The difficulties in enforcing administrative judgments.

Responding to the SGGP Newspaper Hotline, several households in Binh Tri Dong ward, Binh Tan district (Ho Chi Minh City) stated that they believed the administrative appeal judgment was legally enforceable, but in reality, the Binh Tan district authorities were deliberately delaying its implementation, thus infringing upon the rights of the people.

According to residents of Binh Tri Dong ward, Binh Tan district, in the past, households including Mr. Ly Van Nhi, Mr. Nguyen Van Pho, and Ms. Nguyen Thi Xam lent land to the Elderly Association of Binh Tri Dong commune, Binh Chanh district (now Binh Tri Dong ward, Binh Tan district) to use as fish ponds.

Locals were saddened to see the land abandoned and overgrown with weeds.

Some time later, the Elderly Association stopped raising fish, and the local government changed the land use purpose to a recreational fishing pond, so three households requested the return of their land. In 2005, the Ho Chi Minh City People's Committee decided to return the land borrowed from Ms. Nguyen Thi Xam, but Mr. Ly Van Nhi and Mr. Nguyen Van Pho did not receive their land back.

Faced with unfair treatment, the families of Mr. Ly Van Nghi and Mr. Nguyen Van Pho filed complaints, requesting the return of their land for cultivation, but the authorities at all levels refused. These households then filed lawsuits with the court, and the Ho Chi Minh City People's Court heard the cases at first instance and issued judgments (Administrative Judgment No. 2530/2023/HC-ST, dated December 4, 2023, and No. 162/2024/HC-ST, dated May 17, 2024), accepting the people's lawsuits to annul the complaint resolution decisions of Binh Tan District and the Ho Chi Minh City People's Committee. As the defendant, the Chairman of the Binh Tan District People's Committee filed appeals against the two administrative judgments at first instance, No. 2530/2023/HC-ST and No. 162/2024/HC-ST. The High People's Court of Ho Chi Minh City, in its appellate review (Administrative Appeal Judgment No. 849/HC-PT, dated August 13, 2024, and Judgment No. 1181/2024/HC-PT, dated November 1, 2024), ruled against accepting the appeals and upheld the original administrative judgments.

According to the law, Administrative Appeal Judgments No. 849/HC-PT and No. 1181/2024/HC-PT have come into effect, but some officials of the Binh Tan District People's Committee are trying to evade and delay the enforcement of the judgments. Upon receiving the administrative appeal judgments from the Ho Chi Minh City High People's Court, the households contacted the local authorities to request the judgments be implemented, the land be returned promptly, and land use right certificates be issued so that their families can cultivate and use the land. However, some officials of Binh Tan District are finding ways to refuse to comply.

Ms. Phan Thi Bach Van (representing the family of Mr. Nguyen Van Pho) expressed that, to set an example for the people, the authorities should have seriously implemented the appellate judgment that had already come into effect, even though the Chairman of the People's Committee of Binh Tan District continued to submit petitions to the Chief Justice of the Supreme People's Court and the Supreme People's Procuratorate to appeal through supervisory review procedures.

According to lawyer Nguyen Van Hong (Ho Chi Minh City Bar Association), the appellate judgment takes legal effect from the date of pronouncement. The parties involved have the right to submit a written request to the competent authority to review the appeal through the supervisory review procedure, but must still strictly comply with the appellate judgment. For administrative judgments, where the subjects of enforcement are government officials, they need to comply well and more quickly to set an example for the public to follow.

Regarding this issue, on May 25, 2019, the Ho Chi Minh City People's Committee issued document No. 2074/UBND on solutions to improve the effectiveness and efficiency of administrative enforcement in Ho Chi Minh City. Recently, on April 12, 2025, the Ho Chi Minh City People's Committee also issued a plan to monitor, urge, inspect, and address obstacles in the implementation of inspection conclusions, audits, and effective court judgments and decisions. Citizens hope that the Binh Tan District authorities will soon organize the enforcement of the appellate administrative judgment to ensure the legitimate interests of the people.

TRAN YEN

Source: https://www.sggp.org.vn/gian-nan-thi-hanh-ban-an-hanh-chinh-post795443.html