National Assembly Delegates of Nghe An discuss the draft Land Law (amended)

Overview of the working session on the morning of November 14 at Dien Hong Hall, National Assembly House. Photo: Quochoi.vn

There should be no limit on the transfer of agricultural land use rights.

Discussing the draft Land Law (amended), Mr. Tran Nhat Minh - full-time National Assembly member of Nghe An Delegation assessed: The limitation of the 2013 Land Law is that it has not clarified what is a "Socio-economic development project for national and public interests".

This draft Land Law (amended) has overcome the above shortcomings of the 2013 Land Law, but according to him, it still does not fully meet the orientation of Resolution No. 18-NQ/TW dated June 16, 2022 of the Central Executive Committee, which clearly stated: "More specific regulations on the authority, purpose, scope of land recovery, conditions, and specific criteria for the State to recover land for socio-economic development for national and public interests".

Mr. Tran Nhat Minh - Full-time National Assembly Delegate of Nghe An Delegation speaks at the discussion. Photo: Quang Khanh

The provisions in Article 86 of the draft Law compared to Article 62 of the Land Law have expanded the scope of land recovery, but are still unclear and separate in terms of the purpose when the State recovers land, and are easily applied subjectively and arbitrarily. In particular, the draft Law has not highlighted the criterion of "in cases of real necessity" as stipulated in the 2013 Constitution on this issue.

“This is a huge problem, causing difficulties, obstacles and limitations in land acquisition, compensation, site clearance, support and resettlement in the recent past. Therefore, in my opinion, it is necessary to clarify the conditions and criteria for socio-economic development projects for national and public interests to separate them from economic development projects with purely investor interests to avoid subjective, mechanical and widespread imposition when the State acquires land, leading to disagreement from people whose land is acquired; at the same time, to apply appropriate land acquisition, compensation, support and resettlement mechanisms,” said delegate Tran Nhat Minh.

Regarding projects subject to land acquisition for socio-economic development for national and public interests, Article 86 of the draft Law stipulates that projects include urban projects, rural residential projects, and commercial housing. According to delegates, it is necessary to clarify the criteria for land acquisition for urban and residential projects; because if there are no clear criteria for a satisfactory compensation plan, complaints will arise, affecting social security and order, and more importantly, the rights of those whose land is acquired will not be guaranteed.

Delegates from Nghe An and Tuyen Quang delegations discussed with leaders of the provincial People's Council attending the working session on the morning of November 14 at Dien Hong Hall, National Assembly House. Photo: Quang Khanh

Regarding the limit on agricultural land use, the draft Law stipulates the limit on receiving the transfer of agricultural land use rights of households and individuals: "not exceeding 15 times the limit on agricultural land allocation of households and individuals for each type of land specified in Clauses 1, 2 and 3, Article 180 of this Law". Compared to the 2013 Land Law, the limit on receiving the transfer of agricultural land use rights in this case is increased 5 times. Delegate Tran Nhat Minh requested the drafting agency to clearly state the scientific and practical basis for amending and increasing the limit, because according to him, this regulation is not suitable in the context of developing large-scale, concentrated commodity agricultural production, especially the implementation of production mechanization to improve labor productivity in agriculture, the regulation on the limit on receiving the transfer of agricultural land use rights is becoming an obstacle.

To solve the above problem, the delegate of Nghe An Delegation proposed to amend the regulations on agricultural land use limits in the direction of only regulating the agricultural land allocation limit, not regulating the limit for receiving the transfer of agricultural land use rights; associated with a strict management mechanism for the proper use of this type of land.

RESEARCH AND SUPPLEMENT REGULATIONS ON BENEFIT SHARING MECHANISM BETWEEN INVESTORS AND PEOPLE

Discussing the draft Law on Land (amended), Mr. Hoang Minh Hieu - Standing Member of the National Assembly's Law Committee recommended that the drafting agency should continue to research to simplify administrative procedures on land. In particular, there should be close coordination between the drafting committees of related laws, such as the Investment Law, Bidding Law, Housing Law to limit obstacles, ensure close connection between administrative procedures on land and other administrative procedures and importantly, the Government should be assigned to ensure uniform application nationwide.

Delegate of Nghe An Delegation also suggested that in this revision, the drafting agency should study and supplement regulations on the benefit sharing mechanism between investors and people in projects that have a major impact on people's living environment to create conditions for long-term livelihood recovery and development.

Mr. Hoang Minh Hieu - Standing Member of the National Assembly's Law Committee, National Assembly Delegate of Nghe An Delegation spoke at the discussion. Photo: Quang Khanh

“Benefit sharing is not only about direct support and compensation for damages, but also includes many other tools. For example, long-term sharing of profits from projects; applying preferential electricity prices; paying for environmental and ecological services; building community development funds… Or by measures to improve the income and living environment of affected people such as implementing medical and educational projects, supporting investments, and job conversion,” said delegate Hoang Minh Hieu.

Agreeing with the assessment that the Land Law (amended) is a very important law project, having a great impact on the socio-economic development of the country in the coming time. Therefore, to ensure the quality of the draft law, the delegate of the Nghe An delegation recommended that the drafting agency and the reviewing agency coordinate with relevant agencies, based on the discussion opinions of the National Assembly deputies, to identify major policy issues of the draft Law to focus on thematic research, for example on planning, land use planning, land allocation, land recovery, land finance, etc. On that basis, there are forms of thematic discussion, focusing on clarifying each content and each institution of the draft Law to have a basis for reporting to the National Assembly Standing Committee for comments on each content, and submitting to the National Assembly at the next sessions.

Also in this morning's working session, the National Assembly voted to pass the Law on Inspection (amended) and the Law on Petroleum (amended).