Settlement Of Property Ownership Disputes

A property and property ownership rights

A property and property ownership rights are very important and always get a lot of attention from subjects in economic and social life. According to provisions of the Civil Code 2015, properties includes objects, money, valuable papers, and property rights[1]. These properties can be divided into movables or immovable.

The property ownership rights include the right to possession, the right to use and the right to disposition of a property of an owner under laws of Vietnam[2]. The right to possession means the right of a subject to be allowed to hold and control a property; the right to use means the right to exploit the utilities and to enjoy the yields and profits from a property; the right to disposition means the right to transfer ownership rights over a property or to renounce ownership, consume or to destroy a property.

Settlement of property ownership disputes

The property ownership disputes are commonly understood that disputes over determining an owner of a property in dispute. The property ownership disputes are widely understood that any disputes over an implementation of the right to possession, use and disposition of a property. Those are common disputes in a civil society. Like other disputes, the property ownership disputes can be settled through negotiation, mediation, and a lawsuit in a Court. The Court is a powerful state authority holding an adjudicating power, and the legally enforceable judgments and decisions of the Court are guaranteed to be enforced by a judgment enforcement agency under provisions of laws of Vietnam. Therefore, the Court is often the preferred and popular way of choice for the settlement of property ownership disputes.

The property ownership disputes are subject to the Court’s jurisdiction as prescribed Article 26 of the Civil Procedure Code 2015. The authority of the Court to resolve the property ownership disputes is an important matter and needs to be properly identified so that parties in dispute bring their case to the Court quickly.

Regarding a level of judgment, the settlement of property ownership disputes is subject to the Court of districts as prescribed Clause 1, Article 35 of the Civil Procedure Code 2015. However, in case of a dispute over property ownership rights in which a litigant or property is in a foreign country or it shall judicially entrust to representative agencies of Vietnam overseas or foreign courts/competent agencies, jurisdiction over disputes settlement shall be subject to the Court of the province[3].

For the territorial jurisdiction, in case of a dispute over an immovable, the Court where the immovable is located shall have jurisdiction to settle; in case of a dispute over other property ownership rights, if a defendant is an individual, the Court where the defendant resides or works shall have jurisdiction to resolve the dispute; if a defendant is an agency or organization, the Court where the defendant is headquartered shall have jurisdiction to resolve the dispute[4]. However, a plaintiff may choose a Court according to provisions of laws to settle his/her dispute in some of the following cases[5]: (i) if the plaintiff does not know the place of residence, work, and headquarters of the defendant, the plaintiff may request the Court of the place where the defendant resides, works and is headquartered latest to settle; (ii) If the defendant does not have a place of residence, work or head office in Vietnam, the plaintiff may request the Court where he/she resides, works or is headquartered to settle.

The above is an overview of the settlement of property ownership disputes. If you have trouble with legal issues of the settlement of property ownership disputes, please contact us: Phuoc & Partners is a professional consulting firm established in Vietnam and currently has nearly 100 members working in three offices in Ho Chi Minh City, Hanoi and Danang. Phuoc & Partners is also rated as one of the leading consulting firms specializing in business law in Vietnam that has leading practice areas in the legal market such as Intellectual Property, Labour and Employment, Taxation, Merger and acquisition, Litigation. We are confident in providing Clients with optimal and effective legal service.

[1] Article 105 of Civil Code 2015.

[2] Article 158 of Civil Code 2015.

[3] Article 37 of Civil Procedure Code 2015.

[4] Point a, clause 1 Article of Civil Procedure Code 2015.

[5] Clause 1 Article 40 of Civil Procedure Code 2015.