HANOI (Bernama-VNA/VNS): The Vietnam National Assembly on Thursday passed the Law on Specialised Courts at International Financial Centres, paving the way for the country to appoint foreign judges starting Jan 1, 2026.
According to Vietnam News Agency, the new law, approved during the 10th session of the 15th National Assembly, consists of five chapters and 44 articles, and will take effect at the beginning of next year.
Notably, it expands the pool of eligible appointees for specialised court judges to include foreign nationals.
In its explanatory report, the Supreme People’s Court said the inclusion of foreign judges is essential for ensuring the effectiveness and competitiveness of these specialised courts. Such a policy, it noted, aligns with practices in major international financial centres such as Dubai, Kazakhstan and Singapore.
According to the court, foreign judges with deep expertise, strong reputations and experience across different legal systems will help the courts better handle diverse, highly internationalised disputes, thereby strengthening investor confidence.
It also noted in its report that "international investors will feel more assured when their disputes are handled by judges who share the same legal background”.
Their presence will also create a valuable learning environment for Vietnamese judges, enabling them to gain the experience and skills needed to eventually assume full adjudication responsibilities.
Another key reason cited is that Vietnam is currently short of domestic judges with sufficient foreign-language proficiency, specialised expertise and international standing to immediately adjudicate cases under common-law frameworks once the specialised court system becomes operational. -- Bernama-VNA/VNS
