The recognition and enforcement of foreign arbitral awards is currently applied by most countries under the 1958 New York Convention (hereinafter abbreviated as the 1958 Convention).

The 1958 Convention was adopted on June 10, 1958 and officially took effect from June 7, 1959.

The Convention has a total of 16 Articles, of which 9 Articles regulate procedures for accession, signing, and ratification by member states, and the validity of the Convention, and the remaining articles regulate public procedures. acceptance and enforcement of foreign arbitral awards, waiver of participation in the convention, use of the convention by states and responsibility of the United Nations in implementing the convention.

The objective of the 1958 Convention is to create common legal standards for the recognition of arbitration agreements as well as the recognition and enforcement of foreign arbitral awards. Accordingly, States Parties to the Convention must not discriminate against foreign arbitral awards and are obliged to ensure that foreign arbitral awards are recognized and enforceable in the same way as foreign arbitral awards. domestic arbitration award. In addition, the 1958 Convention requires the Courts of Contracting States to give full effect to an arbitration agreement by refusing to resolve disputes with reference to an arbitration agreement.

On July 28, 1995, the President of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam signed Decision No. 453/QD-CTN on joining the Convention on recognition and enforcement of foreign arbitral awards. It is known that up to now, there have been about 156 countries and territories participating in the 1958 Convention.

To date, Vietnam has signed with 18 countries bilateral agreements, including 14 agreements on mutual legal assistance that address regulations on recognition and enforcement of civil judgments and decisions of courts. foreign countries, foreign arbitral awards, including agreements with: Russian Federation, Czech Republic, Slovakia, Poland, Hungary, Bulgaria, Cuba, Lao PDR, China, North Korea, Ukraine, Belarus, France , Mongolia.

The Mutual Legal Assistance Agreements that our country recently signed (Agreements with Russia, China, and France) also stipulate that the recognition and enforcement of Arbitration decisions shall comply with the regulations. of this Convention. The content of the 1958 Convention stipulates that member countries must recognize Arbitral awards made outside their territories and awards are not considered domestic awards of member countries. Foreign Arbitral Awards will be enforced as decisions of local Courts and the system of State judicial agencies can apply coercive measures to enforce the award.

After joining the 1958 Convention in 1995, Vietnam internalized the provisions of the Convention expressed in the Ordinance on recognition and enforcement in Vietnam of foreign arbitral decisions of the Standing Committee of the National Assembly. promulgated by the Association on September 14, 1995, effective from January 1, 1996; Then the Civil Procedure Code in 2004, now the Civil Procedure Code in 2015, serves as the legal basis for the recognition of foreign arbitration awards. The issue of recognition and enforcement in Vietnam of foreign arbitral awards is currently regulated in Part Seven (Chapter XXXV and Chapter XXXVII): Procedures for recognition and enforcement in Vietnam of judgments and decisions. civil decisions of foreign courts, recognition and enforcement of foreign arbitral awards of the 2015 Civil Procedure Code.

Recognition and enforcement of foreign arbitral awards is an indispensable step to enforce it. The enforcement of foreign arbitration awards in Vietnam is carried out on the basis of legally effective decisions of the Court with jurisdiction to recognize and enforce (Clause 3, Article 427 of the Civil Procedure Code). Procedures for considering the recognition and enforcement of foreign arbitral awards are prescribed in the Civil Procedure Code, in accordance with the 1958 Convention, which Vietnam joined in 1995.

An arbitration award is a decision that resolves the entire dispute and terminates arbitration proceedings (different from an Arbitration Award, which is a decision issued during the dispute resolution process). According to the guidebook of the International Council on Commercial Arbitration (abbreviated as ICCa), interpreting the 1958 Convention, it is written: “Arbitration is a method of dispute resolution in which the parties agree to bring the dispute to a third party who will make a final and binding decision instead of going to Court”. Thus, an arbitration award has three characteristics: (1) There is consensus based on the agreement of the parties; (2) is a dispute resolution measure of final nature (immediate legal effect) and binding on the parties; (3) is an alternative to court proceedings.

According to Vietnamese law:

– Arbitration award is the decision of the Arbitration Council to resolve the entire content of the dispute and terminate the arbitration proceedings. (Clause 10, Article 3 of the Law on Commercial Procedures) and Clause 2, Article 424 of the 2015 Civil Procedure Code stipulates “Award”. Foreign Arbitration decisions specified in Clause 1 of this Article shall be considered for recognition and enforcement in Vietnam as the final judgment of the Arbitration Council resolving the entire content of the dispute and ending the arbitration proceedings. legal and enforceable”

– Foreign arbitration is an Arbitration established under the provisions of foreign arbitration law and selected by the parties to resolve disputes outside the territory of Vietnam or within the territory of Vietnam (clause 11 Article 3 of the Commercial Center Law).

– Foreign arbitration award is an award pronounced by a foreign arbitrator outside the territory of Vietnam or within the territory of Vietnam to resolve a dispute chosen by the parties’ agreement (Clause 12, Article 3 of the Law on Commercial Procedures).

– Foreign arbitration awards recognized and enforced by Vietnamese Courts in Vietnam have “legal effect” like decisions of Vietnamese Courts have legal effect.

When the Court is asked to recognize an arbitral award, the Court is not only required to recognize the legal effect of the award, but also to ensure that the award is enforced. The Civil Procedure Code stipulates that recognized awards will be enforced according to civil judgment enforcement procedures and will only be enforced after a decision of the Vietnamese Court to recognize and enforce the foreign arbitrator’s award. outside of legal force. (Article 427 of the Civil Procedure Code).

Therefore, recognition and enforcement in Vietnam of foreign arbitral awards is a special proceeding conducted by the Court to consider and recognize the validity of foreign arbitral awards in scope of law. territory of Vietnam.