Law on land.

The Law consists of 7 Chapters composed of 67 articles dealing with the following matters: 1) general provisions (chapt. 1, arts. 1-8); 2) the unified land territory and its basic classification (chapt. 2, arts. 9-16); 3) the authority of the government bodies and local self-governing organizations regarding land issues (chapt. 3, arts. 17 – 23); 4) land management, land register and the unified land territory report (chapt. 4, arts. 24-26); 5) concession of land in ownership and lease (chapt. 5, arts. 27-51); 6) efficient and rational use of land and land protection (chapt. 6, arts. 52-60); 7) miscellaneous (chapt. 7, arts. 61-67). The purpose of this law is to regulate possession and use of state-owned land and other related issues (art. 1). The government shall follow the following principles in relation to land: 1) the land shall be under government monitoring and protection; 2) the territory of land shall be unified; 3) fairness and equity shall be ensured with respect to ownership, possession and use of land; 4) following terms and procedures of the law, the land shall be used efficiently, rationally and for its main purpose, and shall be protected and rehabilitated; 5) any activities that may cause damage to human health, nature protection, or national security, or those that may cause ecological imbalance shall not be undertaken (art. 4). Land, excluding pastureland, land for common tenure land and land for special government use, may be given into ownership to citizens of Mongolia only (art. 5). The following [types of] land, regardless of whether they are given into possession or use, shall be used for common purpose under government regulation: 1) pasturelands, water points in pasturelands, wells and salt licks; 2) public tenure lands in cities, villages and other urban settlements; 3) land under roads and networks; 4) lands with forest resources; 5) lands with water resources. Foreign countries, international organizations, foreign legal entities, foreign citizens and stateless persons may become users of land for a specific purpose and a specific time period subject to contract conditions and in compliance with the law (art. 6). Regardless of the form of ownership, all land within the borders of Mongolia constitutes a unified land territory. The unified land territory shall be classified based on the general purpose of its use and the need for its use (art. 9). The unified land territory of Mongolia shall be classified as follows: 1) agricultural land; 2) land of cities, villages and other urban settlements; 3) land under roads and networks; 4) land with forest resources; 5) land with water resources (art. 10). Agricultural land shall include pastureland, hayfields, crop lands, lands for cultivation of fruits and berries, fallow lands, lands under agricultural constructions and other land for agricultural production (art. 11). Land cadastre shall be an integral part of land management activities. The unified land territory report will show allocation of land [by owners, possessors and users], national registration, the state of use and protection of land by each administrative and territorial units. The report shall have attached drawings of changes to the above (art. 26). The state-owned land may be given possession with a license to Mongolian citizens, companies, and organizations as well as entities with foreign investment for duration of 15 to 60 years. The land possession license may be extended for not longer than 40 years at a time (art. 30). The state certification on land characteristics and quality shall be made based on the following indicators: 1) thickness fertile layer of soil; 2) soil humus content (decomposition); 3) soil pollution and intoxication; 4) changes in characteristics of the land surface;5) changes in the vegetation cover; 6) changes in composition of fauna of pastureland and hayfield (art. 60).