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 Unit 1: INTRODUCING THE BASIC ESSENCES OF LAND

unit one: Land Law in General

1. Introduction
Land Law
• Yet not properly addressed in the legal curriculum of the country
• A recently emerged course
• treat rules and laws applicable to real property /land/
• include wide range of subject matters starting from simple concepts of land to
concepts of rights and practices such as land register, cadaster, mortgage, lease,
and the like.
• great importance to society in a wider sense, since all activity in one way or
another is dependent on the space or the ground.
• also called Real Estate Law
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 Cont’d

• A fundamental prerequisite for a well functioning market economy.

• As a subject divided into two
•General land law
--->regulated through Civil Code
•Special land law
---> regulated through other persistently emerging proclamations
and regulations.
---> mainly regards the regulation and control of land usage.
--->covers environmental laws, planning laws, housing or building
laws, lease laws, and water laws.

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Cont’d

• The General Land Law:

• give the basic definitions for important terms in Land Law
such as land and immovable,
• “regulate” cadaster and land registration,
• regulate transfer of real property, mortgage, …etc. just to
mention a few.

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 Cont’d

• Both bodies of land law have a lot of common areas and hence
are to be treated as being supplementary to each other as they
deal with similar object-real property.
• In this course, for the time being, more attention is towards the
General Land Law regulated by the Civil Code.
• But the Special Land Law will also be treated in a quite fair
degree as many provisions of the Civil Code are either suspended
or inadequate and obsolete in light of the many new
circumstances that arose in the country after the adoption of the
Civil Code.

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 2. Nature and Scope of Land in General

• Land is the source of all material wealth;

• it provides us with all our needs to sustain.
• It is also a major economic asset from which people and nations
get significant profit.
• In the past and even today, in many countries, land has been
considered as an important social asset where the status and
prestige of people is determined.
• Because of such a high importance given to land, as compared to
other properties, movables, the legal protection accorded to land is
always strict in nature.
• And land law is concerned with land, rights in or above, and the
processes whereby those rights and interests are created and
transferred. DEBRE MARKOS UNIVERSITY, SCHOOL OF LAW, LAND LAW
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 Cont’d

• Different disciplines define “land” differently, in a manner

that suits their objectives.
• In legal definition, it is considered as the surface of the earth
and any fixtures on it, such as buildings, fence, tree plants, and
improvement to the land.
• The English Land Act definition is, of course, too broad that
includes also the rights, which is not common in continental
legal systems.

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 Cont’d

• A hybrid of the continental and the common law, the Swedish Land
Code, divides land into “property units” and each “property unit”
includes:
• A building, fence, and other facility constructed in or above for
permanent use; standing trees and other vegetation; natural
manure; and easements destined to serve the land.”
• Articles 552-554 of the French Civil Code also shows that
ownership of land “involves ownership of what is above and below
it.”
• Unless restricted by statutes, the owner of land is considered as
owning also the minerals inside the land and the airspace above
the land.
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Cont’d

• The common feature of the above examples is that the term

“land” signifies not only the surface of the earth, the ground,
but also things found beneath the surface and fixtures
above, and sometimes the airspace, above the ground.
• Of course, the details of ownership beneath and above the
ground may be limited by different legislations.
• But fixtures, such as trees and buildings are always
considered as part of the land.

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 Cont’d

• Whatever the case and definition, all disciplines have a

common understanding of the attributes of land:
• Each parcel of land is unique in its location and composition
• Land is physically immobile
• Land is durable
• The supply of land is finite
• Land is useful to people

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 3. Property rights to land

Feature of property rights in land.

• First, the idea of property rights in land does not refer to the land or
things on the land; rather they are social conventions by which
distribution of the benefits that accrue from specific uses of a
certain piece of land is regulated.
• Second, property rights in land themselves are also “the product of
rules” and “all rights have complementary duties” on others to
observe them. Property rights involve a relationship between the
right holder, others, and a governance structure to back up the
claim.
• Third, the essence of property rights in land can be precisely
understood as a bundle of rights an individual or a group has over
the land. DEBRE MARKOS UNIVERSITY, SCHOOL OF LAW, LAND LAW
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Property Right in Land

Use

Lease

Land Donate

Property Rights

Inheritance

Mortgage

Sale
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 Property Rights to Land/Real Property Rights/Real
Rights

• various interests or rights in land can be pictured as

consisting of a bundle of sticks, each of which represents a
different right (or interest) associated with land:
• the right to exclude,
• the right to transfer
• the right to possess and
• The right to use

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The complete bundle of rights includes the following:

• the right to sale an interest

• the right to lease an interest
• the right to mortgage an interest
• the right to give away an interest
• the right to do none of the above things

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 4. Regimes of Land Ownership

• There are four types of property regimes found around the

world:
• Private ownership
• Communal ownership
• State ownership
• Open access
• You must note that there is no complete consensus on what
constitutes to each system(what property belongs to which
regime)
• E.g. While in some countries forest and lakes belonged to the
state, in others they may be held privately or communally

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 4.1 Private ownership

• Ownership right vested in the individual person

• Provides rights of use, exchange, abuse, and exclude others from
using it. (use, rent/lease, mortgage, inherit, donate, sale,
exchange)
• Widest right 1204(1) of Civil code
• Many countries recognized it, and others prohibited it (former
USSR), African countries
• As a segment of private ownership, joint ownership (such as
condominium) and common ownership within a family can also
be categorized here.
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 4.2 Communal property

The defining characteristic of communal property is that every member

of the community has the right not to be excluded from the resource.
In a more closed community, access is allowed only to members (eg.
Grazing pasture in a village)
An individual who is a member of the community, therefore, has not only
a privilege to use the thing, but also a right not to be excluded from it.
The difference between open access and communal property is that in
the first case a person may not claim a use as a matter of right, while he
may do in the second case.
The similarity is that in both cases no body can exclude the person from
using the resource.
Communal ownership of land refers to such property of land commonly
owned by a community of a certain village or locality.
Grazing land, fishery, forest, irrigation system
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 4.3 State property

• Connotations between “state/government ownership” and “collective/public

ownership”
• State ownership of land is common in many countries, especially urban land.
• 30% of the US land is owned by federal and state governments
• In Europe urban municipalities control large amount of urban land
• In former socialist countries still some states have full ownership of rural land
• In China all urban land and natural resources is owned by the state and all
rural land by village communities.
• In many African countries land belong to the public and the state controls as a
trustee of the people.
• A property completely owned by the state and when the state is able to use by
itself or allocate its use to others.
• Although it is individuals who may use the property, the state has the ultimate
power of management.
• Land neither owned by private individuals nor by the community.
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 4.4 Open access (ownerless property)

