Civil Trial Guidance and Reference (Issue No. 22)

Author: Huang Songyou
Publisher:
Publishing Date: 2005-10-01
Features: 【New Judicial Interpretation】The Supreme People's Court on Issues of Applicable Law in Adjudicating Contract Disputes Involving State-owned Land Use Rights (Adopted by the 1334th Meeting of the Judicial Committee of the Supreme People's Court on November 23, 2004) Supreme People's Court Interpretation [2005] No. 5 In accordance with the Law of the People's Republic of China on the General Principles of Civil Law, the Contract Law of the People's Republic of China, the Land Administration Law of the People's Republic of China, the Urban and Rural Real Estate Administration Law of the People's Republic of China, and other relevant laws and regulations, and in light of civil adjudication practices, this interpretation is formulated to address issues of applicable law in adjudicating contract disputes involving state-owned land use rights.
I. Disputes over Land Use Rights Transfer Contract Disputes
Article 1 The Land Use Rights Transfer Contract referred to in this interpretation means an agreement where the land administration department of a municipal or county government, as the transferring party, transfers the state-owned land use rights to the transferring party within a certain term, and the transferring party pays the land use rights transfer fee.
Article 2 Land Use Rights Transfer Contracts entered into between the development zone administrative committee, as the transferring party, and the transferring party, shall be deemed invalid. Before the implementation of this interpretation, Land Use Rights Transfer Contracts entered into between the development zone administrative committee, as the transferring party, and the transferring party, which were ratified by the land administration department of the municipal or county government before the lawsuit was filed, may be deemed valid.
Article 3 Land use rights transferred through negotiation with the approval of the municipal or county government, where the land use rights transfer fee is lower than the lowest price determined by the local government in accordance with state regulations at the time the contract was concluded, the price clause stipulated in the Land Use Rights Transfer Contract shall be deemed invalid. If the parties request to pay the land use rights transfer fee in accordance with the market appraisal price at the time the contract was concluded, this shall be supported. If the transferring party refuses to make up the difference according to the market appraisal price and requests to terminate the contract, this shall also be supported. The losses caused by this shall be borne by the parties according to their respective faults.
Article 4 If the transferring party of the Land Use Rights Transfer Contract fails to complete the procedures for transferring land use rights and cannot deliver the land, the transferring party shall be supported in requesting to terminate the contract.
Article 5 If the transferring party, with the consent of the transferring party and the urban planning administrative department of the municipal or county government, changes the land use purpose stipulated in the Land Use Rights Transfer Contract, the parties shall be supported in requesting to adjust the land use rights transfer fee according to the standard of the same land use purpose at the time of the lawsuit.
Article 6 If the transferring party changes the land use purpose stipulated in the Land Use Rights Transfer Contract