Decree 152/2024/ND-CP amend Decree 62/2015/ND-CP detailing Law on Enforcement of Civil Judgments

DECREE

Amending and supplementing a number of articles of Decree No. 62/2015/ND-CP dated July 18, 2015, on detailing and guiding the implementation of a number of articles of the Law on Enforcement of Civil Judgments, which was amended and supplemented by the Government’s Decree No. 33/2020/ND-CP dated March 17, 2020

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Pursuant to the Law on Organization of the Government dated June 19, 2015; Law on Amending and Supplementing a Number of Articles of the Law on Organization of the Government and the Law on Organization of Local Administration dated November 22, 2019;

Pursuant to the Law on Enforcement of Civil Judgments dated November 14, 2008, which was amended and supplemented by the Law on Enforcement of Civil Judgments dated November 25, 2014; the Competition Law dated June 12, 2018; the Law on Amending and Supplementing a Number of Articles of the Law on Handling of Administrative Violations dated November 13, 2020; the Law on Amending and Supplementing a Number of Articles of the Law on Public Investment, Law on Investment in the Form of Public-Private Partnership, Law on Investment, Housing Law, Bidding Law, Electricity Law, Law on Enterprises, Law on Excise Tax, and Law on Enforcement of Civil Judgments dated January 11, 2022; and the Land Law dated January 18, 2024;

At the request of the Minister of Justice;

The Government promulgates the Decree amending and supplementing a number of articles of Decree No. 62/2015/ND-CP dated July 18, 2015, on detailing and guiding the implementation of a number of articles of the Law on Enforcement of Civil Judgments, which was amended and supplemented by the Government’s Decree No. 33/2020/ND-CP dated March 17, 2020.

Article 1. Amending and supplementing a number of articles of Decree No. 62/2015/ND-CP dated July 18, 2015, on detailing and guiding the implementation of a number of articles of the Law on Enforcement of Civil Judgments, which was amended and supplemented by the Government’s Decree No. 33/2020/ND-CP dated March 17, 2020 as follows:

1. To amend and supplement Point b Clause 3 Article 4 as follows:

“b) Objective hindrance means a case where a party does not receive a court judgment or court decision not because of such party’s fault; the a party is working in a bordering area or island or must execute a decision of the competent state agency and unable to request the enforcement on schedule; the party has an accident or disease that causes him/her to lose his/her consciousness or the party dies without an inheritor; an organization undergoes consolidation, merger, division, separation, dissolution, transformation of its form, compulsory transfer, transfer of all shares or contributed capital without identifying another organization or individual entitled to request enforcement as prescribed by law or the party fails to request the enforcement before the deadline because of fault of the adjudicating authority, civil judgment enforcement authority or another agency or individual or another objective hindrance defined in Article 156 of the Civil Law.”;

2. To amend and supplement Clause 4 Article 5 as follows:

“4. The enforcement officer shall witness and sign the written agreement at the request of the parties in the cases as prescribed in Clauses 2 and 3 of this Article. Such witness must be carried out at the office of the civil judgment enforcement authority. In cases of agreements on the transfer of land use rights, house and land-attached assets; on transfer of custody of minors; on transfer of visitation and caregiving rights for minors, persons having lost their civil act capacity, or persons having no working capacity, the enforcement officer shall witness outside the agency's headquarters at the parties’ request.

When detecting that the agreement is illegal or immoral or impractical and thus affects the lawful rights and interests of a third party or is meant to avoid enforcement costs, the enforcement officer is entitled to refuse to witness the agreement and provide the reasons of refusal in the agreement.”.

3. To add Clause 7 Article 9 as follows:

“7. The enforcement officers may carry out the verification of judgment enforcement conditions using the national database in accordance with law regulations. The verification results serve as one of the bases for organizing judgment enforcement in accordance with the law on enforcement of civil judgments.”.