• There are some things in respect of which no one has property rights.
• Each of us has a privilege to use such things , and the rest of the world has
no right to limit us
• To put it in terms of exclusion, none of us has the right to exclude others
from such things, nor do we ourselves have the right not to be excluded from
use.
• Every person has a free access to use or exploit such things.
• The assumption is that either they are not highly valued , or abundant not
exhaustible (air and sunlight)
• More e.g. Waking paths, parks, radio/TV waves
• Is it possible for ETV to force us to subscribe? Or should it limit its services by
putting codes etc. ?
• It is not possible to force the state or individuals to provide or maintain its
availability.
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5. The Nature and Scope of Land
Right in Ethiopia

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 5.1 Scope and objects of land rights

• Property is either movable or immovable (art. 1126 of the Civil

Code, here under cited as CC.)
• Land and buildings are considered as immovables (art. 1130 CC).
• Hence, unlike other legal systems such as English, Swedish or
French, where “land” includes “the ground and any fixture on the
ground”; the Ethiopian Civil Code treats “land” and “buildings” as
two separate types of immovables.

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 Cont’d

• On top of that, today, as envisaged under Article 40(3) & (7) of

FDRE Constitution;
• ownership of land is vested in the state and the people, while
ownership of building is given to the individual.
• It means, the land surface and the building over the land are
owned by two different bodies.
• On the other hand, unless and until they are separated from the
land, trees and crops are considered as part of the land (art.
1133 CC).
• In other words, “land” signifies the ground and other fixtures to
the land such as trees, grass, crops and so on, excepting
buildings and other similar erections.
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 Cont’d

• The question of the extent of ownership of land is treated in

Ethiopia by the 1960 Ethiopian Civil Code.
• Articles 1207-1211 generally express that ownership of land is
limited beneath and above the land “to the extent necessary for
the use of the land.”
• It means, a person who constructs a house shall own the land
beneath the earth to the extent that is necessary to put the
foundation, and above the ground to the extent of constructing
the house.
• It seems the limitless height above the earth and down beneath
is not working in Ethiopia as well.

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Cont’d

• Modern urban infrastructure and housing also triggered a

need to a limit the scope of land rights in dimension.
• Today it is not unusual to see rules concerning three
dimensional (3D) properties where the land is delimited in
three dimensions, horizontally (width and length) and
vertically (height).

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5.2 Ownership of Land in Ethiopia and the
Recurrent Debates

• The source of ownership of land is the FDRE Constitution.

• The Constitution under article 40(3) envisages:

• The right to ownership of rural and urban land, as well as
of all natural resources, is exclusively vested in the State
and in the peoples of Ethiopia. Land is a common property
of the Nations, Nationalities and Peoples of Ethiopia and
shall not be subject to sale or to other means of exchange.

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 Cont’d

• The above provision apparently includes two contradictory

claims:
on the one hand, it declares that all land and natural resources (hereafter,
land) are owned by the Ethiopian people and the state; and
on the other, it asserts that land is the common property of the Ethiopian
people.
• While in the first clause/aliena, the state, together with the
people, is depicted as a co-owner of the land, in the second
clause of the provision the state is oddly excluded from being a
co-owner.
• This provision of the constitution is somehow confusing unless it
is read in reference to its background.
• It is said that the joint ownership of land by the state and the
people was reflected during the making of the constitution.
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Cont’d

• Now, assuming that the intention of the law is the

joint ownership of land by the state and the people:
• What is the significance of the joint ownership of land
property?
• Does it mean that both the state and the people decide
together?
• And what are their respective rights as joint owners?

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5.3 Governing Land law in Ethiopia

• Laws governing the acquisition, possession and

transfer of land property are found in different
legislations.
• For example, the Civil Code contains general principles
pertaining to acquisition, possession (under property law)
and transfer of land either for consideration (Contract and
sales) or gratuitously (law of succession).

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Cont’d

• Besides the Civil Code (applicable if relevant and as far as it does

not contradict the latter laws), there are other legislations
adopted at federal and state levels.
Rural land is governed by the current FDRE RLAUP 456/2005
and the different implementing regional rural land
proclamations.
Urban land is administered by the Urban Land Lease
Proclamation No. 721/2011 and other similar urban land lease
regulations adopted by regional states.
The current Expropriation Proclamation No. 455/2005 along
with its implementing Regulation No. 135/2007 is other piece
of laws applicable to both urban and rural laws.
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Cont’d

• Legislations are considered as supplements to the Civil Code.

• There are also other proclamations addressing urban
planning, building construction, property
registration and cadastre adopted or being drafted to be
applied to urban or rural lands.

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Unit two: History of Tenure
System in Ethiopia

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 Land Rights in Ethiopia

• Property rights are the social institutions that define or delimit the
range of privileges granted to individuals to specific assets, such as
parcels of land or water. (Gary D. Libecap 1989, p.1)

Use

Lease

Land Donate

Property Rights
Inheritance

Mortgage

Sale
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 Land Tenure

• Land tenure is about the ways land resources are allocated

• It defines how access is granted to rights to use, control, and
transfer land, as well as associated responsibilities and
restraints.
• In simple terms, land tenure systems determine who can use
what resources for how long, and under what conditions.
• Land tenure could be governed legally or customarily

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Cont’d

• For generations, land rights in Ethiopia were governed and

enforced by customary system.
• It was only after the 1960s and 70s, that some legal
measurements that changed the old system were
introduced, especially with regard to rural land.

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Imperial Era

• The imperial era (pre 1974) tenure system in Ethiopia may

be classified as pre and post Menelik eras
• Reasons: the re-annexation of additional territories and
introduction of new tenure systems
• Enactments of decrees in respect of rist and gult lands.
• Enactments of constitutions and Civil Code that changed the
property right system

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Classification of Land Ownership During the Pre-Menelik Era

Land acquired by King

Private rist Church Government

land Land land

distributed in lieu of
distributed among
Heirs salary and pensions
the clergy (samon land) (maderia and ginde bel)

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Pre 1975 tenure system- North

• Starting from time immemorial land was controlled by the king.

• All lands annexed as a result of expansion of territories went to the
king
• Land collected in this way had been distributed to individuals, church
and partly held by the state itself.

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 Classification of private tenure

• Rist vs. Gult

• Rist right confers use right over the land.
• Rist holders had all rights except sale.
• Original Rist right may be created as a result of imperial grant or
clearance of forest by the original father.
• It is inheritable to children irrespective of sex or birth order.

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 Gult…

Gult right is not as such use right.

