Decree 281/2026/ND-CP amend Decree 123/2024/ND-CP sanctioning administrative violations in the field of land

DECREE

Amending and supplementing a number of articles of the Government’s Decree 123/2024/ND-CP dated October 04, 2024, providing for the sanctioning of administrative violations in the field of land

Pursuant to the Law on Organization of the Government No. 63/2025/QH15;

Pursuant to the Law on Organization of Local Administration No. 72/2025/QH15;

Pursuant to Law on Handling of Administrative Violations No. 15/2012/QH13, amended and supplemented under Law No. 54/2014/QH13, Law No. 18/2017/QH14, Law No. 67/2020/QH14, Law No. 09/2022/QH15, Law No. 11/2022/QH15, Law No. 56/2024/QH15 and Law No. 88/2025/QH15;

Pursuant to Land Law No. 31/2024/QH13, amended and supplemented under Law No. 43/2024/QH15, Law No. 47/2024/QH15, Law No. 58/2024/QH15, Law No. 71/2025/QH15, Law No. 84/2025/QH15, Law No. 93/2025/QH15, Law No. 95/2025/QH15, Law No. 146/2025/QH15 and Law No. 147/2025/QH15;

Pursuant to the National Assembly's Resolution No. 254/2025/QH15 providing a number of mechanisms and policies to remove difficulties and obstacles in the organization of implementation of the Land Law;

At the proposal of Minister of Agriculture and Environment;

The Government hereby promulgates the Decree amending and supplementing a number of articles of the Government’s Decree No. 123/2024/ND-CP dated October 04, 2024, providing for the sanctioning of administrative violations in the field of land.

Article 1. To add Article 3a below Article 3

“Article 3a. Principles for determining acts of administrative violation in the field of land

1. For the sanctioning of administrative violations in the field of land in a special-zone administrative unit recognized as an urban center in accordance with law that performs the tasks and exercises the powers corresponding to those of the local administration of a ward, the sanctioning levels applicable to a ward-level administrative unit shall apply; for the sanctioning of administrative violations in the field of land in a special-zone administrative unit that performs the tasks and exercises the powers corresponding to those of the local administration of a commune, the sanctioning levels applicable to a commune-level administrative unit shall apply.

2. Where a wife and husband jointly hold land use rights, administrative sanctions shall be imposed as for a single individual.”.

Article 2. To amend and supplement Point b, Clause 2, and add Points p, q, r and s below Point o, Clause 3, Article 4

1. To amend and supplement Point b, Clause 2

“b) Suspension of consultancy service operations for 3 months.”.

2. To add Points p, q, r and s below Point o, Clause 3, Article 4

“p) Forcible restoration of the land to its original state before the violation;

q) Forcible restoration of administrative-unit boundary markers to their original state;

r) Forcible re-performance of land-related administrative procedures;

s) Forcible submission of papers that have been erased, altered or falsified in content, and of forged papers that have been used.”.

Article 3. To amend and supplement Clause 1, Article 6

“1. Illicit profits mean profits calculated in monetary terms that organizations and individuals committing acts of administrative violation in the field of land obtain from the use of land after the violations and must remit into the state budget.

Where an act of violation is jointly committed by multiple organizations or individuals on the same land parcel, the illicit profits to be remitted shall be divided equally among the violating organizations and individuals.

Where a violator has remitted amounts derived from the use of land in violation into the state budget, such remitted amounts shall be deducted from the illicit profits to be remitted into the state budget.”.

Article 4. To amend and supplement Clause 2, Article 16

“2. A fine of between VND 2,000,000 and VND 3,000,000 shall be imposed for failure to register land-related changes as prescribed at Points a, b, i, k, l, m and q, Clause 1, Article 133 of the Land Law, except for the acquisition of land use rights for implementing an investment project through an agreement on acquisition of land use rights as prescribed in Article 127 of the Land Law.”

Article 5. To amend and supplement Clause 5, Article 27

“5. Remedial measures:

a) Forcible re-performance of land-related administrative procedures as prescribed, for the cases specified in Clauses 1 and 2 of this Article;

b) Cancellation of the results of settlement of land-related administrative procedures, for the case specified in Clause 3 of this Article;

c) Forcible submission of papers that have been erased, altered or falsified in content, and of forged papers that have been used.”

Article 6. To amend and supplement a number of clauses of Article 30

1. To amend and supplement Clause 1

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

a) Impose warning;

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

c) Suspend consultancy service operations for 3 months;

d) Apply the remedial measures specified in Clause 3, Article 4 of this Decree.”

2. To amend and supplement Point d, Clause 3

“d) Suspend consultancy service operations for 3 months;”.

Article 7. To amend and supplement a number of clauses of Article 31

1. To amend and supplement the introductory paragraph of Clause 1

“1. Heads of specialized land inspection teams established by the Director of the Department of Land Administration; heads of inspection teams established by heads of organizations under the Ministry of Agriculture and Environment assigned to perform inspection tasks within the scope of the Ministry’s state management; and Directors of Departments of Agriculture and Environment may:”.

2. To amend and supplement Point b, Clause 1

“b) Impose fines of up to VND 400,000,000;”.

3. To amend and supplement the introductory paragraph of Clause 3

“3. Heads of specialized land inspection teams established by the Minister of Agriculture and Environment, Director of the Department of Land Administration; heads of organizations under the Ministry of Agriculture and Environment assigned to perform inspection tasks within the scope of the Ministry’s state management, may:”.

4. To amend Point d, Clause 1 and Point d, Clause 3

“d) Suspend consultancy service operations for 3 months;”.

5. To amend and supplement Clause 5

“5. Inspectorate title holders of the People’s Public Security Force specified in Article 7 of the Government’s Decree No. 189/2025/ND-CP dated July 01, 2025, detailing the Law on Handling of Administrative Violations regarding competence to sanction administrative violations, may sanction acts of administrative violation in the use of security land as prescribed in this Decree.

