Resolution No. 04/2012/NQ-HDTP of December 3, 2012, guiding the implementation of provisions of the Civil Procedure Code regarding proving and evidence, which were amended and supplemented under the Law Amending and Supplementing a Number of Articles of the Civil Procedure Code

THE JUDGES’ COUNCIL OF THE SUPREME PEOPLE’S COURT

Resolution No. 04/2012/NQ-HDTP of December 3, 2012, guiding the implementation of provisions of the Civil Procedure Code regarding proving and evidence, which were amended and supplemented under the Law Amending and Supplementing a Number of Articles of the Civil Procedure Code

THE JUDGES’ COUNCIL OF THE SUPREME PEOPLE’S COURT

Pursuant to the Law on Organization of People s Courts;

In order to ensure proper and consistent implementation of provisions of the Civil Procedure Code regarding proving and evidence, which were amended and supplemented under the March 29, 2011 Law Amending and Supplementing a Number of Articles of the Civil Procedure Code (below referred to as the Code);

After reaching agreement with the Chairperson of the Supreme People’s Procuracy and the Minister of Justice,

RESOLVES:

Article 1. Scope of regulation

This Resolution guides the implementation of provisions of the Civil Procedure Code regarding proving and evidence in order to ensure proper and consistent implementation of the Code during the settlement of civil cases and matters in court.

Article 2. Supply of evidence

1. According to Clause 1, Article 6 of the Code, on general principle, the supply of evidence and proving of the grounds and lawfulness of one’s request are both the right and obligation of involved parties or individuals, agencies and organizations that file lawsuits or make requests for the protection of the rights and legitimate interests of other person. However, according to Article 79 of the Code, when requesting protection by court of one’s rights and legitimate interests, or opposing others’ claims, or requesting protection of public interests, state interests or the rights and legitimate interests of other persons, the involved party or individual, agency or organization that files the lawsuit or makes the request is obliged to produce evidence to prove the grounds and lawfulness of his/her/ its request.

2. The supply of evidence and proving of the grounds and lawfulness of one’s request guided in Clause 1 of this Article may be carried out during the settlement of civil cases or matters by courts.

3. While settling a civil case or matter, the court shall explain to involved parties that as they are obliged to produce evidence for proving, if they fail to produce evidence or produce insufficient evidence, the court will settle the case or matter according to general procedures. The court shall base itself on the collected documents and evidence available in the dossier of the civil case or matter. If the civil case or matter is tried or settled at a court hearing or a meeting, the court shall make decisions based only on the documents and evidence that have been examined and studied at the court hearing or the meeting, the result of questioning at the court hearing or the meeting, and all opinions of participants in the proceedings and the procurator. Involved parties shall bear consequences of their failure to produce, evidence or supply insufficient evidence.

4. While settling a civil case or matter, if finding that the evidence handed over by involved parties is insufficient for settlement, the court shall request the involved parties to hand over additional evidence according to Clause 1, Article 85 of the Code. When requesting the involved parties to hand over additional evidence, the court shall specify the evidence to be additionally handed over.

Example 1: In a divorce case, the court has to deal with the request for rearing a minor child. If the involved party has not yet submitted to the court the birth certificate (or its copy) of the minor child, the judge shall request the involved party to additionally submit the birth certificate (or its copy) as the basis for assigning the custody of the child to the mother or the father, and deciding on the level of child support.

Example 2: In a dispute over a goods transportation contract, which has an annex as indicated in the lawsuit petition, and the plaintiff has submitted only the contract to the court. The judge shall request the plaintiff to additionally submit the annex as the basis for settling the dispute.

5. During the settlement of a civil case or matter, the court should explain to involved parties the provisions of Article 7 of the Code regarding the responsibility of individuals, agencies and competent organizations to supply evidence. If knowing that the evidence is currently held or managed by an individual, agency or organization, pursuant to this Article, involved parties may request the individual, agency or organization to supply evidence. When refusing to supply evidence to the involved party, the individual, agency or organization shall send a written notification clearly stating the reason for the refusal to the involved party for the latter to prove his/her unsuccessful collection of evidence to the court and request the court to collect evidence.

Article 3. Identification of evidence prescribed in Article 83 of the Code

1. Pursuant to Article 81 of the Code, one of the conditions of evidence is that it must be handed over to the court by the involved party or another individual, agency or organization, or collected by the court according to the process and procedures prescribed by the Code. Therefore, the handover and collection of evidence must comply with relevant articles of the Code and the guidance of this Resolution.

