Law amend Bankruptcy Law and Civil Procedure Code 2025, No. 85/2025/QH15

LAW

Amending and Supplementing a Number of Articles of the Civil Procedure Code, the Law on Administrative Procedures, the Law on Justice for Minors, the Law on Bankruptcy and the Law on Mediation and Dialogue at Court

Pursuant to the Constitution of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam, which was amended and supplemented under Resolution No. 203/2025/QH15;

The National Assembly promulgates the Law Amending and Supplementing a Number of Articles of the Civil Procedure Code No. 92/2015/QH13, of which a number of articles have been amended and supplemented under the Code No. 45/2019/QH14, Law No. 59/2020/QH14, Law No. 13/2022/QH15, Law No. 19/2023/QH15, Law No. 34/2024/QH15 and Law No. 46/2024/QH15; Law No. 93/2015/QH13 on Administrative Procedures, of which a number of articles have been amended and supplemented under the Law No. 55/2019/QH14 and Law No. 34/2024/QH15; Law No. 59/2024/QH15 on Justice for Minors; Law No. 51/2014/QH13 on Bankruptcy and Law No. 58/2020/QH14 on Mediation and Dialogue at Court.

Article 1. To amend and supplement a number of articles of the Civil Procedure Code

1. To amend and supplement Article 18 as follows:

“Article 18. Trial supervision

The Supreme People’s Court shall supervise trial by the courts. A people’s court of a province or city (hereinafter referred to as provincial-level court) shall supervise trial by the regional courts within its territorial jurisdiction in order to ensure strict and consistent application of law.”.

2. To amend and supplement Article 35 as follows:

“Article 35. Jurisdiction of a regional people’s court

The economic court of a regional people’s court has jurisdiction to settle according to first-instance procedures the disputes prescribed in Articles 26, 28, 30 and 32 of this Code; to resolve the requests prescribed in Articles 27, 29, 31 and 33 of this Code, except for requests to annul arbitral awards and register arbitral awards in cases within the jurisdiction of a number of provincial-level people’s courts as prescribed in Clause 2, Article 37 of this Code.”.

3. To amend and supplement Article 36 as follows:

“Article 36. Jurisdiction of specialized courts of a regional people’s court

1. The civil court of a regional people’s court has jurisdiction to settle according to first-instance procedures civil and labor cases and matters, unless they fall under the jurisdiction of the intellectual property court of a regional people’s courts prescribed in Clause 3 of this Article.

2. The economic court of a regional people’s court has jurisdiction to settle according to first-instance procedures business and commercial cases and matters, unless they fall under the jurisdiction of the intellectual property court of a regional people’s courts prescribed in Clause 3 of this Article.

3. The intellectual property court of a regional people’s court that has jurisdiction to settle according to first-instance procedures civil, business and commercial cases and matters regarding intellectual property rights and technology transfer.

4. The family and juvenile court of a provincial-level people’s court has jurisdiction to settle according to first-instance procedures marriage and family cases and matters.

5. For a regional people’s court that has no specialized court, its chief justice shall organize trials and assign judges to settle cases and matters that fall under the jurisdiction of a regional people’s court.”.

4. To amend and supplement Article 37 as follows:

“Article 37. Jurisdiction of a provincial-level people’s court

1. A provincial-level people’s court has jurisdiction to settle according to appellate procedures cases and matters involving a judgment or ruling of a regional people’s court which has not yet taken legal effect but is appealed or protested against; to settle according to cassation or reopening procedures against a regional court’s legally effective judgment or ruling which is appealed or protested against in accordance with this Code.

2. A provincial-level people’s court has jurisdiction to resolve requests to annul arbitral awards and register arbitral awards in accordance with the Law on Commercial Arbitration.”.

5. To amend and supplement Article 38 as follows:

“Article 38. Jurisdiction of specialized courts of a provincial-level people’s court

1. The civil court of a provincial-level people’s court has jurisdiction to settle according to appellate procedures cases and matters involving a civil judgment or ruling of a regional people’s court which has not yet taken legal effect but is appealed or protested against in accordance with this Code, unless such cases and matters are related to intellectual property and technology transfer as prescribed in Clause 3 of this Article.

2. The family and juvenile court of a provincial-level people’s court has jurisdiction to settle according to appellate procedures cases and matters involving a marriage and family-related judgment or ruling of a regional people’s court which has not yet taken legal effect but is appealed or protested against in accordance with this Code.

3. The economic court of a provincial-level people’s court has jurisdiction to settle according to appellate procedures cases and matters involving a business or commercial judgment or ruling, or an intellectual property or technology transfer judgment or ruling of a regional people’s court which has not yet taken legal effect but is appealed or protested against in accordance with this Code.

The economic courts of a number of provincial-level people’s courts have jurisdiction to resolve requests to annul arbitral awards and register arbitral awards in cases and matters.

4. b) The labor court of a provincial-level people’s court has jurisdiction to settle according to appellate procedures cases and matters involving a labor judgment or ruling of a regional people’s court which has not yet taken legal effect but is appealed or protested against in accordance with this Code.”.

6. To amend and supplement Article 41 as follows:

“Article 41. Transfer of a civil case or matter to another court; settlement of a dispute over jurisdiction

1. If the court has accepted a civil case or matter which is not within its jurisdiction, it shall issue a ruling to transfer the case or matter file to a competent court and remove the name of the case or matter in the case acceptance register. This ruling shall be immediately sent to the same-level procuracy, the parties and related agencies, organizations and individuals.

