VIETNAM Law and Practice Contributed by: Vinh Luu, Phong Tran, The Nghiem and Thu Nguyen, Asia Legal
relevant arbitration agreements, the presence of com - mon questions of law or fact and appropriate consent and procedural safeguards for the parties involved. Vietnamese courts, unlike courts in some other juris - dictions, have no general statutory power to consoli - date separate arbitral proceedings, so consolidation remains a matter for the parties or, where the appli - cable institutional rules permit it, for the administering institution. 13.5 Binding of Third Parties A non-signatory can become bound by an arbitration agreement or award in Vietnam through recognised general civil law mechanisms rather than through any distinct, arbitration-specific doctrine. These mecha - nisms include universal or singular succession, such as merger, consolidation or inheritance of contractual rights and obligations, valid assignment or novation of the contract containing the arbitration clause, sub - rogation and agency, where a signatory validly acted with authority on behalf of the non-signatory. In each case, clear consent, whether express or evidenced through conduct showing an intention to be bound, remains the underlying touchstone. This principle will be intuitive to practitioners from any jurisdiction.
Vietnamese courts do not have an established, arbi - tration-specific statutory power to bind a foreign non- signatory third party beyond these general civil law bases. Any attempt to bind a foreign third party would need to rely on the same doctrines described above and would still be subject to the private international law rules and ultimately the enforcement standards of whichever jurisdiction enforcement against that for - eign party is sought in.
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