Directive No. 05/2006/CT-TTg On Addressing Weaknesses and Improper Practices and Further Promoting the Implementation of the Land Law

 DIRECTIVE

ON CORRECTING WEAKNESSES AND VIOLATIONS, CONTINUING TO STRENGTHEN THE IMPLEMENTATION OF THE LAND LAW

After the National Assembly passed the Land Law, especially since the issuance of Directive No. 05/2004/CT-TTg dated February 9, 2004 by the Prime Minister, ministries, sectors, and localities have paid attention to guiding the implementation of the Law in conjunction with implementing the Resolution of the Seventh Plenary Session of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Vietnam's Ninth Congress on continuing to reform land policy and laws during the period of accelerating industrialization and modernization of the country. Through the nationwide inspection of the first year of the Land Law's implementation organized by the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment, it can be seen that the Land Law and its guiding documents have truly entered daily life, received special attention from the people, and initially achieved some positive results.

However, generally speaking, the implementation of the Land Law has not been good, failing to achieve the objectives set by the Prime Minister for 2005 regarding the completion of the system of land planning and utilization plans; issuing certificates of land use rights; reclaiming unused land, land used improperly, or land used without efficiency. Violations of land laws still occur quite frequently, particularly in compensation, support, and resettlement when the state reclaims land. The work of resolving disputes, complaints, and denunciations related to land management and use has many weaknesses and inconveniences.

To promptly correct these weaknesses and violations, continue to strengthen the implementation of the Land Law, the Prime Minister requests that the Ministers, Heads of ministerial-level agencies, Heads of government-affiliated agencies, Chairpersons of provincial and municipal People's Committees under the central government, according to their assigned functions and tasks, focus on implementing the following tasks:

1. Continue to perfect policies and laws on land

The Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment shall guide the scope of land recovery specified in Point a Clause 2 Article 36 of Decree No. 181/2004/NĐ-CP dated October 29, 2004; guide in detail the determination of intermixed agricultural land within residential areas and adjacent garden and pond land within residential areas as stipulated in Clause 2 Article 10 of Decree No. 197/2004/NĐ-CP dated December 3, 2004; about the procedures and formalities for land recovery, compensation, support, and resettlement; about issuing certificates of land use rights when recognizing land use rights or compensating, supporting, and resettling when the state recovers land for cases where land is used without land use right documents as stipulated in Clause 4 Article 50 of the Land Law; about implementing preferential measures for land use rights for projects within the scope of socializing education, healthcare, culture, sports, and physical training fields; coordinate with the Supreme People's Court and the Supreme People's Procuracy to guide the scope of dispute resolution and complaints between administrative agencies and the People's Courts regarding land.

The Ministry of Finance must accelerate the preparation of relevant draft laws concerning land use tax, personal income tax from land transfer to soon submit to the Government for consideration and submission to the National Assembly; issue regulations on fees and charges in land management, unit prices for performing public service tasks in land management, and revenue and expenditure mechanisms for the Land Registration Office and Land Development Fund Organization.

The Ministry of Justice shall continue to perfect the Draft Law on Real Estate Registration to be submitted by the Government to the National Assembly towards building a centralized and unified registration system that meets management requirements but simplifies procedures, facilitating businesses and citizens in certifying rights and real estate transactions; take the lead and coordinate with the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment to guide the handling of difficulties in mortgage and guarantee registration using real estate.

Provincial and municipal People's Committees under the central government that have not yet issued sufficient regulatory documents within their authority as prescribed by the Land Law and guiding decrees must urgently issue them, especially those concerning the limit of residential land allocation, recognition of residential land, administrative procedures for land management and use, issuance of certificates of land use rights, compensation, support, and resettlement when the state reclaims land; adjust local land price tables to align with the national land price framework and the principles of land valuation as stipulated in Article 56 of the Land Law.

2. Promote the dissemination and education on land laws.

The Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment shall take the lead and coordinate with relevant ministries, sectors, agencies, and People's Committees of provinces and centrally governed cities to continue directing and organizing the dissemination and education on land laws suitable for each target group; training to improve the professional skills of land management officials, particularly those at the district and commune levels.

The Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism shall continue to direct information agencies and press to focus on publicizing and disseminating land laws, commending places that perform well, criticizing those that are slow or stagnant, identifying and bringing to public attention violations, especially acts of abusing power for corruption in land matters or harassment and lack of responsibility in administrative procedures related to land; directing the publication and distribution of promotional materials on land laws, including those in ethnic languages, to widely disseminate among the people across all regions of the country.