Within 3 working days after receiving the ruling, the parties and related agencies, organizations and individuals have the right to file a complaint about and the procuracy has the right to make a recommendation on such ruling. Within 3 working days after receiving a complaint or recommendation, the chief justice of the court that has issued the ruling shall settle the complaint or recommendation. The ruling of the chief justice of the court is final.

2. A dispute over jurisdiction between regional people’s court within a province or city shall be settled by the chief justice of the provincial-level people’s court.

3. A dispute over jurisdiction between regional people’s court in different provinces or cities shall be settled by the Chief Justice of the Supreme People’s Court.

4. A dispute over jurisdiction between provincial-level people’s courts shall be settled by the Chief Justice of the Supreme People’s Court.”.

7. To amend and supplement Clause 3 and Clause 4 of Article 53 as follows:

“3. He/she has participated in the settlement of the civil case or matter according to first-instance, appellate, cassation or reopening procedures and issued the first-instance judgment, appellate judgment or ruling, cassation or reopening ruling, ruling on settlement of the civil matter, ruling on termination of the settlement of the case or matter, ruling on recognition of the agreement of the parties; if he/she is member of the Judicial Council of the Supreme People’s Court or of the judicial committee of a provincial-level people’s court, he/she may still participate in the settlement of the case or matter according to cassation or reopening procedures;

4. He/she conducts the proceedings in the case or matter concerned in the capacity as a court verifier, a court clerk, a procurator or a controller.”.

8. To amend and supplement Article 56 as follows:

“Article 56. Rulings on change of judges, people’s assessors, court verifiers or court clerks

1. Before the opening of a court hearing, the change of a judge, people’s assessor, court verifier or court clerk shall be decided by the chief justice of the court. If the judge to be replaced is the chief justice, the competence to decide on the replacement is prescribed as follows:

a) If the judge is the chief justice of a regional people’s court, the chief justice of the provincial-level people’s court shall decide on his/her replacement;

b) If the judge is the chief justice of a provincial-level people’s court, the Chief Justice of the Supreme People’s Court shall decide on his/her replacement.

2. At a court hearing, the replacement of a judge, a people’s assessor, a court verifier or a court clerk shall be decided by the trial panel after hearing the opinion of the person requested to be replaced. The trial panel shall discuss the change in the deliberation room and make a ruling by majority. If deciding to replace a judge, a people’s assessor, a court verifier or a court clerk, the trial panel shall issue a ruling to postpone the court hearing. The chief justice of the court shall decide to appoint the replacing judge, people’s assessor, court verifier or court clerk. If the replaced person is the chief justice of the court, the competence to replace him/her must comply with Clause 1 of this Article.

3. Replacement of a judge and a court clerk in the settlement of a civil matter must comply with Clauses 1 and 2, Article 368 of this Code.

4. Within 3 working days after postponing a court hearing or meeting, the chief justice of the court shall appoint the replacing person.”.

9. To amend and supplement Clause 1, Article 66 as follows:

“1. The Judicial Committee of a provincial-level people’s court shall conduct cassation or reopening trial through a trial panel consisting of all members of the Committee.”.

10. To amend, supplement, and annul a number of Clauses of Article 194 as follows:

a) To amend and supplement Clause 6 as follows:

“6. Within 10 days after receiving a complaint or proposal about the return of a lawsuit petition, the chief justice of the immediate higher court shall issue one of the following rulings:

a) Uphold the return of the lawsuit petition:

b) Request the first-instance court to receive back the lawsuit petition and enclosed documents and evidences for acceptance of the case.

The ruling of the chief justice of the immediate higher court on the settlement of a complaint or proposal is final, which shall be immediately sent to the suer, the same-level procuracy, the proposal-making procuracy and the court that has decided to return the lawsuit petition. Complaint or recommendation settlement rulings of chief justices of immediate higher courts are final.”;

b) To annul Article 7.

11. To amend and supplement Clause 1, Article 315 as follows:

“1. Within 15 days after issuing an appellate judgment or ruling, the court of appeals shall send it to the court that conducted the first-instance trial, the same-level procuracy, a competent civil judgment enforcement agency, the appellant, and the person with interests or obligations related to the appeal or protest, or to their lawful representatives.”.

12. To amend and supplement Clause 3, Article 327 as follows:

“3. The chief justice of a regional people’s court shall propose the chief justice of the provincial-level court or the Chief Justice of the Supreme People’s Court, and the chief justice of a provincial-level people’s court shall propose the Chief Justice of the Supreme People’s Court to consider protest according to cassation procedures a court’s legally effective judgment or ruling when detecting a ground prescribed in Clause 1, Article 326 of this Code.”.

13. To amend and supplement Article 331 as follows:

“Article 331. Persons competent to protest according to cassation procedures

1. The Chief Justice of the Supreme People’s Court and the Procurator General of the Supreme People’s Procuracy have the competence to protest according to cassation procedures against legally effective judgments or rulings of provincial-level people’s courts or those of other courts when finding it necessary, except rulings of the Judicial Council of the Supreme People’s Court.

2. The chief justice of a provincial-level people’s court and the chief procurator of a provincial-level people’s procuracy have competence to make protests according to cassation procedures against legally effective judgments or rulings of regional people’s courts within their territorial jurisdiction.”.

14. To amend and supplement Article 336 as follows:

“Article 336. Sending of rulings to protest according to cassation procedures

1. A ruling to protest according to cassation procedures shall be immediately sent to the court that has issued the legally effective judgment or ruling being protested against, the parties, the competent civil judgment enforcement agency and other persons with interests or obligations related to the protest content.

