Vietnam to Maintain Mandatory Notarization for Land Transactions

The Vietnamese government has decided to maintain the mandatory notarization for land transfer transactions, a move aimed at preventing disputes and litigation risks. According to a resolution from the government's specialized legal session on September 18, this regulation will also ensure consistency with specialized laws concerning notarization. The draft revised Land Law, presented to the National Assembly in August, had omitted this mandatory notarization clause. While the current Land Law requires contracts for the transfer, gifting, mortgaging, or capital contribution of land use rights and associated assets to be notarized or certified, the revised draft only stipulated conditions for exercising land use rights, such as possessing a land use rights certificate, the land not being under dispute, or disputes having been resolved, and the land use rights not being seized. Many National Assembly deputies had called for cautious consideration and a full assessment of the social impact and risks to legal safety in land transactions when removing the mandatory notarization requirement. They argued that notaries, in addition to verifying personal and asset information, also check the legal capacity and voluntary consent of the parties involved. If the draft Land Law does not mention this, it could lead to differing interpretations and a lack of basis for record extraction, as notarization is stipulated by law or decree for important transactions requiring a high degree of legal safety. Furthermore, land is considered a special asset with significant value, affecting numerous subjects and social interests. Removing mandatory notarization from the law could increase social costs if transactions become void or if fraud and disputes occur. Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development Trịnh Việt Hùng explained that notarizing land transactions is an administrative procedure and does not necessarily need to be stipulated in the law. This content will be incorporated into a decree guiding the implementation of the Land Law. The government emphasized that the revised Land Law is critically important, directly and broadly impacting economic, political, and social life, and is of particular concern to the public and businesses. Therefore, it requested the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development to supplement and perfect the content regarding the framework criteria, principles, mechanisms for determining, inspecting, and supervising land price decisions. Policies on land prices and the state's role in regulating, managing, and deciding land prices need to be clarified. Provisions on land use fees, land rent for production and business, housing development, leasing, financial mechanisms for land rent differentials, and handling of abandoned or delayed land use must also be addressed in the draft. The drafting agency is also tasked with adding mechanisms to prevent corruption, negativity, policy exploitation in compensation and resettlement, and illegal construction, as well as special mechanisms for decisively resolving pending and prolonged projects. The land database will be completed soon, with information connected based on the principle of maximum transparency to promote real estate transactions. The government stressed that the bill must simplify administrative procedures according to the one-stop, single-point-of-contact principle, and mandate the registration of land use rights and all land-related changes. The Ministry of Public Security, Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, and Ministry of Construction have been assigned to gather public opinions on the draft Land Law, Housing Law, and Real Estate Business Law through the VNeID system. Deputy Prime Minister Hồ Quốc Dũng has been tasked with directing the completion of the revised Land Law project. The Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development will, on behalf of the Prime Minister, sign the submission to the National Assembly for this bill at the second session of the 16th National Assembly.