Is it possible to settle land disputes without conciliation? What are the procedures for conciliation of land disputes in Vietnam?
Is it possible to settle land disputes without conciliation?
Pursuant to Article 202 of the 2013 Land Law of Vietnam stipulating as follows:
Conciliation of land disputes in Vietnam
1. The State shall encourage the disputing parties to conciliate themselves or have theừ land disputes settled through grassroots conciliation.
2. In case the self-reconciliation fails, the parties may send a petition to the commune-level People’s Committee of the locality where the disputed land is located, for reconciliation.
3. Commune-level People’s Committee chairpersons shall organize conciliation of land disputes in their localities. In the process of conciliation, they shall coordinate with the commune-level Vietnam Fatherland Front Committee and its member organizations and other social organizations. The conciliation procedures carried out at the commune-level People’s Committees shall be completed within 45 days from the date the commune-level People’s Committees receive a petition for settlement of land dispute.
4. The conciliation process must be recorded in a written record with signatures of all parties and certified by the commune-level People’s Committee on the result, either a successful or unsuccessful conciliation. The conciliation minutes shall then be sent to the involved parties and archived at the commune-level People’s Committee concerned.
5. In case of successful conciliation which results in changes in the boundaries or land users, the commune-level People’s Committee shall send the conciliation minutes to the district-level Division of Natural Resources and Environment, for land disputes among households, individuals and communities, or to the provincial-level Department of Natural Resources and Environment, for other land disputes.
The district-level Division of Natural Resources and Environment or the provincial-level Department of Natural Resources and Environment shall submit the case to the People’s Committee of the same level for decision on recognizing the change in boundaries or renewing the certificate of land use rights, houses and other land-related assets ownership.
Thus, the State shall encourage the disputing parties to conciliate themselves or have theừ land disputes settled through grassroots conciliation.
However, in case the self-reconciliation fails, the parties may send a petition to the commune-level People’s Committee of the locality where the disputed land is located, for reconciliation. Therefore, the conciliation of land disputes is mandatory when the parties have a dispute.
Is it possible to settle land disputes without conciliation? What are the procedures for conciliation of land disputes in Vietnam?
Who has authority to settle land disputes in Vietnam?
Pursuant to Article 203 of the 2013 Land Law of Vietnam stipulating as follows:
Authority to settle land disputes
If the conciliation at a commune-level People’s Committee fails, a land dispute shall be settled as follows:
1. The land dispute in which the concerned party possesses a certificate or any of the papers prescribed in Article 100 of this Law and the dispute over land-attached assets shall be settled by the People’s Court;
2. For the land dispute in which the concerned party does not possess a certificate or any of the papers prescribed in Article 100 of this Law, the parties may choose between the following two options of settlement:
a/ Filing a written request for dispute settlement with a competent People’s Committee as prescribed in Clause 3 of this Article;
b/ Filing a lawsuit with a competent People’s Court in accordance with the law on civil procedures;
3. In case the concerned parties choose the option of settlement at a competent People’s Committee, the settlement is as follows:
a/ In case the dispute occurs among households, individuals and communities, the chairperson of the district-level People Committee is responsible for the settlement. If the concerned parties disagree with the settlement decision, they are entitled to lodge a complaint with the chairperson of the provincial-level People’s Committee or to file a lawsuit at a People’s Court in accordance with the law on administrative procedures;
b/ In case the dispute involves one party being an organization, a religious institution, an overseas Vietnamese or a foreign-invested enterprise, the chairperson of the provincial-level People’s Committee is responsible for the settlement. If the concerned parties disagree with the settlement decision, they are entitled to lodge a complaint with the Minister of Natural Resources and Environment or to file a lawsuit with a People’s Court in accordance with the law on administrative procedures;
4. The person having competence to settle the land dispute as prescribed in Clause 3 of this Article shall issue a settlement decision. The legally effective decision on dispute settlement must be strictly abided by the concerned parties. If the parties fail to comply, the decision shall be enforced.
Thus, the authority to settle land disputes falls under the Court, the chairperson of the provincial-level People’s Committee, the chairperson of the district-level People Committee according to the above provisions.
What are the procedures for conciliation of land disputes in Vietnam?
Pursuant to Clause 1, Article 88 of Decree No. 43/2014/ND-CP (amended by Clause 27, Article 1 of Decree No. 148/2020/ND-CP) stipulating the procedures for mediation of land disputes as follows:
- Upon receiving a written request for settlement of a land dispute, a provincial-level People’s Committee shall:
+ Verify and learn about the cause of the dispute, collect relevant documents about the land origin, land use process and current land use status from the parties;
+ Establish the conciliation committee to settle land disputes. This committee shall be composed of the chairperson or the deputy chairperson of the People’s Committee as the committee’s head; the representative of the Fatherland Front Committee of commune, ward or township; the head of residential quarter in urban areas; the head of village or hamlet in rural areas; the prestigious figure in a kinship, at a residential community or workplace; the person having expertise in laws and social knowledge; the village patriarch/matriarch, the religion dignitary or the person thoroughly grasping the case or matter; the representative of households living for a long time at communes, wards, townships that know well about the origin and process of use of the land plot; the cadastral officer or judicial officer at commune, ward or township. In specific situations, representatives of the Farmers’ Association, Women’s Union, Veterans’ Association and Ho Chi Minh Communist Youth Union may be invited;
+ Organize a conciliation meeting with the participation of the disputing parties, members of the council for conciliation of land disputes and persons with related interests and obligations.
The conciliation may take place only when all the disputing parties are present. If any of the disputing parties is absent for the second time, the conciliation shall be regarded as unsuccessful.
- The result of conciliation of a land dispute must be recorded in a minutes which specifies the time and place of the conciliation; participants in the conciliation; summary of the dispute clearly stating the origin and time of use of the disputed land, cause of the dispute (already verified), opinion of the conciliation council; and contents agreed and disagreed between the disputing parties.
The conciliation minutes must be signed by the head of the conciliation council, the disputing parties present at the conciliation session and participants in the conciliation, and sealed by the commune-level People’s Committee. It must be immediately sent to the disputing parties and preserved at the commune-level People’s Committee.
- Within 10 days after the date of making a minutes of successful conciliation, if the parties express in writing opinions different from the contents agreed in this minutes, the chairperson of the commune-level People’s Committee shall organize another meeting of the conciliation council to consider and handle supplementary opinions and make a minutes of successful or unsuccessful conciliation.
- In case of successful conciliation resulting in a change in the current land use boundaries or land user, the commune-level People’s Committee shall send the minutes of successful conciliation to a competent agency for settlement under Clause 5, Article 202 of the Land Law.
In case of unsuccessful conciliation or of successful conciliation but at least one party changes its opinion on the conciliation result, the commune-level People’s Committee shall make a minutes of unsuccessful conciliation and guide the disputing parties to file a petition with a competent agency to further settle the dispute.
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