In response to the Covid-19 crisis, many courts around the world and specifically in Southeast Asia are strengthening their electronic filing systems and shifting to virtual hearings. Vietnam is following this trend and has committed to apply technological solutions to adopt an e-court system. While the Supreme Court of Vietnam established this objective before the outbreak of the pandemic in Directive No. 01/2020/CT-CA dated January 9, 2020, it has just proposed and submitted draft rules on online trials to the National Assembly in late September 2021. The Chairman of the National Assembly of Vietnam is now seeking the opinion and approval of the Politburo of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Vietnam before presenting the draft rules to the National Assembly for voting in their second meeting of the year in October 2021. If approved, it is expected that it will take some time for the rules on online trials to be adopted and implemented by the Vietnamese court system due to the need to upgrade the technology of the different court levels from the Supreme Court to lower-level courts. Training will also be required, so that judges, secretaries, and individuals working in the judiciary are equipped with sufficient IT knowledge in order to manage the system and hold the virtual court hearings effectively. Amid the pandemic, the need has arisen to proceed with temporarily suspended cases and to resume receiving petitions and other documents, especially in hard-hit areas that have been forced to refrain from opening any court meetings and hearings due to the Covid-19 outbreak. The situation needs to be resolved as soon as possible to effectively bring the cases to trial within the prescribed time limit, protect human rights and the legitimate rights and interests of the parties, stabilize social order and safety, and

Businesses in Vietnam recognize the need to vaccinate their workers in order to keep their factories and workplaces open. In this article, we explore whether employers may require their employees to be vaccinated, as well as associated disclosure and privacy issues under Vietnamese law.

With COVID-19 cases continuing to pose a significant threat throughout Thailand, many employers have ordered their employees to work exclusively from home in order to minimize their chances of contracting the virus. However, this luxury is not afforded to all employees—some are unable to work from home due to the nature of their work, and consequently they are placed in the precarious position of being exposed to possible infection. Thailand’s Social Security Office (SSO) understood these risks early in the pandemic and, in March 2020, issued guidelines through the Workmen’s Compensation Fund Office on employees’ entitlement to claim benefits from the workers’ compensation fund (WCF) if they contract the virus as a result of their work. The WCF provides medical-related assistance and compensation to employees who directly suffer from a work-related injury or sickness (subject to certain conditions). Falling ill with COVID-19 during the performance of work duties may constitute suffering work-related sickness, thereby allowing employees to claim compensation from the WCF by submitting the Kor Thor 16 form, a medical certificate, treatment records, records of the employee’s working hours, and other relevant documentation. Upon receiving a claim, the SSO will investigate by collecting facts and evidence from the employer, the infected employee and his or her colleagues, and any witnesses. The official will examine the employee’s duties and working conditions in detail, taking into consideration any relevant information, such as evidence regarding the employee’s travel or movements prior to falling sick. Once all the facts and evidence are gathered, the matter will be submitted to a medical subcommittee responsible for determining whether the employee’s onset of COVID-19 is due to his or her work. If the subcommittee finds that the employee’s contraction of the virus did indeed result from the performance of his or her work duties, the

With the wide availability of vaccines in Cambodia, some employers are considering whether to mandate workers to get vaccinated against the coronavirus, prompting the question: What are the legal risks and implications of such a mandate in Cambodia?