Are people building house on agricultural land liable to criminal responsibility in Vietnam?
I am getting married, and my parents have given me a piece of land for rice cultivation. I filled the land and built a house on it. The construction of the house is almost complete, until a friend of mine came over and asked if I had converted the land use purpose. That's when I became alarmed. My friend mentioned that besides administrative fines, there could also be criminal penalties. I am very worried that I might end up in jail. Are people building house on agricultural land liable to criminal responsibility in Vietnam?
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Are people building house on agricultural land liable to criminal responsibility in Vietnam? - image from internet
Pursuant to Article 57 of the Law on Land in 2013 stipulating change of land use purpose:
1. Cases in which change of land use purpose requires permission by competent state agencies:
a/ Change of land for rice cultivation to land for perennial crops, forests, aquaculture or salt production;
b/ Change of land for other annual crops to land for saltwater aquaculture, salt production or aquaculture in ponds, lakes or marshlands;
c/ Change of land for special-use forests, protection forests or production forests to land for other purposes within the type of agricultural land;
d/ Change of agricultural land to non-agricultural land;
e/ Change of non-agricultural land which is allocated by the State without land use levy to non-agricultural land which is allocated by the State with land use levy, or to leased land;
f/ Change of non-agricultural land which is not residential land to residential land;
g/ Change of land for construction of non-business facilities or land for public purposes involving commercial purpose, or non-agricultural land for business and production purposes which is not land for trading or services to land for trading or services; change of land for trading or services or land for construction of non-commercial facilities to land for non-agricultural production establishments.
2. When changing the land use purpose under Clause 1 of this Article, land users shall fulfill financial obligations as prescribed by law. The land use regime and the rights and obligations of land users are those applicable to the type of the land used for the new purpose.
Therefore, when you want to use agricultural land for building a house, you need to request a change in land use purpose at the competent state authority.
Pursuant to Article 8 of the Decree 102/2014/ND-CP on the imposition of penalties for land-related administrative violations, the willful change of use purpose of the agricultural land other than land lots used for rice cultivation, protective forests, specialized forests without permission from competent State agencies is stipulated as follows:
1. Transformation of the land used for annual plant cultivation into the land used for saltwater aquaculture, salt production, and fish farming in the form of ponds, ditches or lakes shall be subject to penalty types and amounts as follows:
a) Warnings or pecuniary penalty ranging from VND 5,000,000 to VND 10,000,000, imposed on the size of below 0.5 hectare of land of which the use purpose has been illegally changed;
b) Pecuniary penalty ranging from VND 1,000,000 to VND 2,000,000, imposed on the size varying from 0,5 to below 03 hectares of the land parcel of which the use purpose has been illegally changed;
c) Pecuniary penalty ranging from VND 2,000,000 to VND 5,000,000, imposed on the size of equal to or more than 03 hectares of the land parcel of which the use purpose has been illegally changed.
2. Willful change of use purpose of the agricultural land other than land lots used for rice cultivation, protective forests and specialized forests into non-agricultural land shall be subject to penalty types and amounts as follows:
a) Pecuniary penalty ranging from VND 1,000,000 to VND 2,000,000, imposed on the size of below 0.5 hectare of land of which the use purpose has been illegally changed;
b) Pecuniary penalty ranging from VND 2,000,000 to VND 5,000,000, imposed on the size varying from 0,5 to below 03 hectares of the land parcel of which the use purpose has been illegally changed;
c) Pecuniary penalty ranging from VND 5,000,000 to VND 10,000,000, imposed on the size of equal to or more than 03 hectares of the land parcel of which the use purpose has been illegally changed.
3. Remedial measures:
a) Application of force to restore the land parcel to its former condition before the commission of violations with respect to violations regulated in Clauses 1 and 2 of this Article;
b) Application of force to return the illegal gain coming from the commission of violations regulated in Clauses 1 and 2 of this Article.
Depending on the specific case, you may be subject to administrative fines for the violation.
Pursuant to Article 343 of the Criminal Code in 2015 stipulating offences against regulations of law on housing management:
- Any person who illegally occupies a residence or builds a house despite the fact that he/she has incurred an administrative penalty for the same offence or has an unspent conviction for the same offence shall face a penalty of up to 02 years' community sentence or 03 - 24 months' imprisonment.
The house or work illegally built might be demolished, requisitioned or confiscated.
- The offender might also be liable to a fine of from VND 5,000,000 to VND 50,000,000.
In addition to being subject to administrative fines, if you have incurred an administrative penalty for the same offence or has an unspent conviction for the same offence, you shall be liable to criminal responsibility in Vietnam.
Best regards!