2. For evidence to be considered conformable with Article 81 of the Code, its identification based on type of source is specified as follows:

a/ Readable documents must be official copies or lawfully notarized or certified copies or copies supplied and certified by competent agencies or organizations. An official copy may be either an original or a master copy that is used to make copies;

b/ Audible and visual materials must be produced together with documents certifying their origins or documents on the matter related to the audio or video recording. Those materials may be audio tapes, audio disks, video tapes, video disks, movies, photos, etc. If the involved party fails to produce the documents mentioned above, the audible and visual materials handed over are not considered evidence.

Example 1: In a traffic accident case, the victim or his/her legal representative is provided with a video recording of the accident scene by a person. In this case, together with the video recording, the victim or his/her legal representative shall produce to the court a written certification of the origin of the video recording made by the provider.

Example 2: Mr. A lent VND 5 million to Mr. B for 12 months. This loan was not recorded in writing, but Mr. A made an audio recording of the whole content of agreement between Mr. A and Mr. B on the borrowing, the handover and receipt of money, and the date of repayment of the loan as the evidence of the borrowing by Mr. B. On the due date, Mr. B failed to repay this sum of money to Mr. A. Mr. A sued Mr. B. In this case, together with the audio tape, Mr. A shall submit a document explaining the audio recording.

c/ Exhibits must be original items related to the civil case or matter. If the exhibits are not original items or not related to the case or matter, they are not considered evidence in that case or matter.

d/ Testimonies of involved parties and witnesses must be recorded in writing, audio tapes, audio disks, video tapes or video disks, and produced according to the procedures prescribed in Clause 2, Article 83 of the Code and the guidance in Clause 2 of this Article, or must be made verbally at court hearings;

dd/ Expertise conclusions, provided the expertise is conducted according to the procedures prescribed in the Law on Judicial Expertise, relevant legal documents, and the guidance in Article 10 of this Resolution;

e/ On-site appraisal result minutes, provided the on-site appraisal is conducted according to the procedures prescribed in Article 89 of the Code and the guidance in Article 9 of this Resolution;

g/ Customs that are recognized by local communities.

A community is a group of people that live in the same area, share similar characteristics, and are connected in social activities in the area;

A custom is a habit in social life, production and daily life, is recognized and followed by the local community as a local convention;

A commercial custom is a commercial habit that is widely recognized in an area, a region, or a commercial sector, and has a clear content recognized by parties to define their rights and obligations in commercial activities;

International commercial custom is a practice of international commerce that is repeated in international trading and recognized by related international organizations;

Only customs that are not against the law or social ethics are acceptable. When an involved party cites a custom to support his/her opinion on an issue, which has been regulated by legal documents, the court shall apply such legal documents, but not the custom.

For example: Some ethnic groups have a custom that when a mother dies, only her daughters, not her sons, are entitled to her inheritance. In a dispute over an inheritance left by a mother, if the daughters cite that custom to repudiate the sons’ right, that custom must not be accepted. The reason is that it is a backward marriage and family custom that must be abolished according to Appendix B “List of backward marriage and family customs and practices of ethnic groups that are banned or must be abolished”, promulgated together with the Government’s Decree No. 32/2002/ ND-CP of March 27, 2002, on the application of the Law on Marriage and Family to ethnic minorities.

h/ Property valuation or property price appraisal results, provided the valuation is conducted according to the procedures prescribed in Article 92 of the Code.

3. The involved party that hands over the evidence in ethnic minority or foreign languages to the court shall also submit their Vietnamese translations that are lawfully notarized or certified. The court shall reject such evidence if it is not yet translated into Vietnamese or its Vietnamese translations are not yet lawfully notarized or certified. The court shall explain that the involved party must have the evidence translated into Vietnamese and notarized or certified in accordance with the law on notarization and certification.

Article 4. Handover and receipt of evidence

1. According to Articles 166 and 312 of the Code, the person who initiates a case or requests the court to settle a civil matter shall send directly or by post the lawsuit petition or written request and enclosed documents and evidence to a court competent to settle civil cases and matters. The handover and receipt of evidence is effected as follows:

a/ In case the person initiating the case or the requester directly submits the lawsuit petition or written request and enclosed evidence at the court, the court officer assigned by the court president shall receive such lawsuit petition or written request and enclosed evidence. The court officer shall record the receipt of the lawsuit petition or written request and enclosed evidence in the receipt book and concurrently make a minutes of evidence handover and receipt according to Clause 2, Article 84 of the Code;

b/ In case the person initiating the case or the requester sends by post the lawsuit petition or written request and enclosed evidence, the court officer shall record it in the receipt book, compare the evidence with the evidence list enclosed with or written in the lawsuit petition or request before recording it in the receipt book; if finding that the evidence is insufficient or omitted compared to the list, he/she shall promptly inform such to such person or requester for additional handover.