2. In case the Chief Justice of the Supreme People’s Court or chief justice of a provincial-level people’s court files a protest, the protest decision and the case file shall be immediately sent to the same-level procuracy. The procuracy shall study the case file within 15 days after receiving it; upon the expiration of this time limit, the procuracy shall deliver the case file to the court competent to hear the case according to cassation procedures.

3. In case the Procurator General of the Supreme People’s Procuracy or chief procurator of a provincial-level people’s procuracy files a protest, the protest decision, together with the case file, shall be immediately sent to the court competent to conduct cassation review.”.

15. To amend and supplement Article 337 as follows:

“Article 337. Cassation jurisdiction

1. Judicial Committees of provincial-level people’s courts shall conduct cassation review of legally effective judgments and rulings of regional courts within their territorial jurisdiction which are protested against.

2. The Judicial Council of the Supreme People’s Court shall conduct cassation review of legally effective judgments and rulings of provincial-level people’s courts which are protested against as follows:

a) The Judicial Council of the Supreme People’s Court shall hold a cassation trial through a trial panel of five judges with regard to a legally effective judgment or ruling of a provincial-level people’s court which is protested against according to cassation procedures;

b) The entire Judicial Council of the Supreme People’s Court shall conduct cassation trial of legally effective judgments and rulings mentioned at Point a of this Clause which are complicated, or judgments and rulings for which the Judicial Council of the Supreme People’s Court has conducted cassation trial through forming a trial panel composed of five judges who did not reach agreement when voting to approve the ruling on the settlement of the case.

3. A case that has a complicated nature mentioned at Point b, Clause 2, of this Article is a case in which:

a) Legal provisions on matters to be settled in the case are unclear and lack guidance for uniform application;

b) There are divergent opinions on assessment of evidences and application of law;

c) The public pays special attention to the settlement of the case related to public interests, interests of the State or protection of human rights and citizens’ rights.

4. The Chief Justice of a provincial-level people’s court shall consider and decide on the organization of cassation trial prescribed in Clause 1 of this Article. The Chief Justice of the Supreme People’s Court shall consider and decide on the organization of cassation trial in the cases prescribed in Clause 2 of this Article.

5. When a legally effective judgment or ruling on the same civil case which falls under the cassation review jurisdiction of both a provincial-level people’s court and the Supreme People’s Court, the Supreme People’s Court has jurisdiction to review the entire case according to cassation procedures.”.

16. To amend and supplement Clause 5 and Clause 6 of Article 341 as follows:

“5. If the Judicial Committee of a provincial-level people’s court conducts a trial prescribed in Clause 1, Article 337 of this Code, the trial shall be attended by at least two-thirds of the Committee’s total members; and the ruling of the Judicial Committee shall be voted for by more than half of the Committee’s total numbers.

6. In case the Judicial Council of the Supreme People’s Court conducts a trial under Point a, Clause 2, Article 337 of this Code, the ruling of the trial panel shall be voted for by all panel members.

In case of trial under Point b, Clause 2, Article 337 of this Code, the hearing conducted by the entire Judicial Council of the Supreme People’s Court shall be participated by at least two-thirds of its total members; the ruling of the Judicial Council shall be voted for by more than half of the Judicial Council’s total members.”.

17. To amend and supplement Point b, Clause 2, Article 348 as follows:

“b) Full names of members of the cassation trial panel. In case the cassation trial panel is the judicial committee of a provincial-level people’s court or is the Judicial Council of the Supreme People’s Court, the full name and title of the presiding judge and the number of members participating in the hearing shall be indicated;”.

18. To amend and supplement Clause 1 and Clause 2 of Article 354 as follows:

“1. The Chief Justice of the Supreme People’s Court and the Procurator General of the Supreme People’s Procuracy have the competence to protest according to reopening procedures against legally effective judgments or rulings of provincial-level people’s courts or those of other courts when finding it necessary, except rulings of the Judicial Council of the Supreme People’s Court.

2. Chief justices of provincial-level people’s courts and chief procurators of provincial-level people’s procuracies have the competence to protest according to reopening procedures against legally effective judgments or rulings of regional courts under their territorial jurisdiction.”.

19. To amend and supplement Article 405 as follows:

“Article 405. Jurisdiction to consider the legality of a strike

1. The regional people’s court of the locality where a strike takes place has jurisdiction to consider the legality of such strike.

2. A provincial-level people’s court has jurisdiction to settle appeals and protests against a ruling of a regional people’s court regarding the legality of a strike within its territorial jurisdiction.”.

20. To amend and supplement Article 406 as follows:

“Article 406. Composition of a panel to consider the legality of a strike

1. A regional people’s court shall consider the legality of a strike through a panel of three judges.

2. A provincial-level people’s court shall settle an appeal or a protest against a ruling on the legality of a strike through a panel of three judges.”.

21. To amend and supplement Clause 1, Article 410 as follows:

“1. Upon receiving a petition, the chief justice of a regional people’s court shall decide to form a panel to consider the legality of a strike and assign a judge to take charge of the petition settlement.”.

22. To amend and supplement Article 413 as follows:

“Article 413. Order and procedures for settling an appeal or a protest against a ruling on the legality of a strike

1. Upon receiving an appeal petition or protest decision regarding a decision on the legality of a strike, a provincial-level people’s court shall issue a written request to the court that has considered the legality of the strike to deliver the case file to the former for consideration and settlement.

2. Within 3 working days after receiving a written request, the court that has issued the ruling on the legality of the strike shall deliver the case file to the provincial-level people’s court for consideration and settlement.