Gult right (like fief right) provides rights of administration,
adjudication, and tribute collection over rist holders who settled on
the land
This right is acquired by the nobility/aristocracy through imperial
grant. Some how it was like public office and needed appointment.
Since it was temporary right (may also be life time for some), it was
neither inheritable nor alienable. (Exceptions were there during
Gonderiane era).
A single estate of gult land, comprising perhaps one or two square
miles, often included within its boundaries strip-fields, held as rist
by scores (50-150) of farmers.
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Rights and Obligations of Rist Owners and
Gult Holders
• Rist Holder Peasants
• Land tax- tribute(1/3) and tithe (1/10) of total produce
• In the old days peasants were also required to provide manual
service to the nobility and the church (grinding, fencing,
farming, collecting firewood) which claimed 1/3rd of peasant’s
time
• Concerning decision of production the peasant had full right.
• His right was relatively secured with little interference either
from the immediate gult holder or even the emperor.

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 Gult Holder…

The Gult holder after being granted the office he

acted as chief tax collector, judge, and administrator.
For his service he shall:
• retain part of the tax for himself.
• uses the court fees and fines he collected in his capacity as
a judge.
• own land as rist to be cultivated by the peasants

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 From anonymous writer (1910)

• The gult-holder, assisted by the local official, fixes the proportion of

the state due which each parish must pay; he also acts as a court of
appeal in civil and criminal matters from judgments of the local
official; he is responsible for peace and order in his gult and is, of
course, the military chief of the district. In return for this he (a) has his
land cultivated free of charge by the ristenyatat (rist holders); (b)
receives all of the fines which he may impose in his judicial capacity;
keeps a part, generally one-tenth, of the tribute collected by him; and
DEBRE MARKOS UNIVERSITY, SCHOOL OF LAW, LAND LAW
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(c) receives certain presents, example a sheep from each parish at
COURSE FOR 2ND YEAR REGULAR STUDENTS
Post-Menelik era

Land acquired by King

Private ownership Church Governmen

of land Land t land

Heirs

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Southern Ethiopia

Emperor Menelik II re-annexed the southern part of

Ethiopia (1875-1889)
Previously all land was held customarily as common
Then most of the land was confiscated by emperor’s
forces and distributed to soldiers, church, local gentries,
and to imperial families
Local people were left landless
Land became private

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 Southern….

This condition of landlessness of the southern people continued until the mid
1960s.
Local people were given the name gabbar (paradoxically means tax payer) and
served northern land owners.
After second world war government continued to transfer land to investors,
northern settlers, patriots of war ….
Among 4 million ha (after 1940s) few thousands reached to the gabbars (Bahru
Zewde)
Investment on modern farm increased during the 1960s and when most land
owners sold their land, the gabbars converted to tenants.
The office of Gult was weakened because of establishments of modern courts,
tax collection systems, civil and military bureaucracy.

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 Cont’d

Additional land taxes however exacerbated burdens of peasants

Resistance to land reform from northern peasants, and from
others.
Government couldn’t made meaningful land reform and finally it
became a reason for its downfall (under the slogan “Land to the
Tiller.”

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 Derg Era- Rural Land

After the demise of the imperial power, a military junta (a.k.a.

Derg) came to power.
The Derg immediately passed two land related proclamations
which fundamentally changed the age old tenure system
Proclamation 31 of 1975 nationalized all rural land and transferred
it to state ownership (Art.3)
Land was redistributed in the country and landless tenants got
their own land.
No compensation for land confiscation
It gave only use right.
It specifically prohibited sale, donation, mortgage, lease/rent or
inheritance of land (except inheritance to minor children and
widow) (see art.5) DEBRE MARKOS UNIVERSITY, SCHOOL OF LAW, LAND LAW
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 Derg….

• The Ministry of Land Reform and Administration, of Haile Sellassie,

proposed for all individually owned lands above 20 hectares to be
distributed.
• The Derg used this notion and limited the maximum limit to 10
hectares (art. 4(3)
• Tenants were given right to hold the land they tilled until land
distribution to be carried out
• Large scale agri. Was distributed, or held by cooperatives or run by
the state
• Peasant association with the sole objective of land distribution
(art.10) were established in an area that covers 800 hectares
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 Effects of land reform

The Derg had enjoyed popular support from the peasantry of the south.
On the other hand northern peasants (rist owners) and big land owners
from across the country opposed the law
Because:
 it reduces the previous holdings;
 restricts the land rights as mentioned above
Student led opposition movements instantly wage war over the Derg.
Generally speaking, the land distribution was successful at that time but
later erroneous policies prevented the peasant from enjoying it.
(villagization, resettlement, grain requisition)
The “Land to the Tiller” question that brought the Derg to power was
paradoxically sabotaged by the Derg itself.
The government ended up as owner rather than the peasant.
Finally peasant supported armed resistance brought down the Derg49
DEBRE MARKOS UNIVERSITY, SCHOOL OF LAW, LAND LAW
from power in 1991. COURSE FOR 2ND YEAR REGULAR STUDENTS
 The current land policy

After assuming power, in 1991, the current government passed a

constitution in 1995.
The much anticipated constitution once again maintained state
ownership of land in Ethiopia.
 The right to ownership of rural and urban land, as well as of all natural
resources, is exclusively vested in the State and in the peoples of Ethiopia.
Land is a common property of the Nations, Nationalities and Peoples of
Ethiopia and shall not be subject to sale or to other means of exchange.
[Art. 40 (3)]
The justification for state ownership of land in Ethiopia is based
on two grounds: social equity and tenure security.

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 Land Policy and the Debate

Ethiopia has no separate land policy; it is included in the

constitution
The policy is that land should be remained under public and state
ownership
Two main reasons are social equity and tenure security
In order to ensure social equity the constitution and other
subsidiary legislations allowed any person to get land for free
Critics: this doesn’t practically work for lack of land in rural areas,
“social equity is costly in that it amounts to social poverty”

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 Land Policy

• Tenure security is to be chiefly guaranteed through prohibition of

sale
• Government argued that if land is salable then overtime it may be
concentrated in the hands of speculators; will create massive
migration to cities..
• Rather those who genuinely wish to invest in rural land will get land
in lowlands of the country
• Critics: the argument is not corroborated with evidence; rather
studies show that farmers prefer rent to sale during periods of
hardship

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 General Critics of the Land Policy

Promotes insecurity of tenure because it allows, among other

things, periodic redistribution;
 Inefficient because it constrains land transactions and has inhibited
the emergence of a dynamic land market,
Promotes fragmentation of land and growing pressure on land
resources because it discourages rural people from leaving their
farms for other employment opportunities;
Gives the state immense power over the farming population
because land is state property.