4. To amend and supplement Clause 1 Article 12 as follows:

“1. The notification of judgment enforcement as prescribed in Articles 40, 41 and 42 of the Law on Enforcement of Civil Judgments shall be conducted for the first time. In case the notified person agrees, from the second notification onwards, the civil judgment enforcement agency may make the notification via VNelD or the website of the provincial-level Civil Judgment Enforcement Department and the portal of the General Department of Civil Judgment Enforcement under the Ministry of Justice. If the notified person does not agree with such form of notification from the second time onwards, the civil judgment enforcement agency shall conduct the notification in accordance with the Law on Enforcement of Civil Judgments.

Direct notification to the parties, persons with related rights and obligations shall be carried out as follows:

a) Enforcement officers, civil servants in charge of judgment enforcement shall deliver the documents subject to notification to the parties to be notified;

b) Postal workers; persons authorized by the judgment enforcement agency; heads of residential groups; heads of villages or hamlets, commune-level People's Committees and polices; heads of agencies, units; wardens of prisons or detention centers, heads of criminal judgment execution agencies of district-level Divisions of Public Security where the persons to be notified resides, works, or serves a prison sentence shall deliver the documents subject to notification to the parties to be notified.”.

5. To add Clauses 5, 6, 7 and 8 Article 13 as follows:

“5. The handling of securities listed or registered for trading at stock exchanges shall be carried out as follows:

a) The enforcement officer shall issue a decision on freezing securities and sends it to the Vietnam Securities Depository and Clearing Corporation (hereinafter referred to as VSDC) and other agencies, organizations and individuals as prescribed in Article 67 of the Law on Enforcement of Civil Judgments. Within 01 working day from the date of receipt of the enforcement officer's decision, VSDC shall freeze the securities in accordance with the law regulations on securities and send a notice to the civil judgment enforcement agency and the depository member.

The decision on freezing securities includes the following contents: contents of requirement for freezing securities; full name, number and date of issue of the people identity card or citizen identity card for individuals; name, number and date of issue of the enterprise registration certificate or equivalent legal documents for legal entities; codes and quantity of securities requested to be frozen.

b) The enforcement officer shall issue a decision on coercive attachment and handling of securities in accordance with Clause 3, Article 71 of the Law on Enforcement of Civil Judgments.

Within 05 working days from the date of proper notification of the decision to enforce the attachment and handling of securities, the parties shall agree on the sale of securities in accordance with the law on securities and send a written notice on such agreement to the civil judgment enforcement agency.

After the above time limit, the civil judgment enforcement agency shall issue a document requesting VSDC to transfer the attached securities to the civil judgment enforcement agency. The civil judgment enforcement agency shall have the rights and obligations as defined by law regulations regarding the securities received. Within 05 working days from the date of receipt of the written request from the civil judgment enforcement agency, VSDC must transfer the securities. Within 02 working days from the date of completion of the transfer of securities, the enforcement officer shall carry out the sale according to the agreement of the parties. In case the parties do not reach an agreement or cannot reach an agreement, the enforcement officer shall sell the securities by order matching method at the reference price in accordance with the law on securities.

In case of proactively issuing a decision on judgment enforcement, immediately after issuing the decision on enforcement of attachment, the civil judgment enforcement agency shall issue a document requesting VSDC to transfer the attached securities to the civil judgment enforcement agency and sell the securities by order matching method at the reference price in accordance with the law on securities.

6. In handling unlisted securities, securities unregistered for trading, and securities already registered at VSDC or being listed, registered for trading but cannot be sold as prescribed in Clause 5 of this Article, the enforcement officer shall carry out the freezing measure in accordance with Article 67 of the Law on Enforcement of Civil Judgments; issue a decision on enforcement of the attachment and handling of assets under Clause 3, Article 71 of the Law on Enforcement of Civil Judgments. The order and procedures for valuation and sale of securities shall comply with Article 98, Article 99, Article 101 and other provisions of the Law on Enforcement of Civil Judgments, laws on property auctions and other relevant laws. After selling securities, the civil judgment enforcement agency shall send a document requesting VSDC to transfer ownership of securities to the buyer in accordance with law regulations.

