Legal Updates for April 2020

Covid-19 – A Force Majeure Event From Vietnam’s Legal Perspective

The respiratory disease caused by a new strain of virus, Covid-19, is a global pandemic spreading over 200 countries and territories, with hundreds of thousands of infections and deaths without any sign of the situation easing. The Covid-19 outbreak has severely affected the global supply chain of goods and the operations of enterprises in numerous sectors from manufacturing to services. Many enterprises are currently unable to perform their executed contracts due to the shortage of labour and raw materials supply, as well as the administrative measures and/or decisions of the state agencies to isolate persons who are infected with the disease.

It is a legal concern of many enterprises whether the Covid-19 outbreak constitutes a Force Majeure event that would warrant an exemption from liabilities or penalties in the event of a breach of a contract.

 This Update provides an overview of the concept of a Force Majeure event, and a legal analysis of the Covid-19 outbreak from Vietnam’s legal perspective.   

Recent Legal Developments in Vietnam

This Update provides a summary of the key development in competition law in Vietnam, specifically on new merger thresholds.