VIETNAM Law and Practice Contributed by: Vinh Luu, Phong Tran, The Nghiem and Thu Nguyen, Asia Legal
2. Governing Legislation 2.1 Governing Law
• Established reputation: Founded in 1993 under a decision of the Prime Minister, VIAC has more than 30 years of experience in administering commercial arbitration and has developed a strong reputation for independence, professionalism and reliability. • Qualified and international panel of arbitrators: VIAC maintains a panel of more than 200 arbitra - tors, comprising experienced legal practitioners, academics and industry experts from Vietnam and abroad, enabling the efficient resolution of both domestic and cross-border disputes. • Modern arbitration framework: Notably, VIAC has updated its institutional framework to align with international best practices. The VIAC Rules 2026, which replace the 2017 Rules, introduce procedur - al improvements aimed at enhancing transparency, efficiency and flexibility in arbitral proceedings. • Thought leadership and international engagement: VIAC actively promotes arbitration through con - ferences, publications, training programmes and international events, including the annual Vietnam ADR Week (VAW), which brings together judges, arbitrators, legal practitioners, businesses, policy - makers and international experts to discuss devel - opments in alternative dispute resolution. Within the last 12 months, Vietnam has also wit - nessed the establishment of the International Arbitra - tion Center under the Vietnam International Financial Centre (VIFCA) as part of the development of the Viet - nam International Financial Center. In addition, VIAC established its Fintech & Digital Economy Dispute Specialists in May 2026 to provide specialised case administration for disputes relating to finance, bank - ing, investment and M&A. However, this department forms part of VIAC’s internal organisational structure rather than constituting a separate arbitral institution. 1.4 National Courts In Vietnam, no courts are specifically tasked with handling disputes related to international or domes - tic arbitration.
The principal legislation governing arbitration in Viet - nam is the Law on Commercial Arbitration 2010 (LCA), which provides the legal framework for both domestic arbitration and foreign-related commercial disputes. The arbitration regime is further supplemented by: • the 1958 New York Convention, to which Vietnam has been a contracting state since 1995; • Resolution No 01/2014/NQ-HĐTP, providing guid - ance on the interpretation and implementation of the LCA; • Decree No 63/2011/ND-CP (as amended by Decree No 124/2018/ND-CP), governing the estab - lishment and operation of arbitral institutions; and • the Civil Procedure Code 2015 and the Law on Enforcement of Civil Judgments 2008, which regu - late the recognition, enforcement and setting aside of arbitral awards. The LCA is substantially based on the UNCITRAL Model Law and incorporates many of its core prin - ciples, including party autonomy, the separability of the arbitration agreement and the competence-com - petence doctrine. However, the LCA departs from the UNCITRAL Model Law in several important respects: • no express concept of “international arbitration” – unlike the Model Law, the LCA does not distinguish between domestic and international arbitration, but instead refers to disputes involving a “foreign ele - ment” and to “foreign arbitral awards”; • nationality of arbitral awards – the nationality of an award is determined by the nationality of the arbi- tral institution, rather than the seat of arbitration; • grounds for judicial review – instead of the UNCI - TRAL Model Law’s “public policy” exception, the LCA adopts “fundamental principles of Vietnamese law” (specifically, Vietnamese courts may set aside or refuse to recognise an award if it is contrary to the fundamental principles of Vietnamese law); and • scope of arbitrable disputes – the LCA primarily governs commercial disputes and certain other disputes expressly permitted by law, making its scope narrower than that of the UNCITRAL Model Law.
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