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Cont’d

• Government refutes these criticisms as baseless and rather

provides the land registration as good example to ensure
security.
• Still, some researchers insist that unless the potential of land
distribution is there and expropriation is always in hand,
tenure security is not ensured.

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 The Current Rural Land Legislations and the Power of Federal and States

• The Federal government is empowered with the enactment of laws

for utilization and conservation of land and natural resource
(Constitution art. 51.5)
• Regional states are empowered with administration of their
respective land in accordance with federal laws (Const. Art. 52.2.d)
• Federal Gov. enacted Proclamation 89/1997 and repealed and
replaced it by 456/2005
• Also there are relevant Expropriation Proc. 455/2005 and
Compensation Reg. 135/2007.
• Regional Rural land and administration and use Proclamations also
available.
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 Basics of the FDRE Constitution

• Every Ethiopian has the right to own private property. (40.1)

• Private property is any thing which is created by the labor, creativity,
enterprise or capital of the individual (40.2)
• Land is not subject of private ownership. It is the common property
of the state and the people. (40.3)
• Farmers and pastoralists will get land free of charge (40.4&5).
• Investors will get land upon payment (40.6)
• Every person will have full right to the immovable and
improvements on the land (40.7)
• Government may expropriate private property for public purpose
and upon payment of compensation (40.8)
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 Rural Land Administration and Use (RLAUP):


Access to Rural Land

• The proclamation (RLAUP) creates free access to rural land (art. 5.1.
a.&.b)
• But there are requirements of
• Residency (the person must reside in the area)
• Profession (the person must have a desire to engage)
• Age (the person must be above 18 years)
• Critics:
• The free access policy conflicts with the restriction on land
distribution.
• It created population pressure by discouraging farmers from moving
to cities in search of alternative lives
• It may be interpreted in some quarters as regionalism and ethnicity
and discourages people from
DEBRE MARKOS moving
UNIVERSITY, SCHOOL OFand working
LAW, LAND LAW in other regions.
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 Nature and Duration of Land Right

• The type of right provided to peasants and pastoralists is known as

“holding right.”
• Is it the same with ownership, possession, usufruct?
• Holding right is defined as “right that includes use, lease, bequeath to
family members and other lawful heirs, and to own the fruit (produce)
thereof. (Art. 2.4)
• Holding right is secure because:
 Holding right would be guaranteed by certificate (art.6)
 No distribution without consent (art.9.3)
 Compensation in the event of expropriation (7.3)
 The right is not limited by time (Art. 7.1)
• As compared to Proc. 31/75, there is significant development in
liberalizing the land rights.
• But the problem is that it doesn’t address the interest of the pastoralist
(the focus is the highland farmers).
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Modality of Land Acquisition

• There are t w o modalities of land acquisitions:

1. Land Grant
2. Land bequeath
Inheritance
Donation

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 Cont’d

Land Grant
• Land may be granted to any person who is above 18 and has
the desire to engage in agriculture
• Source of land is unoccupied government lands, communal
lands, land reverted to the state (b/c no heir, abandoned,
confiscated,) or conducting land redistribution.
Land bequeath
• Land may be acquired from family by donation or inheritance
• Family member is defined as “any person who permanently
lives with holder of holding right sharing the livelihood of the
latter” (Art. 2(5)
• Residency and management requirements.
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 Modality…

• Land transferred to investors

• Based on art. 5.4.a government may transfer land to investors
• Also known as “land grab”
• It signifies, large-scale agricultural land transfer on lease or sale
basis.
• Recently it draws huge amount of media and donors attention
• This global land rush for agricultural land started during the mid of
2000 and intensified after the food crises in 2008/09
• Sovereign states and foreign investors have massively participating
in this investment activities
• The purpose is to produce food crops, biofuel, sugar, cotton food oil,
and other industrial imputes.
• The host countries are mainly from Africa, Asia an south America.
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61
 Transferability of Rural Land Use Rights

• Rural land holding may be transferred to others by way of rent

(farmer-farmer), lease (farmer-investor), donate, or inheritance
• Such provision is included in regional rural land laws
• Farmers are able to lease or rent land from their holding “size
sufficient for the intended development in a manner that shall
not displace them, for a period of time to be determined by rural
land administration laws of regions” (art.8.1)
• Two restrictions: all the holding may not be rented out; and
transfer for definite period.

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Rural land Lease

• What kind of land is that mentioned under art. 8.4, land to be

mortgaged? Could it be land rented from farmers?
• In any case, leased land may be given as a security to loan
(mortgage).
• Regional governments have different lease, rental period and
amount to be rent/lease out.

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 Highlights of Restriction on Rights

Lease/rent (limited by time and size by regional rural land

laws
 Renting not more than 50% of land size
 Renting for not more than years specified by laws
To get farm land one:
 Must be above 18 years (there are exceptions)
 Must be a permanent resident (acc. to regional laws)
 Must have intention to engage in the agricultural profession
Inheritance and donation to people outside family is
restricted
Inheritance to children who are engaged in non-farming
activities is prohibited.
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 Termination of Rural Land Rights

• Permanent employment of the farmer that brings in him an average salary

determined by government
• Engagement in professions other than agriculture and for which tax is paid
• Absence of a farmer from the locality without the knowledge of his
whereabouts and without renting the land for more than 5 years
• Fallowing the land for three consecutive years without sufficient reasons
• Failure to protect land from flood erosion
• Forfeiting land right upon written notification
• Voluntary transfer of land through gift
• Land distribution (the loss will be partial).
• Expropriation of land without replacement of another land
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 Dispute Settlement

• Land conflict is rife in many regions of the country

• Reasons are many but some of them are:
Boundary conflict
Inheritance issues
Divorce cases
Loss of land associated with corruption
Inadequate compensation
Incomplete and ambiguous laws
How to solve? Via negotiation and mediation…if not court
litigation

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DEBRE MARKOS UNIVERSITY, SCHOOL OF LAW, LAND LAW
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 Lease Terminology

Lease, in its legal definition, is considered to be a contract that

allows the use or occupation of property for a specific period of
time, with a specified amount of rent.
What are the elements of this definition?
Normally, only possession (usage) rights, not development rights.
Lease also specifies other rights and responsibilities of landlord
and tenant.
Rent – the price of the lease that is typically paid periodically.

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 Con…

What do you think is the measure that has to be

taken to minimize the tension between the
communist’s desire to up hold public land
ownership and the reformists’ demand for
increasing private property rights?