7. For handling of securities, shares or contributed capital not covered by Clause 5 and Clause 6 of this Article and valuable papers, the enforcement officers shall be attached and handled them in accordance with Articles 71, 83, 92, 98, 99, 101 and other provisions of the Law on Enforcement of Civil Judgments, laws on property auctions, laws on enterprises and other relevant laws. When making a decision on asset attachment, the enforcement officer shall simultaneously send a notice on asset attachment to the enterprise where the judgment debtor contributes capital and relevant agencies and organizations to prevent the transfer of ownership or change of the current status of the asset until a decision is made by the civil judgment enforcement agency.

8. In case the civil judgment enforcement agency is applying measures to secure judgment enforcement and coercive measures to enforce judgments that are corresponding to the obligations of the judgment debtor and the expenses for judgment enforcement as prescribed in Clause 1 of this Article, and the judgment debtor still has other assets, the enforcement officer shall request in writing the relevant competent agency to immediately notify the civil judgment enforcement agency when transactions relating to those assets arise for coordination in handling in accordance with law regulations.”.

6. To add Clause 3 Article 15 as follows:

“3. The issuance of a decision on transfer of rights and obligations for judgment enforcement as prescribed in Clause 1, Article 54 of the Law on Enforcement of Civil Judgments must be based on the decision of a competent agency, in accordance with the law on enforcement of civil judgments and other relevant laws.

When transferring rights and obligations under Article 54 of the Law on Enforcement of Civil Judgments, the head of the civil judgment enforcement agency shall issue a decision to revoke the previous decision on judgment enforcement and issue a new decision on judgment enforcement corresponding to the transferred rights and obligations and the remaining rights not yet transferred (if any).”.

7. To amend and supplement Clauses 1, 3 and 4 Article 27 as follows:

“1. In case the parties cannot reach an agreement on the selection of a property auction organization, the enforcement officer shall select a property auction organization in accordance with the law on property auction.

Before the first auction of jointly owned property where multiple co-owners request to purchase the part of property of the judgment debtor at a predetermined price, the enforcement officer shall notify the co-owners to agree on the person entitled to purchase. If no agreement is reached, the enforcement officer shall organize a lot draw to select the auctioned property buyer.

3. In cases where there are many properties auctioned for the judgment enforcement in the same auction, the civil judgment enforcement agency shall request the auction organization to conduct the auction in the order of the most valuable property. Where the collected money is sufficient for the performance of obligations and the expenses as prescribed, the auction of the remaining properties shall not be continued.

The auctioned property buyer shall transfer money to the account of the civil judgment enforcement agency within at most 30 days from the wining date and must not extend it. In case the auctioned property buyer fails to pay or pays an insufficient amount to purchase the property within the prescribed time limit, the civil judgment enforcement agency shall, based on law regulations, cancel the conclusion of contract on purchase and sale of auctioned property, cancel the contract on purchase and sale of auctioned property or request the Court to cancel it in accordance with law regulations.

Within 60 days from the date the auctioned property buyer pays the full amount of money, the civil judgment enforcement agency shall organize the delivery of the possession of property to the auctioned property buyer, except for cases of force majeure or objective hindrances. The property auction organization shall be responsible for coordinating with the civil judgment enforcement agency in delivering the property to the auctioned property buyer. Organizations and individuals who illegally obstruct or intervene, leading to the delay in delivering the auctioned property and causing damage, shall be required to make compensation.

4. The civil judgment enforcement agency shall make payment of sums of money collected from judgment enforcement in accordance with Article 47 of the Law on Enforcement of Civil Judgments within 10 days from the date of delivery of the assets to the person who has purchased it through auction.

The civil judgment enforcement agency shall carry out procedures to deposit that amount of money in the bank in the form of a one-month term deposit until the property is delivered. The interest from the deposit arising within the property delivery time limit prescribed in Clause 3 of this Article shall be added to the initial deposit for the judgment enforcement; the interest from the deposit arising beyond the property delivery time limit prescribed in Clause 3 of this Article shall belong to the property buyer. In case the civil judgment enforcement agency applies coercive measures, the judgment debtors, property owners or the persons managing the property subject to judgment enforcement shall bear all expenses for coercive judgment enforcement as prescribed in Article 73 of the Law on Enforcement of Civil Judgments; if damage is caused, they must pay compensation for it in accordance with law regulations.