3. Within 2 working days after receiving the case file, the chief justice of a provincial-level people’s court shall decide to form an appellate panel to consider the legality of the strike and assign a judge to study the file.

Within 5 working days after the provincial-level people’s court receiving the case file, the appellate panel shall consider the appeal or protest against the ruling on the legality of a strike.

The ruling of the appellate panel of the provincial-level people’s court considering the legality of a strike is final.”.

23. To amend and supplement Article 421 as follows:

“Article 421. Jurisdiction of the court to arrest an aircraft or a seagoing ship

1. The regional people’s court of the locality of an airport or airfield on which an aircraft requested to be arrested lands has jurisdiction to decide to arrest the aircraft.

2. The regional people’s court of the locality of a seaport or an inland port where a seagoing ship requested to be arrested navigates has jurisdiction to decide to arrest the seagoing ship. In case a port has various wharves located in different communes, wards and special zones within the territorial jurisdiction of different regional people’s courts, the regional people’s court of the locality of the wharf where a seagoing ship requested to be arrested navigates has jurisdiction to decide to arrest such seagoing ship.”.

24. To amend and supplement Article 426 as follows:

“Article 426. Guarantee of the right to appeal or protest

The parties have the right to appeal or the regional people’s procuracy or provincial-level people’s procuracy has the right to protest against a court’s ruling on recognition and enforcement or on non-recognition of a civil judgment or ruling of a foreign court or a court’s ruling on recognition and enforcement of a foreign arbitral award in order to request the provincial-level people’s court to review such ruling in accordance with this Code.”.

25. To amend and supplement Article 435 as follows:

“Article 435. Delivery of a case file to the court

If the Ministry of Justice receives a written request and accompanying papers and documents prescribed in Clause 1, Article 434 of this Code, within 5 working days after receiving them, it shall deliver them to a competent court as prescribed in Articles 35 and 39 of this Code.”.

26. To amend and supplement Clause 2, Article 442 as follows:

“2. The chief procurator of a regional people’s procuracy or a provincial-level people’s procuracy may protest against a court’s ruling prescribed in Clauses 4 and 5, Article 437, and Clause 5, Article 438 of this Code.

The time limit for a regional people’s procuracy to file a protest is 7 days and that for a provincial-level people’s procuracy is 10 days, counting from the date the procuracy receives the ruling.”.

27. To amend and supplement a number of Clauses of Article 443 follows:

a) To amend and supplement Clause 1 and Clause 2 as follows:

“1. Within 1 month after receiving a case file, a provincial-level people’s court shall, within its territorial jurisdiction, review a ruling of a regional people’s court which is appealed or protested against. In case explanations are requested as prescribed in Clauses 1 and 2, Article 437 of this Code, such time limit may be extended but must not exceed 2 months.

2. A panel for review of an appealed or protested ruling must be composed of three judges, including one presiding judge assigned by the chief justice of the provincial-level people’s court.

A meeting to review an appealed or protested ruling shall be conducted in the same way as a meeting to consider a written request prescribed in Article 438 of this Code.”;

b) To amend and supplement Clause 4 as follows:

“4. The ruling of a provincial-level people’s court takes legal effect on the date of its issuance and may be protested against according to cassation or reopening procedures prescribed in this Code.”.

28. To amend and supplement Clause 2, Article 461 as follows:

“2. The chief procurator of a regional people’s procuracy or a provincial-level people’s procuracy may protest against a court’s ruling prescribed in Clause 2 and Clause 3, Article 457, and Clause 5, Article 458 of this Code.

The time limit for a regional people’s procuracy to file a protest is 7 days and that for a provincial-level people’s procuracy is 10 days, counting from the date the procuracy receives the ruling.”.

29. To amend and supplement a number of Clauses of Article 462 follows:

a) To amend and supplement Clause 1 and Clause 2 as follows:

“1. Within 1 month after receiving a case file, a provincial-level people’s court shall review an appealed or protested ruling of a regional people’s court. In case explanations are requested under Clause 1, Article 457 of this Code, this time limit may be extended but must not exceed 2 months.

2. A panel to review an appealed or a protested ruling must be composed of three judges, including one acting as presiding judge as assigned by the chief justice of the provincial-level people’s court. A meeting to review an appealed or protested ruling shall be conducted in the same way as a meeting to consider a written request prescribed in Article 458 of this Code.”;

b) To amend and supplement Clause 6 as follows:

“6. The ruling of a provincial-level people’s court takes legal effect on the date of its issuance and may be protested against according to cassation or reopening procedures prescribed in this Code.”.

30. To amend and supplement Clause 1, Article 488 as follows:

“1. The court’s jurisdiction to consider judgment execution obligation exemption or reduction regarding payments into the state budget shall be determined as follows:

a) The regional people’s court of a locality where the civil judgment enforcement agency organizing the enforcement of a judgment is headquartered has jurisdiction to consider requests for judgment execution obligation exemption or reduction regarding payments into the state budget;

b) The provincial-level people’s court has jurisdiction to consider a court’s decision on judgment execution obligation exemption or reduction regarding payments into the state budget which is protested against by the procuracy according to appellate procedures;

c) The provincial-level people’s court has jurisdiction to consider, according to re-opening procedures, a legally effective judgment execution obligation exemption or reduction decision, which is protested, of a regional people’s court within its territorial jurisdiction;

d) The Supreme People’s Court has jurisdiction to consider, according to re-opening procedures, a legally effective judgment execution obligation exemption or reduction decision, which is protested, of a provincial-level people’s court.”.

