Supplementary Penalties and Remedies
According to a report by the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment (the drafting agency), the draft Decree stipulates administrative sanctions in the field of land, comprising 4 chapters and 36 clauses. These cover administrative violations in the field, forms and levels of punishment, remedial measures, authority to issue records, and the authority to impose administrative sanctions in the field of land (including violations in land use and the provision of land-related services).
The draft Decree specifies 22 groups of administrative violations related to land, building upon previous regulations and making amendments and supplements to match practical needs and the 2024 Land Law.
Specifically, the drafting agency has increased penalties and supplemented sanctions and remedial measures for groups that misuse land, destroy land, encroach on land, or fail to continuously use land for annual and perennial crops, aquaculture, and forestry. Additionally, sanctions are imposed on those who do not comply with the regulations on the transfer of land use rights and land leasing under the 2024 Land Law, violate regulations on land-related papers and documents, or breach provisions on providing land-related information related to inspection and verification to resolve land disputes. Penalties are also imposed on those who violate the conditions for operating land-related services…
Deputy Chief Government Inspector Le Sy Bay remarked that violations and administrative violations related to land are extremely complex, and the current sanctions for these violations are not commensurate. Therefore, the construction and early promulgation of the Decree are essential, with the requirement that there must be strong enough deterrents against land-related violations and that it should promote decentralization and establish controls over the power of agencies and authorized individuals in land management.
Notably, the draft Decree has removed penalty provisions for some acts within the scope of the Law on Cultivation and the Law on Real Estate Business.
Photo: VGP/Nguyễn Hoà ng
Along with this, leaders of ministries, branches, and localities discussed a number of issues for which the drafting agency sought opinions.
Specifically, the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment proposed that households and individuals who have committed violations before October 15, 1993, and have not had their violations handled by state agencies before the Land Law took effect will not be subject to the regulations stipulated in this Decree.
In cases where the transferring party of land use rights has committed land-related violations, if the organization has been dissolved or gone bankrupt, or the individual has died without heirs or has moved to an unknown address and does not fall under the case of state retrieval, the receiving party will not be penalized but only remedial measures will be applied.
Based on the practical situation in their localities, leaders and representatives of localities such as Quang Nam, Thai Binh, Thanh Hoa, Khanh Hoa, Lam Dong, Bac Giang, etc., contributed many opinions on the major contents related to this draft Decree. These included the objects of application; forms of punishment and remedial measures; determination of the area of land violation and the original state of the land before the violation; specific levels of fines for violations; authority of specialized inspection; transfer, lease, sublease, and mortgage of land use rights without meeting the conditions prescribed by law…
In addition, delegates also commented on the responsibilities of localities in determining specific cases where it is not feasible to restore the original state of the land in cases of land destruction, the period of revocation of the right to use licenses and practice certificates for land-related services, and criteria for determining administrative violations related to land…
Minister of Natural Resources and Environment Do Duc Duy affirmed that he would seriously receive the full opinions of the leaders of the ministries, branches, and localities at the meeting to supplement and complete the draft Decree, especially those related to the framework for violation handling, sanctioning authority of the People’s Committees at the communal level, supplementary forms of punishment, determination of illegal profits, and sanctioning of land encroachment behaviors…
“Once promulgated, the Decree will be an effective tool in managing and handling land-related violations with preventive and deterrent provisions,” Minister Do Duc Duy emphasized.
Determining Violations to the Fullest Extent
Concluding the meeting, the Deputy Prime Minister emphasized that the Decree must closely follow the principles and norms stipulated by the Land Law and the Law on Handling of Administrative Violations, ensuring comprehensiveness and leaving no room for violations or related entities.
Analyzing the importance of correctly identifying violations, the Deputy Prime Minister pointed out that a violation could be constituted by multiple previous violations, and that entities other than land users could also be involved, such as management agencies, consulting units, and those providing training and practicing certificates in the field of land…
The drafting agency must go to great lengths to determine the violations and devise sharp sanctions that match the practical situation to resolve difficulties and problems for localities in handling administrative violations in the field of land.
“The Decree should be designed in a way that assigns responsibility to authorities at all levels to detect, handle, and prevent land-related violations,” said the Deputy Prime Minister. He also requested the addition of regulations on the responsibilities of management agencies and sanctions for violations related to riverine, coastal, alluvial, and reclaimed land…
The Deputy Prime Minister also gave directions on the application of transitional provisions for historical violations, compliance with land-related laws and regulations on handling administrative violations, moving towards “not only handling but also remedying” to protect the interests of land users, sanctioning authority and supplementary sanctions, remedial measures, handling of violations in multiple plots of land in a project located in one or more administrative units, and authorization of local governments to specify land destruction acts and handling methods…
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