Decree No. 69-CP on civil enforcement procedures

DECREE

of the Government Decision No. 69-CP dated October 18, 1993 of the Government

on the procedures for enforcing civil judgments

____________

THE GOVERNMENT

Pursuant to the Government Organization Law dated September 30, 1992;

Pursuant to the Enforcement of Civil Judgments Law dated April 21, 1993;

At the proposal of the Minister of Justice,

DECREE:

PART I

GENERAL PROVISIONS

Article 1.

1. The Head of the Civil Enforcement Office at the provincial level (hereinafter referred to as the Head of the Provincial Civil Enforcement Office) shall issue decisions to enforce the following judgments and decisions:

a) First-instance judgments and decisions of the People's Court of the province or centrally-administered city;

b) Judgments and decisions within the enforcement jurisdiction of the Civil Enforcement Team of the district, county, town, or centrally-administered city under the province but which, due to the complexity of the enforcement process, the Provincial Civil Enforcement Office deems necessary to take over for enforcement;

c) Judgments and decisions of the Supreme People's Court transferred to the Provincial Civil Enforcement Office;

d) Judgments and decisions entrusted by other enforcement agencies.

2. The Head of the Civil Enforcement Office of the Military Region and equivalent level (hereinafter referred to as the Head of the Military Region Civil Enforcement Office) shall issue decisions to enforce the property-related decisions in criminal judgments to be enforced as follows:

a) Property-related decisions in criminal judgments of the Military Court of the Military Region and equivalent level;

b) Decisions regarding property in criminal judgments of the Military Court of the area within the jurisdiction of the Military Court of the military region and equivalent;

c) Property-related decisions in criminal judgments of the Central Military Court transferred to the Military Region Civil Enforcement Office;

d) Property-related decisions in criminal judgments entrusted by another Military Region Civil Enforcement Office;

e) Judgments and decisions entrusted by civil enforcement agencies.

3. The Head of the Civil Enforcement Team shall issue decisions to enforce the following judgments and decisions:

a) Judgments and decisions of the People's Court of the district, county, town, or centrally-administered city under the province;

b) Second-instance judgments and decisions of the People's Court of the province or centrally-administered city;

c) Judgments and decisions of the People's Court of the province or centrally-administered city or of the Supreme People's Court entrusted by the Provincial Civil Enforcement Office to the Civil Enforcement Team;

d) Judgments and decisions entrusted by another Civil Enforcement Office or Civil Enforcement Team;

e) Property-related decisions in criminal judgments entrusted by the Military Region Civil Enforcement Office.

Article 2.

1. Enforcement may only be delegated to the enforcement agency where the person subject to enforcement resides, works, or has assets. In cases where the enforcement agency has issued an enforcement decision but finds it necessary to delegate, it must revoke the enforcement decision and delegate to the enforcement agency with the conditions to enforce.

2. Delegation of enforcement shall be directly carried out between enforcement agencies at the same level regardless of their operational area or whether they are civil enforcement agencies or military enforcement agencies.

3. The Provincial Civil Enforcement Office may directly delegate to the Civil Enforcement Team under its own locality or to the Civil Enforcement Team of another provincial locality.

4. If the receiving enforcement agency does not have the conditions to carry out the delegation, it shall handle as follows:

a) In cases where the delegating enforcement agency has proactively issued an enforcement decision, the receiving agency must further delegate to the enforcement agency with the conditions to enforce;

b) In cases where the enforcement agency issues an enforcement decision based on a request from the party entitled to enforcement, the receiving agency must return the request to the party and guide them to submit the request to the agency with the conditions to enforce.

Article 3. In cases where enforcing a judgment or decision involves multiple persons subject to enforcement in different localities or their assets and income are located in different localities, partial delegation to enforcement agencies in those localities is allowed.

Article 4.

1. The Head of the Provincial Civil Enforcement Office, the Head of the Civil Enforcement Team, and the Head of the Military Region Civil Enforcement Office have the authority to issue delegation decisions.

2. The Provincial Civil Enforcement Office shall directly organize enforcement or delegate to another Provincial Civil Enforcement Office to issue an enforcement decision in the following cases:

a) Enforcing judgments and decisions regarding the re-employment of workers or compensation for damages where the person subject to enforcement is a provincial-level state agency or higher;

b) Enforcing judgments and decisions involving foreign factors or related to industrial property rights.

