YÊU CẦU THI HÀNH ÁN ĐỐI VỚI VỤ ÁN HÀNH CHÍNH Ở ĐÂU? / WHERE ARE A REQUEST FOR ENFORCEMENT OF AN ADMI

Legal situation: My family filed a lawsuit against the People’s Committee of Province K requesting the annulment of an unlawful administrative decision. The administrative judgment was issued in 2024 and has already taken legal effect; however, up to now the losing party has not complied with the obligations stated in the judgment. Where should I carry out the enforcement procedures in order to protect the lawful rights and interests of my family? I would appreciate the lawyer’s advice.

FDVN’s opinion:

Thank you for submitting your question to FDVN Law Firm (“FDVN”). After reviewing the relevant legal provisions, FDVN would like to provide the following information:

According to the current legal regulations, judgments and decisions of the Court in administrative cases contain different obligations of the party subject to enforcement, including property-related obligations such as court fees, compensation for damages, return of property, and other obligations such as annulment of an administrative decision, maintaining the administrative decision, etc. Pursuant to Clause 1 Article 3 of Decree No. 71/2016/NĐ-CP, enforcement of administrative judgments means the enforcement of judgments and decisions of the Court in administrative cases as prescribed in Article 309 of the Law on Administrative Procedures, except for decisions regarding the property part in the judgment or decision of the Court in an administrative case.

According to the guidance in Clause 4 Article 1 of Joint Circular No. 11/2016/TTLT-BTP-TANDTC-VKSNDTC, for judgments and decisions of the Court in administrative cases, the Head of the civil judgment enforcement authority shall only accept and issue a decision on enforcement with respect to the property obligations such as court fees, compensation for damages, return of property, or return of land that are specifically declared in the Court’s judgment or decision. Other contents of the judgment or decision shall be implemented in accordance with the provisions of the law on administrative procedures.

Under Article 311 of the Law on Administrative Procedures 2015 (as amended and supplemented in 2025), for other contents of the judgment such as the Court declaring the annulment, amendment, or revocation of an administrative decision or requiring the termination of an administrative act, the administrative authority (the losing party) must execute the judgment. The time limits for enforcement are as follows:

(i)  The person responsible for enforcement must execute the judgment or decision immediately from the date of receipt of the Court’s judgment or decision in the following cases:

- Where the Court’s judgment or decision requires the authority responsible for compiling the voter list to amend or supplement the voter list, the person responsible for enforcement must implement such amendment or supplementation immediately upon receipt of the Court’s judgment or decision.

- Where the Court issues a decision applying interim urgent measures, the person subject to such measures must implement the decision immediately upon receipt.

(ii) The person responsible for enforcement must execute the Court’s judgment or decision within 30 days from the date of receipt of the Court’s judgment or decision in the following cases:

- Where the Court’s judgment or decision does not accept the request for annulment of an administrative decision, a disciplinary dismissal decision, a complaint settlement decision regarding a decision handling a competition case, or the voter list, the parties must continue to implement the administrative decision, disciplinary dismissal decision, complaint settlement decision regarding a decision handling a competition case, complaint settlement decision in state audit activities, and the voter list in accordance with the law.

- Where the Court’s judgment or decision annuls all or part of an administrative decision, a complaint settlement decision regarding a decision handling a competition case, or a complaint settlement decision in state audit activities, the annulled decision or the annulled part of the decision shall no longer have legal effect. The parties shall rely on the rights and obligations determined in the Court’s judgment or decision to execute it.

- Where the Court’s judgment or decision annuls a disciplinary dismissal decision, the disciplinary dismissal decision shall no longer have legal effect. The head of the authority or organization that issued the disciplinary dismissal decision must implement the Court’s judgment or decision.

- Where the Court’s judgment or decision declares that an administrative act already carried out is unlawful, the person responsible for enforcement must cease carrying out such administrative act from the date of receipt of the Court’s judgment or decision.

- Where the Court’s judgment or decision declares that the failure to perform duties or official tasks is unlawful, the person responsible for enforcement must perform such duties or official tasks in accordance with the law from the date of receipt of the Court’s judgment or decision.

According to Article 312 of the Law on Administrative Procedures 2015, as amended and supplemented in 2025, and Article 11 of Decree No. 71/2016/NĐ-CP, if the enforcement time limit has expired and the person responsible for enforcement still fails to implement the judgment, the person entitled to enforcement has the right to submit a request to the Court that conducted the first-instance trial to issue a decision compelling the enforcement of the Court’s judgment or decision. The person entitled to enforcement may personally or authorize another person to request the Court to issue a decision compelling administrative judgment enforcement by directly submitting an application, presenting the request orally, sending the application via postal service, or by other forms in accordance with the law.

Accordingly, with respect to the obligation to compensate for damages, you may contact the civil judgment enforcement authority to request enforcement. For other contents, such as the Court’s decision annulling an administrative decision, the administrative authority (the losing party) must execute the judgment. If the delay in enforcement affects the lawful rights and interests of your family, you may submit a written request to the Court that conducted the first-instance trial requesting that the authority which issued the unlawful decision that has been annulled be compelled to enforce the judgment with respect to this content.

The above is FDVN’s advisory opinion regarding your request based on the review of the relevant legal provisions. We hope that FDVN’s advice will be useful to you.

FDVN’s Lawyer