3. Strengthen the land management machinery and promote administrative reform in land management.

People's Committees of provinces and centrally governed cities shall review and strengthen the land management machinery and service organizations at the local level, primarily the Department of Natural Resources and Environment, Land Registration Office, and Land Development Organization; strengthen the cadre of commune-level land administration officials to ensure they possess the necessary qualities and capabilities, stability, and professionalism, addressing the issue of frequent changes in land administration officials.

The Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment, the Ministry of Finance, and People's Committees at all levels shall be responsible for inspecting the implementation of administrative procedures in land management and revenue collection from land; reviewing and proposing the issuance or issuing within their authority regulations to amend or abolish unnecessary administrative procedures. Strictly prohibit the addition of new administrative procedures and revenues outside the general regulations of competent state agencies.

People's Committees of provinces and centrally governed cities shall implement transparency in introducing investment locations, decisions on land recovery, allocation, and leasing for investment projects, aiming to build a transparent and equal environment for accessing land for investment.

4. Enhance management of land planning and land use plans.

The establishment, examination, and approval of land planning and land use plans must pay attention to the rationality of land use types, minimizing the conversion of paddy fields to non-agricultural purposes. From now on, no approval will be given for plans converting paddy fields to non-agricultural production and service purposes in areas where other types of land can be utilized. For places where it is necessary to convert paddy fields to non-agricultural purposes, measures must be taken to ensure efficient and feasible land use, addressing the issue of land recovery without subsequent utilization.

Along with completing the system of land use planning until 2010 and the land use plan for the period 2006-2010 by the end of 2006, People's Committees at all levels shall immediately organize the public announcement of approved land use planning and plans according to regulations; resolve the issue of "suspended planning"; regularly inspect and review to ensure that decisions on land allocation, leasing, changing land use purposes, and land recovery comply with approved land use planning and plans.

5. Accelerate the progress of issuing Certificates of Land Use Rights.

People's Committees of provinces and centrally governed cities shall accelerate the issuance of Certificates of Land Use Rights; abolish, amend, or promulgate local regulations on the issuance and recovery of Certificates of Land Use Rights to align with current land laws; apply the provisions of land laws correctly when recognizing land use rights for current land users, confirming residential land area, and determining financial obligations of land users when issuing Certificates of Land Use Rights. Areas currently lagging behind must strive to basically complete the issuance of Certificates of Land Use Rights by 2006. Link the issuance of Certificates of Land Use Rights with the continued improvement of cadastral records.

6. Firmly recover land due to violations of land laws.

People's Committees of provinces and centrally governed cities shall be responsible for checking the land use situation of agencies, units, enterprises, and investment projects under their management, identifying and firmly recovering land allocated or leased to inappropriate recipients; land granted or leased by the State but not used or used late compared to project schedules, inefficiently used, or used for incorrect purposes; in cases with valid reasons, decide on extensions and publicly announce such decisions.

The Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development and People's Committees of provinces and centrally governed cities shall direct the acceleration of the restructuring and modernization of state-owned farms and forests, concurrently reducing the land area managed by these entities to truly necessary levels, transferring the remaining area to localities for allocation to farmers lacking land or without productive land, prioritizing households of ethnic minorities.

Ministries, ministerial-level agencies, government agencies, and State-owned Enterprises Group 91 shall be responsible for reviewing the land area granted or leased to agencies, units, and enterprises under their management, proactively transferring unused or poorly utilized land areas to provinces and centrally governed cities. Ministries and sectors shall not interfere in the land recovery process by local authorities concerning violations of land management and use laws by units under their jurisdiction.

The results of implementing the tasks mentioned in this Section must be reported to the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment before June 30, 2006, for consolidation and reporting to the Prime Minister.

7. Effectively carry out compensation, support, and resettlement work when land is recovered.

The People's Committees of provinces and centrally governed cities shall be responsible for strictly directing the implementation of legal provisions on compensation, support, and resettlement when the State recovers land for national defense, security, national interests, public interest, and economic development purposes; making the entire process transparent; ensuring fairness among subjects with similar conditions. Special attention should be given to the following issues:

- Ensuring the compensation price for land in accordance with the principles of land valuation stipulated in Article 56 of the Land Law. In areas that have fully applied the framework of land prices issued together with Decree No. 188/2004/NĐ-CP dated November 16, 2004 but still fail to ensure compliance with the aforementioned land valuation principles, promptly reflect this to the Ministry of Finance for submission to the Government for handling. Do not raise the issue of retroactive application in implementing compensation, support, and resettlement policies, but depending on circumstances and specific conditions, localities need to apply policies and laws appropriately to handle satisfactorily according to the perspective of serving the people and stabilizing the situation without causing new complications.

