Decree No. 102/2014/ND-CP dated November 10, 2014 of the Government prescribing administrative violations on land sector

DECREE

On sanctioning of administrative violations in the field of land[1]

Pursuant to the December 25, 2001 Law on Organization of the Government;

Pursuant to the June 20, 2012 Law on Handling of Administrative Violations;

Pursuant to the November 29, 2013 Land Law;

At the proposal of the Minister of Natural Resources and Environment,

The Government promulgates the Decree on sanctioning of administrative violations in the field of land.

Chapter I

GENERAL PROVISIONS

Article1.Scope of regulation

This Decree provides acts of administrative violation, forms and levels of sanctioning, remedial measures applicable to acts of administrative violation, and the competence to sanction, and make written records of, administrative violations in the field of land.

Article2.Subjects of sanctioning

1. Subject to administrative sanctioning in the field of land under this Decree are the following entities and persons that commit acts of administrative violation in land use or in the provision of land-related services, except the case prescribed in Clause 2 of this Article:

a/ Households, residential communities; domestic and foreign individuals, overseas Vietnamese (below collectively referred to as individuals);

b/ Domestic and foreign organizations, foreign-invested enterprises (below collectively referred to as organizations);

c/ Religious institutions.

2. Organizations and persons entitled to privileges and immunities for foreign diplomatic missions and consulates and representative agencies of international organizations in Vietnam as prescribed by law are not subject to administrative sanctioning prescribed in this Decree.

Article 3.Interpretation of terms

1. Land encroachment means a land user’s removal of the boundary markers or boundaries of a land parcel to expand the land area without permission.

2. Land appropriation means the use of land without permission of a competent state agency or failure to return land allocated or leased by the State upon expiration of the land allocation or lease duration without being entitled to extension, or the use of land without carrying out the land allocation or lease procedures prescribed by the land law.

Article4.Forms of sanctioning

1. Principal sanctions include:

a/ Caution;

b/ Fine.

2. Additional sanctions include:

a/ Deprivation of the right to use licenses for between 6 and 9 months or suspension from operation for between 9 and 12 months from the effective date of the administrative sanctioning decision as prescribed in Clause 3, Article 25 of the Law on Handling of Administrative Violations;

b/ Confiscation of material evidences and means used for commission of administrative violations in the field of land (below referred to as material evidences and means used in administrative violations).

3. The fine bracket prescribed in Chapter II of this Decree is that applicable to individuals, except the cases prescribed in Articles 15, 16, 17, 18 and 19, Clause 3 of Article 21, Articles 22 and 23, Clause 2 of Article 25, and Articles 26 and 30 of this Decree, which is the fine bracket applicable to organizations.

4. For the same act of administrative violation, the fine level applicable to organizations doubles that applicable to individuals.

5. Violating households and residential communities shall be handled like individuals; violating religious institutions shall be handled like organizations.

6. The competence to impose fines prescribed in Articles 31, 32 and 33 of this Decree is applicable to individuals. The fine level applicable to organizations doubles that applicable to individuals.

Article5.Determination of the nature and seriousness of acts of administrative violation

1. The nature and seriousness of acts of administrative violation prescribed in Articles 6, 7, 8 and 15, Clause 1 of Article 16, and Article 17 of this Decree shall be determined based on the violated land area.

2. The nature and seriousness of acts of administrative violation prescribed in Article 26 of this Decree shall be determined based on the number of affected households.

3. The nature and seriousness of acts of administrative violation prescribed in Articles 9 and 24 of this Decree shall be determined based on the conversion of the value of the rights to use the violated land area into a monetary value at the land price set at the time of making of the administrative violation record by the People’s Committee of the province or centrally run city where such land is located and be divided into 4 levels below:

a/ Level 1: The monetary value of the rights to use the violated land area is below VND 60,000,000, for agricultural land, or below VND 300,000,000, for non-agricultural land;

b/ Level 2: The monetary value of the rights to use the violated land area is between VND 60,000,000 and under VND 200,000,000, for agricultural land, or between VND 300,000,000 and under VND 1,000,000,000, for non-agricultural land;

c/ Level 3: The monetary value of the rights to use the violated land area is between VND 200,000,000 and under VND 1,000,000,000, for agricultural land, or between VND 1,000,000,000 and under VND 3,000,000,000, for non-agricultural land;

d/ Level 4: The monetary value of the rights to use the violated land area is VND 1,000,000,000 or more, for agricultural land, or VND 3,000,000,000 or more, for non-agricultural land.

4. The violated land area prescribed in Clause 3 of this Article and expenses for determination of the violated land area must comply with the following provisions:

a/ When the area of the entire land parcel is violated, the violated land area shall be determined based on the area stated in the land use rights papers prescribed in Clauses 1, 2 and 3, Article 11 of the Land Law;

b/ When only part of the area of the land parcel with land use rights papers or the land parcel without land use rights papers as prescribed is violated, the person on official duty shall make a written record of administrative violation which must specify the actual violated area. In case the violator disagrees with the determined violated land area, the person on official duty shall propose a person with sanctioning competence to solicit a licensed surveying organization to survey and determine the violated land area;

c/ Expenses for surveying and determining the violated land area in case of soliciting a licensed surveying organization prescribed at Point b of this Clause shall be advanced from the state budget. Administrative violators in the field of land shall refund expenses for surveying and determining violated land areas.

The Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment shall assume the prime responsibility for, and coordinate with the Ministry of Finance in, specifically providing the management, allocation, advance and refund of expenses for surveying and determining violated land areas.

5. When the land type cannot be determined due to the unavailability of land use rights papers, the land type shall be determined according to Article 3 of the Government’s Decree No. 43/2014/ND-CP of May 15, 2014, detailing a number of articles of the Land Law (below referred to as Decree No. 43/2014/ND-CP), and the corresponding land price under the land price bracket set by the provincial-level People’s Committee shall be applied for determination and conversion of the land use rights value of the violated land area.

Chapter II

ACTS OF ADMINISTRATIVE VIOLATION, SANCTIONING FORMS AND LEVELS

Article6.Use of land for rice cultivation for other purposes without permission of competent state agencies

1. Using land for rice cultivation to grow perennial trees or forests shall be fined as follows:

a/ Between VND 2,000,000 and VND 5,000,000, if the land area used for unlawful purpose is under 0.5 hectare;

b/ Between over VND 5,000,000 and VND 10,000,000, if the land area used for unlawful purpose is between 0.5 hectare and under 3 hectares;

c/ Between over VND 10,000,000 and VND 20,000,000, if the land area used for unlawful purpose is 3 hectares or more.

2. Using land for rice cultivation for aquaculture or salt production shall be fined as follows:

a/ Between VND 5,000,000 and VND 10,000,000, if the land area used for unlawful purpose is under 0.5 hectare;

b/ Between over VND 10,000,000 and VND 20,000,000, if the land area used for unlawful purpose is between 0.5 hectare and under 3 hectares;

c/ Between over VND 20,000,000 and VND 30,000,000, if the land area used for unlawful purpose is 3 hectares or more.

3. Using land for rice cultivation for non-agricultural purpose shall be fined as follows:

a/ Between VND 10,000,000 and VND 20,000,000, if the land area used for unlawful purpose is under 0.5 hectare;

b/ Between over VND 20,000,000 and VND 30,000,000, if the land area used for unlawful purpose is between 0.5 hectare and under 3 hectares;

c/ Between over VND 30,000,000 and VND 50,000,000, if the land area used for unlawful purpose is 3 hectares or more.

4. Remedial measures:

a/ Forcible restoration of the original state of land, for the violations prescribed in Clauses 1, 2 and 3 of this Article;

b/ Forcible refund of illicit profits earned through the commission of the violations prescribed in Clauses 1, 2 and 3 of this Article.

Article7.Use of land for special-use forests, protection forests and production forests for other purposes without permission of competent state agencies

1. Using land for the purpose of cultivation of annual crops or perennial trees, aquaculture, salt production or other agricultural production shall be fined as follows:

a/ Between VND 5,000,000 and VND 10,000,000, if the land area used for unlawful purpose is under 5 hectares;

b/ Between over VND 10,000,000 and VND 20,000,000, if the land area used for unlawful purpose is between 5 hectares and under 10 hectares;

c/ Between over VND 20,000,000 and VND 30,000,000, if the land area used for unlawful purpose is 10 hectares or more.

2. Using the land for non-agricultural purposes shall be fined as follows:

a/ Between VND 10,000,000 and VND 20,000,000, if the land area used for unlawful purpose is under 5 hectares;

b/ Between over VND 20,000,000 and VND 30,000,000, if the land area used for unlawful purpose is between 5 hectares and under 10 hectares;

c/ Between over VND 30,000,000 and VND 50,000,000, if the land area used for unlawful purpose is 10 hectares or more.

3. Remedial measures:

a/ Forcible restoration of the original state of land, for the violations prescribed in Clauses 1 and 2 of this Article;

b/ Forcible refund of illicit profits earned through the commission of the violations prescribed in Clauses 1 and 2 of this Article.

Article8.Use of agricultural land other than land for rice cultivation, protection forests and special-use forests for other purposes without permission of competent state agencies

1. Using land for cultivation of annual crops for seawater aquaculture, salt production or aquaculture in ponds, lakes or lagoons shall be sanctioned in the following forms and at the following levels:

a/ Caution or a fine of between VND 500,000 and VND 1,000,000, if the land area used for unlawful purpose is under 0.5 hectare;

b/ A fine of between over VND 1,000,000 and VND 2,000,000, if the land area used for unlawful purpose is between 0.5 hectare and under 3 hectares;

c/ A fine of between over VND 2,000,000 and VND 5,000,000, if the land area used for unlawful purpose is 3 hectares or more.

2. Using agricultural land other than land for rice cultivation, protection forests and special-use forests for non-agricultural purposes shall be fined as follows:

a/ Between VND 1,000,000 and VND 2,000,000, if the land area used for unlawful purpose is under 0.5 hectare;

b/ Between over VND 2,000,000 and VND 5,000,000, if the land area used for unlawful purpose is between 0.5 hectare and under 3 hectares;

c/ Between over VND 5,000,000 and VND 10,000,000, if the land area used for unlawful purpose is 3 hectares or more.

3. Remedial measures:

a/ Forcible restoration of the original state of land, for the violations prescribed in Clauses 1 and 2 of this Article;

b/ Forcible refund of illicit profits earned through the commission of the violations prescribed in Clauses 1 and 2 of this Article.

