Lawyer Quach Thanh Luc - Director of Phap Tri Law Company (Hanoi Bar Association) - answers: To determine how red books are issued for reclaimed land, first of all, it is necessary to understand that reclaimed land is land managed and used legally by people, not land encroached upon or occupied by others.
Previously, there were areas of land that no one used. In difficult conditions, people filled ponds and swamps, and reclaimed swampy, desolate land that no one used.
Therefore, the State recognizes the right to use reclaimed land of people if they meet the conditions according to regulations. The issuance of certificates for this type of land needs to be considered according to the cases of land use specified in Articles 137, 138, 139 and 140 of the 2024 Land Law.
The issuance of land use right certificates is inherently a relatively complex issue. However, if the case is correctly determined according to the above regulations of the 2024 Land Law, the consideration of the conditions for issuing certificates will be clearer.
In the case of land with papers. Initially, the land area may have originated from reclamation, but then it is put into management, use and issuance of various types of papers by the State, or has originated from reclamation and then land is allocated by the State. At that time, the issuance of certificates is considered according to the case of land with papers specified in Article 137 of the Land Law.
However, there are also cases where land area is used by people year after year, from generation to generation, but without papers. This case needs to be determined according to Article 138 of the Land Law.
That is land used stably, without disputes, in cases where there are no papers but no origin due to encroachment, occupation or land allocation not under authority.
It can be understood as people reclaiming land, managing and using it stably; the State does not hand over that land area to others and users do not encroach on or occupy anyone's land. This is indeed a case of land originating from reclaimed land and the issuance of red books will be considered according to the provisions of Article 138 of the Land Law.
In addition, there are cases where after reclaiming, managing, and using land, people put land into an organization such as a cooperative, and then the cooperative hands over the land to the people. At that time, the land area may fall into the case where the land is allocated not in accordance with authority, for example, by the cooperative or the commune-level People's Committee allocating it to the people.
Thus, although the initial origin is reclaimed land, after the process of management, use and arising related legal activities, the land area may belong to different cases of issuing certificates.
Therefore, reclaimed land can be granted a certificate if there are dossiers, documents or meeting the corresponding conditions specified in Articles 137, 138, 139 or 140 of the 2024 Land Law. Land users need to review each specific regulation in these articles to determine their legitimate rights and interests.
Another issue is that when a certificate is issued, what type of reclaimed land will be identified: residential land, garden land, pond land or forestry land?
In case the land allocation and allocation documents of the State have clearly identified the type of land, the type of land is determined according to those documents. If the documents do not clearly identify the type of land, it is necessary to base on the current status of use to consider determining the type of land.
However, determining according to the current situation does not mean that the entire land area, including areas up to thousands of square meters, is recognized as residential land. The area recognized as residential land is still subject to the limit of land allocation limit or residential land recognition limit and depends on the time people start using land.
