On September 30, 2024, at the headquarters of Thu Duc City People's Court, Ho Chi Minh City, the first instance public trial of civil case No. 269/2023/TLST-KDTM dated October 3, 2023 regarding "Dispute over goods sale contract" under Decision to bring the case to trial No. 6915/2024/QDXXST-KDTM dated August 21, 2024 and Decision to postpone the trial No. 7749/2024/QDST-KDTM dated September 10, 2024, between the parties:
Plaintiff: N Limited Liability Company (Vietnam) Address: No. A, Road C, Industrial Park B, Ward L, City B, Dong Nai Province.
Authorized representative: Ms. Do Thi Ngoc D, born in 1972. Contact address: No. A, Street C, Industrial Park B, Ward L, City B, Dong Nai Province.
(Power of attorney dated September 5, 2023) (with request for trial in absentia).
Defendant: Duy Nguyen Construction Production Trading Joint Stock Company Address: Room 5.09, 5th Floor, Building S, No. A, P Street, Ward H, City T, Ho Chi Minh City.
Legal representative: Mr. Nguyen Duy M, born in 1976, position: Chairman of the Board of Directors.
Address: P Floor E, Building S, No. A, P Street, Ward H, City T, Ho Chi Minh City (absent).
CASE CONTENT
According to the petition dated September 6, 2023, during the process of resolving the case, the plaintiff N Limited Liability Company (Vietnam), with authorized representative Ms. Do Thi Ngoc D, stated:
On September 12, 2022, N (Vietnam) Limited Liability Company and T1 Joint Stock Company (hereinafter referred to as T1 Company) signed the Principle Contract No. PJD02-HCMC-008-2022, the contract content: the buyer, T1 Company, agrees to purchase goods manufactured by the seller, N (Vietnam) Limited Liability Company, which are Nippon paint products with quantity and price according to the price lists issued by the seller or the legal branch of the seller.
Delivery method within 7 working days (for Ho Chi Minh City, Binh Duong) and 18 working days (for Hanoi, Da Nang) from receipt of order;
Payment method: payment by bank transfer to the seller's account within 60 days from the date of invoice.
In accordance with the contract, according to the order of Company T1, N Limited Liability Company (Vietnam) has delivered the goods in full to Company T1. However, Company T1 has not yet paid the full purchase price.
On September 30, 2022, Company T1 submitted a debt proposal, with the following content: the proposed debt limit is 800,000,000 VND, Company T1 commits to accept payment to Limited Liability Company N (Vietnam) an interest rate of 0.75%/month calculated on the overdue debt.
By April 2023, Company T1 signed the Debt Confirmation Form for April 2023, with the following content: as of April 30, 2023, Company T1 still owed N Limited Liability Company (Vietnam) an amount of VND 359,101,600.
On May 5, 2023, Company T1 paid the amount: VND 44,079,200 (according to the payment order dated May 5, 2023 at N1 Commercial Joint Stock Bank, Branch B) and the payment discount for April 2023: VND 1,552,386. Then stopped paying until now.
Limited Liability Company N (Vietnam) has sent notices requesting payment of the above debt many times, but Company T1 has not complied.
After N Company Limited (Vietnam) filed a lawsuit at Court, on February 29, 2024, T1 Company (hereinafter referred to as T1 Company) sent a text file about the debt payment schedule via Zalo account. On June 9, 2024, T1 Company continued to send a debt payment schedule notice No. 09062024/CVDN-NP, according to which T1 Company committed to pay the debt amount as follows:
Phase 1: By June 31, 2024, pay the amount of 80,000,000 VND; Phase 2: By July 30, 2024, pay the amount of 80,000,000 VND; Phase 3: By August 31, 2024, pay the amount of 80,000,000 VND; Phase 4: By September 30, 2024, pay the amount of 94,944,214 VND; Total amount is 334,944,214 VND.
However, since then, Company T1 has not paid its debt to Limited Liability Company N (Vietnam). Therefore, Limited Liability Company N (Vietnam) filed a lawsuit requesting the Court to resolve the case with the following request:
– Request T1 Joint Stock Company to pay N Limited Liability Company (Vietnam) the principal amount of the purchase of goods of VND 334,944,214 and the interest arising due to late payment up to September 30, 2024 (at the interest rate of 9%/year) of VND 42,573,178; the total amount is VND 377,517,392 and the interest due to late payment continues to arise until the date of full payment of the principal amount at the interest rate of 9%/year (0.75%/month).
