Where to settle conciliation of land disputes in Vietnam?

Which agency has right to settle conciliation of land disputes in Vietnam?

Article 202 of the 2013 Land Law provides for conciliation of land disputes as follows:

1. The State shall encourage the disputing parties to conciliate themselves or have their 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, according to the above provisions in Vietnam, you can concile a land dispute yourself with the person who has a dispute with you. If you cannot reconcile yourself, you can send an application to the People's Committee of the commune where the disputed land is located for conciliation.

What are procedures for conciliation of land disputes in Vietnam?

In Article 88 of Decree 43/2014/ND-CP, as amended and supplemented by Article 1 of Decree 148/2020/ND-CP and Article 2 of Decree 01/2017/ND-CP, there are provisions on procedures for conciliation of land disputes are as follows:

1. Upon receiving a written request for settlement of a land dispute, a provincial-level People’s Committee shall:

a/ 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;

b) 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;

c/ 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.

2. 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.

3. If the disputing parties dissent in writing from the agreed content of the successful reconciliation record in 10 days upon the making of such record, the chairperson of the communal People’s Committee shall hold another reconciliation meeting to settle such additional opinions and make a record of successful or unsuccessful reconciliation.

4. 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.

5. The Ministry of Finance shall elaborate on financial support for conciliation of land disputes stipulated in this Article.

According to this Article, the conciliation of land disputes will be carried out according to the procedures specified above in Vietnam.

Best Regards!