Article9.Use of non-agricultural land for other purposes within the group of non-agricultural land without permission of competent state agencies

1. Acts of arbitrarily using non-agricultural land other than residential land as residential land without permission of competent state agencies shall be fined as follows:

a/ Between over VND 2,000,000 and VND 5,000,000, if the value of the rights to use the violated land area is at level 1;

b/ Between over VND 5,000,000 and VND 10,000,000, if the value of the rights to use the violated land area is at level 2;

c/ Between over VND 10,000,000 and VND 20,000,000, if the value of the rights to use the violated land area is at level 3;

d/ Between over VND 20,000,000 and VND 50,000,000, if the value of the rights to use the violated land area is at level 4.

2. Acts of arbitrarily using land for non-business work construction, land for public purposes involving commercial purpose, or land for non-agricultural production and business other than land for trading and services as land for trading and services; or using land for trading and services, or land for non-business work construction as residential land or land for non-agricultural production establishments without permission of competent state agencies shall be fined as follows:

a/ Between VND 5,000,000 and VND 10,000,000, if the value of the rights to use the violated land area is at level 1;

b/ Between over VND 10,000,000 and VND 20,000,000, if the value of the rights to use the violated land area is at level 2;

c/ Between over VND 20,000,000 and VND 50,000,000, if the value of the rights to use the violated land area is at level 3;

d/ Between over VND 50,000,000 and VND 100,000,000, if the value of the rights to use the violated land area is at level 4.

3. Remedial measures:

a/ Forcible restoration of the original state of land, for the violations prescribed in Clauses 1 and 2 of this Article;

b/ Forcible refund of illicit profits earned through the commission of the violations prescribed in Clauses 1 and 2 of this Article.

Article10.Land encroachment or appropriation

1. A fine of between VND 1,000,000 and VND 3,000,000 shall be imposed for acts of encroaching or appropriating agricultural land other than land for rice cultivation, special-use forests, protection forests and production forests.

2. A fine of between VND 3,000,000 and VND 5,000,000 shall be imposed for acts of encroaching or appropriating land for rice cultivation, special-use forests, protection forests or production forests or non-agricultural land other than residential land, except the case prescribed in Clause 4 of this Article.

3. A fine of between VND 5,000,000 and VND 10,000,000 shall be imposed for acts of encroaching or appropriating residential land.

4. Acts of encroaching or appropriating land within the safety protection corridors of works shall be sanctioned in the forms and at the levels prescribed in the Decrees on sanctioning of administrative violations in construction activities; real estate business; exploitation, production and trading of building materials; management of technical infrastructure facilities; management and development of housing and public offices; road and rail transport; culture, sports, tourism and advertising; exploitation and protection of irrigation works; dykes; and flood and storm prevention and control; and in other specialized fields.

5. Remedial measures:

a/ Forcible restoration of the original state of land, for the violations prescribed in Clauses 1, 2 and 3 of this Article;

b/ Forcible return of encroached or appropriated land, for the violations prescribed in Clauses 1, 2 and 3 of this Article.

Article 11.Obstructing others’ land use

1. Caution or a fine of between VND 500,000 and VND 1,000,000 in rural areas or between VND 2,000,000 and VND 5,000,000 in urban areas, shall be imposed for acts of discharging wastes, hazardous substances, construction materials or other articles on one’s land parcel or others’, obstructing others’ land use.

2. A fine of between VND 2,000,000 and VND 10,000,000 in rural areas or between VND 5,000,000 and VND 30,000,000 in urban areas shall be imposed for acts of digging land or building walls or fences, obstructing or damaging others’ land use.

3. Remedial measures:

a/ Confiscation of material evidences and means used for commission of the violations prescribed in Clauses 1 and 2 of this Article;

b/ Forcible restoration of the original state of land, for the violations prescribed in Clauses 1 and 2 of this Article.

Article12.Failure to make land registration

1. Caution or a fine of between VND 500,000 and VND 1,000,000 shall be imposed for acts of failing to make first-time land registration.

2. A fine of between VND 2,000,000 and VND 5,000,000 shall be imposed for failing to register changes subject to registration prescribed at Points a, b, h, i, k and l, Clause 4, Article 95 of the Land Law.

Article13.Arbitrary transfer of land use rights without satisfying the conditions prescribed in Article 188 of the Land Law

1. A fine of between VND 3,000,000 and VND 5,000,000 shall be imposed for acts of arbitrarily transferring, donating, leasing, subleasing, mortgaging or contributing as capital land use rights when having no land use rights certificate or for land under dispute, distrained land for judgment enforcement, or land whose use duration has expired and is not extended by competent state agencies.

2. Remedial measure:

Forcible refund of illicit profits earned through the commission of the violations prescribed in Clause 1 of this Article.

Article14.Arbitrary transfer of the rights to use agricultural land without satisfying prescribed conditions

1. Caution or a fine of between VND 500,000 and VND 1,000,000 shall be imposed for households or individuals arbitrarily transferring the rights to use agricultural land to other households or individuals in the same commune, ward or township without having a land use rights certificate or a land allocation decision, or for land under dispute, distrained land for judgment enforcement, or land whose use duration has expired and is not extended by competent state agencies.