Defendant T1 Joint Stock Company: After accepting the case, the Court served a notice of acceptance of the case and summoned T1 Joint Stock Company to the Court to attend a meeting to examine the submission, access, disclosure of evidence and mediation, but T1 Joint Stock Company was absent, so mediation could not be conducted.
At the trial, the plaintiff's authorized representative submitted a request for trial in absentia. In the request for trial in absentia, the plaintiff maintained the same request to initiate the lawsuit. The defendant was duly served with the Court's decision to bring the case to trial and the decision to postpone the trial but was absent. Therefore, the Trial Panel, based on Points a and b, Clause 2, Article 227, Clause 1, Article 228 of the 2015 Civil Procedure Code, proceeded to try the case.
Representative of the People's Procuracy of Thu Duc City, Ho Chi Minh City participating in the trial gave his opinion:
– Regarding procedural matters: The acceptance of the case, the collection of evidence, the decision to bring the case to trial and the proceedings at the trial were carried out by the People's Court of Thu Duc City and the Judge assigned to resolve the case in accordance with the procedures prescribed by law; however, there were still violations of Article 203 of the 2015 Civil Procedure Code on the time limit for preparing for trial; regarding the exercise of the rights and obligations of the litigant, the plaintiff exercised the rights and obligations of the litigant during the process of resolving the case as well as at today's trial, the defendant was duly summoned but was absent from the trial.
- Regarding the content: Based on the documents and evidence in the case file and the plaintiff's statement, it is shown that the plaintiff's debt has been confirmed by the defendant and a commitment to repay the debt has been sent but the defendant has not fulfilled it. Therefore, the plaintiff's request to initiate a lawsuit, Limited Liability Company N (Vietnam), is well-founded, so the Trial Panel is requested to accept the entire request of the plaintiff.
JUDGMENT OF THE COURT
After studying the documents and evidence in the case file examined at the trial, after listening to the representative of the People's Procuracy of Thu Duc City express his opinion, the Trial Panel determined:
[1]. Regarding procedural matters:
[1.1]. Regarding the dispute: Based on the petition dated September 6, 2023 and the accompanying documents and evidence of the plaintiff, the dispute is a dispute over a contract for the sale of goods, as prescribed by law in Clause 1, Article 30 of the 2015 Civil Procedure Code.
[1.2]. Regarding the jurisdiction to resolve the case: Based on the certificate of business registration of the joint stock company, enterprise code 0314886477 provided by the Department of Planning and Investment of City H, Joint Stock Company T1 has its head office address in City T, so the case is under the jurisdiction of the People's Court of Thu Duc City, Ho Chi Minh City according to the provisions of Point b, Clause 1, Article 35; Point a, Clause 1, Article 39 of the 2015 Civil Procedure Code.
[1.3] Regarding the trial procedure in absentia of the defendant: T1 Joint Stock Company, whose legal representative is Mr. Nguyen Duy M, was duly summoned to attend the trial on September 10, 2024, but was absent, so the Trial Panel had to adjourn the trial. After adjourning the trial, the Court continued to duly summon T1 Company and Mr. Nguyen Duy M to attend the trial for the second time, but T1 Company and Mr. Nguyen Duy M were still absent. Therefore, the Trial Panel proceeded to try the defendant in absentia according to the provisions of Clause 2, Article 227 of the 2015 Civil Procedure Code.
[1.4]. At the trial, Ms. Do Thi Ngoc D, the authorized representative of the plaintiff, submitted a request to the Court to try the case in absentia, which is in accordance with the provisions of Clause 1, Article 228 of the 2015 Civil Procedure Code; therefore, it was accepted by the Trial Panel.
[2] Regarding the request of the party:
Plaintiff N Limited Liability Company (Vietnam) filed a lawsuit requesting the Court to resolve and force defendant T1 Joint Stock Company to pay N Limited Liability Company (Vietnam) the principal debt of the purchase of goods of VND 334,944,214 and the interest arising due to late payment up to September 30, 2024 (at the interest rate of 9%/year) of VND 42,573,178; the total amount is VND 377,517,392 and the interest continues to accrue until the date of full payment of the principal debt at the interest rate of 9%/year.
The Trial Panel determined: Based on the content of the signed "Principle Contract" No. PJD02-HCMC-008-2022 dated September 12, 2022 between N Limited Liability Company (Vietnam) and Company T1; Debt confirmation paper dated April 30, 2023 of Company T1; Notice of debt payment schedule dated February 29, 2024 of Company T1; Notice of debt payment schedule dated June 9, 2024 of Company T1 and debt request dated September 30, 2022 of Company T1.