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 Cont…

There are at least two reasons that land ownership is such an intractable
issue

First, from an economic point of view, there have been prolonged disputes
over the distribution of wealth generated from increases in land values. In
most situations a land value increment is a product of both public and
private investments

Government inability to retain land value increments is an enduring policy

issue in some developingDEBRE
countries where
MARKOS UNIVERSITY, land
SCHOOL OF LAW, is privately owned.
LAND LAW
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71
 Cont…

Second, not only is land ownership a set of rules for allocating and
accumulating wealth, but it also possesses important ideological and
political meanings.

To this end, leasehold may lessen the tension between the

communists desire to uphold public land ownership and the
reformists demand for increasing private property rights.

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 Current Ethiopian Urban Land laws

Today Urban land is being governed by lease system.

The first lease proc.80/1993),
The second was proc.272/2002),
The third and the current is proc. 721/2011
Ground leasehold system is a very known tenure arrangement in
many countries.
Most cities leased land within their control to collect revenue to
run the city.

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 Scope and Definitions of Lease in Ethiopia

• “Lease” under the FDRE lease proclamation 272/2003 has been

define as:
 “lease-hold system in which use right of urban land is
transferred or held contractually (Art. 2(1).
• The 1960 Ethiopian civil code under article 2896 on its part
defines lease as follows:
The lease of an immovable is a contract whereby one of the
parties, the lessor, undertakes to ensure to the other party,
the lessee, the use and enjoyment of an immovable, for a
specified time and for a consideration fixed in kind or
otherwise.
What are the elements of the definition given under
art.2896 of CC? DEBRE MARKOS UNIVERSITY, SCHOOL OF LAW, LAND LAW
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…

• In a lease contract
Lessor is the landlord/ leased fee owner - አከራዩ
Lessee is the tenant/renter - ተከራዩ
• The rights of the lessor and the lessee are specified by
contract terms contained within the lease.
• And “leasehold” means the interest held by the lessee
through a lease transferring the rights of use and
occupancy for a stated term under certain conditions.

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…

• Therefore Leasing means transferring:

Occupancy – possession rights and
Use – enjoyment rights
• Not a full right. But limited in time as well as in the
extent of bundle of real property rights.

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 …

• The definition and scope of lease provided in the proclamation

is different from the scope of the term defined in continental
legal system.
• For E.g. A typical definition of lease is one given by Planiol
which states lease as:
“A contract whereby one person engages himself to
furnish to another person the temporary enjoyment of a
thing for a price proportional to the time.”

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 …

• The similarity one can find in all the above definitions is

that:
• Firstly, lease right emanates from contractual agreements.
• Secondly, the right transferred to the lessee (tenant) is the use
and occupancy of the property.
• Thirdly this interest is transferred for consideration- that the
lessee must pay in the form of rent.
• And fourthly, lease right provides only personal rights to the
lessee, not real rights for the lease right generally may not be
sold or mortgaged. (but specially can be sold or mortgaged)

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…

• The basic differences one can observe from the

definitions however are,
• Planiol’s definition of lease can encompass movable and
immovable, for the word “thing” can not both movable and
immovable.
• In the common law as well as under the Ethiopian Lease
proclamations leases are applied to real property or land.
• A systematic search and analysis of the civil code also
shows that the code follows the common law approach.

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 Nature and Advantages of the Lease System

• Lease is another means of land holing system.

• Lease may be of private or public one.
• Generally, it has several advantages;
 Retain the public’s share of land value increments for
infrastructure investments
Facilitate & manage urban development/growth
 Reserve land for public purposes, such as government
building and green areas
 Stabilize land and housing prices and provide affordable
housing to the population
 Serve as effective source of fund in the absence of effective
tax system.
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…

Facilitate investment in property by foreign entities when

a country’s constitution prohibits ownership of land by
foreigners.
 Speed up transfer of property from public ownership to
private uses.
 Encourage investment.
 Lease serves as a means to transfer state ownership of
land to users, an alternative to private ownership.

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Overview of Previous Lease Proclamations

1. Urban Lands Lease Holding Proclamation, Proclamation No. 80/1993.

Negarit Gazeta. Year 53, No. 40
• After the downfall of the Derg in 1991, the Transitional
Government of Ethiopia (TGE) came up with a new urban land
law.
• Unlike the permit system operational before it, the new urban
land law follows a lease system.
• So, for the first time a lease system was introduced in Ethiopia as
a mode of urban land holding when the new law was adopted in
1993.

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 …Proc. No. 80/1993

• Since the lease system was enacted before the adoption

of the Constitution, and
• Since the constitution does not explicitly say anything
about urban land allocation,
it can be argued that this proclamation was the base for the
current urban land holding system, although its constitutionality
is questionable.

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 …Proc. No. 80/1993

• Compared to the permit system of the Derg era, a significant

characteristic of this proclamation is that it allowed a free transfer
of lease right in the form of sale, mortgage and contribution in
Share Company (Article 10.1of Proc. 80/1993).
• Yet, according to sub-3 of same Article, the “lessee may not, on
transferring his right of lease, collect income which is higher than
the rent of land he paid; nor may he mortgage such right at a value
which is higher than the rent.”
• Where the lessee collects or gains higher than what he actually paid
as ground rent, he has the duty to pay back the difference to town
administration (Article 10 .4).
• In short, the increment in land value would be captured by the
government rather than individuals.
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2. Re-enactment of Urban Lands Lease Holding Proclamation,
Proclamation No.272/2002. Negarit Gazeta. Year 8, No. 19.

• Proclamation 80/93 was repealed and replaced by the

Revised Urban Land Lease Proclamation (Proc. 272/2002) in
2002.
• The objectives of Proclamation No. 272/2002 were mainly
two:
to collect income from land lease in order to assure fair share from
urban land wealth, and
to transform the holding system (permit system of the Derg era) into
a lease system.
• It offers two methods to get access to urban land, unlike its
predecessor which says nothing about the subject. Article
4(1.a) of the proclamation recognizes:
“auction” and “negotiation” as the two modalities to acquire urban
land. DEBRE MARKOS UNIVERSITY, SCHOOL OF LAW, LAND LAW
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 3.1 Justifications of the current urban land
lease pro. No 721/2011 of Ethiopia

• The reasons offered for the revision of the existing lease

proclamations are enshrined under Article 4 of the
proclamation as “Fundamental Principles of Lease”.
1. To benefit the government and by far the people from the lease
system, instead of the urban land speculators. Art.4.1
2. Due to the corruptness of municipalities and inefficient of the
land delivery. Art.4.2&4.3
3. Lack of detailed rules in tender processes

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 3.2 Objectives of the Lease System

As given at the preamble of the proclamation, the objectives of the lease

policy are:
1. To satisfy the needs of the various sections of the population in the land utilization
process
2. To address the problems associated with a high rate of urban population growth which
resulted in the expansion of urban centers
3. To address the inadequacy of the financial capacity of urban centers to finance the
building of infrastructure and the provision of social services to urban dwellers
4. The need to implement the free market principles of the government by creating
conditions where by the right to use urban land can have market value
5. The need to control loopholes, corruption and appropriation of unjustified gains
realized during the transfer of the right to use urban land whose value has appreciated
6. The need to lay down a framework with in which Ethiopian investors can participate in
the economic development of urban centers in accordance with the economic policy of
the country.

