Law on Commercial Arbitration, No. 54/2010/QH12

LAW

ON COMMERCIAL ARBITRATION

Pursuant to 1992 Constitution of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam, which was amended and supplemented under Resolution No. 51/2001/QH10;
The National Assembly promulgates the Law on Commercial Arbitration.

Chapter 1

GENERAL PROVISIONS

Article 1. Scope of regulation

This Law provides for the jurisdiction of commercial arbitration, forms of arbitration, arbitration institutions and arbitrators; arbitration order and procedures; rights, obligations and responsibilities of parties in arbitral proceedings; courts’ jurisdiction over arbitral activities; organization and operation of foreign arbitrations in Vietnam, and enforcement of arbitral awards.

Article 2. Arbitration's jurisdiction to settle disputes

1. Disputes among parties which arise from commercial activities.

2. Disputes among parties at least one of whom conducts commercial activities.

3. Other disputes among parties which are stipulated by law to be settled by arbitration.

Article 3. Interpretation of terms

In this Law, the terms below are construed as follows:

1. Commercial arbitration means a mode of dispute settlement agreed by the parties and to be conducted under this Law.

2. Arbitration agreement means an agreement between the parties to settle by arbitration a dispute which may arise or has arisen.

3. Disputing parties means Vietnamese and foreign individuals, agencies or organizations that participate in arbitral proceedings in the capacity as plaintiffs and defendants.

4. Dispute involving foreign elements means a dispute arising in commercial relationships or other legal relationships involving foreign elements as defined in the Civil Code.

5. Arbitrator means a person selected by the parties or designated by an arbitration center or a court to settle a dispute under this Law.

6. Institutional arbitration means a form of dispute settlement at an arbitration center under this Law and rules of proceedings of such arbitration center.

7. Ad hoc arbitration means a form of dispute settlement under this Law and the order and procedures agreed by the parties.

8. Venue for dispute settlement means a place in which an arbitration council settles disputes which is selected as agreed by the parties or as decided by the arbitration council if the parties have no such agreement. If a venue for dispute settlement is within the Vietnamese territory, the award must be regarded as having been pronounced in Vietnam regardless of the place in which the arbitration council holds a meeting to issue such award.

9. Arbitral decision means a decision of the arbitration council issued during the process of dispute settlement.

10. Arbitral award means a decision of the arbitration council settling the entire dispute and terminating the arbitral proceedings.

11. Foreign arbitration means an arbitration formed under a foreign law on arbitration and selected as agreed by the parties to settle a dispute outside or within the Vietnamese territory.

12. Foreign arbitral award means an award pronounced by a foreign arbitration outside or within the Vietnamese territory which is selected as agreed by the parties to settle their disputes.

Article 4. Principles of dispute settlement by arbitration

1. Arbitrators must respect the parties’ agreement if such agreement neither breaches prohibitions nor contravenes social ethics.

2. Arbitrators must be independent, objective and impartial and shall observe law.

3. Disputing parties are equal in their rights and obligations. The arbitration council shall create conditions for disputing parties to exercise their rights and fulfill their obligations.

4. Dispute settlement by arbitration shall be conducted in private, unless otherwise agreed by the parties.

5. Arbitral awards are final.