The Civil Code 2015 – Risks for the party who prepares the first draft of a contract in Vietnam

Article 404.6 of the Civil Code 2015 provides that where the drafting party in a contract inserts into the contract contents which are disadvantageous to the other party, the contract will be interpreted in a manner favouring the other party. This provision not only applies to consumer contracts but also to commercial contracts between two commercially-sophisticated parties. Accordingly, the party who prepares the first draft of a commercial agreement may be subject to the risk of adverse interpretation in future disputes. In addition, parties, when negotiating a contract, may now need to keep track of who drafting which provision in the contract.

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Written by Nguyen Quang Vu On In

Stricter regulations on issuance of Vietnamese Government guarantees

Under Decree 4/2017, the Vietnamese Government imposes stricter regulations on issuance and management of Government guarantees. Government guarantees under Decree 4/2017 are guarantees issued on behalf of the Vietnamese Government (as the guarantor) in favour of foreign lenders to guarantee loans or bonds borrowed or issued by companies in Vietnam. Under Decree 4/2017:

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Written by Nguyen Quang Vu On In ,

New control on cross-border supplies of news in Vietnam

From May 2017, under Circular 38/2016, websites, mobile apps, search engines and social networks (offshore websites), which are located outside of Vietnam but have more than one million visits from Vietnamese users a month or have servers located in Vietnam must:

  • provide necessary contact details to the Ministry Communication and Information (MCI); and
  • at the MCI’s request, remove from the offshore websites information and news which are considered illegal under Vietnamese law by the MCI. If the offshore websites do not cooperate with the MCI, the MCI may apply technical measures to block the illegal information and news from being accessed by Vietnamese users.

Vietnamese telecommunication service providers are required to have the necessary technical equipment to implement MCI’s blocking order within three hours of receipt of the relevant order. Circular 38/2016 will apply to the most popular social networks in Vietnam such as Facebook, Google, and Youtube.

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Written by Nguyen Quang Vu On In ,