Recognition and Enforcement of Foreign Court Judgments in Vietnam

Who is this service for?

• Companies and individuals who have won lawsuits in foreign courts (commercial, contractual, family, labour) but the judgment debtor resides, works or holds assets in Vietnam.
• Parties in Vietnam–China transactions holding a Chinese court judgment to be enforced in Vietnam — or vice versa.
• Judgment debtors wishing to ask a Vietnamese Court to refuse recognition of a foreign court judgment.
• Foreign law firms needing Vietnamese lawyers to coordinate the recognition and enforcement stage for their clients.

Problems clients commonly face

The most common mistake is assuming that having won abroad, one only needs to bring the judgment home and ask the enforcement agency to coerce. In reality, the civil judgment enforcement agency cannot enforce a foreign judgment that has not gone through the Vietnamese Court’s recognition procedure. Many dossiers drag on for months simply for want of the foreign court’s written confirmation of the judgment’s legal effect, or because the litigant filed after the three-year limitation period expired.

The second costly confusion is mixing up foreign court judgments with foreign arbitral awards. Arbitral awards are recognised under the 1958 New York Convention to which Vietnam is a party, with stable practice; court judgments are only recognised where a bilateral international treaty exists or on the principle of reciprocity — a much narrower door. Choosing the wrong legal basis from the start means redoing the entire dossier.

Which foreign judgments may be considered for recognition in Vietnam?

Article 423 of the 2015 Civil Procedure Code (CPC 2015) sets out three groups of foreign civil court judgments and decisions eligible for consideration of recognition and enforcement:

• With an international treaty: judgments of courts of a country with which Vietnam shares an international treaty providing for recognition and enforcement. Example: the Agreement on Judicial Assistance in Civil and Criminal Matters between Vietnam and China signed on 19/10/1998 — Article 1 covers “recognition and enforcement of court decisions on civil matters”, where “civil matters” is understood to include commerce, family and labour.
• Principle of reciprocity: judgments of courts of a country with which Vietnam has not signed an international treaty on this matter. This is the door for judgments from countries such as the United States, the United Kingdom and Singapore — but proving “reciprocity” in practice is not simple and requires careful case-by-case assessment.
• Vietnamese law provides separately for recognition and enforcement.

The scope covers judgments and decisions on civil, marriage and family, business, commercial and labour matters, as well as property decisions in foreign criminal and administrative judgments and decisions.

Vietnam has not yet joined the 2019 Hague Convention on the Recognition and Enforcement of Foreign Judgments in Civil or Commercial Matters (in force since 01/9/2023). For countries without a bilateral agreement, the principle of reciprocity remains the main legal basis.

Personal and asset conditions

Even before the treaty question, Article 425 of the CPC 2015 sets a threshold condition: the enforcement creditor (or their lawful representative) may only apply where the individual debtor resides or works in Vietnam, or the debtor organisation has its head office in Vietnam, or the assets related to enforcement are in Vietnam at the time of the request. Conversely, the judgment debtor may ask a Vietnamese Court to refuse recognition of a foreign court judgment — an important defensive tool where the foreign proceedings violated their right to self-defence.

Recognition application procedure: step by step

1. Dossier preparation: the application; the original or certified copy of the judgment issued by the foreign court; the foreign court’s written confirmation that the judgment has taken legal effect, that the enforcement limitation period has not expired, and that it needs enforcement in Vietnam; written confirmation of lawful service on the judgment debtor; written confirmation that the debtor was lawfully summoned (if tried in absentia). Foreign documents require consular legalisation and notarised translation.
2. File within the three-year limitation period from the date the judgment took legal effect (Article 432). If force majeure or objective obstacles prevented timely filing and this is proven, the period may be extended. Applications go to the Ministry of Justice or directly to the competent Court; via the Ministry, the dossier must be transferred to the Court within 05 days.
3. Acceptance and preparation for review: the provincial-level People’s Court where the individual debtor resides or works — or where the organisation is headquartered, or where the assets are — has jurisdiction. Within 05 days of acceptance, the Court notifies the parties and prepares to open the application review session (Article 436).
4. Application review session: a panel of three judges, with a Procurator of the same-level Procuracy participating. The key point: the panel does not retry the case — it only examines and compares the judgment and accompanying documents against the CPC 2015, Vietnamese law and international treaties, then decides to recognise or refuse recognition.
5. Enforcement after recognition: a recognised judgment takes effect as an effective Vietnamese Court judgment and is enforced under civil judgment enforcement procedures.

Court jurisdiction and organisation may be affected by the restructuring of the People’s Court system under Resolution 81/2025/UBTVQH15. For each specific case, the competent Court must be determined as at the time of filing.

Eight cases where Courts refuse recognition of foreign judgments

Article 439 of the CPC 2015 lists the cases where Vietnamese Courts refuse recognition and enforcement — also the checklist FLAT LAW FIRM uses to assess risk from the very first consultation:

1. Failing the recognition conditions under an international treaty to which Vietnam is a party.
2. The judgment has not yet taken legal effect under the law of the country that rendered it.
3. The judgment debtor was absent due to unlawful summons, or documents were not served within a reasonable time to exercise the right to self-defence.
4. The foreign court lacked jurisdiction under Article 440 of the CPC 2015.
5. The case already has an effective Vietnamese Court judgment; or a Vietnamese Court accepted it before the foreign court did; or there is a third-country court judgment already recognised by a Vietnamese Court.
6. The enforcement limitation period has expired under the law of the rendering country or Vietnamese civil judgment enforcement law.
7. Enforcement has been cancelled or suspended in the rendering country.
8. Recognition would be contrary to the fundamental principles of Vietnamese law.

