Chương 1 Luật đất đai 2013: Quy định chung

Chapter I

GENERAL PROVISIONS

Article 1. Scope of regulation

This Law prescribes the land ownership, powers and responsibilities of the State in representing the entire-people ownership of land and uniformly managing land, the land management and use regimes, and the rights and obligations of land users over the land in the territory of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam.

Article 2. Subjects of application

1. State agencies that exercise the powers and perform the responsibilities of the representative of the entire-people ownership of land, and perform the tasks of uniform state management of land.

2. Land users.

3. Other subjects involved in land management and use.

Article 3. Interpretation of terms

In this Law, the terms below are construed as follows:

1. Land parcel means a land area delimited by boundaries determined in the field or described in records.

2. Land use master plan means the distribution and zoning of land by use space to serve the objectives of socio-economic development, national defense, security, environmental protection and climate change adaptation based on the land potential and land use demands of all sectors and fields, for each socio-economic region or administrative unit in a given period of time.

3. Land use plan means the division of a land use master plan according to periods of time for implementation during the period of the land use master plan.

4. Cadastral map is a map that shows the land parcels and related geographic elements, and is made according to administrative units of communes, wards or townships, and certified by a competent state agency.

5. Current land use map is a map that demonstrates the distribution of various types of land at a specified time, and is made for every administrative unit.

6. Land use master plan map is a map made at the beginning of a planning period, which demonstrates the distribution of various types of land at the end of that planning period.

7. The State allocates land use rights (below referred to as the State allocates land) means that the State issues decisions on land allocation to grant land use rights to subjects having land use demand.

8. The State leases land use rights (below referred to as the State leases land) means that the State decides to grant land use rights to subjects having land use demand under contracts on land use rights lease.

9. The State recognizes land use rights means that the State grants land use rights to a person that is using stably the land not allocated or leased by the State, through the grant of a certificate of land use rights and ownership of houses and other land-attached assets for the first time, for a certain land parcel.

10. Transfer of land use rights means the transfer of land use rights from one person to another by ways of exchange, transfer, inheritance or donation of land use rights, or contribution of land use rights as capital.

11. The State expropriates land means the State decides to recover land use rights from a person that is granted land use rights by the State, or from a land user that violates the land law.

12. Land compensation means the State returns the value of land use rights for the expropriated land area to land users.

13. Remaining land investment costs include costs for ground fill-up and leveling and other directly related costs that can be proved to have been invested in the land and have not been retrieved by the time the State recovers the land.

14. Support upon land expropriation by the State means the State provides assistance to those whose land is expropriated, in order to stabilize their livelihood, production and development.

15. Registration of land, houses and other land-attached assets means the declaration and acknowledgement of the legal status of land use rights, ownership of houses and land-attached assets, and the right to manage a certain land parcel, in the cadastral records.

16. Certificate of land use rights and ownership of houses and other land-attached assets is a legal certificate in which the State certifies the lawful land use rights and ownership of houses and land-attached assets of the person who has land use rights and ownership of houses and land-attached assets.

17. Land statistics means that the State, based on the cadastral records, summarizes and reviews the land use status at the time of making statistics, and the land-related changes between two points of time of making statistics.

18. Land inventory means that the State, based on the cadastral records and field findings, investigates, summarizes and reviews the land use status at the time of conducting inventory, and the land-related changes between the two points of time of conducting inventory.

19. Land price means the value of land use rights calculated per unit of land area.

20. Value of land use rights means the monetary value of land use rights over a specified land area during a specified land use term.

21. Land use levy means an amount of money that a land user shall pay to the State when being allocated land with land use levy by the State, permitted to change the land use purpose, or having land use rights recognized by the State.

22. Land information system means the system consisting of information technology technical infrastructure, software, data and processes and procedures which are developed to collect, store, update, process, analyze, synthesize and track land information.

23. Land database means a collection of land data that are arranged and organized to serve the access to, use, management and update of, information by electronic devices.

24. Land dispute means a dispute over the rights and obligations of land users among two or more parties in a land relationship.

25. Land destruction means acts that deform the land, reduce land quality, pollute the land, negate or reduce the usability of the land according to a determined purpose.

26. Public non-business unit means an organization established by a competent state agency or by a political organization or a socio-political organization, to provide public services in accordance with law.

