Currently, all proceedings are governed by the Civil Procedure Code 2015, Criminal Procedure Code 2015, Administrative Procedure Law 2015, Bankruptcy Law 2014, and other guidance documents.
The proceedings in criminal cases are provided in the Criminal Procedure Code. The code provides the procedure for receipt of denunciations and information on offenses, institution, investigation, prosecution and adjudication of criminal cases and certain procedures for the execution of criminal judgments; duties and powers as well as relationships among procedure-conducting bodies, duties, powers and responsibilities of procedure-conducting persons; rights and obligations of participants in the procedure and various agencies, organizations, and citizens; international cooperation in the criminal procedure, in order to take the initiative in preventing and precluding crimes, detecting accurately and promptly and handing justly and in time all criminal acts, not leaving criminals unpunished and the innocent punished unjustly.
The basic steps to handle a typical criminal case are as follows:
Agencies, organizations, individuals denounce offenses or report information on offenses, or requests for institution of criminal cases, or offenders give confessions.
Investigating bodies, procuracies, Courts, border guards, customs, rangers, coast guard forces and other agencies of the People’s Police or People’s Army, which are assigned to conduct a number of investigating activities directly detect criminal signs.
Investigating bodies and procuracies will:
– To receive denunciations and information on offenses, requests for institution of criminal cases;
– to examine and verify information sources and decide whether to institute criminal cases within 20 days or not to exceed 2 months after receiving the information on possible offenses.
– When having sufficient grounds to determine that persons have committed criminal acts, the investigating body shall issue decisions to initiate criminal proceedings against the accused.
– Interrogation of the accused.
– Taking statements of witnesses, victims, civil plaintiffs, civil defendants, person with interests and obligations related to the case, confrontation and identification.
– Search, forfeiture, seizure, distrainment of property.
– Scene examination, autopsy, examination of traces on human bodies, investigation experiments, expertise.
– Suspension of investigation or termination of investigation.
– Investigating bodies completes and send the investigation conclusion reports to procuracies for prosecution proposals.
Within twenty days for less serious offenses and serious offenses, within thirty days for very serious offenses and especially serious offenses, after receiving the case files and investigation conclusion reports, the procuracies must issue one of the following decisions:
– To cease or suspend the case;
– To return the file for additional investigation;
– To prosecute the accused before Court by an indictment.
In case of prosecution, within three days after issuing the prosecution decisions in the form of an indictment, the procuracies must send the files and indictments to the Courts.
– Preparation for the first instance trial: the Court may transfer case files, or decide to cease or suspend the case or to return the file for additional investigation, or to bring the case for trial.
– First instance trial;
– Pronouncement of judgment.
– Parties appeals against the first instance judgment or decision.
– Procuracies protest against the first instance judgment or decision
– Preparation for appellate instance trial
– Appellate instance trial
– Pronouncement of judgment.
– Applying for cassation review with the judgment or decision which became in force.
– Considering cassation review application.
– Making response to person whose cassation review application does not satisfy the open cassation review procedure.
– Making decision to protest according to cassation procedure against the decision or judgment.
– Court session of cassation
– Releasing Cassation decision.
* Procedure to deal with civil cases (civil, trade, commercial, family and labour cases) normally (According to the Civil Procedure Code 2015) is as follows:
Agencies, organizations, individuals submit lawsuit petitions to the competent Court.
– Within 3 working days from the day on which the petitions are received, the Chief Justices of the Courts shall assign one Judge to review the petitions.
– Within 5 working days from the day on which they are assigned, the Judges shall review the petitions and make one of the following decisions:
a) To request for amendment and/or supplementation of lawsuit petitions;
b) To carry out the acceptance procedures of the cases according to normal procedures or simplified procedures, if the cases are satisfied for resolution according to simplified procedures as prescribed in clause 1 Article 317 of this Code;
c) To transfer the lawsuit petitions to competent Courts and notify the litigators thereof if the cases fall under the jurisdiction of the other Courts;
d) To return the lawsuit petitions to the litigators if such cases do not fall under the jurisdiction of the other Courts .
– The Judges shall accept the petitions when the litigators have submitted to the Courts the Court fee advance payment receipts.
– Notice on acceptance of cases.
– Within 3 working days from the day on which a case is accepted, the Chief Justice of the Court shall assign a Judge to resolve the case.
– During the period of preparation for first instance trial, the Judge shall hold meetings for checking the handover of, access to and disclosure of evidence and mediating between the involved parties.
– Based on the results of such meeting, the Judge shall make the decision whether to cease or suspend the case, or to bring the case to trial.
– Open a first instance Court session.
– Opening a Court session
– Inquisitorial procedure
– Oral argument in Court session
– Deliberation and pronouncement of judgment
– Supplying judgment extracts.
– Appeal, protest against the first instance judgment
– Notification of payment of appellate Court fee in advance
– Preparation for appellate trial
– Appellate Court session
– Pronouncement of appellate judgment
– Applying for cassation review with the judgment or decision which came into force.
– Considering cassation review application.
– Making response to person whose cassation review application does not satisfy the open cassation review procedure.
– Making decision to protest according to cassation procedure against the decision or judgment.
– Court session of cassation
– Releasing Cassation decision.
Such steps are illustrated by the following diagram:
DIAGRAM OF PROCEEDINGS OF CIVIL CASES
* Proceedings for resolution of civil matters:
According to Article 361 of the Civil Procedure Law, civil matters mean a situation where agencies, organizations or individuals have no dispute but request the Courts to recognize or not recognize a right or legal event which serves as a basis for rise of civil, marriage and family, business, commercial or labour rights and obligations of their own or of other agencies, organizations or individuals.
Similar to proceedings of civil cases, procedure for resolution of civil matters comprises of 6 steps:
- Step 1: Submission of petitions
Persons requesting courts to resolve civil matters must file their petitions with the competent Courts.
- Step 2: Receiving and Processing petitions
- Step 3: Preparation for petition consideration
- Step 4: Meeting to resolve civil matters
The Court makes a decision on whether to accept the request of petitioner or not.
- Step 5: Appellate meeting to resolve civil matters if appealed or protested
- Step 6: Cassation reviews
The following diagram illustrates such procedure:
DIAGRAM OF PROCEEDINGS FOR RESOLUTION OF CIVIL MATTERS
The procedure to settle administrative cases is provided in detailed in the Administrative Procedure Law 2015, which also comprises 6 similar steps as for the proceedings of civil cases (see 1.2.2.).
Procedure to settle petitions requiring the Court to initiate bankruptcy process with respect to companies and cooperatives in Vietnam is very special, which is provided in the Law on Bankruptcy 2014 and other guiding documents. It is illustrated by the following diagram:
DIAGRAM OF BANKRUPTCY PROCEEDINGS
