Regulations on land users under the latest Land Law in Vietnam

Regulations on land users under the latest Land Law in Vietnam (Internet image)

Regarding this issue, LawNet would like to answer as follows:

1. Regulations on land users under the latest Land Law in Vietnam

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 the Land Law 2013, including:

- 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).

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

- 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.

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

- 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.

- Overseas Vietnamese as prescribed by the nationality law.

- 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 5 of Land Law 2013)

2. Land use principles in Vietnam

Specifically, Article 6 of the Land Law 2013 stipulates land use principles including:

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

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

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

3. Persons taking responsibility before the State for land use in Vietnam

Pursuant to Article 7 of the Land Law 2013, the persons taking responsibility before the State for land use includes:

- 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.

- 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.

- 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.

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

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

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

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

Ho Quoc Tuan

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