VIETNAM Law and Practice Contributed by: Tung Ngo, Linh D. Nguyen and Minh Doan, VILAF
6. Preliminary and Interim Relief 6.1 Types of Relief
unlikely to grant any interim relief in aid of foreign- seated arbitrations. Emergency Arbitrators Vietnamese law is silent on the use of emergency arbi - trators. As a result, the use of emergency arbitrators is currently unavailable in Vietnam. 6.3 Security for Costs Vietnamese law does not currently provide a mech - anism for either courts or arbitral tribunals to order security for costs. Arbitration procedures in Vietnam are primarily gov - erned by the LCA, which serves as the main legal framework for all aspects of arbitration in the country. Additional instruments include: • Decree 63/2011, which mainly governs the reg - istration and operation of domestic and foreign arbitration institutions in Vietnam; and • Resolution 01/2014, which provides detailed guid - ance and clarification for several provisions of the LCA. 7. Procedure 7.1 Governing Rules For disputes resolved through institutional arbitration, or where parties to ad hoc arbitration so agree, the procedural rules of the relevant arbitration centre will apply. As party autonomy is a fundamental principle under the arbitration law of Vietnam, the arbitration proce - dure may also be governed by the parties’ agreement. 7.2 Procedural Steps In arbitral proceedings conducted in Vietnam, the fol - lowing procedural steps are required by law. • Filing of a request for arbitration and issuance of a statement of defence ‒ the claimant files a request for arbitration at an arbitration institution (in insti- tutional arbitration) or to the respondent (in ad hoc arbitration). The respondent is to send a statement
Under Article 49 of the LCA, an arbitral tribunal in Vietnam is empowered to grant preliminary or interim relief at the request of a party. If a party fails to comply voluntarily, such orders may be enforced through the Vietnamese courts. Pursuant to Article 49.2 of the LCA, interim relief may include: • prohibiting any changes in the status quo of the assets in dispute; • prohibiting any acts or compelling either of the dis - puting parties to perform one or more specific acts in order to prevent conduct that might adversely affect the arbitral proceedings; • attachment of the assets in dispute; • requirement of storage, sale or disposal of any of the assets of one of or all the parties involved in the dispute; • requirement of interim payment as between the parties; and • prohibiting the transfer of asset rights of the assets in dispute. Before granting interim relief, the arbitral tribunal may ‒ under Article 49.4 of the LCA – require the request - ing party to provide financial security, such as a bank guarantee or a cash deposit. 6.2 Role of Courts At the request of an aggrieved or potentially aggrieved party, the competent court may grant interim relief after the submission of a request for arbitration, regardless of whether the arbitral tribunal has been constituted. However, the court must ensure that the interim measures it grants are not identical to those already requested before the tribunal. If a party fails to comply with the tribunal’s interim relief order, the other party may seek enforcement through the pro - vincial court. There is no provision in Vietnamese law expressly allowing or prohibiting the courts from granting interim relief in support of foreign-seated arbitrations. Nev - ertheless, in practice, Vietnamese courts would be
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