The Trial Panel considered that the principal debt of VND 334,944,214 had been confirmed by the defendant, T1 Joint Stock Company, with an open letter and notice of the debt repayment schedule and a debt request sent to the plaintiff, N Limited Liability Company (Vietnam), so the parties did not need to provide evidence or proof according to the provisions of Article 92 of the Civil Procedure Code, so the Trial Panel recognized it as in accordance with the provisions of law.
Regarding the interest due to late payment, the Plaintiff requests that the Defendant is obliged to pay the interest due to late payment, specifically: Interest due to late payment corresponding to 09 invoices; the amount and time of late payment tentatively calculated up to September 30, 2024 (according to the interest rate of 9%/year) is 42,573,178 VND; The interest due to late payment has been agreed by T2 Nguyen Joint Stock Company according to the Debt Proposal (Clause 2, Section IV) dated September 30, 2022. Therefore, the Trial Panel considers that the Plaintiff's request to calculate interest due to late payment as agreed between the parties is in accordance with the law and should be accepted.
From the above analysis, the Trial Panel finds that the proposal of the representative of the People's Procuracy of Thu Duc City, Ho Chi Minh City is appropriate and well-founded, so it should be accepted.
[3]. Regarding the first instance commercial court fees: Because the plaintiff's request is accepted, the defendant must pay the court fees according to the provisions of Clause 1, Article 147 of the 2015 Civil Procedure Code. The advance court fees shall be refunded to the plaintiff.
For the above reasons;
DECISION
– Pursuant to Clause 1, Article 30, Point b, Clause 1, Article 35, Point a, Clause 1, Article 39, Clause 1, Article 147, Article 227, Article 271, Clause 1, Article 273 and Clause 1, Article 280 of the 2015 Civil Procedure Code;
– Pursuant to Articles 11, 24, 50, 55, and 306 of the 2005 Commercial Law;
– Pursuant to the Law on Civil Judgment Enforcement 2008 (amended and supplemented in 2014);
– Pursuant to Resolution No. 326/2016/UBTVQH14 dated December 30, 2016 of the Standing Committee of the National Assembly regulating the collection, exemption, reduction, collection, payment, management and use of court fees and charges.
1. Accept the plaintiff's request to initiate a lawsuit, Limited Liability Company N (Vietnam).
Compel T1 Joint Stock Company to pay N Limited Liability Company (Vietnam) the principal debt of VND 334,944,214, interest due to late payment up to September 30, 2024 is VND 42,573,178; total is VND 377,517,392 (three hundred seventy-seven million five hundred seventeen thousand three hundred ninety-two).
From October 1, 2024, interest due to late payment will continue to accrue according to the Principle Contract No. PJD02-HCMC-008-2022 dated September 12, 2022 and the Debt Proposal dated September 30, 2022 (interest rate 0.75%/month) until T1 Joint Stock Company has fully paid the debt to N Limited Liability Company (Vietnam).
2. Regarding first instance commercial business court fees:
T1 Joint Stock Company must pay 18,875,870 (eighteen million eight hundred and seventy-five thousand eight hundred and seventy) VND in first-instance commercial business court fees, to be paid at the Civil Judgment Enforcement Office of Thu Duc City, Ho Chi Minh City.
N (Vietnam) Limited Liability Company received back the advance payment of court fees of VND 8,643,883 (eight million six hundred forty-three thousand eight hundred eighty-three), according to receipt No. AA/2023/0005020 dated September 26, 2023 of the Civil Judgment Enforcement Office of Thu Duc City, Ho Chi Minh City.
3. Right and time limit for appeal and protest:
The absent party at the trial has the right to appeal the judgment within 15 days from the date of receipt of the judgment or the date the judgment is posted.
Thu Duc City People's Procuracy has the right to appeal within 15 days; Ho Chi Minh City People's Procuracy has the right to appeal within 01 month from the date of judgment.
“In case the judgment is enforced according to the provisions of Article 2 of the Law on Civil Judgment Enforcement, the person entitled to enforce the civil judgment and the person subject to enforcement of the civil judgment have the right to agree on the enforcement of the judgment, the right to request enforcement of the judgment, voluntarily enforce the judgment or be forced to enforce the judgment according to the provisions of Articles 6, 7, 7a, 7b and 9 of the Law on Civil Judgment Enforcement; The statute of limitations for enforcement of the judgment is implemented according to the provisions of Article 30 of the Law on Civil Judgment Enforcement”./.
