Tiếng Việt
中文 (中国)
The prescriptive period for initiating a civil case plays an important role in resolving civil cases. In the following article, ASL LAW will point out the legal provisions on the prescriptive period for initiating a civil case in Vietnam and notable notes to protect the interests of the entity that has the right to initiate legal action.
The prescriptive period for initiating a civil case
Clause 3, Article 150 of the 2015 Civil Code No. 91/2015/QH13 (“Civil Code 2015”) stipulates that the prescriptive period for initiating a civil case is the time limit within which the subject is entitled to initiate a case to request the Court to resolve the civil case to protect the lawful rights and interests of the entity that has the right to initiate legal action and related entities. If the prescriptive period for initiating a case ends, the person entitled to initiate a case will lose the right to initiate a case.
In which, the prescriptive period is the time limit upon which, upon the end of which, legal consequences will arise for the subject under the conditions prescribed by law (Clause 1, Article 149 of the Civil Code 2015). Initiating a case means an individual or organization sending a case petition to a competent People’s Court to request this agency to protect their legitimate rights and interests.
Article 151 of the 2015 Civil Code stipulates: “The prescriptive period is calculated from the beginning of the first day of the prescriptive period and ends at the end of the last day of the prescriptive period.”
Accordingly, the prescriptive period for initiating a case will be counted from the beginning of the first day of the prescriptive period for initiating a civil case and shall end at the end of the last day of the prescriptive period for initiating a civil case.
Clause 1, Article 154 stipulates that the prescriptive period for initiating a civil case begins from the date the person having the right to claim knows or should have known that their lawful rights and interests have been infringed, unless stated otherwise by law.
For example, in January 2023, party A infringed party B’s trademark on an e-commerce site that is party C for a long time, but the scale was still relatively small, so party B did not know about the action of Party A. In March 2023, Party C on a periodic review, notified Party B according to the regulations on the operation method of the site about Party A’s infringement. Accordingly, upon receipt/confirmation of receipt of Party C’s notice (It may be within 7 days since the notice is sent, depending on the regulations), the prescriptive period for initiating a civil case begins to be counted.
Thereby, Party B will have a certain period from March 2023 to initiate a civil case against Party A. If past this prescriptive period, Party B will no longer have the right to sue Party A.
How to handle when the time limit for initiating a civil case has passed
If the entity with the right to initiate a case does not file a case within the time limit for initiating a civil case in Vietnam, is there any method to continue initiating the case?
Clause 1, Article 157 prescribes the re-commencement of the prescriptive period for initiating a civil case in the following cases:
a) The obligor has acknowledged part or all of its obligations towards the plaintiff;
b) The obligor has acknowledged or fulfilled part of its obligations to the plaintiff;
c) The parties have reconciled.
The prescriptive period for initiating a civil case begins again from the day following the date of occurrence of the events specified above.
In addition, Article 156 of the 2015 Civil Code stipulates the time periods that are not included in the prescriptive period for initiating a civil case, including the time period when a force majeure event or an objective obstacle causes the entity with the right to initiate a case cannot initiate a case within the prescriptive period or in cases where the entity with the right to initiate a case cannot initiate a case due to limited civil act capacity and has not yet found a representative to initiate the case.
When proven that the entity with the right to initiate a case falls into the above circumstances, the entity with the right to initiate a case may extend the time limit for initiating a civil case if they have not initiated a case within the prescribed time limit.
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