27. Economic organization means an enterprise, a cooperative or another economic organization as prescribed by the civil law, excluding foreign-invested enterprises.

28. Land for construction of underground facilities means a land area used for construction of underground facilities that are not parts of works constructed on the ground.

29. Land-using household means those who share a marital, family or foster relationship as prescribed by the marriage and family law, are living together and have joint land use rights at the time of being allocated land or leased land, or having land use rights recognized by the State; or acquiring land use rights.

30. Household or individual directly engaged in agricultural production means a household or an individual that has been allocated agricultural land, leased agricultural land, or having agricultural land use rights recognized by the State; or has acquired agricultural land use rights, and generates stable income from agricultural production on that land.

Article 4. Land ownership

Land belongs to the entire people with the State acting as the owner’s representative and uniformly managing land. The State shall grant land use rights to land users in accordance with this Law.

Article 5. Land users

Land users may be allocated land or leased land, have land use rights recognized by the State, or acquire land use rights in accordance with this Law, including:

1. Domestic organizations, including state agencies, people’s armed forces units, political organizations, socio-political organizations, economic organizations, socio-politico-professional organizations, social organizations, socio-professional organizations, public non-business organizations, and other organizations as prescribed by the civil law (below referred collectively to as organizations).

2. Domestic households or individuals (below referred collectively to as households or individuals).

3. Communities, including Vietnamese communities residing in the same village, street quarter or similar residential area sharing the same customs and practices or the same family line.

4. Religious institutions, including pagodas, churches, oratories, chancels, monasteries, abbeys, religious schools, head offices of religious organizations, and other religious institutions.

5. Foreign organizations with diplomatic functions, including diplomatic representative missions, consulates, other foreign representative agencies with diplomatic functions recognized by the Vietnamese Government, representative missions of organizations of the United Nations, inter-governmental agencies or organizations, and representative missions of inter-governmental organizations.

6. Overseas Vietnamese as prescribed by the nationality law.

7. Foreign-invested enterprises, including 100% foreign-invested enterprises, joint-venture enterprises, Vietnamese enterprises in which foreign investors purchase shares, merge or acquire in accordance with investment law.

Article 6. Land use principles

1. Compliance with land use master plans and plans, and use for proper purposes.

2. Economy, effectiveness, environmental protection, and causing no harm to the legitimate interests of adjacent land users.

3. Land users may exercise their rights and perform their obligations within the land use term in accordance with this Law and other relevant laws.

Article 7. Persons taking responsibility before the State for land use

1. The head of an organization, a foreign organization with diplomatic functions, or a foreign- invested enterprise, is responsible for the land use by his/her organization.

2. The chairperson of the People’s Committee of a commune, ward or township is responsible for the use of agricultural land for public purposes; the use of non-agricultural land which is allocated to the People’s Committee of the commune, ward or township (below referred to as commune-level People’s Committee) for the purpose of construction of the People’s Committee offices, public facilities used for culture, education, health, physical training and sports, entertainment, recreation, markets, cemeteries, graveyards and other public facilities in the locality.

3. The representative of a community who is the head of a village or street quarter, or the person appointed by a community, is responsible for the use of the allocated or recognized land of the community.

4. The head of a religious institution is responsible for the use of land allocated to the religious institution.

5. The head of a household is responsible for the land use by the household.

6. Individuals and overseas Vietnamese are responsible for the use of their own land.

7. The person who shares, or represents a group sharing, land use rights, is responsible for the use of that land.

Article 8. Persons taking responsibility before the State for the management of allocated land

1. The head of an organization is responsible for land management in the following cases:

a/ Organizations assigned to manage public facilities, including roads, bridges, culverts, sidewalks, water supply and drainage systems, irrigation systems, dikes and dams; squares, statues and monuments, and memorial stela;

b/ Economic organizations assigned to manage land used for investment projects in the form of build- transfer (BT) and other forms prescribed by the investment law;

c/ Organizations assigned to manage land with water surface of rivers and land with special- use water surface;

d/ Organizations assigned to manage the land fund recovered under decisions of competent state agencies.

2. The chairperson of a commune-level People’s Committee is responsible for the management of land used for public purposes and land that has not been allocated or leased in the locality.

