Provisions on the Drawing up of Written Records (Vi bằng) under Decree No. 08/2020/ND-CP on the Organization and Operation of Bailiffs
Article 36. Competence, Scope, and Legal Value of Written Records (Vi bằng)
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A Bailiff may draw up a written record (vi bằng) to document actual events or acts at the request of agencies, organizations, or individuals within the territory of the whole country, except for the cases specified in Article 37 of this Decree.
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A vi bằng shall not replace notarized documents, certified documents, or other administrative documents.
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A vi bằng shall serve as a source of evidence for the Court in the settlement of civil and administrative cases as prescribed by law; it shall also constitute a basis for transactions between agencies, organizations, and individuals as prescribed by law.
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In the course of assessing and considering the evidentiary value of a vi bằng, if deemed necessary, the People’s Court or the People’s Procuracy may summon the Bailiff, as well as agencies, organizations, or individuals concerned, to clarify the authenticity of the vi bằng. The Bailiff and other agencies, organizations, or individuals must appear when so summoned.
Article 37. Cases in Which a Vi bằng Shall Not Be Drawn Up
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Cases specified in Clause 4, Article 4 of this Decree. Specifically: In the performance of duties, a Bailiff shall not undertake matters relating to his/her own rights and interests or those of his/her relatives, including: spouse; natural or adopted children; natural or adoptive parents; paternal and maternal grandparents; uncles, aunts, nephews, nieces; siblings of the Bailiff, of the Bailiff’s spouse; and grandchildren of whom the Bailiff is the grandparent, uncle, aunt.
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Acts violating regulations on security and national defense, including: infringing upon security and national defense targets; disclosing State secrets, disseminating information, documents, or objects classified as State secrets; violating regulations on entry, exit, and movement within restricted areas, protected zones, security-defense works and military zones; violating regulations on protection of secrets, protection of security-defense works and military zones.
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Acts violating privacy, personal secrets, family secrets as provided under Article 38 of the Civil Code; acts contrary to social morals.
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Certification of contents, signatures in contracts or transactions that fall within the scope of notarization or certification by law; certification of the accuracy, legality, and conformity with social morals of translations of documents from Vietnamese into foreign languages or vice versa; certification of signatures and true copies of originals.
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Recording events or acts for the transfer of land use rights or ownership rights over assets lacking lawful documents evidencing such rights.
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Recording events or acts to carry out unlawful transactions at the request of the person seeking to establish a vi bằng.
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Recording events or acts of cadres, civil servants, public employees, officers, professional servicemen, workers, defense officials within agencies or units of the People’s Army; officers, non-commissioned officers, soldiers within agencies or units of the People’s Police while performing official duties.
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Recording events or acts not directly witnessed by the Bailiff.
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Other cases as prescribed by law.
Article 38. Agreement on the Drawing up of a Vi bằng
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A person requesting the drawing up of a vi bằng must conclude a written agreement with the Head of the Bailiff Office regarding the following principal contents:
a) The contents of the vi bằng to be drawn up;
b) The place and time of drawing up the vi bằng;
c) The costs for drawing up the vi bằng;
d) Other agreements (if any). -
The agreement shall be made in two copies, with each party retaining one.
Article 39. Procedures for Drawing up a Vi bằng
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The Bailiff must directly witness, draw up the vi bằng, and bear responsibility before the requesting party and before law for the vi bằng he/she has drawn up. The recording of events or acts in the vi bằng must be objective and truthful. Where necessary, the Bailiff may invite witnesses to observe the drawing up of the vi bằng.
The requesting party must provide full and accurate information and documents related to the drawing up of the vi bằng (if any) and shall be responsible for their accuracy and legality.
When drawing up the vi bằng, the Bailiff must clearly explain to the requesting party the legal value of the vi bằng. The requesting party must sign or affix a fingerprint to the vi bằng. -
The vi bằng must be signed by the Bailiff on each page, sealed with the seal of the Bailiff Office, and recorded in the vi bằng register in the form prescribed by the Minister of Justice.
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The vi bằng must be delivered to the requesting party and archived at the Bailiff Office in accordance with laws on archiving applicable to notarized documents.
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Within three working days from the completion of the vi bằng, the Bailiff Office must send the vi bằng and supporting documents (if any) to the Department of Justice of the province/city where the Bailiff Office is located for registration. Within two working days from receipt, the Department of Justice must enter the vi bằng into the register.
The Department of Justice shall establish a vi bằng database, and carry out registration and management thereof in accordance with the guidance of the Ministry of Justice.
Article 40. Form and Principal Contents of a Vi bằng
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A vi bằng shall be made in Vietnamese and contain the following principal contents:
a) Name and address of the Bailiff Office; full name of the Bailiff drawing up the vi bằng;
b) Place and time of drawing up the vi bằng;
c) Full name and address of the requesting party;
d) Full name of other participants (if any);
đ) Contents requested; specific details of the events or acts recorded;
e) The Bailiff’s declaration of objectivity and truthfulness in drawing up the vi bằng;
g) The signatures of the Bailiff, seal of the Bailiff Office, signatures or fingerprints of the requesting party, other participants (if any), and of the person whose acts are recorded (if requested).
Where the vi bằng has two or more pages, the pages must be numbered sequentially; if it has two or more sheets, they must be sealed across the sheets; the number of original copies of each vi bằng shall be as agreed by the parties. -
Attached to the vi bằng may be supporting documents; where such supporting documents are drawn up by the Bailiff, they must conform to the competence and scope as provided in Clause 1, Article 36 of this Decree.
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The Minister of Justice shall prescribe the form of the vi bằng.
Article 41. Correction of Technical Errors in a Vi bằng
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Where technical errors occur in recording, typing, or printing the vi bằng without affecting the authenticity of the recorded events or acts, the Bailiff shall be responsible for correcting such errors. Corrections must be carried out at the Bailiff Office that drew up the vi bằng.
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The Bailiff shall compare each error, underline the part to be corrected, then record the corrected content in the margin together with his/her signature and the seal of the Bailiff Office.
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Where the vi bằng has already been delivered to the requesting party and the Department of Justice, the Bailiff Office must send the corrected vi bằng to both the requesting party and the Department of Justice.
Article 42. Issuance of Copies of a Vi bằng
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Copies of a vi bằng may be issued by the Bailiff Office that holds the original in the following cases:
a) Upon written request from competent authorities requiring provision of the vi bằng file for purposes of supervision, inspection, examination, investigation, prosecution, adjudication, or enforcement related to the vi bằng;
b) Upon request of the requesting party, or of persons with rights and obligations related to the vi bằng already drawn up. -
Persons requesting copies under Point b, Clause 1 of this Article must pay copy fees as follows: VND 5,000 per page for the first two pages, and VND 3,000 per page from the third page onward.
