Originally from Arbitration Law and Practice in Asia - Second Edition

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I. INTRODUCTION: ARBITRATION IN VIETNAM – HISTORY AND INFRASTRUCTURE

A. History and Current Legislation on Arbitration

1. Historical evolution of law relating to arbitration

Arbitration in Vietnam was originally developed in the 1960s in the forms of the State Economic Arbitration System (“SEAS”), the Foreign Trade Arbitration Committee (“FTAC”) and the Maritime Arbitration Committee (“MAC”) in line with the former socialist pattern. SEAS was organised as an administrative branch of the Government like any other ministry. FTAC and MAC were under the auspices of the Vietnam Chamber of Commerce and Industry (“VCCI”).  

With significant changes in national economic policies from a centralised planned economy into a market-oriented economy in the 1990s, SEAS was replaced by the system of economic courts belonging to the Supreme Court in September 1994. Instead of SEAS, a number of economic arbitration centres (“EAC”) were established under Decree No. 116 dated 5th September 1994 of the Government. On 28th April 1993, FTAC and MAC were merged to establish the Vietnam International Arbitration Centre (“VIAC”) at the VCCI. EACs and VIAC were then re-structured under the Ordinance on Commercial Arbitration in 2003.

Ordinance on Commercial Arbitration No. 08/2003/PL UBTVQH11 was approved by the Standing Committee of National Assembly of Vietnam on 25th February 2003 and came into force from 1st July 2003. This Ordinance has 63 articles which are structured into 8 chapters. In order to implement this Ordinance, the Government of Vietnam issued Decree No. 25/2004/ND-CP on 15th January 2004 guiding the implementation of some provisions of the Ordinance on Commercial Arbitration. The Supreme People’s Court of Vietnam also issued Resolution No. 05/2003/NQ-HDTP guiding the implementation of some provisions of the Ordinance on Commercial Arbitration.