If the auctioned property cannot be delivered to the buyer by the due date specified in the property auction contract, the auctioned property buyer has the right to request the cancellation of the contract in accordance with law regulations.”.

8. To amend and supplement Clause 2 Article 28 as follows:

“2. In case the asset is the rights to use land, houses and other land-attached assets that have been granted a Certificate in accordance with law regulations but the Certificate cannot be revoked, the following regulations shall be implemented:

a) The civil judgment enforcement agency shall send a written request to revoke the Certificate to the competent People's Committee specified in Clause 1, Article 136 of the Land Law for the Certificate issued for the first time or the land registration organization and the land registration organization’s branch specified in Clause 2 Article 136 of the Land Law for the issued Certificate when carrying out the procedures for registration of change in information on land or land-attached assets;

b) Within 25 working days from the date of receipt of the civil judgment enforcement agency's document, the competent agency specified at Point a, Clause 2 of this Article shall decide to revoke or cancel the issued Certificate. The issuance and re-issuance of the Certificate shall comply with the land law.”.

9. To add Clause 6 Article 38 as follows:

“6. The persons competent to settle complaints shall, based on Article 4 of this Decree and other relevant laws, determine the period of objective hindrances or force majeure events. Such period shall not be counted in the time limit for complaints as prescribed in Clause 2, Article 140 of the Law on Enforcement of Civil Judgments.”.

10. To amend and supplement Point e Clause 1 Article 43 as follows:

“e) Expenses when enforcement measures are in progress or has been completed but must be suspended as defined at Point a, Point b, Point d, Point dd Clause 1 Article 50 of the Law on Enforcement of Civil Judgments.”.

11. To add Clause 7 Article 49 as follows:

“7. In case of payment of money when handling assets, if the judgment or decision orders the attachment of assets to ensure the enforcement of a specific obligation as prescribed in Clause 3, Article 47 of the Law on Enforcement of Civil Judgments, and there are many judgment creditors but only one or some of them request judgment enforcement, the civil judgment enforcement agency shall make payments to those who have requested judgment enforcement according to the proportion they are entitled to receive; the remaining amount shall be deposited in the bank in the form of a one-month term deposit, and at the same time notify the right to request judgment enforcement to those who have not requested judgment enforcement, except for cases where the statute of limitations for request of judgment enforcement has expired.

If the statute of limitations for requesting judgment enforcement has expired and the civil judgment enforcement agency has not received the request, the deposited amount and interest shall continue to be paid to those who have requested judgment enforcement in such judgment or decision; the remaining amount shall be paid to judgment creditors under other judgment enforcement decisions (if any) up to the time of payment or paid to the owner of the attached and handled assets.”.

12. To amend and supplement Clauses 2 and 3 Article 56 as follows:

“2. The Ministry of Justice shall organize the examination for the recruitment of enforcement officers; regulate the content, form, and procedures for the examination for the recruitment of junior enforcement officers.

The content, form of examination or consideration for promotion of ranks from junior enforcement officer to intermediate enforcement officer, and from intermediate enforcement officer to senior enforcement officer shall comply with the law on cadres, civil servants, and the law on enforcement of civil judgments.

3. The Minister of Justice shall stipulate the codes, professional standards and salaries of enforcement officers after receiving the unanimous opinion of the Ministry of Home Affairs.”.

13. To amend and supplement Clause 3 Article 66 as follows:

“3. The Minister of Justice shall stipulate the codes, professional standards and salaries of enforcement verifiers after receiving the unanimous opinion of the Ministry of Home Affairs.”.

14. To amend and supplement Clause 1 Article 69 as follows:

“1. The appointment to the rank, transfer of the rank of enforcement verifier; the content and form of examination, and consideration for promotion of ranks from enforcement verifier to principal enforcement verifier, from principal enforcement verifier to senior enforcement verifier shall comply with the law on cadres, civil servants and the law on enforcement of civil judgments.”.