3. The Head of the Civil Enforcement Office may delegate to the Head of the Civil Enforcement Team to issue an enforcement decision in part in the following cases:

a) The part of the judgment or decision related to seized or temporarily detained assets and evidence handed over by the court shall be directly enforced by the Provincial Civil Enforcement Office. For the remaining part that the Provincial Civil Enforcement Office cannot directly enforce, it must delegate to the Civil Enforcement Team to issue an enforcement decision;

b) The enforcement of judgments and decisions involving multiple districts, counties within the province or city, or in different provinces or cities.

4. The Head of the Military Region Civil Enforcement Office may delegate to the Head of the Provincial Civil Enforcement Office or the Head of the Civil Enforcement Team, and vice versa.

Article 5.

1. The delegation decision must clearly specify the content of the delegation, the portion already executed, the portion currently being executed, the portion requiring continued execution, and all necessary information for the implementation of the delegation.

The delegation decision must be accompanied by a copy of the judgment or decision, a copy of the seizure record, and a copy of the temporary detention record of the assets.

2. The enforcement agency that has delegated must notify in writing the court that transferred the judgment or decision, the same-level Procuracy, and the party entitled to enforcement about the delegation.

Article 6. The request of the party entitled to enforcement includes:

a) A request letter or a record of the enforcement request made by the party entitled to enforcement;

b) A copy of the judgment or decision of the court.

Article 7. Rights and legitimate interests of persons related to the enforcement of judgments:

a) Submitting a request letter or directly requesting the enforcement agency to issue an enforcement decision;

b) Being informed and witnessing the seizure, valuation, and auction sale of assets, and deduction of assets from the person subject to enforcement;

c) Filing complaints against unlawful acts of enforcement officers and staff involved in enforcement work;

d) Initiating civil litigation to protect their rights and legitimate interests in cases of disputes over assets related to enforcement.

Chapter II

PROCEDURES FOR ENFORCEMENT

Article 8.

1. After receiving a copy of the judgment or decision of the court and the request of the party entitled to enforcement, the enforcement agency must enter the copy of the judgment or decision and the request into the Register of Received Copies of Judgments and Decisions and the Register of Received Enforcement Request Letters.

In the case where the person entitled to enforcement directly comes to request enforcement, a record shall be made detailing the content of the request, signed by the party, and entered into the Register of Received Enforcement Request Forms.

When entering copies of judgments and decisions into the Register of Received Judgment Copies, the content of the judgment and decision, the content of the inventory of seized and temporarily detained assets attached with evidence (if any) must be clearly recorded.

When entering an enforcement request form into the Register of Received Enforcement Request Forms, the content of the request and the basis for enforcement must be clearly recorded.

2. In cases where the enforcement agency initiatively enforces, within seven days from the date of receiving a copy of the judgment or decision of the court, the head of the enforcement agency must issue an enforcement decision.

In cases where enforcement is carried out based on a request from the party entitled to enforcement, within ten days from the date of receiving the enforcement request form, the head of the enforcement agency must issue an enforcement decision.

For each judgment or decision, the head of the enforcement agency may issue one or more enforcement decisions, according to each clause of the judgment or decision to be enforced.

For urgent temporary decisions of the court, the head of the enforcement agency must immediately issue an enforcement decision and assign an enforcement officer to enforce the decision.

3. Once an enforcement decision has been issued, the enforcement agency must enter it into the Register of Enforcement Cases. The Register of Enforcement Cases must clearly record the basis and content of the enforcement decision and the enforcement officer assigned to enforce the decision.

The time limit for registering enforcement cases is calculated from the date of entry into the Register of Enforcement Cases.

After receiving the enforcement decision based on the request of the person entitled to enforcement, the enforcement officer must enter it into the Register of Enforcement Cases and set a voluntary compliance period not exceeding thirty days for the person subject to enforcement. A notice of voluntary compliance is sent to the person entitled to enforcement. If the person subject to enforcement does not comply by the end of the voluntary compliance period, the enforcement officer issues a decision to apply coercive measures for enforcement and must send a copy of that decision to the parties.

4. Registers for received judgment copies, received enforcement request forms, registered enforcement cases, entrusted enforcement registers, and other registers related to enforcement are established according to a uniform model prescribed by the Ministry of Justice.

Article 9.

1. In cases where the enforcement agency initiatively enforces, if beyond one year from the date of enforcement of the judgment or decision, the agency or organization entitled to enforcement does not come to receive the property or compensation, the enforcement agency must deposit the collected property into the state budget.

