The role of commercial arbitration in legal support for businesses

(Chinhphu.vn) - On August 28, in Khanh Hoa province, the Department of Legal Dissemination, Education and Legal Aid (Ministry of Justice) organized a seminar on "The role of commercial arbitration in providing legal support for small and medium enterprises" (SMEs).

Deputy Minister of Justice Nguyen Thanh Ngoc speaks at the seminar. Photo: VGP/DA

Speaking at the opening of the seminar, Deputy Minister of Justice Nguyen Thanh Ngoc said that commercial arbitration is an institution for resolving disputes in business and commercial activities that is being prioritized by many businesses in Vietnam. This is an effective, fast and flexible method of dispute resolution, keeping information confidential for businesses.

In particular, strengthening coordination between commercial arbitration and legal support for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) will bring practical values, helping businesses minimize legal risks and improve competitiveness.

However, in the context of many changes in society and life, the 2010 Law on Commercial Arbitration has revealed many weaknesses such as the mechanism to ensure enforcement of judgments is not high, and there is no suitable approach for businesses to understand and trust to widely use it as a popular dispute resolution method instead of court institutions.

Scene of the Seminar. Photo: VGP/DA

At the Seminar, Ms. Ngo Quynh Hoa, Deputy Director of the Department of Legal Dissemination, Education and Legal Aid, said that according to statistics, there are more than 700 arbitrators nationwide, including a number of foreign arbitrators.

In 10 years (2010-2020), the Arbitration Centers have resolved 2,900 disputes. The Vietnam International Commercial Arbitration Center (VIAC) resolved 292 cases in 2002, and increased to 427 cases in 2023. It can be seen that the number of disputes that the parties have agreed to resolve through arbitration is constantly changing and tends to increase. These are very remarkable results, demonstrating Vietnam's competitiveness in the process of increasingly deep international integration.

However, in addition to regulatory limitations, the law on commercial arbitration has not been closely linked to the task of providing legal support to businesses. Therefore, in order to provide legal support to SMEs, Ms. Ngo Quynh Hoa said that it is necessary to study and remove existing regulations that are not suitable to practical requirements; at the same time, improve the effectiveness of law enforcement and awareness in using the mechanism of resolving commercial arbitration disputes and implementing legal support methods for SMEs.

Ms. Ngo Quynh Hoa, Deputy Director of the Department of Legal Dissemination, Education and Legal Aid, shared at the Seminar. Photo: VGP/DA

Director of the Department of Legal Dissemination, Education and Legal Aid Le Ve Quoc said that in the coming time, the amendment of the Law on Commercial Arbitration needs to pay attention to the issue of social responsibility of arbitrators, not simply operating in the form of legal services with fees.

Dr. Nguyen Dinh Tho, Chairman of the Khanh Hoa Provincial Bar Association, said that promoting the role of commercial arbitration in providing legal support to businesses is an urgent requirement that requires the continuous participation of lawyers and jurists in this process.

According to the representative of the Department of Justice of Khanh Hoa province, disputes are inevitable in commercial activities, so in order to have a mechanism to protect the legitimate rights and interests of SMEs and business households, accessing dispute resolution through commercial arbitration is also an issue that needs to be studied in the development of the new phase of the Inter-sectoral Legal Support Program.

Reflecting the perspective of the business community, Mr. Nguyen Thanh Duy, representative of the Young Entrepreneurs Association of Khanh Hoa province, said that the rate of domestic enterprises using commercial arbitration is still low, due to concerns about the cost of use as well as concerns about the difficulty of implementing the judgment, especially small and medium enterprises still tend to choose to file a lawsuit in court when disputes arise.

Therefore, it is necessary to have appropriate forms of propaganda to change businesses' awareness of the benefits and uses of arbitration as well as to train and improve the capacity of the team of arbitrators.

According to Ms. Pham Thuy Hanh, Deputy Director of the Legal Department, Government Office, one of the most problematic issues in commercial arbitration today is the situation where arbitration awards are annulled due to reasons from the Arbitration Council such as: Failure to issue a decision within its authority or failure to collect sufficient evidence or the litigant failing to serve valid documents when participating in the proceedings.

Delegates share opinions at the Dialogue. Photo: VGP/DA

Therefore, it is necessary to have solutions to perfect the arbitration procedural rules more strictly, improve the quality of arbitration services in Vietnam in accordance with international standards in the process of amending the Law on Commercial Arbitration in the future.

Concluding the Seminar, Deputy Minister Nguyen Thanh Ngoc affirmed that the study of amending and supplementing the Law on Commercial Arbitration is an important task, and it is necessary to carefully assess the current state of arbitration activities in recent times to identify shortcomings, thereby proposing appropriate regulations, ensuring feasibility and meeting practical requirements.

The Ministry of Justice needs to continue researching and coordinating with relevant agencies to develop a Project to establish a Legal Support Center for Enterprises, integrating content on promoting the use of commercial arbitration, supporting SMEs in accessing, creating a familiar mentality towards commercial arbitration, and supporting the cost of using commercial arbitration for SMEs in the Inter-sectoral Legal Support Program for SMEs and Business Households in the period 2026-2031.

"Hopefully, in the coming time, the revised Law on Commercial Arbitration will create a solid legal basis, strongly promote commercial arbitration activities, and meet the practical requirements of legal support for SMEs," Deputy Minister Nguyen Thanh Ngoc emphasized.

Dieu Anh

Source: https://baochinhphu.vn/vai-tro-cua-trong-tai-thuong-mai-trong-ho-tro-phap-ly-cho-doanh-nghiep-102250829140330003.htm