Our team has assisted clients in their litigation strategies and in the management of cross-border disputes, and has solid experience in handling disputes subject to the rules of major arbitration institutions such as the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) and The United Nations Commission on International Trade Law (UNCITRAL).
Our lawyers have also acted for three of the world’s leading commodity traders in applications for the recognition and enforcement of foreign arbitral awards in Vietnam against various State- and privately-owned Vietnamese entities. The awards were issued by the commodity trade association which governs the global trade of the commodity. The total value of the awards outstanding in favour of our clients was nearly US$30 million. Our team has worked intensively with the commodity trade association and the concerned foreign embassies in Vietnam, notably including the Embassy of the United States of America, the Embassy of Switzerland and the British Embassy, to raise awareness with the Vietnamese authorities of the adverse consequences of the failure of the Vietnamese courts to recognise and enforce the outstanding awards and to promote the settlement of the outstanding awards.
In 2014, the Supreme People’s Court issued official guidance (Letter 246/TANDTC-KT dated 25 July 2014) to the chief judges in Vietnam requiring the courts to properly give effect to the provisions of the 1958 New York Convention on Recognition and Enforcement of Foreign Arbitral Awards.