Some notable points of administrative lawsuits

Some notable points of administrative lawsuits

1. Legal Basis

Law on Administrative procedures No. 93/2015/QH13 dated November 25, 2015

2. Some notable points of administrative lawsuits

2.1. Subject of lawsuit of administrative case

Subjects of lawsuits in administrative cases include:

– Administrative decision – a document issued by a state administrative agency, another agency or organization assigned to perform the state administrative management or by a competent person in this agency or organization, on a specific matter in administrative management activities, and applicable once to one or a number of specific subjects.

– Administrative acts – acts of state administrative agencies or competent persons in state administrative agencies or agencies and organizations assigned to perform state administrative management in performing or not performing tasks services and public duties according to the provisions of law.

– Lawsuits against administrative decisions and administrative acts do not apply to the following decisions and acts:

+ Administrative decisions or acts pertaining to state secrets in the fields of national defense, security and foreign affairs in accordance with law;

+ Court rulings or acts in the application of administrative handling measures or handling of acts obstructing procedural activities;

+ Internal administrative decisions or acts of agencies and organizations. 2.2. Subject who has the right to initiate an administrative lawsuit

– Agencies, organizations or individuals may institute lawsuits over administrative decisions or acts or disciplinary decisions on dismissal in case they disagree with these decisions or acts or they have filed complaints with persons competent to settle complaints but their complaints remain unsettled upon the expiration of the law-prescribed time limit for complaint settlement or they disagree with the settlement of their complaints about these decisions or acts.

– Individuals and organizations may institute lawsuits over decisions on settlement of complaints about decisions on handling of competition cases in case they disagree with these decisions.

– Individuals may institute lawsuits over voter lists in case they have filed complaints with agencies competent to settle complaints but their complaints remain unsettled upon the expiration of the law-prescribed time limit for complaint settlement or they disagree with the settlement of their complaints.

2.3. The statute of limitations for lawsuit institution

(1) The statute of limitations for lawsuit institution in each case is:

– One year from the date of receipt of or knowledge about an administrative decision or act or a disciplinary decision on dismissal;

– Thirty days from the date of receipt of a decision on settlement of a complaint about a decision on handling of a competition case;

– The period from the date of receipt of a notice of results of complaint settlement by the voter list-making agency or the date of expiration of the time limit for complaint settlement, in case no notice of results of complaint settlement by the voter list-making agency is received, to the date five days prior to the election date.

(2)  In case an involved party files a complaint in accordance with law with a state agency or person competent to settle complaints, the statute of limitations for instituting a lawsuit is:

– One year from the date of receipt of or knowledge about the first-time or second-time complaint settlement decision;

– One year from the date of expiration of the law-prescribed time limit for complaint settlement, in case the competent state agency or person fails to settle the complaint and issues no reply to the complainant.

2.4. Procedures for instituting lawsuits

According to Article 117 of the 2015 Law on Administrative Procedures, administrative lawsuit procedures are as follows:

(1) When wishing to institute an administrative lawsuit, an agency, organization or individual shall make a lawsuit petition.

(2) Individuals with the full administrative procedure act capacity may make lawsuit petitions by themselves or ask others to do so for them. The items of the plaintiff’s name and address in a petition shall be filled with the individual’s full name and address. The individual shall give his/her signature or press his/her fingerprint on the bottom of the petition.

(3) Lawful representatives of individuals who are minors, have lost their civil act capacity, have their civil act capacity restricted or meet difficulties in cognizing or controlling their acts may make lawsuit petitions by themselves or ask others to do so. The items of the plaintiff’s name and address in a petition shall be filled with the full name and address of the lawful representative of such an individual. The lawful representative shall give his/her signature or press his/her fingerprint on the bottom of the petition.

(4) Individuals falling in the cases specified in Clauses 2 and 3 of this Article who are illiterate, have vision disability or are unable to make lawsuit petitions by themselves or to give their signatures or press their fingerprints on petitions may ask others to make lawsuit petitions to the witness of individuals with the full administrative procedure act capacity who shall give signatures on such petitions.

(5) Lawful representatives of agencies or organizations that are plaintiffs may make lawsuit petitions by themselves or ask others to do so. The items of the plaintiff’s name and address in a petition shall be filled with the name and address of the agency or organization and the full name and position of the lawful representative of such agency or organization. The lawful representative of the agency or organization shall give his/her signature and append the seal of the agency or organization on the bottom of the petition. In case the plaintiff is an enterprise, the use of its seal must comply with the Law on Enterprises.