PROCEDURES FOR FIRST INSTANCE OF CIVIL CASES

PROCEDURES FOR RESOLVING CIVIL CASES AT THE COURT OF FIRST INSTANCE

1. General overview
In today's social life, civil disputes arise in an increasingly diverse manner, possibly related to marriage and family, civil contracts, commercial business, land, housing, inheritance... When the legitimate rights and interests of individuals and organizations are violated, they have the right to file a lawsuit with a competent People's Court to request protection according to the provisions of law.

According to the 2015 Civil Procedure Code (CPC), a civil case is a dispute arising between subjects regarding rights and obligations in civil relations. The resolution of the case is carried out through the following stages.

2. Filing a lawsuit
According to Clause 1, Article 190 of the 2015 Civil Procedure Code, the plaintiff shall submit a lawsuit with documents and evidence to the Court in one of the following forms:
• Submit directly to the Court;
• Send by post;
• Send online via the Court's electronic information portal (if any).
The mandatory contents of the lawsuit are specified in Clause 4, Article 189 of the Civil Procedure Code, including:
• Information about the plaintiff, the defendant, and the person with related rights and obligations;
• Name of the Court receiving the petition;
• Summary of the infringed rights and interests;
• Specific requests to the Court;
• List of accompanying documents and evidence.
The plaintiff must ensure that the petition is valid in both form and content, and must include documents proving the infringed rights and legitimate interests. If there is not enough evidence, additional submissions may be made as requested by the Court during the process of resolving the case.

3. Assigning a Judge to review the petition
Pursuant to Article 191 of the Civil Procedure Code, within 03 working days from the date of receipt of the petition, the Chief Justice of the Court shall assign a Judge to review it.
Within 05 working days from the date of assignment, the Judge must make one of the following decisions:
• Request to amend or supplement the petition;
• Accept the case (according to normal or simplified procedures);
• Transfer the petition to a competent Court;
• Return the petition if the case is not within the jurisdiction of the Court.
All results of the petition handling are recorded in the petition receipt book and notified to the petitioner (in writing or via the Court's Electronic Information Portal, if any).

4. Accepting the case and notifying acceptance
Pursuant to Articles 195 and 196 of the Civil Procedure Code, after determining that the case is within the jurisdiction of the Court, the Judge shall notify the petitioner to come to the Court to pay an advance court fee.

• The plaintiff must submit the receipt for the advance payment of court fees within 07 days from the date of receipt of the Court's notice.

• When the Court receives the receipt, the case is considered to have been accepted.
Within 03 working days from the date of acceptance, the Judge must notify in writing the plaintiff, defendant, persons with related rights and obligations and the People's Procuracy at the same level that the Court has accepted the case.

For cases filed by consumers, the Court must also publicly post the acceptance information at its headquarters within 03 working days.

5. Mediation and preparation for trial
According to Article 205 of the Civil Procedure Code, during the trial preparation stage, the Court conducts mediation so that the parties voluntarily agree with each other on the settlement of the case, except in cases where mediation is not allowed (according to Articles 206 and 207 of the Civil Procedure Code) or is resolved under the simplified procedure.

Principles of conciliation:
• Respecting voluntariness, no coercion;
• Agreement must not be contrary to the law or social ethics.
If the parties reach a conciliation agreement, the Court shall issue a decision recognizing the agreement. If the conciliation fails, the Judge shall make a record and continue with the procedure of bringing the case to trial.

6. Time limit and work in the trial preparation stage
According to Article 203 of the Civil Procedure Code, the trial preparation period is:
• From 01 to 04 months from the date of acceptance of the case;
• Can be extended by 01 to 02 months in complicated cases or when there are objective obstacles.
During this stage, the Judge is responsible for:
• Preparing the case file;
• Determining the status of the parties and the dispute relationship;
• Collecting, examining, and publicizing evidence;
• Organizing conciliation;
• Deciding to temporarily suspend, adjourn, or bring the case to trial.
After the decision to bring the case to trial, the Court must open the trial within 01 month; if there is a legitimate reason, the time limit can be extended to a maximum of 02 months.

7. First-instance trial
According to Article 222 of the Civil Procedure Code, the first-instance trial must be conducted at the correct time and place stated in the decision to bring the case to trial.

Participants in the trial include:
• Trial panel (Judge, People's Jury);
• Representative of the Procuracy (if participating);
• Plaintiff, defendant, person with related rights and obligations;
• Person protecting the rights and legitimate interests of the litigant;
• Witness, expert, interpreter (if any).
After consideration, the Trial panel issues the first-instance judgment.

8. Right to appeal
According to Article 273 of the 2015 Civil Procedure Code, the litigants have the right to appeal the first instance judgment if they do not agree with the content of the Court's pronouncement.
• Time limit for appeal: 15 days from the date of judgment;
• If absent when the judgment is pronounced, the time limit is calculated from the date of receiving the judgment.
After the above time limit, if there is no appeal or protest, the first instance judgment becomes legally effective and is enforced.
In case of special grounds, the litigants may request an appeal according to the cassation procedure for review by a higher court.

9. Conclusion
The process of resolving civil cases at the People's Court of first instance includes many strict stages, requiring litigants to clearly understand the order, time limit and their rights and obligations to best protect their legitimate rights and interests.
During the process of filing a lawsuit or participating in a lawsuit, having a lawyer specializing in civil litigation accompanying is a key factor in helping the litigant build a solid case, avoid procedural errors and increase the chance of winning the lawsuit.

MSc. Lawyer Nguyen Hoang Long

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