Specifically, Mr. Duc wanted to know when to apply Article 106 of the 2013 Land Law and when to apply Article 203 of the 2013 Land Law.

According to the cadastral records, Mr. A has a separate land use area of 122 square meters, as stated in his Land Use Rights Certificate. He is currently using this area for the intended purpose. When Mr. B, a neighboring household, filed a complaint with the People's Committee, claiming that Mr. A's certificate encroached upon the shared pathway between their houses, the district People's Committee decided to revoke Mr. A's certificate and adjust it based on Mr. B's certificate, as it was issued earlier.

So, is there any law that prioritizes the Land Use Rights Certificate issued earlier when there is a dispute regarding an encroached pathway?

The district People's Committee applied Article 106 of the 2013 Land Law for the revocation and adjustment process. However, Mr. Duc argued that in this case, Article 203 of the 2013 Land Law should be applied, as only the People's Court has sufficient jurisdiction to resolve disputes over encroached pathways when both parties possess Land Use Rights Certificates issued by competent local authorities.

Mr. Duc requested the relevant authorities to provide an explanation to ensure that citizens have a clear understanding of the legal procedures.

The Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment responded to this issue as follows:

According to Point d, Clause 2, Article 106 of the Land Law:

"Article 106. Rectification and revocation of granted certificates

... 2. The state shall revoke granted certificates in the following cases:

d) The granted certificate was not within the jurisdiction, was not granted to the correct land user, was not issued for the correct land area, did not meet the conditions for issuance, was not used for the intended purpose or the time frame specified by the land law, except for cases where the recipient of the certificate has transferred the land use rights, ownership rights to assets attached to the land, as prescribed by the land law."

Point c, Clause 4, Article 87 of Decree No. 43/2014/ND-CP (amended and supplemented by Clause 26, Article 1 of Decree No. 148/2020/ND-CP) states:

"4. The revocation of granted certificates that do not comply with the land law regulations at Point d, Clause 2, Article 106 of the Land Law shall be carried out as follows:

c) In case the state authority that is responsible for granting certificates of land use rights, ownership of houses and other assets attached to the land, as prescribed in Article 105 of the Land Law and Article 37 of this Decree, discovers that the granted certificate does not comply with the land law regulations, they shall conduct an examination, notify the land user of the reasons clearly and decide to revoke the granted certificate that does not comply with the regulations."

Therefore, the state authority responsible for granting certificates of land use rights, ownership of houses, and other assets attached to the land has the authority to decide on the revocation of certificates that do not comply with the regulations.

In the case of disputes over land use rights, the concerned party can submit a petition to the People's Court for resolution, as stipulated in Article 203 of the Land Law.