Expanding the choice of enforcement requests: Strictly controlled

Assessments show that, in response to the need for judicial reform, the improvement of the Bailiff institution is an inevitable trend. The goal is to help people have more opportunities to choose their requests for enforcement; and to build a modern and transparent judicial system.

Guests attending the workshop. Photo: Binh An

The regulation needs to be placed within the national judicial reform strategy.

The socialization of some judicial activities in recent years has been of interest to the Party and the State. However, for the bailiff institution, since the pilot project was implemented in 2009, it has been more than 16 years but the socialization of this field has not yet met expectations.

A bailiff is a person appointed and empowered by the State to perform tasks related to civil judgment enforcement, serving documents, making records (recording legal events and acts as evidence) and other tasks as prescribed by law. Thereby, contributing to reducing the workload for enforcement agencies and courts; expanding the right to choose "private" legal services for people and businesses.

However, bailiffs are still on the sidelines of the enforcement activities. Mr. Hoang The Anh, Head of the Department of Administrative Judgment Enforcement and Bailiffs, Department of Civil Judgment Enforcement Management ( Ministry of Justice ) said that this problem has its cause. Decree No. 08/2020/ND-CP has limited the scope and authority of bailiffs in organizing the enforcement of judgments; does not stipulate that bailiffs can apply measures to secure and enforce civil judgments; cannot request the Court to resolve disputes, determine ownership, and divide common property of the person subject to enforcement with others; and request the Court to declare transactions related to the property subject to enforcement invalid.

Mr. Hoang The Anh, Head of the Department of Administrative Judgment Enforcement and Bailiffs, Department of Civil Judgment Enforcement Management (Ministry of Justice). Photo: Binh An

Ms. Vu Thao Phuong ( Diplomatic Academy) analyzed, "Despite many positive contributions, the scope of authority and management and supervision mechanisms for bailiffs are still inadequate. Some regulations on professional standards, appointments, and training have not kept up with the requirements of development and international integration."

Overall, the legal framework for bailiffs is still at the decree level, lacking an inter-sectoral coordination mechanism. In many cases, the act of making a record is misunderstood or abused in place of notarization, leading to complex disputes.

Sharing the same view, Ms. Nguyen Thi Quynh Nhu ( Ho Chi Minh City University of Law) said that social awareness of bailiffs is still limited, causing people to not fully exploit the potential of this institution.

An execution session. Illustrative photo

Requirements to improve human resource quality

Emphasizing the important role of institutional improvement, Mr. Nguyen Van Nhan (Civil Judgment Enforcement Department of Dong Thap province) said that to overcome the above limitations, there are many solutions. Among them is the solution of institutional improvement, ensuring effective implementation of the policy of socializing civil judgment enforcement work in the spirit of delegating power, it is necessary to give tools to implement.

In this direction, Mr. Nguyen Van Nhan proposed to soon upgrade the regulations on bailiffs to the Bailiff Law, in order to create a stable and synchronous legal framework. "Only when there is a separate law, this institution can be effective and create trust for people and businesses in choosing non-public legal services," Mr. Nhan emphasized.

From an integration perspective, Dr. Tran Thi Mai Phuoc (Ho Chi Minh City Open University) commented: “Learning from international experience not only helps Vietnam overcome legal limitations, but also helps position bailiffs as a modern, professional judicial profession, in line with international commitments on human rights and access to justice.”

Talking to Hanoi Moi reporters about the above innovations, lawyer Le Quang Vung expressed his support, but noted the resources, expertise and personnel to ensure the organization of execution. Mr. Le Quang Vung said that in case of being empowered, because the bailiff offices have never executed judgments before, and do not have personnel from public judgment enforcement agencies, they will initially encounter many difficulties and may lead to professional errors.

To solve this problem, it is possible to request the bailiff office (within the first 2 years from the law taking effect), if it wants to organize the execution of the judgment, to have at least one person who has worked as an enforcement officer at the civil judgment enforcement agency. In addition, the bailiff team needs to have a corresponding number of years of experience, such as having worked in the law for 7 years or more, because the execution of judgment activities is very complicated.

As of September 30, 2025, the country has established 224 Bailiff Offices in 30 provinces and cities with 403 Bailiffs in operation. The Bailiff Offices have served 4,882,197 documents; drawn up 619,229 minutes; verified the conditions for execution of judgments in 27 cases; and organized the execution of judgments in 35 cases.

Source: https://hanoimoi.vn/mo-rong-co-hoi-lua-chon-yeu-cau-thi-hanh-an-chat-che-co-kiem-soat-719920.html