2. If the involved party hands over evidence to the court after the court accepts the civil case or matter, the judge assigned by the court president to settle the civil case or matter or the court clerk or officer assigned by the court president shall receive evidence under the guidance in Clause 1 of this Article.

3. If the involved party hands over evidence at a court hearing or meeting, the court clerk shall receive the evidence. If the evidence is handed over before the start of a court hearing or meeting, the court clerk shall make a minutes of evidence handover and receipt according to Clause 2, Article 84 of the Code. If the evidence is handed over during a court hearing or meeting, it must be recorded in the minutes of the court hearing or the meeting.

4. A minutes of ^evidence handover and receipt must bear the signature of a competent person of the court as prescribed by the civil procedure law or as guided in this Resolution, and bear the court’s seal.

Article 5. Collection of evidence prescribed in Clause 2, Article 85 of the Code

The court may only take one or several measures specified at Points a, b, c, d, dd, e and g, Clause 2, Article 85 of the Code to collect documents and evidence in the cases prescribed by the Code. The collection of documents and evidence must comply with relevant articles of the Code regarding the collection measure taken and the guidance of this Resolution.

Example 1: A judge may Sly take testimonies from involved parties that have not made testimonies or their testimonies are insufficient or unclear, or from the involved parties that cannot write their testimonies by themselves according to Article 86 of the Code and the guidance in Article 6 of this Resolution.

Example 2: A judge shall hold confrontations among involved parties, between involved parties and witnesses or among witnesses at the request of involved parties or when seeing that the testimonies made by involved parties and witnesses are contradictory according to Article 88 of the Code and the guidance in Article 8 of this Resolution.

Article 6. Taking testimonies of involved parties according to Article 86 of the Code

1.     When an involved party has not made written testimonies or his/her written testimonies are insufficient, the judge shall request the involved party to write down by themselves their testimonies or additional testimonies and sign them. Only in case the involved party cannot write, the judge or the court clerk shall write the involved party’s testimonies in a minutes. This minutes must be made according to Clause 2, Article 86 of the Code

2.   The judge shall take testimonies from involved parties. The court clerk shall only assist the judge in writing the involved party’s testimonies in the minutes. For work or objective reasons, the judge may assign the court clerk to take testimonies with the consent of involved parties. The testimony- recording minutes must be certified by the judge. Testimonies of involved parties must be taken at the court’s house. If the involved party cannot go to the court for objective or justifiable reasons (being in detention, prison or sick, etc), testimonies can be taken outside the court’s house.

The taking of testimonies outside of the court’s house must comply with the laws and regulations applicable to court officers and ensure objectivity (e.g., testimonies of involved parties in detention must be taken at the detention camp according to the arrangement by the detention camp’s superintendent board, testimonies of sick involved parties who do not need hospitalization must be taken at the place where they are treated and a witness may be invited, if necessary, etc.).

3.   The protection of the rights and legitimate interests of the involved parties defined in Clauses 4 and 5, Article 57 of the Code must be carried out by their legal representatives. When taking their testimonies, the presence of their legal representatives is required and the testimony-recording minutes must be signed by these legal representatives or appended with their fingerprints.

Article 7. Taking testimonies of witnesses according to Article 87 of the Code

1.   When an involved party makes a written request for testimonies of witnesses, the court shall take testimonies from such witnesses. When finding it necessary, the judge may take testimonies from witnesses without the request of involved parties. The taking of testimonies of witnesses is considered “necessary” if it ensures the comprehensiveness, accuracy, fairness and lawfulness of the settlement of civil cases or matters.

2.   The judge shall take testimonies from witnesses either at or outside the court’s house similarly to taking testimonies from involved parties according to Clause 2, Article 86 of the Code and the guidance in Article 6 of this Resolution.

Article 8. Confrontation prescribed in Article 88 of the Code

1. At the request of the involved parties, or when finding that testimonies from involved parties and witnesses are contradictory, the judge shall hold confrontations among involved parties, between involved parties and witnesses or among witnesses in an appropriate order (depending on each specific case, confrontations may be held on each issue or persons shall take turn to speak on contradictory issues).