2. Caution or a fine of between VND 500,000 and VND 1,000,000 shall be imposed for households or individuals arbitrarily transferring the rights to use agricultural land to other households or individuals not in the same commune, ward or township.

3. Remedial measure:

Forcible refund of the transferred land area, for the violations prescribed in Clauses 1 and 2 of this Article.

Article15.Arbitrary transfer of the rights to use land parcels divided and sold under investment projects on commercial housing construction

1. Acts of arbitrarily transferring the rights to use land parcels divided and sold under investment projects on commercial housing construction for sale or for combined sale and lease without permission of provincial-level People’s Committees shall be fined as follows:

a/ Between VND 20,000,000 and VND 50,000,000, for projects with a land area of under 1 hectare;

b/ Between over VND 50,000,000 and VND 100,000,000, for projects with a land area of between 1 hectare and under 3 hectares;

c/ Between over VND 100,000,000 and VND 150,000,000, for projects with a land area of between 3 hectares and under 5 hectares;

d/ Between over VND 150,000,000 and VND 200,000,000, for projects with a land area of 5 hectares or more.

2. Remedial measure:

Forcible refund of illicit profits earned through the commission of the violations prescribed in Clause 1 of this Article.

Article16.Arbitrary transfer of the rights to use land attached to the transfer of part or whole of commercial housing construction investment projects without fully satisfying prescribed conditions

1. Acts of arbitrarily transferring the rights to use land attached to transfer of part or whole of commercial housing construction investment projects without having a land use rights certificate, or for land under dispute, distrained land for judgment enforcement, or land whose use duration has expired and is not extended by competent state agencies, or without fulfilling land-related financial obligations, shall be fined as follows:

a/ Between VND 30,000,000 and VND 60,000,000, for projects with a land area of under 1 hectare;

b/ Between over VND 60,000,000 and VND 150,000,000, for projects with a land area of between 1 hectare and under 3 hectares;

c/ Between over VND 150,000,000 and VND 200,000,000, for projects with a land area of between 3 hectares and under 5 hectares;

d/ Between over VND 200,000,000 and VND 300,000,000, for projects with a land area of 5 hectares or more.

2. A fine of between VND 10,000,000 and VND 20,000,000 shall be imposed for acts of arbitrarily acquiring the rights to use land attached to the transfer of part or whole of commercial housing construction investment projects without having relevant business lines, making escrow as prescribed by the investment law, or being financially incapable as prescribed in Clause 2, Article 14 of Decree No. 43/2014/ND-CP, or without violating the land law for cases of currently using land allocated or leased by the State for implementation of other investment projects.

3. Remedial measures:

a/ Forcible refund of illicit profits earned through the commission of the violations prescribed in Clauses 1 and 2 of this Article;

b/ Forcible refund of the acquired land area from the commission of the violations prescribed in Clauses 1 and 2 of this Article.

Article17.Arbitrary transfer of the rights to use land attached to the transfer of part or whole of investment projects building infrastructure for transfer or lease without fully satisfying prescribed conditions

1. Acts of arbitrarily transferring the rights to use land attached to part or whole of investment projects building infrastructure for transfer or lease without having a land use rights certificate, or for land under dispute, distrained land for judgment enforcement, land whose use duration has expired and is not extended by competent state agencies, or land on which technical infrastructure facilities have not been completely built in accordance with the schedules stated in approved projects, shall be fined as follows:

a/ Between VND 30,000,000 and VND 60,000,000, for projects with a land area of under 1 hectare;

b/ Between over VND 60,000,000 and VND 150,000,000, for projects with a land area of between 1 hectare and under 3 hectares;

c/ Between over VND 150,000,000 and VND 200,000,000, for projects with a land area of between 3 hectares and under 5 hectares;

d/ Between over VND 200,000,000 and VND 300,000,000, for projects with a land area of 5 hectares or more.

2. Remedial measure:

Forcible refund of illicit profits earned through the commission of the violations prescribed in Clause 1 of this Article.

Article18.Arbitrary sale or purchase of assets attached to land leased by the State with annual rental payment without fully satisfying prescribed conditions

1. A fine of between VND 10,000,000 and VND 20,000,000 shall be imposed for acts of arbitrarily selling assets attached to land leased by the State with annual rental payment when such assets are created unlawfully or the construction has not been completed according to the detailed construction planning and approved investment projects.

2. A fine of between VND 1,000,000 and VND 5,000,000 shall be imposed for acts of arbitrarily purchasing assets attached to land leased by the State with annual rental payment when purchasers of such assets have business lines irrelevant to investment projects, or are financially incapable to implement investment projects, or violate the land law for cases of having been previously allocated or leased land by the State for project implementation.

3. Remedial measure:

Forcible refund of illicit profits earned through the commission of the violations prescribed in Clause 1 of this Article.

Article19.Arbitrary lease of assets attached to land leased by the State with annual rental payment

1. A fine of between VND 10,000,000 and VND 20,000,000 shall be imposed for economic organizations or public non-business organizations arbitrarily leasing assets attached to land leased by the State with annual rental payment.

2. Remedial measure:

Forcible refund of illicit profits earned through the commission of the violations prescribed in Clause 1 of this Article.

