Decree No. 47/2014/ND-CP on Compensation, Support and Resettlement upon Land Recovery by the State

Identification and legal basis

Decree No. 47/2014/ND-CP on Compensation, Support and Resettlement upon Land Recovery by the State was issued by The Government on 15 May 2014. The Decree was issued on the proposal of the Minister of the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment and on the basis of the Law on Organization of the Government dated 25 December 2001 and the Land Law dated 29 November 2013 (Law No. 45/2013/QH13), for which it provides detailed implementation rules. According to its official publication, the Decree takes effect from 1 July 2014, concurrently with the 2013 Land Law, and replaces previous regulations on compensation, support and resettlement under the 2003 Land Law, including Decree No. 197/2004/ND-CP and related amending decrees.

Scope and subjects of application

The Decree details Articles 75 to 94 of the Land Law on compensation, Support upon land recovery by the State and resettlement. It applies to state agencies performing land management and land recovery functions, land users defined in Article 5 of the Land Law whose land is recovered, organizations and individuals involved in compensation, support and resettlement, and other related entities that have land recovered for national defense, security and socio-economic development purposes.

Compensation principles for land and attached assets

The Decree prescribes specific regimes for Land-related compensation and Remaining land investment cost (Articles 3 to 8), including agricultural land, non-agricultural land that is not residential land, residential land, land used by religious establishments and land used for communal public purposes. Compensation by land or by money is determined under Article 74 of the Land Law, with eligibility linked to issuance or eligibility for issuance of certificates under Articles 100, 101 and 102 of the Land Law and Decree No. 43/2014/ND-CP. It also provides for compensation for damage to House, construction works and other assets under Article 89 of the Land Law (Article 9), compensation for damage due to restricted land use under Article 94 (Article 10), compensation for relocation of graves (Article 18), and special cases such as land under joint use, land leased or contributed as capital, and land recovered for projects under Article 87 of the Land Law.

Support policies and resettlement arrangement

Support upon land recovery by the State is detailed in Articles 19 to 25, including support for stabilization of life and production (Article 19), support for training, career change and job seeking upon recovery of agricultural land (Articles 20 and 21), resettlement support where residential land is recovered (Article 22), support for persons renting residential houses not owned by The State (Article 23), support upon recovery of commune-managed public land, and other support decided by the provincial-level People's Committee (Article 25). Articles 26 and 27 regulate the formulation and implementation of resettlement projects and the minimum resettlement quota (suat tai dinh cu toi thieu) in the form of residential land, housing or money under Article 86 of the Land Law. Resettlement areas must satisfy infrastructure and living conditions and may be established for one or multiple projects.

Procedures, payment and implementation responsibilities

Articles 28 to 33 set out the process for preparation, publicizing and receipt of comments on the compensation, support and resettlement plan, separation of compensation matters from the overall project, payment of compensation and support money within the time limit under Article 93 of the Land Law, and handling of delayed payment. The Decree specifies funding sources for compensation, support and resettlement (Article 32), costs for organizing implementation (Article 31, at 2% of total compensation funds in practice under implementing guidance), and responsibilities of ministries, Ministers, provincial-level People's Committees, compensation councils and project owners for organizing, appraising and executing recovery. Article 34 provides transitional handling for compensation plans already approved or publicized before the Decree's effective date.

Effect and transition

As excerpted, the general provisions (Chapter I) and detailed rules (Chapters II to V) apply to all decisions on land recovery issued from the effective date. Cases where a compensation plan has been approved before 1 July 2014 continue under the previous regulations, while plans not yet approved must be adjusted to comply with the 2013 Land Law and this Decree.