Vietnamese courts and commercial litigation: the court structure since 1 July 2025, jurisdiction over business disputes, procedure and timelines, evidence, interim measures, court fees, appeal and cassation, foreign parties, precedents and what to expect in practice

The court system after the 2025 reorganisation

Vietnam's courts were rebuilt on 1 July 2025. Law No. 81/2025/QH15, amending the Law on the Organisation of People's Courts, abolished the 693 district courts and the three high people's courts and created a three-level structure: the Supreme People's Court, 34 provincial-level people's courts matching the merged provinces, and 355 regional people's courts (FAQ 71). Law No. 85/2025/QH15 amended the Civil Procedure Code, the Law on Administrative Procedure, the Law on Bankruptcy and the Law on Mediation and Dialogue at Court with effect from the same date, and Resolution No. 81/2025/UBTVQH15 of the National Assembly Standing Committee fixed the territorial jurisdiction of each court.

Regional courts are the courts of first instance for almost all civil, business, commercial and labour matters, including cases with a foreign element that previously went to the provincial courts. They sit in specialised divisions, among them civil, economic, family and juvenile, and intellectual property and technology transfer divisions. Some regional courts have specialised national or inter-provincial roles: the Intellectual Property Courts of Regional People's Court No. 2 in Hanoi and Regional People's Court No. 1 in Ho Chi Minh City hear intellectual property cases at first instance, and bankruptcy is concentrated in designated regional courts in Hanoi, Da Nang and Ho Chi Minh City (Insolvency, restructuring and bankruptcy). Provincial courts hear appeals from regional courts, review their effective judgments in cassation and reopening through their judicial committees, and, in Hanoi, Da Nang and Ho Chi Minh City, decide applications to annul arbitral awards (Commercial arbitration and VIAC). The Supreme People's Court reviews provincial courts' decisions in cassation, issues guidance through its Judicial Council and selects precedents.

Which court hears a business dispute

Article 30 of the Civil Procedure Code defines the business and commercial disputes within the courts' jurisdiction: disputes between individuals or organisations with business registration arising from commercial activities for profit; disputes over intellectual property rights and technology transfer between them for profit; disputes between a company and its members, or among members, over the establishment, operation, dissolution, merger, division, transfer of capital and organisational change of the company; and other business disputes the law assigns to the courts. A dispute covered by a valid arbitration agreement is excluded (Article 6 of the Law on Commercial Arbitration).

Territorial jurisdiction follows the defendant: the regional court where the defendant, if an organisation, has its head office, or, if an individual, resides or works (Article 39). The parties may agree in writing that the court of the plaintiff's place will hear the case, and disputes over real property go to the court where the property is located. For cases with a foreign element, Articles 469 and 470 set out when Vietnamese courts have jurisdiction, and give them exclusive jurisdiction over, among other matters, rights in real property in Vietnam. A Vietnamese court will not normally decline jurisdiction in favour of a foreign court chosen by the parties where Vietnamese jurisdiction exists under these rules, and a foreign judgment on a matter within its exclusive jurisdiction will not be recognised (Enforcing judgments and civil judgment enforcement).

Procedure and timelines

A case starts with a petition filed at the court in person, by post or online, with the evidence then available. The court's chief judge assigns a judge within three working days, and the judge has five working days to accept the petition, ask for amendments, transfer it or return it (Article 191). If the case is accepted, the plaintiff is notified to pay the advance on court fees, generally within seven days, and the case is formally accepted when the receipt is lodged (Article 195). The defendant then has 15 days to file a written statement and evidence, extendable by 15 days (Article 199).

For business and commercial cases the court has two months from acceptance to prepare for trial, extendable by one month for complex cases or objective obstacles (Article 203). During preparation the judge holds a session for the exchange and disclosure of evidence and, unless the case cannot be mediated, a mediation session (Articles 205 and 210); a mediated settlement that the parties do not withdraw within seven days is recognised by a court decision that takes effect immediately and cannot be appealed. If mediation fails, the judge decides to bring the case to trial, and the hearing should open within one month, or two months with good reason (FAQ 79). Simple cases with clear facts and undisputed documents may follow the simplified procedure in Articles 316 to 324, with a single judge and a hearing within one month.

Practice diverges from the statute. Suspensions while evidence is obtained from authorities, valuation of assets, service on foreign parties and the courts' caseload mean that a contested first-instance commercial case commonly takes a year or more, and cases with foreign parties longer. A case that goes through appeal and then cassation can take several years. Investors should treat the statutory periods as the minimum.

Evidence

Vietnamese civil procedure is document-led and the burden lies on the party making an assertion (Article 91). There is no common-law disclosure: a party cannot compel its opponent to produce categories of documents, although it may ask the court to order an individual, organisation or authority holding specific evidence to provide it (Articles 97 and 106). The judge sets a deadline for submitting evidence that cannot exceed the preparation period, and evidence produced later is admitted only with a valid reason (Article 96). Electronic data messages, e-mails and digitally signed documents are admissible, and their weight depends on the reliability of how they were created and stored. Witness evidence carries less weight than contemporaneous documents, and there is no cross-examination in the common-law sense; the judges question the parties and witnesses.

Documents created abroad must be consular-legalised, or apostilled once Vietnam applies the Apostille Convention from 11 September 2026, unless a treaty exempts them, and every foreign-language document must be accompanied by a certified Vietnamese translation (Article 478). Expert evidence is obtained through court-ordered assessment (giám định) or valuation, and party-appointed expert reports are treated as ordinary documents. The practical lesson is to keep signed originals, minutes of meetings, delivery and acceptance records and correspondence in an orderly file from the start of the relationship; in Vietnamese litigation, the party with the better documents usually wins.