Article20.Households’ or individuals’ arbitrary transfer or donation of conditional land use rights without fully satisfying prescribed conditions

1. Caution or a fine of VND 500,000 and VND 1,000,000 shall be imposed for households or individuals committing the following violations:

a/ Households or individuals that are living in strictly protected zones or ecological rehabilitation zones of special-use forests but do not have conditions to relocate from these zones arbitrarily transfer or donate to households or individuals living outside these zones the rights to use residential land or forest land used concurrently for agricultural or forestry production or aquaculture;

b/ Households or individuals that are allocated by the State residential land or land for agricultural production in protection forest areas and arbitrarily transfer or donate the rights to use residential land or land for agricultural production to households or individuals living outside these protection forest areas;

c/ Ethnic minority households or individuals that use land allocated by the State under the State’s support policy and arbitrarily transfer or donate the land use rights 10 years before the effective date of the land allocation decision or 10 years after the effective date of the land allocation decision without obtaining the commune-level People’s Committee’s certification of no longer having the need to use land due to relocation from the commune, ward or township of residence to another place, shifting to other jobs or no longer having working capacity.

2. Remedial measures:

a/ Forcible refund of illicit profits earned through the commission of the violations prescribed in Clause 1 of this Article;

b/ Forcible return of the acquired or donated land area due to the commission of the violations prescribed in Clause 1 of this Article.

Article21.Arbitrary receipt of conditional land use rights transferred or donated without fully satisfying prescribed conditions

1. A fine of VND 1,000,000 and 2,000,000 shall be imposed for households or individuals living outside protection or special-use forest areas that arbitrarily receive the transfer or donation of the rights to use residential land or agricultural land in protection forest areas, or strictly protected zones or ecological rehabilitation zones of special-use forests.

2. A fine of between VND 2,000,000 and VND 5,000,000 shall be imposed for households or individuals that are not directly engaged in agricultural production but arbitrarily receive the transfer or donation of the rights to use land for rice cultivation.

3. A fine of between VND 30,000,000 and VND 50,000,000 shall be imposed for organizations that arbitrarily receive the transfer of the rights to use land for rice cultivation or protection or special-use forest land of households or individuals, except cases eligible to change land use purposes under land use master plans or plans approved by competent state agencies.

4. Remedial measure:

Forcible return of the transferred land area from the commission of the violations prescribed in Clauses 1, 2 and 3 of this Article.

Article 22.Arbitrary transfer and receipt of land use rights by religious institutions

1. A fine of VND 1,000,000 and VND 2,000,000 shall be imposed on religious institutions that arbitrarily convert, transfer, lease or donate their land use rights; or mortgage or contribute as capital their land use rights.

2. Caution or a fine of between VND 500,000 and VND 1,000,000 shall be imposed on religious institutions that arbitrarily receive the conversion, transfer, lease or donation of land use rights; or the mortgage of or capital contribution with land use rights.

3. Remedial measures:

a/ Forcible refund of illicit profits earned through the commission of the violations prescribed in Clause 1 of this Article;

b/ Forcible return of the land area whose use rights have been transferred or received due to the commission of the violations prescribed in Clauses 1 and 2 of this Article.

Article23.Arbitrary receipt of the rights to use agricultural land transferred, contributed as capital or leased for implementation of non-agricultural production and business investment projects without fully satisfying prescribed conditions

1. A fine of between VND 10,000,000 and VND 20,000,000 shall be imposed for acts of arbitrarily receiving the rights to use agricultural land transferred or contributed as capital for implementation of non-agricultural production and business investment projects without obtaining written approval of competent state agencies.

2. A fine of between VND 10,000,000 and VND 20,000,000 shall be imposed for acts of arbitrarily receiving the rights to use agricultural land transferred or contributed as capital for implementation of non-agricultural production and business investment projects while the purposes for using the received land area transferred, contributed as capital or leased do not conform with land use master plans or plans approved by competent state agencies.

3. A fine of between VND 10,000,000 and VND 20,000,000 shall be imposed for acts of arbitrarily receiving the rights to use rice cultivation land transferred, contributed as capital or leased for implementation of investment projects on non-agricultural production and business activities without paying an amount under the Government’s regulations on management and use of rice cultivation land.

4. Remedial measure:

Forcible return of the acquired land area due to the commission of the violations prescribed in Clauses 1, 2 and 3 of this Article.

Article 24.Arbitrary acquisition of agricultural land use rights of households or individuals in excess of the quotas for acquisition

1. Acts of arbitrary acquisition of agricultural land use rights in excess of the quotas for acquisition prescribed in the land law shall be sanctioned in the following forms and at the following levels:

a/ Caution or a fine of between VND 500,000 and VND 1,000,000 shall be imposed, if the value of acquired land use rights exceeds the level-1 quota;

b/ A fine of between over VND 1,000,000 and VND 2,000,000 shall be imposed, if the value of acquired land use rights exceeds the level-2 quota;

c/ A fine of between over VND 2,000,000 and VND 5,000,000 shall be imposed, if the value of transferred land use rights exceeds the level-3 quota;

d/ A fine of between over VND 5,000,000 and VND 10,000,000 shall be imposed, if the value of transferred land use rights exceeds the level-4 quota.

2. Remedial measure:

Forcible return of the acquired land area in excess of the quota due to the commission of the violations prescribed in Clause 1 of this Article.

