Application of foreign law in handling international civil dispute in Vietnam

Abstract

The application of foreign law is crucial in resolving civil disputes with foreign elements (also known as international civil disputes). The Civil Code, the Civil Procedure Code, the Law on Commercial Arbitration, and some relevant legal documents in Vietnam currently contain specific provisions governing the treatment of foreign laws. In particular, Article 481 of the 2015 Civil Procedure Code stipulates several issues related directly to the determination and provision of foreign laws for the courts to apply in the international civil dispute handling process. This article lays out Vietnamese regulations on the application of foreign law as well as compares these regulations with the practice in several countries, including Belgium, China, Switzerland, etc. from which the article proposes several lessons for Vietnam in applying foreign laws in handling international disputes.