31. To replace the phrase “Judicial Committee of the National Assembly” with the phrase “Law and Judicial Committee of the National Assembly” in Clauses 1 and 3, Article 358, Clauses 1, 2, 3 and 7, Article 359.

32. To replace the phrase “verifier” with the phrase “court verifier” in Clause 1, Article 16, Point a, Clause 2, Article 46, Points b and c, Clause 1, Article 47, Clause 11, Article 48, Article 50, Article 54, Article 55, Clause 2, Article 60, Point c, Clause 2, Article 80, Point c, Clause 2, Article 82, Clause 4, Article 97, Clause 3, Article 208, Clause 1, Article 504.

33. To replace the phrase “police of communes, wards and towns” with the phrase “police of communes, wards and special zones” in Clause 2, Article 98, Clauses 1, 2 and 4, Article 101, Clauses 4 and 5, Article 177.

34. To annul Clause 4, Article 34.

Article 2. To amend and supplement a number of articles of the Law on Administrative Procedures

1. To amend and supplement Article 24 as follows:

“Article 24. Trial supervision

The Supreme People’s Court shall supervise trial by the courts. A people’s court of a province or city (hereinafter referred to as provincial-level court) shall supervise trial by the regional courts within its territorial jurisdiction in order to ensure strict and consistent application of law.”.

2. To amend and supplement Clause 2, Article 30 as follows:

“2. Lawsuits over disciplinary rulings on dismissal of civil servants holding the position lower than Deputy Minister or lower than any position equivalent to Deputy Minister.”.

3. To amend and supplement Article 31 as follows:

“Article 31. Jurisdiction of a regional people’s court

A regional people’s court has jurisdiction to settle according to first-instance procedures the following lawsuits:

1. Lawsuits over administrative decisions or acts of commune-level agencies and competent persons in these commune-level agencies that fall within the territorial jurisdiction of the regional people’s court.

2. Lawsuits over administrative decisions or acts of agencies at provincial level or lower, or competent persons in state agencies at provincial level or lower, unless otherwise prescribed in Clause 1 of this Article, are determined as follows:

a) In case plaintiffs have places of residence, workplaces or headquarters within the same provincial-level administrative boundary as the defendants, courts of localities where the plaintiffs have places of residence, workplaces or headquarters shall have jurisdiction to settle their lawsuits;

b) In case plaintiffs have no places of residence, workplaces or headquarters within the same provincial-level administrative boundary as the defendants, courts of localities where the administrative decisions or acts, which lawsuits are instituted, give rise to, change, limit or terminate the legitimate rights and interests of the plaintiffs shall have jurisdiction to settle their lawsuits.

3. Lawsuits over administrative decisions or acts of Ministries, Ministerial-level agencies, Government-attached agencies, the Presidential Office, the National Assembly Office, the State Audit Office of Vietnam, the Supreme People’s Court and the Supreme People’s Procuracy, and agencies under one of them and of competent persons in these agencies, which are filed by plaintiffs whose places of residence, workplaces or head offices fall under the territorial jurisdiction of the regional people’s court. In case plaintiffs have no places of residence, workplaces or head offices in the Vietnamese territory, courts of localities in which agencies or persons competent to issue administrative decisions or commit administrative acts are located have jurisdiction to settle these lawsuits.

4. Lawsuits over administrative s or acts of overseas representative missions of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam or of competent persons in these missions, which are filed by plaintiffs whose places of residence fall under the territorial jurisdiction of the regional people’s court. In case plaintiffs have no places of residence in Vietnam, they may choose one of the regional people’s courts in Hanoi or Ho Chi Minh City to settle their lawsuits.

5. Lawsuits over disciplinary decisions on dismissal issued by heads of agencies or organizations at the provincial level or lower, or ministries or central agencies, which are filed by plaintiffs whose workplaces by the time of disciplining fall under the territorial jurisdiction of the regional people’s court.

6. Lawsuits over voter lists made by agencies in charge of making voter lists fall within the territorial jurisdiction of the regional people’s courts.

7. Lawsuits over decisions on settlement of complaints about decisions on handling of competition cases, decisions on handling of complaints in state audit activities, which are filed by plaintiffs who have no places of residence, workplaces or headquarters within the territorial jurisdiction of the regional people’s court.

8. Lawsuits over administrative decisions or acts regarding intellectual property and technology transfer which are filed by plaintiffs who places of residence, workplaces or headquarters within the territorial jurisdiction of the regional people’s court.

9. The Supreme People’s Court shall guide this Article.”.

4. To add Article 31a after Article 31 as follows:

“Article 31a. Jurisdiction of specialized courts of a regional people’s court

1. The administrative court of a regional people’s court has jurisdiction to settle according to first-instance procedures the lawsuits prescribed in Clauses 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 and 7, Article 31 of this Law.

2. The intellectual property court of a regional people’s court that has jurisdiction to settle according to first-instance procedures the lawsuits over administrative decisions or acts regarding intellectual property and technology transfer prescribed in Clause 8, Article 31 of this Law.

3. For a regional people’s court that has no administrative court, its chief justice shall organize trials and assign judges to settle cases that fall under the jurisdiction of a regional people’s court.”.

5. To amend and supplement Article 32 as follows:

“Article 32. Jurisdiction of provincial-level courts

A provincial-level court has jurisdiction to settle according to appellate procedures cases involving a judgment or ruling of a regional people’s court which has not yet taken legal effect but is appealed or protested against; to settle according to cassation or reopening procedures against a regional court’s legally effective judgment or ruling which is appealed or protested against in accordance with this Law.”.