Article 25.Arbitrary acquisition of land use rights against Article 169 of the Land Law

1. A fine of between VND 1,000,000 and VND 5,000,000 shall be imposed on overseas Vietnamese who are eligible to own houses in Vietnam and arbitrarily acquire residential land use rights outside housing development projects and have not yet built houses.

2. A fine of between VND 10,000,000 and VND 20,000,000 shall be imposed on foreign-invested enterprises that arbitrarily receive investment capital being the value of use rights of agricultural or forest land of enterprises that are currently using such land which is allocated by the State with land use levy or leased land with one-off rental payment for the entire lease period, which has been included in the capital of these enterprises.

3. Remedial measure:

Forcible return of the acquired land area due to the commission of the violations prescribed in Clauses 1 and 2 of this Article.

Article 26.Delay in carrying out the procedures for grant of certificates to persons who purchase houses or are transferred residential land use rights

Organizations that are allocated land by the State for building houses for sale and undertake to carry out the procedures for grant of certificates to persons who purchase houses or are transferred residential land use rights, but delay the carrying out of such procedures, counting from the date of handover of houses or residential land, shall be fined as follows:

1. Delay for between 3 months and 6 months:

a/ A fine of between VND 10,000,000 and VND 30,000,000 shall be imposed, if delaying the carrying out of the procedures for under 30 households and individuals;

b/ A fine of between over VND 30,000,000 and VND 50,000,000 shall be imposed, if delaying the carrying out of the procedures for between 30 households and individuals and under 100 households and individuals;

c/ A fine of between over VND 50,000,000 and VND 100,000,000 shall be imposed, if delaying the carrying out of the procedures for 100 households and individuals or more.

2. Delay for between over 6 months and 9 months:

a/ A fine of between over VND 30,000,000 and VND 50,000,000 shall be imposed, if delaying the carrying out of the procedures for under 30 households and individuals;

b/ A fine of between over VND 50,000,000 and VND 100,000,000 shall be imposed, if delaying the carrying out of the procedures for between 30 households and individuals and under 100 households and individuals;

c/ A fine of between over VND 100,000,000 and VND 300,000,000 shall be imposed, if delaying the carrying out of the procedures for 100 households and individuals or more.

3. Delay for between over 9 months and 12 months:

a/ A fine of between over VND 50,000,000 and VND 100,000,000 shall be imposed, if delaying the carrying out of the procedures for under 30 households and individuals;

b/ A fine of between over VND 100,000,000 and VND 300,000,000 shall be imposed, if delaying the carrying out of the procedures for between 30 households and individuals and under 100 households and individuals;

c/ A fine of between over VND 300,000,000 and VND 500,000,000 shall be imposed, if delaying the carrying out of the procedures for 100 households and individuals or more.

4. Delay for over 12 months:

a/ A fine of between over VND 100,000,000 and VND 300,000,000 shall be imposed, if delaying the carrying out of the procedures for under 30 households and individuals;

b/ A fine of between over VND 300,000,000 and VND 500,000,000 shall be imposed, if delaying the carrying out of the procedures for between 30 households and individuals and under 100 households and individuals;

c/ A fine of between over VND 500,000,000 and VND 1,000,000,000 shall be imposed, if delaying the carrying out of the procedures for 100 households and individuals or more.

Article 27.Violations of regulations on management of land use boundaries or administrative boundary landmarks

1. A fine of between VND 1,000,000 and VND 5,000,000 shall be imposed for acts of removing or incorrectly making land use boundaries or administrative boundary landmarks.

2. A fine of between VND 2,000,000 and VND 10,000,000 shall be imposed for acts of damaging land use boundaries or administrative boundary landmarks.

3. Additional sanction:

Confiscation of material evidences and means used in the administrative violations, for the acts specified in Clauses 1 and 2 of this Article.

4. Remedial measure:

Forcible restoration of the original state of land use boundaries or administrative boundary landmarks, for the acts specified in Clauses 1 and 2 of this Article.

Article 28.Violations of regulations on papers and documents related to land use

1. A fine of between VND 1,000,000 and VND 3,000,000 shall be imposed for acts of erasing, modifying or falsifying the contents of papers and documents related to land use which do not fall in the cases specified in Clauses 2 and 3 of this Article.

2. A fine of between VND 4,000,000 and VND 10,000,000 shall be imposed for acts of erasing, modifying or falsifying the contents of papers and documents related to land use which result in the improper grant of certificates and improper exchange, transfer, lease, inheritance, donation, mortgage or contribution of land use rights as capital but are not serious enough for penal liability examination.

3. A fine of between over VND 10,000,000 and VND 30,000,000 shall be imposed for acts of using forged papers in dossiers of request for land allocation, land lease, land use purpose change, land recovery or grant of certificates which are not serious enough for penal liability examination.

4. Remedial measures:

a/ Forcible carrying out of procedures for correction of certificates, for the violations prescribed in Clause 2 of this Article;

b/ Forcible destruction of forged papers, for the violations prescribed in Clause 3 of this Article.

Article 29.Violations of regulations on provision of information relating to the inspection, examination or evidence collection for settlement of land-related disputes by people’s courts

1. Caution or a fine of between VND 500,000 and VND 1,000,000 shall be imposed for acts of delaying the provision of information, papers and documents related to land inspection or examination for 7 days from the date of announcement of the inspection decision or as requested in writing by the agency or person with inspection, examination or evidence collection competence for settlement of land-related disputes by people’s courts.