2. The judge or the court clerk shall make the confrontation minutes, which must bear the signatures of the participants in the confrontation, the judge and the court clerk, and the court’s seal.

Article 9. On-site inspection and appraisal prescribed in Article 89 of the Code

1.   At the request of involved parties or when finding on-site inspection and appraisal necessary for proper settlement of the case, the judge shall decide on the on-site inspection and appraisal.

2.   A decision on on-site inspection and appraisal must contain the following principal details:

a/ Date of issuance of the decision and the name of the court that makes the decision;

b/ Subjects and issues that need on-site inspection and appraisal;

c/ Time and location of on-site inspection and appraisal.

3.   The decision on on-site inspection and appraisal must be sent to the commune-level People’s Committee of the place or the agency or organization that has the subjects that need inspection and appraisal, together with a written request for the People’s Committee or the agency or organization to send a representative to participate in the on-site inspection and appraisal. At the time set in the decision, if the representative of the People’s Committee  or agency or organization is not present, the judge shall contact the People’s Committee or agency or organization to request his/her presence. If the representative of the People’s Committee, agency or organization is absent, the judge shall postpone the on-site inspection and appraisal.

4.   The decision on on-site inspection and appraisal must be handed over or sent to the involved parties for them to know and witness the on-site inspection and appraisal. However, the on-site inspection and appraisal may still be carried out without the presence of involved parties.

5.   The judge or the court clerk shall make the on-site inspection and appraisal minutes according to Clause 2, Article 89 of the Code.

6.   If the on-site inspection and appraisal by the court is obstructed, the judge shall request the representative of the People’s Committee, agency or organization to promptly intervene and provide assistance in the on-site inspection and appraisal. Where necessary, the judge may request the security and judicial assistance police of a competent people’s security agency to intervene and provide assistance according to the Ministry of Public Security’s Circular No. 15/2003/TT-BCA (VI9) of September 10, 2003, guiding judicial assistance provided by the security and judicial assistance police of the people’s security force.

7. If all measures guided in Clause 6 of this Article have been taken but the on-site inspection and appraisal cannot be carried out, the judge shall make a minutes of involved parties’ obstructing the on-site inspection and appraisal and put it in the case file. This minutes must be sent to a competent agency for consideration and handling acts of opposing law enforcement officers according to the

Article 10. Request for expertise according to Article 90 of the Code

1.   The agreement on or request for the court to call for expertise must be made in writing (in a separate document, written in the testimony or in the minutes of testimonies or confrontation).

2.   The judge shall issue a decision to request expertise according to Article 90 of the Code, the Law on Judicial Expertise and relevant legal documents. A decision to request expertise must contain the following principal details:

a/ Date of issuance of the decision and the name of the court that makes the decision;

b/ Name and address of the expertise organization, if the court requests a judicial expertise organization, or the full name and address of the expert, if the court requests expertise from such expert;

c/ Origin and characteristics of the object to be expertised;

d/ Names of relevant documents or comparison samples enclosed;

dd/ Issues that need expertise;

e/ Specific requirements for expertise conclusions;

g/ Deadline for expertise results.

3.  A decision to request expertise must be sent to involved parties, the expertise organization and experts.

Article 11. Entrustment of evidence collection prescribed in Article 93 of the Code

1.   During the settlement of a civil case or matter, if evidence collection must be entrusted, the court shall make a dossier of evidence collection entrustment and send it to another court or competent agency entrusted to collect evidence. The entrusted agency or court shall consider and decide on collecting the evidence based on the entrustment requirements.

2.   A dossier of evidence collection entrustment comprises:

a/ The decision to entrust evidence collection with the details prescribed in Clause 2, Article 93 of the Code, made according to Form No. 05 promulgated together with this Resolution;

b/ Copies of documents and evidence related to the evidence collection entrustment (if any). These copies must bear the signatures of the judge and the seal of the court.

2.     The procedures for evidence collection entrustment and entrusted evidence collection are as follows:

Within three working days after receiving the dossier of evidence collection entrustment, the court or competent agency entrusted to collect evidence shall record the entrustment in a book and take measures to collect evidence in accordance with the Code and the guidance of this Resolution.

In the course of collecting evidence under entrustment, if there is any unclear content in the request for evidence collection, the entrusted court or competent agency shall send a written request to the entrusting court for supplementation or clarification. Within five working days after receiving the request of the entrusted court or competent agency, the entrusting court shall send additional documents to clarify its request for evidence collection.

