Provisions on First-Instance Judgments under the 2015 Civil Procedure Code
1. The Court shall render judgments in the name of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam.
2. A judgment shall consist of a preamble, the facts of the case and the Court’s findings, and the decision section, specifically as follows:
a) The preamble must clearly state the name of the Court of first instance; the case acceptance number and date; the judgment number and date of pronouncement; the full names of the members of the Trial Panel, the Court Clerk, the Procurator, the expert witnesses, and the interpreters; the names and addresses of the plaintiff, the defendant, persons with related rights and obligations, agencies, organizations, and individuals instituting the lawsuit; the lawful representatives and the defense counsels of the litigants’ lawful rights and interests; the subject matter of the dispute; the number, date, month, and year of the decision to bring the case to trial; whether the trial is conducted publicly or in camera; and the time and venue of the trial.
b) The section on the facts of the case and the Court’s findings must record the plaintiff’s claims, the claims of agencies, organizations, or individuals instituting the lawsuit; the defendant’s counterclaims or requests; the independent claims or requests of persons with related rights and obligations.
The Court must rely on the documents and evidence examined at trial, the results of adversarial proceedings, to fully and objectively analyze, assess, and determine the facts of the case and the legal grounds. If the case falls under the circumstances prescribed in Clause 2, Article 4 of the 2015 Civil Procedure Code, the Court must also rely on customs, legal analogy, the fundamental principles of civil law, case law, or equity, to accept or reject the claims or requests of the litigants, their lawful representatives, or defense counsels, and to resolve other relevant matters.
c) The decision section must clearly state the legal grounds, the decisions of the Trial Panel on each issue to be resolved in the case, on the application of provisional emergency measures, on court fees and litigation costs, and on the right to appeal against the judgment; in cases where immediate enforcement is ordered, such decision must be explicitly stated.
3. In retrials where the judgment or decision has been annulled in part or in whole under cassation or reopening procedures, the Court must resolve issues concerning assets and obligations already enforced (if any) under the annulled legally effective judgment or decision and record them clearly in the judgment.
(Legal basis: Article 266, Civil Procedure Code 2015)