6. To add Article 32a after Article 32 as follows:

“Article 32a. Jurisdiction of specialized courts of a provincial-level court

The administrative court of a provincial-level court has jurisdiction to settle according to appellate procedures cases involving a judgment or ruling of a regional people’s court which has not yet taken legal effect but is appealed or protested against in accordance with this Law.”.

7. To amend and supplement Clause 7, Article 34 as follows:

“7. The chief justice of a provincial-level court shall settle disputes over the jurisdiction to settle administrative cases between regional people’s courts in the same province or city.

The Chief Justice of the Supreme People’s Court shall settle disputes over the jurisdiction between regional people’s courts of different provinces and cities.”.

8. To amend and supplement Clause 3 and Clause 4 of Article 46 as follows:

“3. They have participated in the settlement of an administrative case according to first-instance, appellate, cassation or reopening procedures on which a first-instance judgment, an appellate judgment or ruling, a cassation or reopening ruling and a decision to terminate the settlement of the case or a decision to recognize successful dialogue results have been made, unless they are members of the Judicial Council of the Supreme People’s Court or the judicial committee of a provincial-level people’s court who are allowed to participate in trying such case according to cassation or reopening procedures;

4. They have conducted procedures in the same case in the capacity as court verifiers, court clerks, procurators or examiners.”.

9. To amend and supplement the title and Clause 1 of Article 49 as follows:

a) To amend and supplement the title of the Article as follows:

“Article 49. Decisions on change of judges, people’s assessors, court verifiers or court clerks”;

b) To amend and supplement Clause 1, Article 49 as follows:

“1. Before the opening of a court hearing, the change of a judge, people’s assessor, court verifier or court clerk shall be decided by the chief justice of the court.

In case a judge requested to be changed is the chief justice of the court:

a) The change of a judge being the chief justice of a regional people’s court shall be decided by the chief justice of a provincial-level court;

b) The change of a judge being the chief justice of a provincial-level court shall be decided by the Chief Justice of the Supreme People’s Court.”.

10. To amend and supplement Clause 1 and Clause 2 of Article 112 as follows:

“1. Chief justice of regional courts may recommend amendment, supplementation or annulment of legal documents of state agencies at the provincial level or lower levels; and chief justices of provincial-level courts may report and propose the Chief Justice of the Supreme People’s Court to recommend amendment, supplementation or annulment of legal documents of central state agencies.

2. Chief justices of provincial-level courts may recommend amendment, supplementation or annulment of legal documents of state agencies at the provincial level or lower levels; and propose the Chief Justice of the Supreme People’s Court to recommend amendment, supplementation or annulment of legal documents of central state agencies.”.

11. To amend and supplement Clause 3, Article 256 as follows:

“3. The chief justice of a regional people’s court shall propose the chief justice of the provincial-level court or the Chief Justice of the Supreme People’s Court, and the chief justice of the provincial-level court shall propose the Chief Justice of the Supreme People’s Court to consider filing a protest according to cassation procedures against a legally effective judgment or ruling if discovering one of the grounds prescribed in Clause 1, Article 255 of this Law.”.

12. To amend and supplement Article 260 as follows:

“Article 260. Persons competent to protest according to cassation procedures

1. The Chief Justice of the Supreme People’s Court and the Procurator General of the Supreme People’s Procuracy have the competence to protest according to cassation procedures against legally effective judgments or rulings of provincial-level courts or those of other courts when finding it necessary, except rulings of the Judicial Council of the Supreme People’s Court.

2. Chief justices of provincial-level courts and chief procurators of provincial-level procuracies have the competence to protest according to cassation procedures against legally effective judgments or rulings of regional courts within their territorial jurisdiction.”.

13. To amend and supplement Clauses 2, 3 and 4, Article 264 follows:

“2. In case the Chief Justice of the Supreme People’s Court or chief justice of a provincial-level court files a protest, the protest decision and the case file shall be immediately sent to the same-level procuracy. Within 15 days after receiving the case file, the procuracy shall study and return it to the court competent to conduct cassation review.

3. In case the Procurator General of the Supreme People’s Procuracy or chief procurator of a provincial-level procuracies files a protest, the protest decision, together with the case file, shall be immediately sent to the court competent to conduct cassation review.

4. In case the Chief Justice of the Supreme People’s Court files a protest against a legally effective judgment or ruling of another court under Clause 1, Article 260 of this Law, he/she may assign a provincial-level court to conduct trial according to cassation procedures.”.

14. To amend and supplement Article 266 as follows:

“Article 266. Cassation jurisdiction

1. Judicial Committees of provincial-level people’s courts shall conduct cassation review of legally effective judgments and rulings of regional courts within their territorial jurisdiction which are protested against.

2. The Judicial Council of the Supreme People’s Court shall conduct cassation review of legally effective judgments and rulings of provincial-level courts which are protested against as follows:

a) The Judicial Council of the Supreme People’s Court shall hold a cassation trial through a trial panel of 05 judges with regard to a legally effective judgment or ruling of a provincial-level court which is protested against according to cassation procedures;

b) The entire Judicial Council of the Supreme People’s Court shall conduct cassation trial of legally effective judgments and rulings mentioned at Point a of this Clause which are complicated, or judgments and rulings for which the Judicial Council of the Supreme People’s Court has conducted cassation trial through forming a trial panel composed of five judges who did not reach agreement when voting to approve the decision on the settlement of the case.