In case the entrusting court fails to respond and the entrusted evidence collection cannot be carried out unless the requested content is clarified or supplemented, the entrusted court or competent agency shall return the dossier of evidence collection entrustment to the entrusting court and clearly state why it cannot conduct the evidence collection.

4.   Within three working days after completing the entrusted evidence collection or after the deadline prescribed in Clause 3 Article 93 of the Code, the entrusted court or competent agency shall send the result to the entrusting court.

5.   If the entrusted evidence collection must be carried out outside Vietnamese territory, the court shall conduct the entrustment in accordance with the Law on Judicial Assistance and Joint Circular No. 15/2011/'TTLT-BTP- BNG-TANDTC of September 15, 2011, of the Ministry of Justice, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Supreme People’s Court, guiding the application of provisions of the Law on Judicial Assistance regarding civil judicial assistance, and relevant laws.

Article 12. Request for supply of evidence by individuals, agencies and organizations prescribed in Article 94 of the Code

1.   Only after having applied all measures possible for collecting evidence (having used every mode and ability permitted to request individuals, agencies and organizations that currently manage and keep evidence to supply such evidence but still in vain), may the involved party make a written request for the court to collect evidence.

2.   A written request for the court to collect evidence that is currently managed and kept by individuals, agencies and organizations must have the following principal details:

a/ Date of request;

b/ Name of the court requested to collect evidence;

c/ Name and address of the requester;

d/ Specific issues that need to be proven;

dd/ Specific evidence that needs to be collected;

e/ Reasons for failure to collect evidence;

g/ Full name and address of the individual; name and address of the agency or organization that currently keeps the evidence.

3.  If finding the involved party’s request for evidence collection grounded, the judge shall issue a decision to request evidence supply. The decision to request evidence supply must have the following principal details:

a/ Date of the decision and the name of the court that issues the decision;

b/ Name and address of the requester;

c/ Reason for the request for the individual, agency or organization to supply the evidence;

d/ Name and address of the individual, agency or organization obliged to supply the evidence;

dd/ Specific evidence to be supplied to the court;

e/ Time limit for evidence supply. If the evidence cannot be supplied at the request of the court, a notification must be sent to the court, clearly stating the reason;

g/ Legal consequences of insufficient and untimely supply of evidence at the request of the court as prescribed in Clause 2, Article 94 of the Code.

4.   The court clerk or court officer assigned by the court president may directly request the individual, agency or organization currently managing or keeping evidence to supply evidence. The person that makes the direct request must have a letter of introduction of the court and the decision to request evidence supply. The person that makes the direct request must present the judge’s identity card or civil servant’s card or another personal identification paper at the request of the individual, agency or organization currently managing or keeping evidence.

If the individual, agency or organization currently managing or keeping evidence can hand over the evidence immediately, a minutes of evidence handover and receipt must be made according to Clause 2, Article 84 of the Code, except the court’s seal which can be appended later. If the agency or organization that hands over the evidence has a seal, the competent representative of the organization shall be requested to sign and append the seal on the minutes. If the individual, agency or organization currently managing or keeping evidence refuses to hand over the evidence, a minutes of such refusal must be made, clearly stating the reason.

If the individual, agency or organization currently managing or keeping evidence does not hand over evidence immediately, a minutes must be made and he/she/it shall be requested to sufficiently and timely supply evidence at the request of the court within the time limit stated in the decision (15 days from the date of receipt of the decision).

If the individual, agency or organization currently managing or keeping evidence fails to supply evidence or supplies insufficient evidence not on time at the request of the court, depending on the severity of the violation, he/ she/it may be handled in accordance with law (Article 385 of the Code regarding measures to handle those obstructing the verification and collection of evidence by procedure- conducting persons; Article 389 of the Code on measures to handle individuals, agencies and organizations that fail to execute the court’s decision on the supply of evidence to the court, etc.).

5.   If the court does not directly request the individual, agency or organization currently managing or keeping evidence to supply evidence, the court may only send a decision to request evidence supply to such individual, agency or organization.

6.   If the procuracy collects evidence by requesting the involved parties, individuals, agencies and organizations to supply evidence (records, documents and exhibits), this request may be accepted by the court only if the evidence collection complies with the Code and the guidance of the Supreme People’s Procuracy in order to ensure the exercise of the power to protest according to appellate, cassation or reopening procedures.

