International Financial Center: Proposal for "separate courts", foreign judges

One of the issues that the financial community has been interested in in recent days is related to the proposal to have a specialized court law for the International Financial Center.

Specifically, the National Assembly discussed the draft Law on Specialized Courts at the International Financial Center, a key legal component to improve dispute resolution capacity and strengthen investor confidence in the process of forming financial centers in Ho Chi Minh City and Da Nang .

Explaining to the National Assembly, Chief Justice of the Supreme People's Court Nguyen Van Quang emphasized that the draft law was developed to implement Resolution 222 on the establishment of the International Financial Center. A financial center that wants to operate effectively must have an independent, transparent and internationally compatible judicial mechanism, ensuring that international investors can confidently choose when disputes arise.

Vietnam currently has no precedent for building a court following the international model, especially the model based on common law - the system applied by most major financial centers in the world . Due to the large gap between common law and the domestic legal system, the drafting process faces many challenges in terms of expertise, experience and reference sources.

According to the Chief Justice, the new draft is an “initial foundation”, developed in line with international standards but still ensuring suitability with Vietnamese practice. The goal is to create a competitive institution, so that investors consider choosing Vietnamese courts instead of Singapore or Dubai in resolving financial disputes.

It is noted that most delegates assessed the draft as being in line with the direction of innovation and capable of creating a breakthrough in the judiciary serving international finance. However, there are some key issues that need attention.

Trung tâm tài chính quốc tế: Đề xuất tòa án riêng, thẩm phán ngoại quốc - 1 — Chief Justice of the Supreme People's Court Nguyen Van Quang presented a report on the draft Law on Specialized Courts at the International Financial Center (Photo: Quochoi.vn).

Firstly, regarding the source of recruitment of Court Secretaries, the draft expands the selection beyond the scope of court civil servants, aiming to train a team of Secretaries to become a source of high-quality judges, meeting the requirements of adjudication according to the common law model.

Regarding the jurisdiction of the court, many delegates proposed to expand it beyond the scope of the financial center. However, the Chief Justice affirmed that Resolution 222/2025/QH15 clearly stipulates that a case must have at least one party who is a member of the center. The model is not intended to "compete" with the People's Court system, but to serve the specific needs of the financial center. The expansion of the scope will be considered at a later stage.

Regarding the independence of the judicial system when specialized courts conduct both first-instance and appeal trials, the Chief Justice said that the Code of Conduct will clearly stipulate the mechanism to ensure independence between trial levels, in accordance with the spirit of common law.

The contents on the mechanism for appointing judges, the division of authority with courts outside the center and the independent enforcement mechanism have all been specified in the draft.

Regarding the concept of "public order", the Chief Justice emphasized that this is a rapidly changing field of international finance, so it should not be rigidly regulated in law but will be guided in the Code of Conduct issued by the Chief Justice of the Supreme People's Court.

In particular, the criteria for selecting foreign judges will be developed by the Chief Justice of the Supreme People's Court and submitted to the President for appointment, ensuring international professional standards.

According to the program, the draft Law on Specialized Courts will be submitted to the National Assembly for approval on the afternoon of December 11. With the urgent progress, the Vice Chairman of the National Assembly requested the Supreme People's Court and relevant agencies to work urgently, fully absorb the opinions of experts and delegates to ensure the highest quality when submitted to the National Assembly.

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