Interim measures

Article 114 of the Civil Procedure Code lists the interim measures available, among them attachment of disputed assets, prohibition of the transfer of property rights, prohibition of changes to the status of disputed assets, freezing of bank accounts, freezing of other assets, prohibition of or compulsion to perform certain acts, and a temporary ban on leaving Vietnam for a party with obligations. A party may apply when filing the petition or at any stage of the proceedings; in urgent cases, to preserve evidence or prevent irreparable harm, it may apply at the same time as filing. Where the application is made with the petition, the court decides within 48 hours of accepting the case; during proceedings, within three working days of receiving the application (Articles 111 and 133).

For measures that affect assets or accounts, the applicant must provide security, in money, precious metals or a bank guarantee, in the amount the court fixes, broadly equivalent to the loss the measure might cause the other party (Article 136), and an applicant whose request was wrongful is liable for the resulting damage (Article 113). Interim measures are enforced immediately by the civil judgment enforcement agency. The courts also grant interim measures in support of arbitration under Article 53 of the Law on Commercial Arbitration, which is the only route to urgent relief before an arbitral tribunal is constituted.

Court fees and costs

Court fees are fixed by Resolution No. 326/2016/UBTVQH14. In a commercial dispute with a monetary value, the first-instance fee is VND 3 million up to VND 60 million in dispute; 5% from VND 60 million to VND 400 million; VND 20 million plus 4% of the excess over VND 400 million up to VND 800 million; VND 36 million plus 3% of the excess up to VND 2 billion; VND 72 million plus 2% of the excess up to VND 4 billion; and VND 112 million plus 0.1% of the excess over VND 4 billion. A non-monetary commercial dispute costs VND 3 million, and an appeal VND 2 million. The plaintiff pays an advance, generally half the fee calculated on the amount claimed, and the losing party ultimately bears the fee in proportion to the part of the claim it loses (Article 147 of the Code).

Lawyers' fees are generally borne by each party, unless the parties have agreed otherwise or the law provides for recovery; a contractual clause allowing the successful party to recover reasonable legal costs is worth including. Only Vietnamese lawyers with a practising certificate may represent parties in court; a foreign law firm may advise but may not appear. Professional fees vary widely; as a typical market range, a contested first-instance commercial case handled by a Vietnamese firm commonly costs from USD 15,000 to USD 80,000 in legal fees, more where an international firm coordinates. These are not quotations.

Appeal, cassation and reopening

A party may appeal a first-instance judgment within 15 days of its pronouncement, or of receiving it if absent (Article 273); the procuracy may protest within 15 days at the same level or one month at the level above. The provincial court has two months to prepare the appeal, extendable by one month, and an appellate judgment takes effect on pronouncement (Article 286). Effective judgments may be reviewed in cassation (giám đốc thẩm) for serious procedural violations or errors of law, or reopened (tái thẩm) on newly discovered facts, but only on a protest by an authorised chief judge or chief procurator; a party may petition them, generally within one year of the judgment taking effect, and protests may be lodged within three years. Since July 2025 the judicial committees of provincial courts review regional court judgments, and the Supreme People's Court reviews provincial court decisions through five-judge panels or the full Judges' Council.

Cassation is not a third appeal as of right, but it is used often enough that a judgment creditor should not treat an appellate judgment as the end of the matter. Enforcement may proceed meanwhile unless the protest suspends it.

Foreign parties, service abroad and precedents

Where a party is abroad, documents are served through judicial assistance under a bilateral treaty, under the Hague Service Convention, to which Vietnam has been party since 2016, through the diplomatic channel, or by registered post with acknowledgement of receipt where the receiving state allows. Service abroad routinely takes many months, and the court fixes hearing dates with that in mind, which is one reason foreign-element cases take longer. Evidence abroad may be taken under the Hague Evidence Convention, in force for Vietnam since 3 May 2020, or a bilateral treaty. A foreign company suing in Vietnam needs a power of attorney to a Vietnamese representative, legalised or apostilled and translated, and should expect to provide its corporate documents in the same form.

Vietnam is a civil-law system, but since 2016 the Supreme People's Court has selected precedents (án lệ) from court judgments under Resolution No. 04/2019/NQ-HDTP. Courts must consider an applicable precedent and explain any departure from it. By mid-2026, 90 precedents had been published, the latest eight (Nos. 83/2026/AL to 90/2026/AL) applying from 1 July 2026 under Decision No. 162/QD-CA, including precedents on co-insurance and the priority of payments from collateral. Precedents are still few in commercial law, so Judicial Council resolutions and the Supreme People's Court's answers to practical questions carry more weight in day-to-day practice.

Bringing a commercial claim in a regional court

1. Confirm jurisdiction and limitationCheck that no valid arbitration clause applies, identify the defendant's head office for territorial jurisdiction, and confirm that the two-year limitation period under Article 319 of the Commercial Law has not expired.
2. Assemble the evidenceContract, amendments, invoices, delivery and acceptance records, correspondence and demand letters; legalise or apostille and translate foreign documents.
3. Consider interim measuresIf assets may be dissipated, prepare an application to freeze accounts or attach assets with the petition, and arrange the security the court will require.
4. File the petitionFile online, in person or by post; the judge decides within five working days whether to accept it (Article 191).
5. Pay the advance on court feesPay within the time in the court's notice, generally seven days, and lodge the receipt; the case is accepted from that date (Article 195).
6. Preparation, evidence exchange and mediationRespond to the defendant's statement, attend the evidence exchange session and the court mediation session within the two-month preparation period (Articles 203, 205 and 210).
7. First-instance hearing and judgmentThe hearing should open within one month of the decision to bring the case to trial; judgment is pronounced at the end of the hearing.
8. Appeal or enforceAppeal within 15 days, or, once the judgment takes effect, apply to the civil judgment enforcement agency within five years.