Assign identification codes to each land plot: Easily track changes, avoid legal risks

Recently, the Department of Land Management (Ministry of Agriculture and Environment) has issued a document guiding the implementation of land database (DB) correction and construction of land plot identification codes and sent it to the Department of Agriculture and Environment of provinces and centrally run cities for implementation.

Update data, build identifiers

The Department of Land Management requested the Departments of Agriculture and Environment to urgently implement the adjustment and reorganization of land databases according to the 2-level local government model; at the same time, supplement information on land plot identification codes to be ready to connect and integrate the national location name system, the national digital address platform and other national databases. Accordingly, each land plot has only one identification code consisting of 12 characters encoded according to the location in the international coordinate system WGS84 of the land plot and encoded according to geographical coordinates.

The process of building a land plot identification code includes 4 steps: determining the characteristic points of the land plot; calculating the position conversion from the VN2000 coordinate system of Vietnam to the international coordinate system WGS84; encoding the location of the characteristic points of the land plot; updating the identification code of the land plot into the land database. In the case of merging plots when two or more land plots are adjusted to change into a new land plot, the identification code of the new land plot will be re-identified according to the above 4 steps. The identification codes of the old land plots are transferred to storage, creating a link between the identification codes of the old land plots and the new identification code and managed according to the principle of managing historical information on land plot changes.

To implement the development of land plot identification codes, the Department of Agriculture and Environment of Ho Chi Minh City has just issued a document assigning relevant units to review, arrange, classify, and evaluate the current status of records, documents, and land data for each commune-level administrative unit to determine the volume of land database that must be completed in the city. The assessment must ensure the principles of "correct, sufficient, clean, alive, unified, and shared". In parallel with updating and editing the database, it is necessary to supplement information on land plot identification codes to connect and integrate with the national digital address platform and other national databases.

According to the Department of Agriculture and Environment of Ho Chi Minh City, for places that have built a land database, they will review, supplement information, and authenticate the ID cards of land users. For places that have not completed the land database, they will collect pink books and information on ID cards, digitize documents and land records of residential land plots and houses to serve the work of connecting and sharing with the national database on population, serving to simplify administrative procedures for people and businesses.

4 steps to build land plot identification code

- Determine the characteristics of the land plot

- Calculate position conversion from Vietnam's VN2000 coordinate system to the international WGS84 coordinate system

- The location encoding of the feature points after conversion will be encoded using the GeoHash algorithm

- Update the land plot identification code into the national land database

* Land plot identification code is a string of 12 characters

Supplementing legal basis, with implementation roadmap

According to MSc. Ngo Gia Hoang (lecturer of the Faculty of Commercial Law - Ho Chi Minh City University of Law), the identification code is created based on the geographical location of the land plot and ensures "one plot - one code", which will be a "digital identity" according to the geographical location of the land plot nationwide. Assigning an identification code to each land plot is important in modernizing and digitizing land management, helping management agencies easily track changes, avoid duplication and errors in records.

At the same time, the land database is synchronized and integrated with the national information system, creating a foundation for more transparent and accurate planning, tax collection, construction licensing and land inventory. In addition, land plot identification brings peace of mind about legal rights, because land information is recorded, stored and looked up transparently; limiting the need to compare many documents, reducing legal risks.

People come to the People's Committee of Tan Binh Ward, Ho Chi Minh City to do administrative procedures related to land. Photo: THANH HIEN

However, according to experts, the 2024 Land Law and its implementing documents do not have a specific concept or regulation on land plot identification codes. The provisions related to land registration and cadastral records only stipulate the identification of land plots according to cadastral maps, plot numbers, areas, land types, purposes of use, etc., but have not been standardized in the form of a unique identification code.

Therefore, from a legal perspective, when implementing land plot identification codes, there is no legal basis for direct regulation. In other words, the assignment of identification codes is not currently legalized. If applied, it is necessary to add regulations to the Land Law or issue sub-law documents to specifically stipulate the method of granting, managing and adjusting identification codes.

Dr. Pham Viet Thuan, Director of the Institute of Natural Resources and Environment Economics of Ho Chi Minh City, acknowledged that assigning identification codes to each land plot will face some difficulties such as incomplete and unsynchronized cadastral databases in many localities, especially in rural and mountainous areas, making the collection and standardization of information take a lot of time and effort; many land plots do not have certificates or are still in dispute, leading to difficulty in determining input data to issue accurate identification codes; technical infrastructure and human resources are still limited, not meeting the requirements of digitization and regular data updates; risk of errors in data entry, data leakage... Therefore, it is necessary to have a roadmap for implementation in each phase, prioritizing areas that already have digital data, at the same time issuing clear legal guidelines, strengthening staff training and promoting communication to create consensus from the people.

Integrating land plot identification codes into citizen identification cards

Land plot identification codes can be considered an important foundation for digitizing, standardizing and connecting land databases in the digital transformation era. Previously, the Ministry of Public Security proposed connecting land identification codes with the national population database. When integrating and connecting with the population database, the national digital address will help improve the quality of public land services, reduce costs and time, and increase reliability for people and businesses. Moreover, the identified land plot will be accurately identified with information about the location, area, and owner.

Professor, Dr. Dang Hung Vo ,

Former Deputy Minister of Natural Resources and Environment (now Ministry of Agriculture and Environment)

THANH HIEN - DUC TRUNG

Source: https://www.sggp.org.vn/cap-ma-dinh-danh-cho-tung-thua-dat-de-dang-theo-doi-bien-dong-tranh-rui-ro-phap-ly-post814247.html