2. In cases where the enforcement agency returns the enforcement request form, if it is discovered that the person subject to enforcement has assets or income available for enforcement, the person entitled to enforcement has the right to submit an enforcement request form and prove the conditions for enforcement of the person subject to enforcement. In this case, the three-year statute of limitations is counted from the date when the person subject to enforcement has assets or income available for enforcement.

3. If the person subject to enforcement does not have assets available for enforcement, they must submit a statement, certified by the People's Committee of the commune, ward, town regarding the lack of assets for enforcement. The person entitled to enforcement has the right to provide documents to prove that the person subject to enforcement has assets available for enforcement. The enforcement agency may conduct investigations into the assets and income of the person subject to enforcement.

4. For periodic enforcement judgments and decisions, the deadline for requesting enforcement is three years, counted from the date enforcement was suspended.

5. The following events are considered objective obstacles preventing the person entitled to enforcement from requesting enforcement within the statutory period:

a) The person entitled to enforcement did not receive a copy of the judgment or decision without fault on their part;

b) The person entitled to enforcement was absent from the place of enforcement for a long period due to work requirements, illness, or other objective reasons; the person entitled to enforcement died without identifying the heir, except in the case provided for in point 2 of Article 26 of the Civil Enforcement Decree;

c) Due to natural disasters, fire;

d) Due to the fault of the enforcement agency.

6. The restoration of the statute of limitations for enforcement is decided by the head of the enforcement agency who issued the enforcement decision upon application from the person entitled to enforcement accompanied by documents proving the objective obstacle.

Article 10.

1. The person subject to enforcement must bear all costs of coercive enforcement, including:

a) Costs of asset seizure: rental fees for keeping or preserving seized assets, fees for appraising seized assets;

b) Costs of asset valuation: remuneration for members of the Valuation Board, rental fees for venues and means to organize auction sales, costs of organizing revaluation of assets;

c) Rental fees for transporting items and assets, remuneration for participants in coercive enforcement during the organization of coercive enforcement.

2. The level of coercive enforcement costs must be practical and reasonable, calculated by the enforcement officer and approved by the head of the enforcement agency, who must inform the person subject to enforcement.

3. Coercive enforcement costs are paid by the person subject to enforcement or deducted from the proceeds of the sale of seized assets, or deducted from the assets of the person subject to enforcement currently held by others, rented, borrowed, repaired.

4. If the person subject to enforcement genuinely faces economic difficulties, confirmed by the People's Committee of the commune, ward, town, the head of the enforcement agency may consider exempting part or all of the coercive enforcement costs.

Article 11.

1. The head of the enforcement agency that issued the enforcement decision based on an enforcement request form has the authority to suspend enforcement in the following cases:

a) The person subject to enforcement is seriously ill and, according to the judgment or decision, they must personally perform the obligation. Suspension of enforcement in this case does not apply to financial obligations, if the person subject to enforcement, despite being seriously ill, still has assets available for enforcement;

b) The person entitled to enforcement requests or agrees to suspend the enforcement against the person subject to enforcement. If the person entitled to enforcement requests suspension of enforcement, they must submit a request or withdraw the enforcement request form.

If the person subject to enforcement requests a suspension of enforcement and such request is agreed upon by the person entitled to enforcement, it must be recorded in a record with the signatures of the parties involved. The request form or record must clearly state the content of the request and the suspension period. The suspension period shall be included in the statute of limitations for enforcement.

When the conditions for suspending enforcement no longer exist, the head of the enforcement agency shall issue a decision to continue the enforcement process.

2. The suspension of enforcement as provided for in Clause 1 of this Article shall only be applied in cases where the enforcement agency has issued an enforcement decision but has not yet organized the compulsory enforcement.

3. When necessary, the person having the right to lodge an appeal against a judgment or decision of the Court may request a suspension of enforcement to examine the appeal according to the cassation or revision procedure. Such a request for suspension of enforcement can only be made when discovering that the judgment or decision of the Court violates the law, necessitating an immediate suspension of enforcement to avoid irreparable consequences, and must be made before the compulsory enforcement process begins.

The request for suspension of enforcement must be notified in writing to the enforcement agency, specifying the suspension period, which cannot exceed three months from the date of the suspension decision. The request document for suspension of enforcement must be signed by the person having the right to appeal. In cases where a document already exists but an immediate notification is required by telephone or telegraph, the enforcement agency must be informed of the number, date, main content, and signatory of the suspension request document.