2. A fine of between over VND 1,000,000 and VND 2,000,000 shall be imposed for acts of providing inaccurate and insufficient information on land by responsible persons involved in the inspection, examination or evidence collection for settlement of land-related disputes by people’s courts.

3. A fine of between over VND 2,000,000 and VND 3,000,000 shall be imposed for acts of failing to provide information, papers and documents related to the inspection, examination or evidence collection for settlement of land-related disputes by people’s courts.

Article 30.Violations of land-related service activity conditions

1. Organizations that violate the prescribed conditions for providing counseling on land price determination shall be fined as follows:

a/ A fine of between VND 5,000,000 and VND 10,000,000 shall be imposed on organizations that provide counseling on land price determination but have no function of land price counseling or price appraisal or real estate valuation counseling;

b/ A fine of between over VND 5,000,000 and VND 10,000,000 shall be imposed on organizations that provide counseling on land price determination but have fewer than 3 valuators eligible to practice counseling on land price determination as prescribed in Clause 2, Article 20 of the Government’s Decree No. 44/2014/ND-CP of May 15, 2014, on land prices (below referred to as Decree No. 44/2014/ND-CP);

c/ A fine of between over VND 10,000,000 and VND 20,000,000 shall be imposed on organizations that provide counseling on land price determination but have no function of land price counseling or price appraisal or real estate valuation counseling and have fewer than 3 valuators eligible to practice counseling on land price determination as prescribed in Clause 2, Article 20 of Decree No. 44/2014/ND-CP.

2. Organizations that violate the prescribed conditions for providing counseling on formulation of land use master plans or plans shall be fined as follows:

a/ A fine of between VND 5,000,000 and VND 10,000,000 shall be imposed on organizations that have no function of providing counseling on formulation of land use master plans or plans but still provide such counseling;

b/ A fine of between VND 5,000,000 and VND 10,000,000 shall be imposed on organizations that provide counseling on formulation of land use master plans or plans but have fewer than 5 individuals practicing counseling on the formulation of land use master plans or plans as prescribed in Clause 2, Article 10 of Decree No. 43/2014/ND-CP;

c/ A fine of between over VND 10,000,000 and VND 20,000,000 shall be imposed on organizations that provide counseling on formulation of land use master plans or plans but have no function of providing counseling on formulation of land use master plans or plans and have fewer than 5 individuals practicing counseling on the formulation of land use master plans or plans as prescribed in Clause 2, Article 10 of Decree No. 43/2014/ND-CP.

3. Organizations that provide counseling services in other land-related fields such as land investigation and assessment; land reclamation; survey, making of cadastral maps or cadastral records, development of land-related databases or compilation of dossiers for grant of certificates; auction of land use rights, or compensation, support and resettlement, and violate the conditions on provision of counseling on land-related services shall be fined as follows:

a/ A fine of between VND 5,000,000 and VND 10,000,000 shall be imposed on organizations that fail to satisfy 1 condition prescribed by law for providing counseling;

b/ A fine of between over VND 10,000,000 and VND 20,000,000 shall be imposed on organizations that fail to satisfy 2 or more conditions prescribed by law for providing counseling.

4. Additional sanctions:

a/ Deprivation of operation licenses for between 6 months and 9 months, for organizations that possess operation licenses;

b/ Suspension from operation for between 9 months and 12 months, for organizations that possess no operation licenses.

Chapter III

COMPETENCE TO SANCTION ADMINISTRATIVE VIOLATIONS

Article 31.Competence of chairpersons of People’s Committees at all levels to sanction administrative violations

1. Chairpersons of commune-level People’s Committees may:

a/ Impose caution;

b/ Impose fines of up to VND 5,000,000;

c/ Confiscate material evidences and means used for commission of administrative violations, with a value not exceeding the level specified at Point b of this Clause;

d/ Apply remedial measures:

Force the restoration of the original state of land; and confiscate illicit profits earned through the commission of the violations.

2. Chairpersons of People’s Committees of rural districts may:

a/ Impose caution;

b/ Impose fines of up to VND 50,000,000;

c/ Deprive of licenses or practice certificates or suspend operation for a definite term;

d/ Confiscate material evidences and means used for commission of administrative violations, with a value not exceeding the level specified at Point b of this Clause;

dd/ Apply remedial measures:

Force the restoration of the original state of land; confiscate illicit profits earned through the commission of the violations; force the return of encroached or appropriated land; force the carrying out of the procedures for correcting certificates with modified, erased or falsified contents; force the invalidation of forged papers related to land use; and force the return of the land areas acquired from violations.

3. Chairpersons of provincial-level People’s Committees may:

a/ Impose caution;

b/ Impose fines of up to VND 500,000,000;

c/ Deprive of licenses or practice certificates or suspend operation for a definite term;

d/ Confiscate material evidences and means used for commission of administrative violations;

dd/ Apply remedial measures:

Force the restoration of the original state of land; confiscate illicit profits earned through the commission of the violations; force the return of encroached or appropriated land; force the carrying out of the procedures for correcting certificates with modified, erased or falsified contents; force the invalidation of forged papers related to land use; and force the return of the land areas acquired from violations.

