Removing obstacles in land procedures: Need to listen to people to improve policies

Many cases are prolonged due to different understandings between localities and overlapping regulations. Therefore, people's feedback and recommendations need to be listened to and promptly adjusted to improve policies.

Guidance on land procedures for people at the Hanoi City Public Administration Service Center, Tay Ho branch. Photo: Nguyen Quang

Many procedures are still difficult

Mr. Dang Van Chuyen in Song Phuong commune (Hoai Duc district) shared: "I have just completed the procedure for the first land use right certificate. After paying the full amount according to the tax notice, I still have to go to the tax office to get confirmation of payment, then I can continue with the steps while the system can completely automatically update this information."

In Ha Dong district, one of the problems that has lasted for many years is the granting of land use right certificates for service land.

Ms. Nguyen Thi Hai in Dong Mai ward reflected: “My family and many other households have been waiting for nearly 10 years but have not yet been granted a land use right certificate. The writing of "temporary collection" on the financial obligation determination form for service land lots issued by the Ha Dong District Project Management Board many years ago has further stalled the procedure. Many people have struggled to reach the final step of fulfilling their financial obligations to receive a land use right certificate, because of the two words "temporary collection" many cases have become very complicated...".

In fact, many steps in the land procedure are closely related legally but are handled as separate steps, forcing people to prepare documents multiple times.

Ms. Ngo Bich Lien in La Khe ward (Ha Dong district) reported that her family members all went to the notary office to refuse to receive the inherited property, agreeing to have a representative stand in their name to issue the land use right certificate, but when submitting the application, each place had different requirements, such as appointing a representative to issue the land use right certificate for the first time and then carry out the procedures for donating or refusing the property... Having to repeat the same steps makes people waste time, effort, and money...

According to Ms. Nguyen Thi Ly in Phuc Tho district, the issuance and exchange of land use right certificates still has many problems, especially for plots of land that have changed in area and shape compared to the time of initial issuance. The reason may be due to inaccurate measurements from before or due to changes in land use such as donation, sale, transfer. People in other districts and towns also have problems related to the exchange of T-shaped land use right certificates, land plots after donating land for road construction...

Need for flexible communication and processing mechanisms

From practical problems, people have proposed some solutions worth considering. According to Mr. Dang Van Chuyen in Song Phuong commune (Hoai Duc district), when implementing digital transformation, the city needs to integrate and connect information so that people can fulfill their financial obligations at the "one-stop" department or via bank transfer, and at the same time, the management system should automatically update data so that the agency issuing the certificate does not require resubmission of documents. This will reduce the workload for tax authorities; save time, effort and costs for people.

Many localities have proactively applied regulations in the direction of minimizing procedures and costs for people. Vice Chairman of Phu Xuyen District People's Committee Nguyen Trong Vinh said that in the process of issuing land use right certificates for the first time, in cases involving inheritance, the district directed specialized departments and commune-level People's Committees to apply them flexibly, in accordance with regulations, avoiding mechanical...

According to Deputy Director of the Hanoi City Land Registration Office (Hanoi Department of Agriculture and Environment) Pham Van Tinh, in the context of the 2024 revised Land Law and its implementation guidance documents coming into effect, continuing to reform administrative procedures in the land sector is an urgent requirement to meet the development and expectations of people and businesses. However, this process requires caution: It is necessary to classify groups of procedures that can be simplified and groups of procedures that need to be strictly maintained to ensure legality, avoid disputes and lawsuits... Practice shows that many procedures such as land change registration, issuance and exchange of land use right certificates can be done through online public services, shortening processing time and reducing inconvenience for people. However, in some cases of problems, it is still necessary to fully comply with the steps of appraisal, checking the current status, verifying the origin of land use... to ensure the legitimate rights of all parties.

"The City Land Registration Office always clearly identifies the spirit of "taking people as the center of service". The Office continues to closely coordinate with localities to strengthen training for professional staff, ensure consistent application of new regulations; regularly listen to feedback from people and organizations; promptly adjust implementation processes, create transparency, contribute to bringing land policies into life more practically and effectively", said Mr. Pham Van Tinh.

Lawyer Nguyen Tuan Anh, Song Anh Law Firm LLC:
Land policy needs to put people at the center of service.

The difficulties shared by people in the process of implementing land procedures today are not isolated phenomena, but common situations in many localities. This reflects a noteworthy reality: There is still a large gap between the provisions of the law and their application in practice.

The 2024 Land Law has come into effect, and guidelines are available. However, in each specific case, policies need to truly put people at the center of service, and need to be clearly demonstrated in each administrative procedure, form, and file processing process. Any procedures that can be shortened or integrated need to be drastically reduced. Any locality with mechanical understanding and inflexible application needs to be reviewed and promptly resolved. Listening to people not only helps bring policies closer to life, but is also the best way for policies to achieve sustainable effectiveness and bring laws into life.

Economist Dinh Trong Thinh:
Stripping away cumbersome procedures, delegating authority more clearly to the grassroots level

The current implementation of administrative procedures on land still has many bottlenecks, causing considerable difficulties for people and businesses. In many cases, people have to go back and forth multiple times just to supplement a document or are required to perform unnecessary steps, prolonging time and costing money...

The underlying cause is that the process of transferring legal regulations to practice is still lacking in synchronization; some guidance documents are not complete, leading to different understandings and applications in each locality. In addition, the current decentralization model is sometimes not really accompanied by clear accountability, causing subordinates to be confused or "avoid" responsibility in complex situations.

To remove obstacles and difficulties, decentralized units should carry out necessary procedures, boldly cut down on cumbersome steps; and should increase the autonomy of local authorities. The core is to build a system of simple, easy-to-understand procedures so that people can read and apply them easily and conveniently...

Mr. Le Van Minh, Phuong Trung commune (Thanh Oai district):
People's land use rights cannot be "suspended"

In reality, there are still problems related to land use right certificates under the name of "households". This is a consequence of previous regulations. If there is no clear handling mechanism, it can easily lead to the consequence that people's land use rights are "suspended", making it impossible to carry out transactions of transfer, inheritance, name change... just because the way the name is recorded is not in accordance with current regulations.

With the issued certificate bearing the name of the household, the competent authority needs to soon issue specific and unified instructions nationwide to completely handle this situation.

In particular, in the event that the initial certificate application is lost, local authorities must be responsible for verifying and guiding people through the next procedures. Land management agencies cannot, out of fear of responsibility, refuse to handle, avoid, or push the risk onto the people...

Thanh Bach recorded

Source: https://hanoimoi.vn/go-vuong-thu-tuc-ve-dat-dai-can-lang-nghe-nguoi-dan-de-hoan-thien-chinh-sach-701867.html