date of receipt of the request and documents from the parties involved, the Head of the Notary Office shall prepare a file to propose the Director of the Civil Enforcement Agency of Ho Chi Minh City to consider and decide on the exemption or reduction. If rejected, the Head of the Notary Office must respond in writing to the parties involved and specify the reasons.

The Director of the Civil Enforcement Agency of Ho Chi Minh City shall consider and decide on the exemption or reduction and implement the payment of the exempted or reduced amount to the Notary Office within ten days from the date of receipt of the proposal. At the same time, compile the budget required for implementation to request the Ministry of Justice to supplement.

Article 5. Preparation of budget for service of process costs when the state budget pays

1. Annually, based on the workload of the previous year, the costs specified in Article 1 of this Joint Circular, and the work planned for the current year, the Civil Enforcement Agencies and People's Courts in Ho Chi Minh City shall prepare the budget for service of process costs when the state budget pays and

the state budget advances funds for combined service of process into their own budget estimates and submit them to higher authorities in accordance with the State Budget Law.  economic 2. Every six months, the Civil Enforcement Agencies and Courts shall review and evaluate to adjust the volume of service of process work, cost levels; if the budget is insufficient to cover the costs, they shall promptly report to the competent authority for consideration and decision.

FINANCIAL REGIME OF THE NOTARY OFFICE

Chapter II

FINANCIAL REGIME OF THE ENFORCEMENT OFFICE

Article 6. Forms of Notary Public Offices

A Notary Public Office established by one Notary Public shall be organized and operate in the form of a private enterprise. A Notary Public Office established by two or more Notary Publics shall be organized and operate in the form of a general partnership company.

Article 7. Financial System of Notary Public Offices

The financial system of Notary Public Offices shall be implemented according to the financial system of the corresponding business entity forms as prescribed by laws on enterprises.

Chapter III

IMPLEMENTATION

Article 8. Effective Date

1. This Circular takes effect from August 10, 2010.

2. In the course of implementation, if there are any difficulties, the Civil Enforcement Agency, Courts, and Notary Public Offices shall promptly report to the Supreme People's Court, the Ministry of Finance, and the Ministry of Justice for consideration and resolution./.