UEH CELG cooperating with Vietnam International Arbitration Center (VIAC) to organize a Seminar on "The finality of awards and decisions of the Arbitral Tribunal"

On April 6, 2023, UEH College of Economics, Law and Government (CELG) and Vietnam International Arbitration Center (VIAC) jointly organized the seminar "The finality of awards and decisions of the Arbitral Tribunal". The seminar discussed the provisions related to the finality of arbitral awards and decisions from the perspective of theory and practice applied in Vietnam as well as experiences in some other countries around the world.

Delegates attending the conference

Attending the program, there was the presence of Assoc. Dr. Pham Khanh Nam - Vice Head in charge of UEH College of Economics, Law and Government; Dr. Duong Kim The Nguyen - Dean of School of Law, CELG; Lawyer Chau Viet Bac - Deputy Secretary General of the Vietnam International Arbitration Center together with many researchers from universities and enterprises doing business in Vietnam.

Speakers presenting at the conference include Dr. Tran Huynh Thanh Nghi, Program Director of Economic Law; Head of Department of Economic Law, School of Law, College of Economics, Law and Government (CELG), University of Economics Ho Chi Minh City (UEH); Lawyer Le Thanh Kinh, Director of Le Nguyen Law Firm, VIAC Arbitrator; LS. Pham Quoc Tuan, Managing Partner of DIMAC Law Firm, VIAC Arbitrator; Dr. Lu Lam Uyen, Director of the International Business Law Program, School of Law, College of Economics, Law and Government (CELG), University of Economics Ho Chi Minh City; and Lawyer Avinash Pradhan, Deputy Director of International Arbitration Department of Rajah & Tann Singapore, Lawyer Attorney Christopher & Lee Ong.

Moderators and speakers at the seminar

Speaking at the opening of the seminar, Assoc. Prof. Dr. Pham Khanh Nam emphasized the importance of strongly developing the current method of commercial arbitration. Finality or a one-time judgment is considered one of the great advantages of arbitration and helps this method be considered by businesses to apply more than other forms of dispute resolution. The principle of finality is an important point, however, the detailed contents and instructions on this principle are incomplete, leading to many unpredictable situations in reality. Therefore, UEH College of Economics, Law and Government is very pleased to accompany with Vietnam International Arbitration Center (VIAC) to organize a seminar on the Finality of judgments and decisions of the Arbitral Tribunal. Assoc.Prof.Dr. Pham Khanh Nam highly appreciated the practical contributions to the applications of the judicial principle to the Final Arbitration Council, thereby, continuing to perfect the legal framework governing arbitration activities.

Assoc.Prof.Dr. Pham Khanh Nam delivering the opening speech at the seminar

Speaking at the seminar, Lawyer Chau Viet Bac believed that 2022 was a successful year for commercial arbitration in Vietnam. Currently, there have been more than 30 commercial arbitration centers in Vietnam; in the past year, VIAC alone has issued judgments for more than 330 commercial business disputes. The average time to reach a judgment for a dispute is 6 months to 1 year. In order to achieve this rapid transformation, it is partly due to the fact that enterprises have realized the advantages of quick dispute resolution of arbitration in commercial, this comes from the finality of arbitral awards.

Lawyer Chau Viet Bac delivering the keynote speech at the seminar

Dr. Tran Huynh Thanh Nghi - Head of the Department of Economic Law, School of Law, CELG - commented: "If the role of commercial arbitral is well promoted, it can help reduce the huge backlog of cases in the court system. And to promote the development of arbitration, it is necessary to remove and improve unnecessary legal barriers, such as the need to review and adjust the provisions of Article 71 of the Law on Commercial Arbitral 2010 on the Court judgment on the application for annulment of the arbitral award."

Dr. Tran Huynh Thanh Nghi presenting his topic at the seminar

Lawyer Le Thanh Kinh and Pham Quoc Tuan, an Arbitrator at VIAC, mentioned practical obstacles related to the finality of arbitration awards in Vietnam.

Lawyer Le Thanh Kinh presenting at the seminar

Lawyer Pham Quoc Tuan presenting at the seminar

Dr. Lu Lam Uyen - Director of International Business Law Program, CELG - presented at the seminar on the origin of finality, and his experience in applying finality in arbitration in some countries such as the United Kingdom and the United States. At the same time, it is proposed to have an "appeal of arbitration" mechanism to review the award within the arbitration center, as a solution to limit requests for annulment of the arbitral award.

Dr. Lu Lam Uyen presenting at the seminar

From Singapore, Lawyer Avinash Pradhan shared about the principle of final review and the mechanism for reviewing arbitral awards through the practice of arbitration in Singapore.

Lawyer Avinash Pradhan presenting via Zoom at the seminar

As the second oldest law training and research center in the South, UEH School of Law, CELG cooperated with the Vietnam International Arbitration Center (VIAC) to successfully organize this Seminar, thereby, attracting the attendance of hundreds of people interested in the field of Commercial Arbitration by face-to-face meetings at the conference hall and online via the Zoom platform. The event was an opportunity for experts to discuss the practical issues arising from the finality of awards and decisions of the Arbitral Tribunal as well as to exchange views and ideas on how to improve the effectiveness of dispute resolution by commercial arbitration. The seminar has made significant contributions to raising awareness about the dispute resolution process by commercial arbitration and the finality of arbitration awards in Vietnam in particular and the world in general.

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