Will land ownership certificates issued to the wrong land users be revoked?
Question: My family has been living on and using the land and house inherited from my parents for a long time. Now, we need a new land title certificate, but we've discovered that the government mistakenly issued a certificate for our land to someone else in 2002. What should I do to protect my rights? (Le Ha, Phong Nha Commune, Quang Tri Province)
Reply:Lawyer Nguyen Xuan Nghia from CENFIP Law Firm stated: Based on the information you provided, the issuance of a land use right certificate by the state agency to another person for the land area that your family has managed and used stably for a long time shows signs of errors regarding the beneficiary, directly infringing upon your family's legitimate rights and interests. To protect your rights, you can choose from the following options:
Option 1: You can file a complaint or initiate an administrative lawsuit requesting the state agency to revoke the illegally issued Land Use Right Certificate according to point d, clause 2, Article 152 of the 2024 Land Law: "2. The State shall revoke the issued Certificate in the following cases:… d) The issued Certificate was issued without proper authority, to the wrong land user, for the wrong land area, without meeting the conditions for issuance, for the wrong land use purpose or land use term or origin of land use as prescribed by land law at the time of issuance of the certificate."
Within the time limit prescribed by law from the moment you become aware of the illegal issuance of the land use right certificate, you have the right to file an initial complaint with the competent state agency to request the revocation of the land use right certificate that was issued to the wrong recipient.
If you disagree with the outcome of the complaint resolution, you have the right to file a lawsuit against the administrative decision with the competent People's Court to request the annulment of the illegally issued Land Use Right Certificate.
Option 2: Filing a civil lawsuit regarding land use rights disputes. If the issuance of the land use right certificate involves a dispute over ownership (the recipient claims the land belongs to them), you should choose the civil option. According to Clause 2, Article 235 of the 2024 Land Law: Before a competent state agency resolves a land dispute, the disputing parties must conduct mediation at the People's Committee of the commune where the disputed land is located (by submitting a request for mediation to the competent People's Committee of the commune), and the results must be recorded in a minutes report.
If mediation fails, you can file a civil lawsuit at the competent People's Court. In your lawsuit, you should state your request for the People's Court to resolve the matter as follows:
- Request the court to recognize your family's land use rights based on your long-term and stable land use history.
- Request the Court to annul the illegally issued Land Use Right Certificate (as stipulated in Clause 1, Article 34 of the 2015 Civil Procedure Code, when resolving a civil case, the Court has the right to annul illegal individual decisions of agencies, organizations, or authorized persons that infringe upon the legitimate rights and interests of the parties in the civil case that the Court is tasked with resolving).
