A proposed revision to Việt Nam’s Land Law could allow state authorities to requisition citizens’ land without written orders, specific time limits, or compensation rules.
The Latest: The Ministry of Agriculture and Environment published the draft amended Land Law on July 21, which is set to be submitted to the National Assembly for consideration in August 2026.
- Under the proposal, five of the eight clauses on land requisition currently outlined in Article 90 of the current 2024 Land Law would be removed, including requirements for written requisition orders and time limits.
The Current Land Law: Land requisition occurs when the state temporarily takes citizens’ land for use in necessary cases involving national defense, security, war, states of emergency, or disaster prevention and response.
The current 2024 Land Law mandates that if the state intends to requisition citizens’ land, there must be an enforceable “land requisition decision.” (Clause 2)
- If a written decision cannot be issued, the land may be requisitioned verbally, but the official carrying it out must prepare a written confirmation of the incident.
- Within 48 hours of implementation, the competent agency must issue an official written requisition decision. (Clause 2)
- The current law limits land requisition to a maximum of 30 days. If an extension is necessary, it cannot exceed another 30 days. The extension decision must also be made in writing. (Clause 4)
- The 2024 Land Law also requires the state to compensate citizens within 30 days of returning the land if the requisition causes damage to their property. (Point đ, Clause 7)
Proposed Changes: All of these provisions have been removed from the draft amended Land Law.
- Effectively, authorities could requisition land without a written order and without having to compensate citizens for any resulting damage.
- The draft also does not set a maximum duration for land requisition.
Instead, the draft states that “land requisition shall comply with the law on compulsory purchase and requisition of property.” (Clause 3, Article 39)
However, the current Law on Compulsory Purchase and Requisition of Property no longer regulates land requisition, as those specific provisions were repealed as of July 1, 2014. (note 2, page 1)
- This particular law is also being amended.
- On July 24, the Ministry of Finance published the first draft and began collecting public feedback.
- Article 22 of the draft states that requisitioned objects include “property subject to requisition under other laws,” which would include land.
While the Ministry of Finance’s draft contains restrictions on land requisition similar to those in the current Land Law, that bill is not part of the National Assembly’s 2026 legislative agenda, and its next review process remains unclear.
- The Ministry of Agriculture and Environment did not explain why the original provisions were removed in the draft proposal report, the foundational document meant to explain the reasons and purposes for introducing and revising the bill.
The Background: The current Land Law was passed by the 15th National Assembly on Jan. 18, 2024, and has been in effect for less than two years, since Aug. 1, 2024.
- Amending the Land Law was not part of the National Assembly’s 2026 legislative agenda.
- The proposal was added only on June 26, 2026.
The draft amended Land Law is principally prepared by the Ministry of Agriculture and Environment and contains several highly consequential proposed changes.
- Among them, the ministry proposes allowing authorities to recover land before compensation, assistance, and resettlement plans are in place for affected residents.
Why It Matters: According to the draft proposal report, one key goal of amending the Land Law is to “promptly address priority and urgent issues arising from practice; fully remove institutional ‘bottlenecks’ in order to unlock land resources for socioeconomic development.” (page 9)
If passed, the amended Land Law is expected to take effect March 1, 2027. (Article 98)
- This means that before a new Law on Compulsory Purchase and Requisition of Property takes effect—if it does at all—and if the amended Land Law is not adjusted, land requisition rules would be applied as proposed in the draft amended Land Law.
If passed this October, the amended Land Law would be one of the fastest-moving bills in Việt Nam’s legislative history, taking less than four months from drafting to enactment.
Hoàng Nam wrote this article in Vietnamese and published it in Luật Khoa Magazine on July 29, 2026. The Vietnamese Magazine has the copyrights to the English translation.
