An accelerated overhaul of Việt Nam’s Land Law has led to fierce debate among lawmakers, pitting socioeconomic development against the property rights of citizens.
The Latest: Việt Nam’s National Assembly met to debate and comment on a draft revision of the Land Law on Aug. 19.
The Economic and Financial Committee, which is responsible for reviewing the bill and overseeing policies involving the economy, finance, and related development and social projects, stated it “generally supports” the revision.
- However, the committee called for clarification of what qualifies as “truly necessary” and demanded clear rules governing land acquisition procedures.
- These recommendations represent only the committee’s review of the bill; its assessment is not yet the National Assembly’s official position on the draft amended Land Law.
The Details: The committee stated that Article 35 of the draft amended Land Law does not provide detailed conditions for determining when land acquisition is “truly necessary” for “socioeconomic development in the national or public interest.”
- The committee called for the “necessity, legal basis, and criteria” for such acquisitions to be clarified to ensure consistency with Clause 3, Article 32 of the Constitution.
It also asked the drafting agency to “carefully review” the circumstances in which authorities may acquire land before approving compensation, assistance, and resettlement plans.
- The committee emphasized that land should be acquired before compensation and resettlement only when doing so is “genuinely necessary, urgent, and in the common interest.”
Meanwhile, other lawmakers stated that the amended law should “clearly specify” land acquisition processes and procedures because the rules are “extremely important, have a major impact on people, and require transparency, clarity, and a high degree of stability.”
The Background: The Ministry of Agriculture and Environment is the principal drafter of the bill, which contains several major proposed changes.
- Among them, the ministry has proposed allowing authorities to acquire land before adopting compensation, assistance, and resettlement plans for affected residents.
- The ministry has also proposed eliminating mandatory statutory requirements governing land acquisition “processes and procedures.”
The draft legislation was released on July 21, 2026, and the ministry completed its public consultation on Aug. 10.
- The National Assembly is considering the bill during its current August session and is expected to pass it at its October 2026 session.
Why It Matters: The current Land Law was enacted by the 15th National Assembly on Jan. 18, 2024, and has been in effect for less than two years, beginning Aug. 1, 2024.
- Revising the law was not included in the National Assembly’s 2026 legislative agenda.
- The proposal was added only on June 26, 2026, less than a month before the draft was released.
According to the bill’s official submission, one of the revision’s key objectives is to “promptly resolve urgent priorities arising in practice and completely remove institutional ‘bottlenecks’ to unlock land resources for socioeconomic development” (page 9).
If passed in October, the amended Land Law would have one of the fastest legislative timelines in Vietnamese legislative history, with less than four months between drafting and enactment.
Hoàng Nam wrote this news article in Vietnamese and published it in Luật Khoa Magazine on August 19, 2026. The Vietnamese Magazine translated it into English.