Public Security title holders specified in Article 8 of the Government’s Decree No. 189/2025/ND-CP dated July 01, 2025, detailing the Law on Handling of Administrative Violations regarding competence to sanction administrative violations, may, according to their competence, sanction the acts of administrative violation in the use of security land specified in Clauses 1 and 5, Article 12; Clauses 1, 4 and 6, Article 13; Article 15; Clause 3, Article 27; and Article 28 of Decree No. 123/2024/ND-CP.”.

Article 8. To amend Clause 1 and Point b, Clause 2, Article 32

1. To amend Clause 1

“1. Written records of administrative violations in the field of land shall be made in accordance with Article 58 of the Law on Handling of Administrative Violations (as amended and supplemented under Clause 29, Article 1 of Law No. 67/2020/QH14 and Clause 9, Article 1 of Law No. 88/2025/QH15); Article 12 of Decree No. 118/2021/ND-CP dated December 23, 2021, detailing a number of articles of, and measures to implement, the Law on Handling of Administrative Violations (as amended and supplemented under Decree No. 68/2025/ND-CP dated March 18, 2025, and Decree No. 190/2025/ND-CP dated July 01, 2025); and this Decree.”.

2. To amend Point b, Clause 2

“b) Heads and members of inspectorates; heads and members of specialized land inspection teams; heads and members of inspection teams established by heads of organizations under the Ministry of Agriculture and Environment assigned to perform inspection tasks within the scope of the Ministry’s state management; and civil servants and public employees performing official duties in the field of land.

Forest protection civil servants and public employees performing official duties may make written records of administrative violations involving forestry land. Members of the People’s Public Security force performing official duties may make written records of administrative violations in the field of land; members of the People’s Army force performing official duties may make written records of administrative violations of regulations on the management and use of national defense land;”.

Article 9. To add, replace and repeal a number of phrases, points and clauses of certain articles

1. To add the phrase “allocated by the State” after the phrase “land leased by the State with annual rental payment, land” in Clauses 1 and 2, Article 18; and the phrase “, inspectors” after the word “inspectorates” in the title of Article 31.

2. To replace the phrase “transferee” with the phrase “conveyee” at Point a, Clause 5, Article 5; the phrase “district-level” with the phrase “competent” in Clause 1 and Point a, Clause 3, Article 19; and the phrase “Natural Resources and Environment” with the phrase “Agriculture and Environment” in Clause 3, Article 33, and Clause 1, Article 36.

3. To remove the phrase “inspection and” at Point c, Clause 3, Article 3, and in Clauses 1, 2 and 3, Article 28; and the phrase “, township” in Clause 4, Article 8; Clause 4, Article 9; Clause 3, Article 10; Clause 5, Article 12; and Clause 6, Article 13.

4. To repeal Point a, Clause 2, and Point b, Clause 3, Article 4; Clause 4, Article 27; Clause 1, Point a, Clause 2, Clauses 3 and 4, and Points a, c and d, Clause 5, Article 29; Point c, Clause 1, Clause 2, and Point c, Clause 3, Article 30; and Point c, Clause 1, Clause 2, and Point c, Clause 3, Article 31.

Article 10. Effect

This Decree takes effect from August 31, 2026.

Article 11. Transitional provisions

1. For the acquisition of land use rights by transfer for implementation of an investment project through an agreement on acquisition of land use rights as prescribed in Article 127 of the Land Law, where a written record of the administrative violation of failing to register land-related changes was made before the effective date of this Decree but no decision on sanctioning of the administrative violation has been issued, no sanction shall be imposed. Where a decision on sanctioning of the administrative violation was issued during the period from January 31, 2026, to the effective date of this Decree but the violator has not executed such decision, that decision shall not be executed.

2. For acts of administrative violation in the field of land occurring before the effective date of this Decree, the provisions on sanctioning of administrative violations shall apply as follows:

a) Where a written record has been made and a sanctioning decision has been issued but the execution of such decision has not been completed, the issued decision shall continue to be executed;

b) Where a written record of an act of administrative violation has been made but no decision on sanctioning of the administrative violation has been issued, the act shall be handled as follows:

Where the statute of limitations for sanctioning administrative violations or the time limit for issuing a decision on sanctioning of an administrative violation prescribed at Point c, Clause 1, Article 65 of the Law on Handling of Administrative Violations has expired, no sanctioning decision shall be issued, but a decision on application of remedial measures, if any, must still be issued. Remedial measures shall be applied in accordance with the Decree on sanctioning of administrative violations in the field of land that was in force at the time the written record of the administrative violation was made. Where this Decree does not prescribe legal liability or prescribes less severe legal liability, this Decree shall apply.

Where the time limit for issuing a sanctioning decision has not expired, the sanctioning levels and remedial measures shall be applied in accordance with the Decree on sanctioning of administrative violations in the field of land that was in force at the time the written record of the administrative violation was made. Where this Decree does not prescribe legal liability or prescribes less severe legal liability, this Decree shall apply.

3. For decisions on sanctioning of administrative violations that were issued or fully executed before the effective date of this Decree but remain subject to complaints by sanctioned individuals or organizations, the Law on Handling of Administrative Violations, the Government’s Decree on sanctioning of administrative violations, and relevant legal documents that were in force at the time such decisions on sanctioning of administrative violations were issued shall apply.

Article 12. Implementation responsibilities

1. The Minister of Agriculture and Environment shall provide guidance on, and organize the implementation of, this Decree.

2. Ministers, heads of ministerial-level agencies, chairpersons of People’s Committees of provinces and centrally run cities, and related organizations and individuals shall implement this Decree.