Article 13. Handover, receipt and collection of evidence at the stage of appellate trial of civil cases and matters

1.   If an involved party files an appeal enclosed with additional evidence with the first-instance court according to Clauses 2 and 3, Article 244, and relevant articles of the Code regarding appellate trial of decisions on settlement of civil cases and matters, the first-instance court shall receive the written appeal and additional evidence. The handover and receipt of additional evidence must comply with Clauses 1 and 4, Article 4 of this Resolution. The minutes of handover and receipt of additional evidence and such additional evidence must be sent together with the dossier of the civil case or matter to the appellate court according to Article 255 and relevant articles of the Code regarding appellate trial of decisions on settlement of Civil cases and matters.

2.   If the involved party files an appeal enclosed with additional evidence with the appellate court, the appellate c6art shall receive such evidence according to Clauses 1 and 4, Article 4 of this Resolution. The appellate court shall send the written? appeal, the minutes of handover and receipt of additional evidence and such additional evidence to the first-instance court for carrying out necessary procedures. The first-instance court shall send the dossier of the civil case or matter and additional evidence to the appellate court according to Article 255 and relevant articles the Code regarding appellate trial of decisions on settlement of civil cases and matters.

3.   If the involved party hands over evidence to the appellate court after the court accepts the dossier of the civil case or matter according to appellate procedures, the handover and receipt of evidence must comply with Clauses 2 and 4, Article 4 of this Resolution.

If the involved party hands over evidence at an appellate hearing or meeting, the handover and receipt of evidence must comply with Clause 3, Article 4 of this Resolution.

4.   The collection of evidence carried out by the appellate court must comply with Article 5 of this Resolution.

Article 14. Handover and receipt of evidence at the stage of review of legally effective judgments or decisions according to cassation and reopening procedures

1.   If an involved party requests a competent person to review a court’s judgment or decision that has taken legal effect according to cassation or reopening procedures, and hands over additional evidence, such evidence must be handed aver and received as follows:

a/ If the case falls within the competence to protest of the president of a provincial-level people’s court, a verifier of the Cassation Inspection Division of the provincial-level people’s court shall receive the evidence.

The verifier shall make a minutes of evidence handover and receipt, and the director of the Cassation Inspection Division shall certify, sign and append the court’s seal on the minutes.

b/ If the case falls within the competence to protest of the President of the Supreme People’s Court and the involved party hands over additional evidence at the People Reception Department of the Supreme People’s Court, an officer of the People Reception Department shall make a minutes of evidence handover and receipt. The director of the People Reception Department shall certify, sign, and append the court’s set on the minutes. If the involved party hand over additional evidence to a verifier of civil court, economic court, or labor court assigned to receive the involved party, the verifier shall make a minutes of evidence handover and receipt, and the court president or a deputy court president authorized by the court president shall certify, sign and append the court’s seal on the minutes.

2.  After a court’s judgment or decision takes legal effect, the handover of evidence at a people’s procuracy must comply with the general provisions of procedural la\ and the guidance of the Supreme People’ Procuracy. The seal of the procuracy must b appended.

Article 15. Forms of procedural document related to proving and evidence

The forms of procedural document below are promulgated together with this Resolution:

1.   Minutes of evidence handover and receipt (Form No. 01);

2.   Decision on on-site inspection and appraisal (Form No. 02);

3.   Decision to request expertise (Form No. 03);

4.   Decision to request evidence supply; (Form No. 04);

5.   Decision to entrust evidence collection (Form No. 05);

6.   Decision on confrontation (Form No. 06)

Article 16. Effect

1.  This Resolution was adopted on December 3,2012, by the Judges’ Council of the Supreme People’s Court, and takes effect on July 1, 2013.

Resolution No. 04/2005/NQ-HDTP of September 17, 2005, of the Judges’ Council of the Supreme People’s Court, guiding the implementation of provisions of the Civil Procedure Code regarding proving and evidence, and the Supreme People’ Court’s guidelines on issues which are guided in this Resolution, which are issued before this Resolution takes effect, cease to be effective on July 1, 2013.

2.   Civil, marriage and family, economic and labor cases and matters that have been received by the courts but have not been tried according to first-instance, appellate, cassation or reopening procedures must be settled in accordance with this Resolution.

For court judgments and decisions that take legal effect before the effective date of this Resolution, this Resolution does not apply to the filing of protests against these judgments and decisions according to cassation or reopening procedures, unless there are other grounds for protest-.

On behalf of the Judges ’ Council

President

TRUONG HOA BINH

(All forms promulgated together with this Resolution are not translated)