15. To amend and supplement Clauses 1 and 2 Article 71 as follows:

“1. The enforcement clerk is a civil judgment enforcement professional officer, responsible for assisting the junior enforcement officers, intermediate enforcement officers, and senior enforcement officers in carrying out the order and procedures for civil judgment enforcement or assisting the enforcement verifiers, principal enforcement verifiers and senior enforcement verifiers in performing examination tasks in accordance with law regulations.

The appointment to the rank, transfer of the rank of enforcement clerk; the content and form of examination, and consideration for promotion of ranks from intermediate enforcement clerk to enforcement clerk shall comply with the law on cadres, civil servants and the law on enforcement of civil judgments.

2. The Minister of Justice shall stipulate the codes, professional standards and salaries of enforcement clerks after receiving the unanimous opinion of the Ministry of Home Affairs.”.

16. To amend and supplement Clause 2 Article 78 as follows:

“2. Junior enforcement officers, intermediate enforcement officers, and senior enforcement officers, enforcement verifiers, principal enforcement verifiers and senior enforcement verifiers are classified as civil servant salary of group 1 of types A1, A2 and A3 of the professional salary table of cadres and civil servants in state agencies.

Enforcement clerks are classified as civil servant of type A1 in the professional salary table of cadres and civil servants in state agencies. Intermediate enforcement clerks are classified civil servant of type A0 in the professional salary table of cadres and civil servants in state agencies.”.

17. To add Clause 4 Article 83 as follows:

“4. The Ministry of Justice shall, based on the needs of agencies, units and the actual situation of regions, decide on the issuance and use of uniform, badges and insignia of civil judgment enforcement in accordance with law regulations.”.

Article 2. Repealing Point c Clause 2 Article 24 of the Decree No. 62/2015/ND-CP dated July 18, 2015, on detailing and guiding the implementation of a number of articles of the Law on Enforcement of Civil Judgments.

Article 3. Transitional provisions

1. For judgment enforcement jobs for which, at the time this Decree takes effect, the order and procedures for enforcement of judgments have not been implemented under the Decree No. 62/2015/ND-CP dated July 18, 2015, on detailing and guiding the implementation of a number of articles of the Law on Enforcement of Civil Judgments, which was amended and supplemented by the Government’s Decree No. 33/2020/ND-CP dated March 17, 2020 (hereinafter referred to as Decree No. 62/2015/ND-CP), such order and procedures shall be implemented in accordance with this Decree.

2. For judgment enforcement jobs for which the order and procedures for enforcement of judgments have been carried out in accordance with the Decree No. 62/2015/ND-CP, the re-implementation of such order and procedures under this Decree is not required.

3. For judgment enforcement jobs having been partially enforced or having not been enforced at the effective date of this Decree for which a number of procedures for enforcement of judgments have been carried out in accordance with the Decree No. 62/2015/ND-CP, the re-implementation of such procedures under this Decree is not required. Performance of the remaining procedures for enforcement of judgments shall comply with this Decree, except for cases where there is a conflict with the procedures for enforcement of judgments already implemented under Decree No. 62/2015/ND-CP, in such cases, Decree No. 62/2015/ND-CP shall apply to implement those remaining procedures for enforcement of judgments.

Article 4. Implementation provisions

1. This Decree takes effect on January 01, 2025.

2. To repeal Item 3 Point d Clause 2 Article 1 of Decree No. 17/2013/ND-CP dated February 19, 2013, on amending and supplementing a number of articles of the Government’s Decree No. 204/2004/ND-CP dated December 14, 2004, on salary regime for cadres, civil servants, public employees, and armed force personnel.

3. Ministers, heads of ministerial-level agencies, heads of government-attached agencies, chairpersons of People’s Committees of provinces, central-run cities shall be responsible for the implementation of this Decree.

4. The Minister of Justice shall organize the implementation of this Decree; prescribe the handling of enforcement officers, enforcement verifiers, and enforcement clerks who violate the law while performing their duties but not to the extent of application of disciplinary measures to meet the requirements of state management of enforcement of civil judgments.