Practice shows points 2, 3 and 6 are where dossiers most often stumble: the judgment is not yet final; the litigant was tried in absentia but summons and service papers are incomplete; or the limitation period ran out while pursuing procedures abroad.

Distinguishing: foreign court judgments vs foreign arbitral awards

If the dispute is still at the contract-drafting stage, choosing an arbitration clause with a reputable arbitration centre usually offers a smoother cross-border enforcement path. See Recognition of foreign arbitral awards and Dispute resolution and arbitration.

How does FLAT LAW FIRM support?

• Assessing recognisability before preparing the dossier: reviewing the judgment against the Article 439 checklist, identifying the legal basis (bilateral treaty or reciprocity), giving a candid opinion on the likelihood of success.
• Dossier preparation: drafting the application, guiding collection of confirmation documents from the foreign court, consular legalisation and notarised translation.
• Representation before Vietnamese Courts: filing via the Ministry of Justice or directly at the competent Court, participating in the review session before the three-judge panel.
• Defence for judgment debtors: requesting non-recognition where grounds exist — violation of the right to self-defence, expired limitation, contrariety to fundamental principles of Vietnamese law.
• Post-recognition enforcement and cross-border strategy advice (applying the 1998 Vietnam–China Agreement; analysing the reciprocity principle; re-litigation options in Vietnam where needed).

Implementation process

1. Receiving the foreign judgment and information on the judgment debtor and assets in Vietnam — preliminary assessment under Articles 423 and 439.
2. Identifying the legal basis (bilateral treaty or reciprocity) and the competent Vietnamese Court.
3. Completing the dossier: confirmation documents from the foreign court, consular legalisation, notarised translation; checking the three-year limitation period.
4. Filing; monitoring acceptance and review preparation; participating in the review session.
5. After the recognition decision: coordinating civil judgment enforcement; or advising next steps if recognition is refused.

Dossier the client should prepare

• The original or certified copy of the judgment issued by the foreign court.
• The foreign court’s written confirmation that the judgment has taken effect, that the enforcement limitation period has not expired, and that it needs enforcement in Vietnam.
• Written confirmation of lawful service and lawful summons (if tried in absentia).
• Documents proving the judgment debtor resides or works in Vietnam, or the organisation is headquartered / related assets are in Vietnam.
• Legal papers of the applicant and the power of attorney for FLAT LAW FIRM (we prepare the template).

Expected timelines and costs

Some milestones are specifically prescribed by law: the Ministry of Justice transfers the dossier to the Court within 05 days; the Court notifies the parties within 05 days of acceptance. However, the most time-consuming stage is usually collecting confirmation documents from the foreign court, especially where multi-level consular legalisation is needed. The application limitation period is three years from the date the judgment took effect — preparation should not be left until close to the deadline.

On costs: besides court fees and charges as prescribed, the main costs lie in preparing the foreign dossier (consular legalisation, notarised translation) and lawyer fees. FLAT LAW FIRM quotes specifically after reviewing the judgment and assessing recognisability — please contact us for a quotation.

Legal updates as of September 2026

The 2015 Civil Procedure Code (No. 92/2015/QH13): Part Seven (Articles 423 to 463) governs the entire procedure for recognising — or refusing to recognise — foreign civil court judgments and decisions and foreign arbitral awards. Key provisions: Article 423 (scope, recognition basis), Article 425 (persons entitled to apply), Article 432 (three-year limitation, dossier transfer via the Ministry of Justice), Article 436 (acceptance, review preparation), Article 438 (review session — three-judge panel, no retrial), Article 439 (eight cases of non-recognition), Article 440 (jurisdiction of foreign courts).

The Vietnam–China Judicial Assistance Agreement (signed 19/10/1998) remains an important treaty basis for Vietnam–China cases: Article 1 covers recognition and enforcement of court decisions on civil matters (including commerce); Article 19 provides that recognition follows the law of the requested country.

The 2019 Hague Convention on judgments has been in force since 01/9/2023 but Vietnam has not joined — for countries without a bilateral agreement, the reciprocity principle remains the main basis.

The full texts of the above instruments can be found on the Government’s legal normative document system. Page content should be cross-checked against the instruments in force at the time of implementation.

Why choose FLAT LAW FIRM?

Foreign judgment recognition is a “one-shot” procedure — a dossier returned for want of one confirmation document can mean the limitation period expires. FLAT LAW FIRM handles foreign-related cases, particularly Vietnam–China matters: from reading Chinese-language judgments, coordinating consular legalisation, to presenting before the Vietnamese Court’s review panel. The team works in Vietnamese, Chinese and English — fitting where the client, the papers and the adjudicating authority sit in three different legal systems. See Chinese investors and Dispute resolution and arbitration.

Frequently asked questions

Useful links

You should talk to a lawyer if:

• You hold a winning foreign court judgment and the debtor resides, works or holds assets in Vietnam.
• You are unsure whether the judgment falls under an international treaty or must rely on the reciprocity principle.
• The judgment was rendered in absentia — the risk of refused recognition needs assessment.
• The three-year limitation period is nearing expiry while confirmation papers from the foreign court are incomplete.
• You are the judgment debtor and wish to request non-recognition of the foreign judgment.