Article 32.Competence of land-specialized inspectorates

1. On-duty inspectors or persons assigned to perform the specialized inspection tasks may:

a/ Impose caution;

b/ Impose fines of up to VND 500,000;

c/ Confiscate material evidences and means used for commission of administrative violations, with a value not exceeding the level specified at Point b of this Clause;

d/ Apply remedial measures:

Force the restoration of the original state of land, and confiscate illicit profits earned through the commission of the violations.

2. Chief inspectors and heads of specialized inspection teams which are formed under inspection decisions of the General Director of Land Administration, and directors or chief inspectors of provincial-level Natural Resources and Environment Departments may:

a/ Impose caution;

b/ Impose fines of up to VND 50,000,000;

c/ Deprive of licenses or practice certificates or suspend operation for a definite term;

d/ Confiscate material evidences and means used for commission of administrative violations, with a value not exceeding the level specified at Point b of this Clause;

dd/ Apply remedial measures:

Force the restoration of the original state of land; confiscate illicit profits earned through the commission of the violations; force the return of encroached or appropriated land; force the carrying out of the procedures for correcting certificates with modified, erased or falsified contents; force the invalidation of forged papers related to land use; and force the return of the land areas acquired from violations.

3. Heads of ministerial-level specialized inspection teams may:

a/ Impose caution;

b/ Impose fines of up to VND 250,000,000;

c/ Deprive of licenses or practice certificates or suspend operation for a definite term;

d/ Confiscate material evidences and means used for commission of administrative violations, with a value not exceeding the level specified at Point b of this Clause;

dd/ Apply remedial measures:

Force the restoration of the original state of land; confiscate illicit profits earned through the commission of the violations; force the return of encroached or appropriated land; force the carrying out of the procedures for correcting certificates with modified, erased or falsified contents; force the invalidation of forged papers related to land use; and force the return of the land areas acquired from violations.

4. The Chief Inspector of the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment, and the General Director of Land Administration may:

a/ Impose caution;

b/ Impose fines of up to VND 500,000,000;

c/ Deprive of licenses or practice certificates or suspend operation for a definite term;

d/ Confiscate material evidences and means used for commission of administrative violations, with a value not exceeding the level specified at Point b of this Clause;

dd/ Apply remedial measures:

Force the restoration of the original state of land; confiscate illicit profits earned through the commission of the violations; force the return of encroached or appropriated land; force the carrying out of the procedures for correcting certificates with modified, erased or falsified contents; force the invalidation of forged papers related to land use; and force the return of the land areas acquired from violations.

Article 33.Competence of other agencies to sanction administrative violations

In addition to those competent to sanction administrative violations prescribed in this Decree, persons of other agencies competent to sanction administrative violations under Clause 3, Article 52 of the Law on Handling of Administrative Violations, when detecting acts of administrative violation, may, within the ambit of their assigned functions and tasks, impose sanctions in the management fields or geographical areas as prescribed in this Decree.

Article 34.Written records and competence to make written records of administrative violations

1. Written records of administrative violations in the land management field shall be made according to Article 58 of the Law on Handling of Administrative Violations and the Government’s Decree No. 81/2013/ND-CP of July 19, 2013, detailing a number of articles of and measures to implement the Law on Handling of Administrative Violations.

2. Persons competent to make written records include:

a/ Persons competent to sanction administrative violations in the field of land as prescribed in Articles 31, 32 and 33 of this Decree;

b/ On-duty civil servants and public employees of agencies prescribed in Articles 31, 32, and 33 of this Decree.

Article 35.Responsibilities of persons competent to sanction administrative violations in case of suspension or termination of the provision of land-related services

When handling administrative violations which fall into the cases prescribed in Article 30 of this Decree, persons competent to sanction administrative violations shall notify them to the agencies which have granted licenses orpractice registration certificates for coordination in the handling in accordance with law.

Chapter IV

IMPLEMENTATION PROVISIONS

Article 36.Transitional provisions

1. For acts of administrative violation in the field of land which are committed before, but are detected after, or are being considered and handled by, the effective date of this Decree, the Government’s Decree on sanctioning of administrative violations in the field of land which is effective at the time such acts of administrative violation are committed shall be applied. In case this Decree’s provisions on administrative violations are more advantageous to the violators, this Decree shall be applied.

2. For acts of administrative violation with their handling decisions having taken effect but not yet been implemented or fully implemented, such decisions shall be further implemented.

Article 37.Effect

1. This Decree takes effect on December 25, 2014.

2. This Decree replaces the Government’s Decree No. 105/2009/ND-CP of November, 11, 2009, on the sanctioning of administrative violations in the field of land, and replaces the provisions on the sanctioning of acts of encroachment and appropriation of land used for national defense purposes as prescribed in Article 29 of the Government’s Decree No. 120/2013/ND-CP of October 9, 2013, on the sanctioning of administrative violations in the fields of national defense and cipher.

Article 38.Organization of implementation and implementation responsibility

1. The Minister of Natural Resources and Environment shall organize the implementation of this Decree.

2, Ministers, heads of ministerial-level agencies, heads of government-attached agencies, chairpersons of provincial-level People’s Committees, and related organizations and individuals shall implement this Decree.-

On behalf of the Government
Prime Minister
NGUYEN TAN DUNG