The recent land auction may apply the Criminal Law on speculation

Providing more information around the question of National Assembly deputies related to asset auction, at the questioning session on the afternoon of March 16, Minister of Justice Le Thanh Long stated that the issue of asset auction is The story of the transaction is very normal and common in the market economy, many countries have a tradition of auctioning for hundreds of years, in Vietnam, in fact, when auctions are developed, the law has begun. since 1996 when the Government issued the Decree on asset auction.

Minister of Justice Le Thanh Long answers questions from National Assembly deputies on Dien Hong Hall

According to the Minister, through comparison with the law of Vietnam and the practice of some countries, along with the most basic principles of the auction story, there are some differences. Regarding the governing law, only Vietnam and China have laws, other countries mainly follow the Civil Code, even without their own regulations. Regarding auctioned properties, countries are mainly private properties, and in Vietnam in the period 2018-2021, out of 110,000 auctions, only 50 are private properties.

Regarding the starting price, there is no regulation, it is mainly agreed by the parties, even starting with 0. Regarding the deposit, the latter is the deposit, experiences and practices of different countries are different, but usually from 5-20%, there are countries that increase to 25% of the starting price, there is a ceiling. The difference between the starting price and the price is not calculated, the principle of the auction is civil, the more money the better. Japan sells a pair of melons for billions of dong in Vietnamese currency, or there are paintings with a starting price of 100 USD and sold for 69.3 million USD.

The Minister said that he agreed with the assessment and comment of the delegate that our law on auction is regulated in many places, many actors are involved and many ministries are involved. The Law on Auction stipulates the order and procedures and the most general principles of the auction. However, when it comes to legal regulations, specialized laws must be followed, such as auction of telecommunications frequencies under the Law on Telecommunications Frequency, issues related to land use under the branch of land law…

“If there are more than 20 types of properties regulated by auction, there are also many different laws,” the Minister emphasized.

Sanctions to apply in case of civil, administrative and criminal violations of the auction. Regarding civil, if you do not buy, you will lose the deposit; Administrative law in the judicial field has Decree 82 on fines, criminality may also be a bit “clumsy” in application, but in the recent cases, it is impossible to conclude whether it is right or not, there is a basis. or not, but if it is, it can also be applied to Article 218 of the Penal Code on intentional price increases or speculation.

According to the Minister, in the near future there will be an alignment based on the past reality, but the approach still has to be in different laws. Therefore, the problem is how can it be synchronized to facilitate the application, easily and bring it to the same ground.

Regarding the starting price, this price is related to the land use right and is applied according to the provisions of the law on land. To some extent is the law on tax administration, which belongs to the domain of the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment and the Ministry of Finance.

According to Thanh Ha