3. The chairperson of a People’s Committee of a province or centrally run city is responsible for the management of unused land on uninhabited islands in the locality.

4. The representative of a community is responsible for land allocated to the community for management.

Article 9. Encouragement of investment in land

The State shall promulgate policies to encourage land users to invest labor, materials and capital in, and apply scientific and technological achievements to, the following activities:

1. Land protection, improvement and fertilization.

2. Reclamation of waste and unused land, seaward encroachment, use of empty land, bare hills and unused land with water surface in accordance with land use master plans and plans.

3. Development of infrastructure to increase added value for land.

Article 10. Land classification

Depending on land use purpose, land is classified into the following types:

1. Agricultural land, including:

a/ Land for cultivation of annual crops, including paddy land and land for cultivation of other annual crops;

b/ Land for cultivation of perennial trees;

c/ Land for production forests;

d/ Land for protection forests;

e/ Land for special-use forests;

f/ Land for aquaculture;

g/ Land for salt production;

h/ Other agricultural land, including land used to build greenhouses and other building types for cultivation purpose, including fanning not directly on the land, or to build breeding facilities for cattle, poultry and other animals as permitted by law; land for cultivation, breeding and aquaculture for the purpose of learning, research or experimentation; land for planting and nursing seedlings and breeders, and land for growing flowers and ornamental plants.

2. Non-agricultural land, including:

a/ Residential land, including rural residential land and urban residential land;

b/ Land for construction of offices;

c/ Land for national defense or security purpose;

d/ Land for construction of non-business facilities, including land for construction of offices of non-business organizations; land for construction of cultural, social, health, education and training, physical training and sports, science and technology, and diplomatic facilities and other non-business facilities;

e/ Land for non-agricultural production and business, including land for industrial parks, industrial clusters, export processing zones; land for trading and service; land of non-agricultural production establishments; land used for mining activities; and land for production of building materials, and pottery;

f/ Land used for public purposes, including land used for transport (including airports, airfields, inland waterway ports, maritime ports, rail system, road system and other transport facilities); irrigation; land with historical-cultural relics or scenic spots; land for community activities or public entertainment and recreation; land for energy facilities; land for post and telecommunications facilities; land for markets; land for waste dumping and treatment, and land for other public facilities;

g/ Land used by religious institutions;

h/ Land used for cemeteries, graveyards, funeral service centers and cremation centers; i/ Land with rivers, streams, canals, springs and special-use water surface;

k/ Other non-agricultural land, including land for motels, tents and camps for workers in production establishments; land for warehouses and houses to store agricultural products, plant protection drugs, fertilizers, machinery and tools for agricultural use, and land for other buildings of land users which are used for non-commercial purposes and not attached to residential land.

3. Unused land, including land of types for which land use purposes have not been determined yet.

Article 11. Bases for determining land types

The determination of a land type must be based on the following:

1. The certificate of land use rights, or certificate of house ownership and residential land use rights which is granted before December 10, 2009; and the certificate of land use rights and ownership of houses and other land-attached assets.

2. Papers on land use rights prescribed in Clauses 1, 2 and 3, Article 100 of this Law, for the cases in which the certificates mentioned in Clause 1 of this Article have not been granted.

3. Decisions on land allocation, land lease or permission for change of land use purpose issued by competent state agencies, for the cases in which the certificates mentioned in Clause 1 of this Article have not been granted.

4. For the cases in which papers prescribed in Clauses 1, 2 and 3 of this Article are not available, the determination of land type must comply with the Government’s regulations.

Article 12. Prohibited acts

1. Encroaching, occupying or destroying land.

2. Violating publicized land use master plans and plans.

3. Failing to use land, or using land for improper purposes.

4. Failing to comply with law when exercising the rights of land users.

5. Acquiring agricultural land use rights exceeding the quota set for households and individuals as prescribed by this Law.

6. Failing to register with competent state agencies when using land or making transactions of land use rights.

7. Failing to perform or fully perform financial obligations toward the State.

8. Abusing positions and powers to act against land management regulations.

9. Failing to provide land information or providing incorrect land information as prescribed by law.

9. Obstructing, or causing difficulties to, the exercise of the rights of land users as prescribed by law.