Upon receiving a request for suspension of enforcement, the enforcement agency must immediately issue a decision to suspend enforcement and notify the requesting party. After the three-month period expires without an appeal, the enforcement agency shall issue a decision to continue enforcement and inform the party who requested the suspension of enforcement. In cases where a request for suspension of enforcement is received but the judgment or decision has already been fully enforced, the enforcement agency must immediately inform the requesting party.

Article 12.

1. A person lodging an appeal against a judgment or decision that has become legally binding has the right to temporarily suspend the enforcement of such judgment or decision; the issuance of a decision to temporarily suspend enforcement can only be carried out after an appeal has been lodged. If an appeal requires immediate notification of a decision to temporarily suspend enforcement, it can be communicated by telephone or telegraph to the enforcement agency, informing them of the number, date, main content, and signatory of the appeal.

2. After six months from the date of receipt of the appeal, if the enforcement agency has not yet received a written notification of the results of the cassation or revision proceedings, the head of the enforcement agency shall issue a decision to continue enforcement and inform the appellant.

In cases where a decision to temporarily suspend enforcement is received from a person having the right to appeal, but the judgment or decision has already been fully enforced, the head of the enforcement agency must immediately inform that person.

3. When a part of a judgment or decision of the Court has been enforced and there is one of the grounds specified in Clause 1 of Article 11 of this Decree, the head of the enforcement agency that issued the enforcement decision has the right to temporarily suspend enforcement until the condition for temporary suspension no longer exists.

Article 13. In cases where the enforcement agency proactively issues an enforcement decision, it has the responsibility to monitor and verify the assets and income of the person subject to enforcement to ensure the enforcement process.

Article 14. A voluntary request not to enforce a judgment or decision by the person entitled to enforcement must be reflected in a request form or record clearly stating the request and indicating that the person no longer has the right to request enforcement again.

Chapter III

ENFORCEMENT MEASURES

Article 15.

1. When seizing disputed property and handing it over to the person currently holding or using the property for safekeeping, the enforcement officer must prepare a record detailing the current status of the property, the rights, obligations, and responsibilities of the holder or custodian of the property, and the custodian must not transfer the property until the court has resolved the case.

The seizure of assets belonging to State-owned enterprises, joint ventures, and joint-stock companies shall be implemented in accordance with guidelines issued by the Ministry of Finance and the Ministry of Justice.

2. When seizing assets of the person subject to enforcement, the enforcement officer must temporarily assess the value of the assets to be seized and the costs of enforcement that need to be paid, corresponding to the amount sufficient for enforcement.

If the parties agree on the price of the seized assets, the enforcement officer must prepare a record detailing the agreement, with the signatures of the parties.

The enforcement officer shall establish an appraisal committee to conduct a preliminary valuation of the seized assets when the parties cannot agree on the price or when the valuation requires the participation of specialized staff.

3. Seizure of housing can only be carried out when other assets of the person subject to enforcement are insufficient for enforcement, and the amount to be enforced is relatively large, requiring the seizure of housing. In cases where the value of the housing exceeds the amount to be enforced, the enforcement officer shall set a deadline of no more than one month for the person subject to enforcement to find other assets for enforcement before seizing the housing. Once the housing is seized, within thirty days prior to organizing a public auction, the person subject to enforcement still has the right to find other assets for enforcement.

When valuing seized housing, representatives of the land management agency and the construction management agency must participate in the appraisal committee.

Representatives of specialized agencies in the appraisal committee are representatives of agencies authorized to manage the professional use of the type of seized asset.

Article 16. The following assets shall not be seized:

1. The amount of foodstuffs necessary to meet the essential needs of the person subject to enforcement and their family during the period before new harvests; the amount of medicines needed for the prevention and treatment of diseases of the person subject to enforcement and their family;

2. Common tools necessary for the primary or sole means of livelihood of the person subject to enforcement and their family;

3. The minimum amount of clothing and daily necessities necessary for the person subject to enforcement and their family at each locality.

4. Common items for worship according to local customs.

Article 17.

1. Within three days from the date on which the parties agree on the price of the seized property, the enforcement officer must sell the property at the agreed price.

2. Within thirty days from the date on which the Appraisal Council has appraised the seized property, the enforcement officer must organize a public auction for the sale of such property. The list of assets, time, and location of the public auction must be posted at the headquarters of the enforcement agency and the People's Committee of the commune, ward, town where the asset is located, and notified to the parties at least seven days before the auction date.

3. The public auction can only be organized when there are two or more persons participating in the purchase of the asset, and those persons are not related to each other or to the person organizing the auction.

