Debt Collection in Judgment Enforcement Phase
To collect a debt, a creditor has multiple options at his disposal. However, the options to utilize legal means such as Litigation, Arbitration, or Mediation are always encouraged due to their legitimacy, legality, and compliance with international standards.
In general, upon the application any one of the aforementioned options, the creditor shall receive one of the following legal documents: a Judgment, a Decisions issued by the Court, or an Award specified by the Arbitral Tribunal, or a Mediation Agreement made by the Mediator.
Legal means for debt collection
Accordingly, as these legal documents appropriate effect, the creditor shall be entitled to request competent authority to enforce the judgment. Performance and fulfillment of the debt repayment obligation, by the creditor, shall be considered successful debt collection. Conversely, the debt collection shall proceed into a new phase which is judgment enforcement
Submit Request for Judgment Enforcement for Debt Collection
To initiate debt collection via judgment enforcement, the creditor shall submit such a request to the competent authorities. The submission may be made via the creditors themselves or an authorized representative of the creditor. Upon receipt of the request, the Judgment Enforcement Agencies are obliged to evaluate and process the request in accordance with legal procedures.
According to Article 36 of Law on Civil Judgment Enforcement 2015, Judgment Enforcement Agencies shall announce their decisions on whether or not to enforce the judgment within 5 days of the submission of the request. Whenever Judgment enforcement is permitted, a Judgment Enforcement Decision shall be issued, and those Judgment Enforcement requests that are not permitted shall be issued a refusal notice to the Creditor.
It is important to consider that the duration for requesting a judgment, a decision, or an award of enforcement is 5 years. If the foregoing period has ended and the creditor has yet to request for judgment enforcement, the duration shall be deemed expired and any further request to enforce judgment by the creditor at this point in time shall be rejected by the Judgment Enforcement Agencies.
Content of the Request for Judgment Enforcement
To avoid amendments to a request, the creditor is advised to ensure that the request for judgment enforcement contains the following content:
Mandatory contents in Request for Judgment Enforcement
Jurisdiction of judgment enforcement request
The Civil Judgment Enforcement System in Vietnam includes District-level Judgment Enforcement Agencies and Province-level Judgment Enforcement Agencies. Accordingly, the jurisdiction over judgment enforcement is accorded as below:
Jurisdiction of judgment enforcement request
Procedures for Judgment Enforcement – Debt Collection
Whenever judgment enforcement involves debt collection, the Debt Collection Agencies often proceed with the procedures outlined below. Therefore, the debtor ought to have a firm grasp of these procedures to provide support and cooperate with the Judgment Enforcement Agencies.
Procedures for Judgment Enforcement
Effective debt collection
Firstly, whether or not the judgement is enforceable, depends on the enforcement conditions of the concerned debtor. As such, the creditor is advised not to depend solely on the determination of the Judgment Enforcement Agencies and instead, exercise the initiative to determine the judgment enforcement conditions of the debtor.
Secondly, in an effort to limit the possibility of the debtor escaping, liquidating assets, or laundering money, etc., which may adversely influence the effectiveness of debt collection during this phase, the creditor might request Judgment Enforcement Agencies to apply provisional emergency measures – if deemed necessary – to prevent such activities being taken by the debtor to hinder the enforcement of the judgment, as well as to ensure the smooth process of judgment enforcement.
Finally, the creditor is advised to contact Judgment Enforcement Agencies on a regular basis to get updates on the process and provide appropriate support and cooperate with Judgment Enforcement Agencies whenever obstacles are encountered.
Further Support
CNC Vietnam Law Firm Limited Liability Company is well-versed in providing support on dispute resolution and debt collection to enterprises located in Vietnam’s metropolises, such as Ho Chi Minh, Hanoi, Da Nang, etc.
With a wealth of experience, we are incessantly prepared to accompany and support any and all clients. To contact us, please refer to the information below:
Address: The Sun Avenue, 28 Mai Chi Tho, An Phu Ward, Thu Duc City, Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam
Phone: (84) 28-6276 9900
Email: contact@cnccounsel.com
