If I withdraw my petition for civil action at the Court, will I be refunded the Court fee?

I got married to a Chinese in the first year of 2017. The marriage registration procedures were done in China. In May 2019, we divorced and got a divorce judgment from the Court in China. Now I'm going back to Vietnam to live and file a petition for recognition of the divorce judgment, the Court asks me to pay a fee of VND 3,000,000. After waiting for a long time, I received the decision to open a meeting to resolve the civil matter. However, I didn't want to ask for recognition anymore. I would like to withdraw my request at the meeting, but I have not been refunded by the Court for 3,000,000 VND of the paid fee. The court said the money would be fundraised. Could you please tell me if it is correct that the Court does not return my fee? Thank you.

FDVN’s Opinions

Currently, there is no regulation on handling the Court fee in case the requester withdraws the request at the meeting. At that time, applying the principle of Similar Laws, Clause 5, Article 18 of Resolution No. 326/2016/UBTVQH14 must be applied to cases where the requester withdraws the application during the preparation stage of the trial.

Accordingly, at a meeting to resolve civil matters, if the petitioner withdraws his/her petition, the judge or the Civil Affairs Council shall issue a decision to terminate the first-instance settlement of the civil matter (Article 361 of the Civil Code 2015).

According to Clause 5, Article 18 of Resolution 326/2016/UBTVQH14, the rate of collection, exemption, reduction, payment, management, and use of court fees are specified that “In case the court issues a decision to suspend the consideration of the petition as prescribed at Point c, Clause 2, Article 366 of the Civil Procedure Code (in case the involved party withdraws the petition), the paid court fee advance shall be added to the state public fund.” This provision is applicable in case the requester withdraws his/her petition during the preparation stage, but due to the similarity, this provision will also be applied in case the requester withdraws the petition at the meeting.

Thus, it is lawful if the Court adds the paid Court fee to the state fund.

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