Persons who directly adjudicated the case involving the asset put up for auction, members of the Appraisal Council, enforcement officers, and staff involved in enforcement work shall not participate in purchasing the auctioned asset.

4. The parties may reclaim the asset put up for auction before the buyer completes the procedures to transfer ownership rights, but they must pay the actual enforcement costs incurred and interest to the auction buyer (if applicable). When multiple assets are auctioned and the proceeds from the sale are sufficient to enforce and cover the incurred costs, the enforcement officer shall terminate the auction and return the remaining assets to the judgment debtor.

5. The buyer of the auctioned asset (except for residential property) must immediately deposit 2% of the asset value and within fifteen days must pay the full purchase price and take possession of the asset. If the payment is not made within that period, the buyer will not be entitled to a refund of the advance payment, except for justifiable reasons.

6. When organizing a public auction, the enforcement officer is responsible for:

a) Preparing a record of a successful or unsuccessful public auction;

b) Immediately providing the purchaser with necessary documents for the transfer of ownership rights.

7. For assets requiring procedures to transfer ownership rights, relevant state agencies shall facilitate the purchaser in completing the transfer and registration of ownership rights based on the court decision, enforcement decision, and record of a successful public auction.

8. For unsold assets, the enforcement officer shall request the judgment creditor to accept them; if the creditor does not accept, the enforcement officer shall return the assets to the judgment debtor and decide to apply measures to deduct from income or other assets held by others, or to seize other assets if available.

Article 18.

1. The proceeds from enforcement, including the sale of assets, must be paid in the following order of priority: maintenance payments; compensation for damage to life and health; labor remuneration and other amounts payable.

2. If there are multiple judgment creditors in the same priority category, the proceeds from enforcement, after deducting enforcement costs, shall be distributed among them according to the proportion of their respective claims.

Article 19. The head, chief accountant of the organization, employer where the judgment debtor works or receives income must implement the enforcement officer's decision regarding the deduction from the debtor's income, transfer the deducted amount to the judgment creditor, and notify the enforcement officer issuing the decision.

Article 20.

1. Banks, State Treasury, credit organizations must provide information about the judgment debtor's account upon request from the head of the enforcement agency and implement the enforcement officer's decision regarding the deduction of money or assets from the debtor to transfer to the judgment creditor.

2. Persons currently borrowing, renting, leasing, holding, repairing assets of the judgment debtor must implement the decision regarding the deduction of the debtor's assets to transfer to the judgment creditor.

Chapter IV

PENALTY FOR VIOLATIONS

Article 21.

1. The enforcement officer has the authority to impose a fine of between twenty thousand and fifty thousand dong on the judgment debtor for the following acts:

a) Deliberately failing to appear at the place of enforcement to carry out the enforcement proceedings, despite being summoned twice;

b) Delaying the performance of enforcement obligations.

2. The enforcement officer has the authority to impose a fine of over fifty thousand to one hundred thousand dong on the judgment debtor for the following acts:

a) Reoffending after having been fined;

b) Obstructing or committing violent, insulting acts against enforcement officials during enforcement proceedings;

c) Deliberately failing to comply with interim emergency decisions or judgments, decisions that must be enforced immediately;

d) Disposing of assets to avoid seizure; destroying seals or engaging in consumption, transfer, substitution, concealment, destruction of seized assets.

3. The head of the enforcement agency has the authority to impose a fine of between two hundred thousand and five hundred thousand dong on the judgment debtor for the following acts:

a) Reoffending after having been fined by the enforcement officer under paragraph 2 of this Article;

b) Resisting enforcement measures;

c) Organizations required to enforce judgments fail to implement enforcement measures as requested by the enforcement officer.

4. A person fined has the right to appeal the penalty decision in accordance with the law.

Article 22. Any person disposing of, destroying, transferring, substituting seized assets causing damage must compensate according to the law.

Article 23. The head of the enforcement agency and enforcement officers who fail to enforce court judgments and decisions correctly, delay enforcement, apply coercive enforcement measures contrary to the law, violate procedural regulations on enforcement, shall be disciplined: reprimand, dismissal, forced resignation, or criminal prosecution; if damage is caused, they must compensate.

Chapter V

IMPLEMENTING PROVISIONS

Article 24. This Decree takes effect from the date of signature.

All previous provisions contrary to this Decree are abolished.

Article 25. The Ministers, Heads of ministerial-level agencies, Heads of other agencies under the Government, Chairpersons of People's Committees of provinces and centrally governed cities shall be responsible for implementing this Decree.