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Land Reform

(i)  Introduction

It is now more than two year since the land law entered into force. During this period the Government, especially the Ministry of Land Management Urban Planning and Construction, has focused on the institutional structure arrangements, staff capacity building, policy development, legal documents and the implementation of Land Management and Administration Project under loan from the WB, ADB TA, and GTZ and Finland grants.

Over the last year the Government has passed a sub-decree on Social Concession and the Strategy of Land Policy Framework therefore carrying out important work as set out in the benchmark of the CG of 2002. Civil society groups, local and international NGOs, and in particular landless families are very happy with this process and welcome it despite the fact that there is not very much participation in the consultation process.

At the same time, there are necessary legal documents that are needed, as priorities, to implement land law effectively in order to improve peoples living conditions and the protection of their legal ownership; these include sub-decrees on reduction of economic concession, state land and the expropriation law.

Problems continue to persist in relation to land close to accessible areas for cultivation of the landless. This land is being kept by non-producers for speculation, which results in there being no land for the people who need to farm for their livelihoods. The ongoing land grabbing problem carried out by powerful people has not been resolved yet. There are urgent tasks that need the government's attention. Unfortunately the political will of government seems to hesitate in relation to this action.

 

(ii)  Key Issues

Land administration: The Land Management and Administration Project which aims to promote improved standards in people’s livelihoods by providing secure tenure through the issuing of systematic titles with strong legal enforcement has started land registration schemes in various areas. If the land registration process is not opened to effective participation then it has the danger of causing deterioration in people’s livelihoods. At worst, they will become landless which contradicts the idea of poverty reduction and the land distribution policy focused on by the government. The majority of people in rural area are illiterate and as a result it is difficult for them to understand the process and procedures of land registration, especially in relation to their immovable property rights. There has been carelessness in some area allowing for opportunists to take advantage of land registration. As a result the landowner become landless, and powerful people who already have substantial land acquire more land legally. Unfortunately the systematic land registration sub-decree allows only one month for the public display of cadastral plan and owner list, if someone has not claimed or filed a complaint during this period they will lose their land.

Land conflict: Land disputes remain a hot issue, involving many families and rich or powerful people in conflicts over possession rights. If a dispute goes to court, the powerful party who has legal documents will win because they have the means to do so. This problem is an obstacle to development and undermines people’s stability especially for women headed households. In response to this, the government under the 2001 Land Law has created the Cadastral Commission (CC) system; a mechanism to replace the pre-existing 1999 Land Dispute Resettlement Commission that had failed to adequately address this problem. Those caught up in land disputes are happy both with the 2001 Land Law and the CC and hope that their cases will be resolved fairly. Under donor technical assistance, the CC is just starting its tasks, and unfortunately it has interpreted its jurisdiction as being only over land dispute where the land has not been registered (before the 2001 Land Law). This interpretation seems to contradict the spirit of the Land Law, which suggests that the CC shall make decisions on disputes over immovable property between possessors (Article 47 of the 2001 Land Law). The creation of the CC was meant to resolve land disputes out of the courts. But it would now seem that the CC will not address the big land cases that has accrued unless it interprets its jurisdiction differently; because in most of the cases, one party is powerful, having documents to prove their case, and the other party is a group of poor families that do not have documents even though they are occupants.

Land distribution: No groundwork on land distribution has yet taken place but we welcome the adoption of a sub-decree on social concession and the strategy of the land policy framework. A CDRI report of 2002 states that agricultural landlessness increased by 20 percent in 2002, 25 percent have land less than 0.5 hectares in size, and 45 percent are landless or near landless. 10 percent own 40 percent of the land in Cambodia. Demand for land has increased while the supply of land is in discussion only on paper without actual action being taken. Even though the 2001 Land Law prohibits further encroachment, land encroachment is still happening. In general, fertile land with agricultural potential and which is accessible for cultivation belongs to powerful people. Legally, these unused land areas are subject to withdrawal for social concessions, because unused land that has not paid tax by 30 June 2000 is considered to be land without owner (Instruction No 010 dated 2 July 2000, Ministry of Economy and Finance on measurement for management and unused land tax collection).

(iii)  Recommendations

Recommendations for the Government

Recommendations for Donors

Recommendations for NGOs:

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For more information on the issues raised in this paper, please contact:

Oxfam Great Britain, Tel 023 720 036, Email: svannsin@oxfam.org.kh