3. Complicated cases mentioned at Point b, Clause 2 of this Article are those falling in one of the following cases:

a) The provisions applicable to issues that need to be settled in the case are not clear or not yet guided for uniform application;

b) The assessment of evidence and application of law is controversial;

c) The public pays special attention to the settlement of the case related to public interests, interests of the State or protection of human rights and citizens’ rights.

4. The Chief Justice of a provincial-level court shall consider and decide on the organization of cassation trial prescribed in Clause 1 of this Article. The Chief Justice of the Supreme People’s Court shall consider and decide on the organization of cassation trial in the cases prescribed in Clause 2 of this Article.

5. When a legally effective judgment or ruling on the same administrative case which falls under the cassation review jurisdiction of both a provincial-level court and the Supreme People’s Court, the Supreme People’s Court has jurisdiction to review the entire case according to cassation procedures.”.

15. To amend and supplement Clause 5 and Clause 6 of Article 270 as follows:

“5. If the Judicial Committee of a provincial-level people’s court conducts a trial prescribed in Clause 1, Article 266 of this Law, the trial shall be attended by at least two-thirds of the Committee’s total members; and the ruling of the Judicial Committee shall be voted for by more than half of the Committee’s total numbers.

6. If the Judicial Council of the Supreme People’s Court conducts trial under Point a, Clause 2, Article 266 of this Law, the trial panel’s ruling shall be voted for by all of its members.

If the trial is conducted under Point b, Clause 2, Article 266 of this Law, the hearing by the entire Judicial Council of the Supreme People’s Court shall be attended by at least two-thirds of total members of the Council; the Council’s ruling must be voted for by more than half of the Judicial Council’s total members.”.

16. To amend and supplement Point b, Clause 2, Article 277 as follows:

“b) Full names of members of the cassation trial panel. In case the cassation trial panel is the judicial committee of a provincial-level people’s court or is the Judicial Council of the Supreme People’s Court, the full name and title of the presiding judge and the number of members participating in the hearing shall be indicated;”.

17. To amend and supplement Clause 3, Article 282 as follows:

“3. If discovering new circumstances of the case, the chief justice of a regional people’s court shall propose the chief justice of a provincial-level people’s court or the Chief Justice of the Supreme People’s Court, or the chief justice of a provincial-level court shall propose the Chief Justice of the Supreme People’s Court to consider filing a protest according to reopening procedures.”.

18. To amend and supplement Clause 1 and Clause 2 of Article 283 as follows:

“1. The Chief Justice of the Supreme People’s Court and the Procurator General of the Supreme People’s Procuracy have the competence to protest according to reopening procedures against legally effective judgments or rulings of provincial-level courts or those of other courts when finding it necessary, except rulings of the Judicial Council of the Supreme People’s Court.

2. Chief justices of provincial-level courts and chief procurators of provincial-level procuracies have the competence to protest according to reopening procedures against legally effective judgments or rulings of regional courts within their territorial jurisdiction.”.

19. To replace the phrase “civil enforcement agency at the same level” with the phrase “competent civil enforcement agency” in Clause 2, Article 75, Clause 2, Article 77, Clause 3, Article 196, Clause 1, Article 197.

20. To replace the phrase “civil enforcement agency at the same level as the court that has conducted the first-instance trial” with the phrase “competent civil enforcement agency” at Point b, Clause 2, Article 311.

21. To replace the phrase “Judicial Committee of the National Assembly” with the phrase “Law and Justice Committee of the National Assembly” at Point b, Clause 1 and Clause 3, Article 287, Article 288, Clause 1, Article 289, Article 290, Clauses 2, 3 and 5, Article 291, Article 292, Article 297.

22. To replace the phrase “verifier” with the phrase “court verifier” in Clause 1, Article 14, Point a, Clause 2, Article 36, Point b, Clause 1, Article 37, Article 40, Article 47, Article 48, Clause 2, Article 50, Point d, Clause 3, Article 63, Point c, Clause 3, Article 64, Clause 4, Article 84, Clause 1, Article 332.

23. To replace the phrase “police of communes, wards and towns” with the phrase “police of communes, wards and special zones” in Clause 2, Article 85, Clauses 1, 2 and 4, Article 88, Clauses 3 and 4, Article 106.

Article 3. To amend and supplement a number of articles of the Law on Justice for Minors

1. To amend and supplement Point a, Clause 3 and Point b, Clause 5 of Article 56 follows:

a) To amend and supplement Point a, Clause 3 as follows:

a) To hand the decision to the minor as the accused or his/her representative; to send the decision to the competent procuracy and the victim, or to the competent investigation agency in case the procuracy is the decision issuer;”;

b) To amend and supplement Point b, Clause 5 as follows:

b) Send the decision on application of the measure of education at a reformatory and a copy of the social investigation report to the criminal judgment execution agency of the provincial-level public security agency of the locality where the minor resides;”.

2. To amend and supplement Point c and Point d, Clause 6, Article 62 follows:

“c) Send the decision to the competent civil judgment enforcement agency;

d) Send the decision on application of education measures at a reformatory and a copy of the social investigation report to the criminal judgment execution agency of the provincial-level public security office of the locality where the minor resides;”.

3. To amend and supplement Clause 2, Article 72 as follows:

“2. Within 3 days after issuing a decision, a person competent to settle a complaint or petition shall send the complaint or petition settlement decision to the person who has filed the complaint or petition, the competent procuracy, the agency that has issued the decision on application of the diversionary measure, the minor and his/her representative, and the criminal judgment execution agency of the provincial-level public security office of the locality where the person subject to education measures at a reformatory resides in the cases prescribed at Points a and b, Clause 1 of this Article.”.

