(Chinhphu.vn) According to the reflection of Mr. Nguyen The Anh (Dak Nong), on December 10, 2024, the competent authority made a record of violation against Ms. Le Thi N for the act of converting 103.8 m2 of agricultural land that is not rice land, not forestry land into residential land without permission from the competent state agency.

Ms. N's behavior has no aggravating or mitigating circumstances, so the proposed fine for the violation is VND 25,000,000 according to the provisions of Point a, Clause 4, Clause 5, Article 10 of Decree No. 123/2024/ND-CP; applying remedial measures according to Point a, Clause 4, Article 10 of Decree No. 123/2024/ND-CP is to force the restoration of the original state of the land before the violation, except for the case specified in Clause 3, Article 139 of the Land Law. However, when making a decision, the remedial measures stipulated in Clause 3, Article 139 of the 2024 Land Law are understood in many ways:

"Article 139. Settlement of cases where households and individuals using land violate land laws before July 1, 2014

… 3. In cases where households and individuals are using land due to encroachment or occupation that do not fall under the cases specified in Clauses 1 and 2 of this Article and in cases where the land is not used for the purpose for which the State has allocated land, leased land, or recognized land use rights, the following shall be handled:

a) In cases where the person is using the land stably, in accordance with the district-level land use planning or general planning or zoning planning or construction planning or rural planning, the person shall be considered for the issuance of a Certificate of land use rights, ownership of assets attached to the land and must fulfill financial obligations in accordance with the provisions of law;

b) In cases not covered by the provisions of Point a of this Clause, the person currently using the land may temporarily use it until the State reclaims the land, but must maintain the current land use status and must declare and register the land according to regulations. … 6. The Government shall detail this Article".

Case 1: It is understood that the act of a household or individual arbitrarily changing the purpose before July 1, 2014, until now, has only been discovered that the household or individual has arbitrarily changed the land use purpose. In 2024, a record of administrative violations will be drawn up and a decision will be made to impose a penalty and the violator will be required to fulfill financial obligations to change the land use purpose if it is consistent with the current land use planning and plan in the locality in 2024.

Case 2: It is understood that the act of a household or individual arbitrarily changing the purpose after July 1, 2014, until now, has only been discovered that the household or individual has arbitrarily changed the land use purpose. In 2024, a record of administrative violations will be made and a decision will be made to impose a penalty, forcing the violator to restore the original state.

Case 3: It is understood that the act of arbitrarily changing even though before or after July 1, 2014 for households and individuals using land before July 1, 2014. In 2024, a record of administrative violations will be drawn up and a decision on penalties will be issued, and the violator will be allowed to fulfill financial obligations to convert the land use purpose if it is consistent with the current local land use planning and plan in 2024.

Mr. The Anh asked, in which case should Article 139 be understood? There is currently no detailed document.

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

Clause 4, Article 10 of Decree No. 123/2024/ND-CP dated October 4, 2024 of the Government on administrative sanctions for violations in the land sector stipulates remedial measures for the act of using agricultural land that is not rice land or forestry land to non-agricultural land without permission from a competent State agency

"4. Remedial measures:

a) Force the restoration of the original state of the land before the violation, except for the case specified in Clause 3, Article 139 of the Land Law;

b) Force the return of illegal profits gained from committing the violation".

Clause 3, Article 139 of the Land Law stipulates:

"3. In cases where households and individuals are using land due to encroachment or occupation that do not fall under the cases specified in Clauses 1 and 2 of this Article and in cases where the land is not used for the purposes for which the State has allocated land, leased land, or recognized land use rights, the following shall be handled:

a) In cases where the person is using the land stably, in accordance with the district-level land use planning or general planning or zoning planning or construction planning or rural planning, the person shall be considered for granting a Certificate of land use rights and ownership of assets attached to the land and shall fulfill financial obligations in accordance with the provisions of law;

b) In cases not specified in Point a of this Clause, the person currently using the land shall be allowed to temporarily use the land until the State recovers the land, but must maintain the current land use status and must declare and register the land according to regulations".

Based on the above provisions, the remedial measures for the case of using agricultural land that is not rice land or forestry land to non-agricultural land without permission from the competent State agency before July 1, 2014 shall not apply the remedial measures of forcing the restoration of the original state of the land, but the measure of forcing the payment of illegal profits gained from committing the violation shall be applied. In case of violations committed after July 1, 2014, the remedial measures of forcing the restoration of the original state of the land and forcing the payment of illegal profits gained from committing the violation shall be applied.