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3.3 Applications of the Lease System

• Transfer of land holding into lease system means that all land
in urban areas, after being identified and registered by the
municipality, shall be known as lease land, and the holder
shall enter with the government a lease contract that,
among others, includes lease period and lease price to be
paid (Article 16).
• The lessee will then be given a “Lease Holding Certificate”
that shows the name of lessee, land size, location, land use
purpose, lease price, lease period and so on (Article 17).

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…the fate of Old Possessions

• All “old possession” shall be held under lease system

(transfer of register, entry of lease agreement, issuance of
lease certificate).
• “Old possession” means land acquired before the coming of
the lease system (1993).
• Whether people will be forced to pay lease price during the
change of status (from permit system to lease hold) is not
clear.

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…

• But in the event of :

a. Transaction other than inheritance
b. Merger of newly acquired lease right with old
possession
c. Regularization of informal settlement
• People will pay lease price (minimum price set)
multiply by area of land.
• E.g. For a purchase of land area of 200m2 assume the
lease benchmark set is 500. The total lease price is
100,000. Buyer is forced to pay at least 10% of the total.

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 …Exceptions

In some cases the land may not be transferred to lease;

• When an old possession is divided among heirs/legatees upon
their request
• When divorcee couples who hold old possession divide it in
accordance with relevant laws
• When one of the divorcees takeover
• A replacement land provided to holders of old possession whose
land was lost by expropriation
• When land possessions without documentations are decided to be
certified by a directive of relevant region or city administration.

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 1/5/2021 5:20 PM

3.4 Modes of Urban Land Acquisition

• Previously, land used to be acquired through five methods:

Auction, Negotiation, Assignment, Lot and Award
• Now, since most of them open door for corruption and “rent
seeking” behaviors, only:
• Tender (auction) and
• Allotment (land transfer without auction) are recognized (art.7.2)
• As a matter of principle auction will be used.
• Yet for activities that have public advantage, land may be
transferred by allotment (upon payment of the minimum lease
price).
• E.g. Gov.t offices, religious institutions, government housing programs,
diplomatic missions..(art.12)
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… tender

• As a matter of principle, every land needed for:

• residential, commercial (agriculture, industry, or service),
and other purposes are transferred by tender.
• Bidders will use the minimum lease price as a base
to offer their price.
• The highest bidder will be identified based on the
“bid price and the amount of advance payment he
offers” (Art. 11.5).
• To make it more transparent, accessible and free
from corruption, the law allocates more detailed
provisions (Art. 8-11) to the tender process
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 …allotment

a)Office premises of budgetary government entities,

b)Social service institutions run by government or charitable organizations,
c)Places of worship,
d)Public residential housing construction programs and government approved
self-help housing constructions,
e)Use of diplomatic missions and international organizations,
f)Manufacturing industries, and
g)Projects having special national significance
h)Displaced person due to urban renewal (old possession or leased)
i) Displaced lawful tenant of kebele or government houses due to urban
renewal

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3.5 Formation of Urban Land Lease Contract

• Lease formed after signing a lease contract with the

appropriate body (Art. 16.1)
• The lease contract contains
The construction start-up and completion time,
Payment schedule,
Grace period,
Rights and obligations of the parties as well as
 Other appropriate details (art. 16.2).
• The assumption is that the general provisions of contract
law envisaged under the civil code will be applied here as
well.
• In particular, the lease proclamation and the subsidiary laws
are applied.
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 3.6 Obligations of the Lessee

• Obligations are confined up to the extents of the terms

and conditions of the lease agreement, since lease is a
contract.
Examples
Not using the land other than its purpose
Not using the land in contrary with the urban plan
Paying the lease amount as per the contract
Returning the leased land upon the expiry of the lease period
 Applying to the appropriate body to convert the use of the land
Commencing construction within the specified period.
Complete construction within the period specified in the lease
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 3.7 Expiry and Renewal of the Lease Contract

• The proclamation provides different years of lease lives for various

activities (15-99 yrs.)
• E.g. 15 yrs. for urban agriculture, 99 yrs. for residential, educational
institutions…
• After expiry, as matter of principle, contract is renewable.
• But lease contract may not be renewed if;
• The city administration needs the land for other purposes.
• The lessee failed to notify to the appropriate body within 10 to 2 years
before the expiry of the lease period.
……then the contract shall be terminated.
• Lessee shall remove his property at his own cost; or else
government take it and no compensation shall be paid.
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 3.8 Transfer of Leasehold Right

• Leasehold right is freely transferable in the current proclamation as

well.
• But to discourage “rent seeking” activities (seeking benefit without
adding value) the proclamation puts four strategies during the
transfer:
1. Speculators who participate repeatedly in unfinished land sale
shall be denied such right (24.7)
2. Sale of unfinished land requires municipal supervision (24.8)
3. People who wish to sell their lease right (bare land) or half
completed construction will get no benefit (paid lease price +
construction cost + 5% of profit gained from sale) (24.3)
4. Mortgage value is not more than the paid up lease price for the
land.(25.4) DEBRE MARKOS UNIVERSITY, SCHOOL OF LAW, LAND LAW
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Termination of Lease Contract

• The proclamation introduces three situations that

may lead to the termination of the lease contract
(Article 25.1):
1. Failure to use the land in accordance with Article 21(1),
(violation of contract)
2. Expropriation of the leased land, and
3. Expiry and non-renewal of contract

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DEBRE MARKOS UNIVERSITY, SCHOOL OF LAW, LAND LAW
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• As we discussed earlier land is the source of all material wealth.
The availability of land is the key to human existence, and its
distribution and use are of vital importance.

• Therefore, land records are the great concern of all

governments.

• The framing of land policy and its execution may in large

measure depend on the effectiveness of land registration and
cadastral systems.
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 Land registration
• Henssen(1995) define the term Land registration as follow: Land
registration is a process of official recording of rights in land through
deeds or as title on properties. It gives an answer to the questions who
and how.
• The term registration refers to an active process where by the result
could be called a ‘register’ and an organization doing this a ‘registry’.
• There are two basic components to a land records system namely a piece
of land and the rights over that piece of land. The basic unit in the land
registry is a parcel and its boundaries.
• Historically, land records have been carried out for two main purposes.