4. To amend, supplement and replace phrases in a number of Clauses of Article 73 as follows:

a) To replace the phrase “police of communes, wards and towns” with the phrase “police of communes, wards and special zones” in Clause 2;

b) To amend and supplement Clause 4 as follows:

“4. The execution of decisions on application of the diversionary measure of compensation for damage issued by investigation agencies and procuracies is as follows:

a) Competent civil judgment enforcement agencies shall execute decisions of investigation agencies and people’s procuracies;

b) Military region-level civil judgment enforcement agencies shall execute decisions of investigation agencies in the People’s Army and military procuracies;

c) Procedures for execution of decisions prescribed in this Clause must comply with the law on civil judgment enforcement.”.

5. To amend, supplement and replace phrases in a number of Points and Clauses of Article 113 as follows:

a) To replace the phrase “criminal enforcement agency of district-level police” with the phrase “criminal enforcement agency of provincial-level police” at Points a, b, c and dd, Clause 1, Clause 3;

b) To amend and supplement Clause 2 as follows:

“2. Procuracies shall directly supervise the settlement of complaints and denunciations by courts, the criminal judgment enforcement management agency, and criminal judgment enforcement agencies.

When supervising the settlement of complaints and denunciations in the execution of education measures at a reformatory, procuracies may request courts, the criminal judgment enforcement management agency, and competent criminal judgment enforcement agencies to perform the following tasks: to issue complaint or denunciation settlement documents; to inspect the settlement of complaints and denunciations within their authority and of their subordinates; to notify results of the settlement to procuracies; and provide dossiers and documents relating to the settlement of complaints and denunciations to procuracies.”.

6. To amend and supplement a number of Clauses of Article 142 follows:

a) To add Clause 4a after Clause 4 as follows:

“4a. In case the intermediate-level investigator or senior investigator is the chief of commune-level police or deputy chief of commune-level police assigned by the head of the provincial investigation agency to prosecute and investigate cases of less serious or serious crimes occurring in the commune as prescribed in Clause 2, Article 37 of the Criminal Procedure Code, the head or deputy head of the investigation agency has jurisdiction to apply the diversionary measure and other procedural measures for minors as prescribed in this Law and the Criminal Procedure Code.”;

b) To amend and supplement Clause 5 as follows:

“5. The Chief Procurator of the Supreme People’s Procuracy shall assume the prime responsibility for, and coordinate with the Chief Justice of the Supreme People’s Court, the Minister of Public Security, and the Minister of National Defense in, detailing Clause 4 and Clause 4a of this Article.”.

7. To replace the phrase “police of communes, wards and towns” with the phrase “police of communes, wards and special zones” in Clause 4, Article 36 and Article 43.

8. To replace the phrase “district-level administrative unit” with the phrase “provincial-level administrative unit” at Point b, Clause 2, Article 53.

9. To replace the phrase “criminal enforcement agency of district-level police” with the phrase “criminal enforcement agency of provincial-level police” in Clause 6, Article 66, Clause 12, Article 87, Clause 4, Article 88, Clauses 1, 2 and 3, Article 94, Point b, Clause 1, Clause 2, Point b, Clause 5, Clauses 6, 7, 8 and Clause 9, Article 95, Clause 3 and Clause 5, Article 96, Point a, Clause 1 and Point a, Clause 3, Article 97, Clause 3, Article 112, Clause 1, Article 171, Point c, Clause 5 and Clause 6, Article 179.

To replace the phrase “of the district-level police” with the phrase “of the competent police agency” at Point a, Clause 3, Article 97.

10. To replace the phrase “district-level people’s courts” with the phrase “regional people’s courts” in Clause 1, Article 87, Clause 3, Article 95, Clause 2, Article 110, Clause 6, Article 179.

11. To replace the phrase “district-level people’s Procuracy” with the phrase “regional people’s procuracy” in Clause 1, Article 106.

12. To replace the phrase “procuracy of the same level” with the phrase “competent procuracy” in Clause 3, Clause 6, Article 55, Clause 4, Article 59, Clause 5, Article 60, Clause 1, Article 71, Clause 3, Article 139.

13. To remove the phrase “provincial-level departments of education and training” from Clause 3, Article 102.

14. To remove the phrase “the same-level procuracy or” from Clause 3, Article 137.

Article 4. To amend and supplement a number of articles of the Law on Bankruptcy

To amend and supplement Article 8 as follows:

“Article 8. Jurisdiction of people’s courts to settle bankruptcy

1. The bankruptcy courts of the regional people’s courts have jurisdiction to settle bankruptcy of enterprises and cooperatives headquartered within their respective territorial jurisdiction.

2. The Supreme People’s Court shall guide this Article.”.

Article 5. To amend and supplement a number of articles of the Law on Mediation and Dialogue at Court

1. To amend and supplement Point c, Clause 1, Article 8 as follows:

“c) To select mediators from the list of mediators of the court with jurisdiction to settle civil cases or administrative lawsuits; or other regional people’s courts within the same provincial-level administrative boundary;”.

2. To replace the phrase “district-level people’s courts” is replaced with the phrase “regional people’s courts” in Clause 3, Article 7, Clause 7, Article 16, Clause 3, Article 17 and Clause 3, Article 18.

3. To annul Points a, d and dd, Clause 2, Article 7.

Article 6. Effect

This Law comes into effect on July 01, 2025, unless otherwise prescribed in the Law on Justice for Minors.

_______________

This Law was passed on June 25, 2025, by the 15^th-tenure National Assembly of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam at its 9^th sitting.

Chairman of the National Assembly

TRAN THANH MAN