Establish the administrative accountability system for illegal land expropriation at the city and county level

The draft Amendment to the Land Management Law (hereinafter referred to as the draft), which has attracted much attention from all walks of life, was submitted to the standing Committee of the 11th National people's Congress for deliberation for the first time today.This is the fourth amendment since the promulgation and implementation of the current Land Management Law. this revision focuses on the compensation system for rural collective land expropriation.

Song Dahan, director of the Legislative Affairs Office of the State Council, said when explaining the draft that the reform of the rural land management system is of great importance and involves many problems, and some problems are still being explored and tested, and it is better to solve them step by step in accordance with the principle of being active and prudent. At present, the most prominent problems are that the land expropriation procedure is not perfect, the legal compensation method is defective, the standard is low and the stipulation is too dead, and the long-term livelihood security of the expropriated farmers is insufficient. In some places, illegal land expropriation, forcible occupation and occupation of farmers' land occur from time to time, which has become an important issue affecting social stability.

In order to solve these problems, the leading Group on the revision of the Land Management Law believes that it should be carried out in two steps, first focusing on amending Article 47 of the current Land Management Law, which defines the compensation system for land expropriation, and after the amendment to the Land Management Law is passed, regulations shall be formulated by the State Council.

Song Dahan said: article 47 of the current Land Management Law stipulates that if land is expropriated, compensation shall be given according to the original use of the land expropriated; the compensation fees for the expropriation of cultivated land shall include land compensation fees, resettlement subsidies, and compensation for land attachments and young seedlings; the sum of land compensation fees and resettlement subsidies shall not exceed 30 times the average annual output value of the three years before land expropriation. With the rapid development of industrialization and urbanization, these regulations have gradually exposed some problems: from the point of view of the compensation principle, they are compensated according to the multiple of annual output value on the basis of the original use, without comprehensive consideration of other factors other than land output value, including land location, the relationship between supply and demand, as well as the employment and social security functions of land to farmers. From the point of view of the compensation standard, the sum of the land compensation fee and resettlement subsidy does not exceed the upper limit of 30 times the annual output value. in recent years, the compensation standard for land expropriation has been generally raised in many places, breaking through the legal upper limit of 30 times. there is no stipulation on the social security expenses of the land expropriated farmers, so it is necessary to expropriate collectively owned land with the property Law. The social security expenses of the land-expropriated peasants should be arranged in accordance with the law, and according to the fact that villagers' houses are generally compensated separately in various places, it is also necessary to separate villagers' houses from the attachments and give them separate compensation in law.

The draft deletes the existing article 47 on the basis of the original use, in accordance with the provisions of compensation for multiple of annual output value, and modifies it to provide fair compensation for the expropriation of land owned by farmers, so as to ensure that the original life of the expropriated peasants is improved and their long-term livelihood is guaranteed. Safeguard the legitimate rights and interests of the expropriated peasants.

Song Dahan explained that most market economy countries regard fair compensation as the basic principle of compensation for land expropriation, although there are different expressions, such as fair compensation, legitimate compensation, fair compensation, reasonable compensation, adequate compensation, and so on. However, the overall requirements are to compensate according to the market price of land at the time of expropriation or the market price of similar land nearby. At the present stage, the rural land market in China has not yet been formed, and the principle of fair compensation is mainly reflected in the standard of land compensation, which should consider many factors such as land location, the relationship between supply and demand, the level of economic and social development, especially the social security of land-expropriated farmers. in the compensation of housing and land attachments, follow the market principle.

In addition, the draft adds the specific content of social security compensation, on the basis of land compensation, resettlement subsidy, green seedlings and ground attachment compensation stipulated in Article 47 of the current Land Management Law, the housing is listed separately from the above-ground attachments, the social security compensation is increased, and the compensation for land expropriation includes land compensation, resettlement subsidies and social security expenses for land-expropriated farmers, and residential compensation for rural villagers. And other ground attachment compensation and seedling compensation.

Song Dahan said: some contents have been added to the draft, such as the formulation of strict land requisition procedures in accordance with the principles of legality, impartiality, and openness, and land expropriation shall not be approved and implemented if the compensation funds are not implemented. When formulating administrative regulations, the State Council initially considered to refine and strictly enforce land expropriation procedures in accordance with the principles and systems stipulated in the amendment, and strengthen restrictions on the government's land expropriation behavior. to ensure the right of participation and discourse of the expropriated peasants before and in the process of land expropriation, adhere to "compensation and resettlement first, and then carry out land expropriation", and make clear the right of the expropriated peasants to apply for administrative reconsideration or bring administrative litigation. We will establish an administrative accountability system for illegal land expropriation by municipal and county governments.