The injustice and reconstruction of procedures in eminent domain and land acquisition

Abstract

Eminent domain should be regulated, the key to which is procedural restraints. Initiating procedure can organize, adjust, and setup a system of due process for claiming land acquisition, which serves to facilitate bargaining for an objective price. Since the exclusivity of property rights is affected by eminent domain power, applying transaction rules in the market to assess the fairness of the compensation is difficult. Currently, the procedural injustice is the key to the abuse of eminent domain powers, and the procedural deviation reflecting in laws and guarantees are either too vague or absent. Thus it is proposed that an institutional reform should include procedural openness, liability for procedural errors and disposition of judicial review in advance, with the aim to guarantee the legitimacy, effect, and security of land acquisition.