- Effectively carry out resettlement work, allocate land areas at favorable locations, including next to industrial zones (except where environmental protection requirements or limited land funds apply), to arrange resettlement, ensuring that households whose land has been recovered have new places to live in resettlement areas. When planning industrial zones, urban redevelopment, or rural residential areas, pay attention to allocating land for in-place resettlement. From now on, localities shall not forcibly dismantle houses when the land recovery recipients have not yet been provided with resettlement locations.

- Actively direct job placement for households whose land has been recovered. Besides arranging resettlement at favorable locations and next to industrial zones linked with service development and job creation, other measures must be taken to ensure employment and income, preventing those whose land has been recovered from falling into unemployment and poverty.

The Ministry of Finance shall direct the evaluation of the application of the land price framework for compensation when recovering land in recent times, especially agricultural land, and promptly propose necessary amendments and supplements to the Government; propose financial mechanisms and policies encouraging land users to lease land or contribute land use rights to investors who need land.

8. Strengthen the resolution of land disputes, complaints, and denunciations.

Create significant and clear changes in resolving dispute letters, complaints, and denunciations about land with the requirement that all pending cases must be resolved by 2006 and new cases must be handled promptly in accordance with legal regulations.

The Chairpersons of People's Committees at all levels must directly direct the resolution of disputes, complaints, and denunciations in accordance with the law, effectively addressing delays and shirking responsibility in handling letters; attach importance to organizing dialogues between letter writers and administrative agencies or individuals whose administrative acts are being complained about.

For letters that have been properly resolved by administrative agencies or People's Courts in accordance with the law and reality but the complainants still refuse to comply and engage in inciting behavior leading to public disorder, appropriate measures should be applied according to legal regulations.

At all levels, People's Committees shall be responsible for improving reception work, providing comprehensive and detailed guidance on the law for letter writers or those presenting complaints and denunciations at reception offices; publicly announcing phone numbers, fax numbers, mailboxes, and email addresses to receive citizens' reports and suggestions.

The Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment and the Government Inspectorate shall monitor, urge, and report to the Prime Minister the situation of resolving letters from localities, proposing commendation and rewards for localities performing well and criticism and handling for Chairpersons of People's Committees of provinces and centrally governed cities who fail to resolve or resolve poorly these tasks, resulting in many pending complaints and denunciations about land.

9. Strengthen inspection and supervision of the enforcement of land laws.

The People's Committees at the district and provincial levels shall be responsible for developing regular self-inspection and inspection plans for subordinate levels regarding the implementation of land laws. People's Committees at the commune level shall strictly perform the task of detecting, preventing, and handling violations of land laws and bear legal responsibility in case of serious consequences due to negligence in enforcing land laws in their jurisdiction.

The Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment shall continue to inspect the enforcement of land laws concerning the use of land for industrial zone, service area, urban, and rural residential area projects; the use of land by administrative agencies, public institutions, and state-owned enterprises assigned land before the Land Law of 2003 took effect.

Through inspections, supervision, and the resolution of complaint and denunciation letters, strictly handle violations of the law, particularly cases of abuse of power to divide land, profiteering through land allocation, leasing, permission to change land use purposes, and clearance of land.

The Ministry of Home Affairs shall consider arranging necessary staffing to strengthen specialized land inspection machinery, ensuring effective performance of tasks according to legal regulations on inspection and anti-corruption requirements in the land sector.

Ministers, Heads of ministerial-level agencies, Heads of government-affiliated agencies, and Chairpersons of People's Committees of provinces and centrally governed cities shall directly direct the assessment of the implementation of land laws in their units and localities in recent times, formulate specific, practical, and swift plans and measures to create clear improvements in land management work, particularly focusing on minimizing new violations as much as possible.

The Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment shall be responsible for monitoring and inspecting the implementation by ministries, sectors, localities, and regularly reporting to the Prime Minister on the situation of implementing this Directive./.