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• First, as fiscal record primarily for the public sector, they have
served as the basis for the full and accurate taxation of land. Land
registration systems are often used as a source of government
revenue through the collection of fees and transfer taxes.
• Second, as a legal record, primarily for the private sector, they have
used as registers of owner ship and other related rights.
• Land registration usually refers to a predominantly legal
registration where one can see who owns some real property. It
usually consists of all relevant legal documents regarding real
property.

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 Classification of Systems of Land
Registration.

• There are many types of land registration systems classified

based on legal, organizational, procedural and information
management distinction.
• From a legal perspective, the major types are divided
between
• Deed registration and
• Title registration

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 Deeds Registration

• A deed refers to a written instrument recording the transaction

affecting or claiming to affect the right. It is a record of an isolated
transaction and evidence that particular transaction took place.
• However, it is not evidence by itself that the legal right of either party
to undertake the transaction process and as a result no evidence of
the legality of the transaction itself.
• A deed may be registered for the public convenience or in the interest
of private persons. (a copy of the transfer document is deposited in
a deeds registry)
• A deed is only executed when there is some change in the possession
of a right and a register of deeds is a record of transactions in rights
and not of the rights themselves.
• The deed system is man-related.
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 Title Registration

• It is a type of land registration system in which the legal consequence

of the transaction (not the deed that is the document indicating an
isolated transaction) is registered. This means under title registration
system, it is not the deed rather the right itself (title) that is
registered.
• Thus, the right itself together with the name of rightful claimant and
the object of that right with its restrictions and charges are
registered.
• The title system is land related system. With this registration the right
or title is created. In this system each parcel of land is identified on a
map and the rights associated with it are registered, and the name of
the owner is also recorded. Only the name of the owner need be
changed provided that whole land is transferred.

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• There is no need of adjusting the plan. However, the plan has
to be revised and new documents should be given when certain
part of the land is transferred to another owner through
subdivision or other means of property formation.
• Copy of the certificate of title for each land parcel is held by the
land owner and if the land has been used as collateral the
mortgager hold the copy of the certificate of title. However the
original certificate is held by the title registry.

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 Adjudication of Title to Land

As Lawrance(1985) defines
• Adjudication is the process whereby all existing rights in a particular
parcel of land are finally and authoritatively ascertained.
• Land adjudication process neither changes the existing rights in land
nor creates a new one.
• Rather it establishes what rights exist, by whom they are exercised,
and to what limitation.

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• Adjudication is an essential prerequisite for certain land measures
such as:
• Land registration
• Land consolidation
• Disposition of state land
• Adjudication is a necessary measure in case of registration of
title. When a parcel is first entered into the register, particulars of
all rights and liabilities in it must have been ascertained and
determined conclusively.

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• Adjudication is a prerequisite for the disposition of state land.
Without adjudication the boundaries between state land and
private land might often be vague.
• There may even be holdings, occupancy rates, or customary rights
on portions of unoccupied land.
• In some nations adjudication of state land has been a major task.
• Adjudication means determining” who is using what”, that is the
rights and user rights must be ascertained as well as the extent of
the land affected.
• The latter means that the boundaries of each parcel must be
agreed between the adjoining parties.

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 Cadastre

• According to Henssen(1995)
• Cadastre is a methodically arranged public inventory of
data concerning properties within a certain country or
district, based on a survey of their boundaries. Such
properties are systematically identified by means of some
separate designation. The outlines of the property and
the parcel identifier normally are shown on large-scale
maps which, together with registers, may show for each
separate property the nature, size, value and legal rights
associated with the parcel. It gives an answer to the
question where and how much.
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 .

• A cadastre usually consists of two parts:

• Geographic part ( map or plan) showing the size and location of all land
parcels
• Descriptive part ( register) that represents the attributes of land such as land
value, ownership, or use
• The major development in introducing cadastre (with maps) took
place in the early 19th Century.
• In 1807 Napoleon I, Emperor of France established cadastre in
France and all areas which at that time were under his rule (most of
South and West of Continental Europe).
• In 1817 Francis I, Emperor of Austria, founded much of improved
cadastre for the whole Austro- Hungarian Empire. At that time it
covers most of central Europe.
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• Traditionally the Cadastre was designed to assist in land taxation,
real estate conveyancing, and land redistribution.
• The Cadastre helps to provide those involved in land transactions
with relevant information and helps to improve the efficiency of
those transactions and security of tenure in general.
• It provides governments at all levels with complete inventories of
land holdings for taxation and regulation.
• But today, the information is also increasingly used by both private
and public sectors in land development, urban and rural planning,
land management, and environmental monitoring.

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• A Cadastre is normally a parcel-based system, i.e. information
is geographically referenced to unique, well-defined units of
land. These units are defined by the formal or informal
boundary marking, the extent of lands held for exclusive use by
individuals and specific groups of individuals.
• Each parcel is given a unique code or parcel identifier.
Examples of these codes include addresses, co-ordinates, or lot
numbers shown on a survey plan or map.

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 Classification of Cadastral System

The cadastral systems can be classified in to three groups.

1. Tax Cadastre
2. Real Cadastre
3. Legal Cadastre
1. The Tax Cadastre
• In this cadastral system information is collected for the purpose of
land taxation. The tax may be assessed based on the area of land,
type of land, value of land and output of the land. It is
characterized by
• low accuracy of the survey as its vital objective is tax collection.
• the rightful ownership is not properly determined. As long as some one
agrees to pay taxes, it does not matter to the government who the rightful
owners are.

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2. Real Cadastre:
• Real property Cadastre is carried out primarily for the physical
mapping of land holding boundaries and locating other real
properties for land inventory.
3. Legal Cadastre:
• Legal cadastre is carried out so as to determine legal ownership
and registration of legal transactions. The requirements of physical
survey of land boundaries prior to land registration may not be
necessary since registration can be based on old documents. Thus,
in general, the legal cadastre is a complement to both property
cadastre and tax cadastre.

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 Cadastral Surveying.

• Cadastral surveying refers to the definition, identification,

demarcation, measuring and mapping of new or changed legal
parcel boundaries. It usually includes the process of re-
establishing lost boundaries and sometimes resolving disputes
over boundaries or other interests in real property.
• Cadastral surveys are carried out by governmental officials and
private surveyors or by a combination of both. Special
certification (licensing) is required and this can be administered
either by the state or by a professional society.

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 Cadastre vs. Land registration

Cadastre Land Registration

 Parcel-based  Ownership/owner based

 Information about the interests/rights

 Information about the parcel
and restrictions

 Answer where? And how much?

 Answers who? And how?

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• Private ownership abolished since march 1975
• Land remained a heartrending issue of the 1995 constitution as well.
• Land reaffirmed as a public property/state ownership.
• Farmers given use right under a holding right while urban dwellers given a
leasehold right.
• Land not subject to sale, exchange or mortgage.
• Landholders have other rights than sale or purchase right mainly usufractuary
right.
• The holder of use right over land has the right to use the land or to derive
revenue from it by leasing it to another person or investor.

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1. Sale of Immovable

• Formality Requirements of Sale of Immovable

• Rights and Duties of the Seller
• Rights and Duties of the Seller

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 Formality requirements

• Art. 2877. - Form of contract.

• A contract of sale of an immovable shall be of no effect unless it
is made in writing.
• Art. 2878. - Registration in registers of immovable property.
• The sale of an immovable shall not affect third parties unless it
has been registered in the registers of immovable property in the
place where the immovable sold is situate

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Rights and Duties of the Seller

• Obligation to Transfer unassailable Rights over the

Immovable
• Obligation to Furnish Necessary Documents
• Obligation to Deliver
• Right to Take the Payment of Price
• Right to Retain Necessary Documents

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Rights and Duties of the Buyer

• Obligation as to the Payment of Purchase Money

• Obligation to Take Delivery of the Thing and Documents

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 2. Inheritance

• Transfer of the property of the deceased to persons on the basis of close

blood relation to the deceased.
• In our case it is the passage of land use right from the deceased land
holder to his/ her heirs.
• With respect to rural land, the farmers in Ethiopia are given the power to
transfer their holding right through in heritance.
• With respect to urban land, the leaseholders in Ethiopia are given the
power to transfer their leasehold right through in heritance.
• When usufractuary rights transferred in a consideration, the provisions
applicable to contract of sale shall be applied.
• The obligation of the seller to transfer the ownership of the thing shall in
such case be replaced by the obligation to transfer the usufruct of such
thing.
• Two types of successions: testate and intestate
Inheritance is another name forYEARtestate succession or will.
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 3. Donation

• Is a voluntary transfer of title to property without payment or

consideration by the donee.
• Very important in connection with ownership because to some extent it
represents absolute power of an owner over his/her property.
• However, having ownership right over property is not a necessary
requirement to transfer his/her interest through donation.
• Although, this is not the usual case; one can equally donate servitude or
usufruct.
• The same goes for Ethiopian farmers and pastoralists holding right.
• Donation may either an intervivos or mortis causa donation to the donee
(see Art. 1205).
Intervivos  b/n living donor and donee
Mortis causa  if the donor makes the donation in anticipation of
his/her her imminent DEBRE
death.
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 4. Rent

• Rent is entering into a contract with the tenant for a certain period
to use a real property.
• Rental agreement is signed for short term.
• There’s no particular accounting standard that is followed in renting
agreement.
• The rent contract is b/n the landlord and tenant.
• The landlord can change the agreement anytime s/he chooses.

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 …

• In a deep philosophical understanding, rent is not similar with that

of lease.
• But in Ethiopia it seems that rent is the payment during leasing a
real property.
• For instance we can get the following from our civil code:
Art. 2923 - Payment of rent.
1. The lessee shall pay the rent at the times fixed by the contract.
2. In default of a stipulation in the contract, he shall pay it at the
times fixed by the law.

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 5. Court order
• Transferring real property through court judgment.
• when a decree held about the transferring of an immoveable, the court may give
decisions.
Whenever there is an interference of a court or when judicial acts are brought to
the court and if an immoveable is transferred to another party through the
decision of the court.
Examples
When a real property is transferred to heirs/Intestate succession,
When a case related with the lapsed of mortgage period is brought to
the court by the creditor due to the failure of the debtor to pay the money
he borrowed and when the mortgaged property is transferred to
 the debtor through the decision of the court.

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 6. Acquisitive Prescription

• A real property may also be transferred by possession of a

property for a fixed period of time(1148 of CC).
By possessing for 15 consecutive years

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1. Definition and Features of Mortgage

• A legal instrument that creates a real security rights on

immovable properties or special movables for the payment of a
debt or the performance of an obligation without affecting the
possessory and ownership rights of the mortgagor.

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 2. Types of Mortgage

• Mortgage can be a result of a contractual agreement or it can be

created by law or courts.
Contractual mortgage
Legal mortgage
Judicial mortgage

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 3. Effects of Mortgage

• A contract of mortgage may entail certain rights and privileges on

the responsible individuals.
The right to be paid in priority
The right to follow the immoveable
The rights of 3rd parties who acquired the immoveable

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 4. Extinction of Mortgage

• In principle, as per Art.3109 of the civil code, a mortgage shall be

extinguished where the registration of the mortgage is cancelled in
the registers of immovable property.
• The cancellation may be required by interested party where:
• the claim secured by the mortgage is extinguished; or
• the mortgagee has renounced his mortgage; or
• the immovable mortgaged has been sold by auction and the
proceeds of the sale have been distributed among the creditors;
or
• the amount accepted by the creditors in cases of an offer of
redemption has been distributed among the creditors.
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 1. Nuisance Laws

• Owners of an immovable, mostly building, may not use

their property in a way that disturbs their neighbors.
• not cause smoke, soot, unpleasant smells, noise or
vibrations in excess of good neighborly behavior

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2. Planning and Building Regulations

• No development activity may be carried out in an urban center

without a prior development authorization
• Owner of a house may not the type and design of the house in
a way that violates the planning laws, and as a result owner
must secure prior permit.

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 3. Environmental and Other Concerns

• Restriction on property owners concerning management and

release of dangerous and hazardous activities that may damage
the environment.
• Prohibiting emission of toxic substances, chemical, or radioactive
substance from their property that harms human health and
wellbeing, the biota and the aesthetic value of nature.

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 4. Expropriation

• It is forced taking of land from the owner against his wish.

• For public purpose activities, by paying commensurate amount of
compensation.
• This is an inherent power of the state which was recognized from
time immemorial.
• The landholder can’t refuse the land taking by the government.
• That is why it seemed as a restriction.

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 5. Servitude

• Servitude is defined as “a charge encumbering a land (servient

tenement) for the benefit of another land (the dominant
tenement.)”
• The servient land is obliged to submit to the commission of some
acts by the owner of the dominant tenement or to refrain from
exercising some rights inherent in ownership.

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 …

• This means the servient land is burdened with some

obligation for the purpose of the advantage of the
dominant tenement.
• The burden of servitude shall transfer with the land
irrespective of the change of the owner.
• A restriction on the servient tenement.

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