Land control in kenya journal of african law cambridge core. Below is a brief overview of key pieces of legislation related to land. However, substantive provisions on the administration and management of community land will be enacted by 2015 as required by the constitution. Land use agreements, including renting, are an important intersection of property and contract law.
Land act, 2012 this act consolidates several land laws into a particular substantive law that governs land in kenya. Laws of kenya land registration act chapter 300 revised edition 2012 published by the national council for law reporting with the authority of the attorneygeneral. Dec 25, 2017 the substantive and registration law for all land formerly held under customary law was codified in the registered land repealed act of 1963. In particular the unit discusses how this law relates to the business world. Knlp kenya national land policy mol ministry of lands.
Conflict of rights in land law land law in kenya is a corpus juris of several principles containing several diversities of rights that are sui generi very complex. Constitution, to revise, consolidate and rationalize land laws. No doubt, principles of land law and conveyancing in kenya has greatly been shaped by case law. General objectives this unit aims at introducing you to the general principles of law and its application. This article provides a critique of the final stages of kenyas land law reform process, which has resulted in the approval of the 2012 land act, land registration act, and national land. The national land commission is responsible for administration of public land. Sep 12, 2017 the new laws require all land in kenya, whether private, public or community land, to be registered. An example of the registered land act of kenya 8 3.
In this regard, so as give the reader a jurisprudential analysis of the subject, the book is rich in case law. The land act of kenya defines a lease as the grant, with or without consideration, by the proprietor of land of the right to the exclusive possession of his or her land. Prepared for the united states agency for international development, property rights and resource governance program under the prosperity, livelihoods and critical ecosystems place indefinite quantity contract iqc contract no. The new laws require all land in kenya, whether private, public or community land, to be registered. Land control in kenya volume 22 issue 1 simon coldham. Therefore any freehold land owned by a nonkenyan citizen is deemed to have been converted into a 99 year leasehold interest commencing from 2782010 and. Maasai land, law, and dispossession cultural survival.
Published by the national council for law reporting with the authority of. The parliament of kenya enacted new land laws, including. Toward the realisation of land rights for women in kenya there are several land laws in kenya that are discriminative and which prevent women from owning or controlling land. After going round the country and visiting foreign countries, a. Commission of inquiry into the land law system of kenya on principles of a national land policy framework, constitutional position of land and new institutional framework for land administration, kenya. In march 2014, a delegation of leading kenyan government officials and civil society representatives presented the policy at the world banks land and. As the land adjudication and consolidation programme made progress in the kikuyu land unit in the middle of the nineteenfifties, it became clear that the traditional system of land tenure would have to be replaced by a system based on the registration of individual titles. Land registration act, 2012 this provides for revising, consolidating, and rationalizing of the law that governs the registration of land title, regulation of registered land dealings, and offer effect to the objects and. Nov 30, 2018 the new constitution in 2010 enhanced previous land reform efforts by establishing a legal framework for the administration, use, and management of land in kenya. A main conclusion is that while kenyas law is positive and even cuttingedge in respects, legal loopholes place communities at risk of their lands not being as.
Land law as a set of rules and principles governing interests in land is found in various branches or of land law in kenya. This law will be the singular law to guide the registration of title to land in kenya, earlier done under various statutes like the land titles act cap 282 earlier applicable to properties within the ten mile coastal strip and the registration of titles act cap 281 earlier operated under a centralized land. Bba 101 business law i kenyatta university institute of. Lecture four discusses law of torts particularly the general law relating to torts, general defences in tort, capacity of parties in tort, vicarious liability, of action and limitation of action in tort. It outlined definitions of land and land systems in kenya as well as set out a land legislative obligation on parliament. Constitutional position of land and new institutional framework for land administration 2002. Noteworthy, reference has been made to judicial landmark.
Act, and national land commission act, others, such as a law on community land, are yet to be finalized. The paper covers how land law in kenya has developed ab intra. Noteworthy, reference has been made to judicial landmark decisions, delivered as recent as february 2007. This constitution is the constitution of the republic of kenya and shall have the. Land administration guidelines 7 executive summary these guidelines are based on the assumption that a formal system is necessary to register land and property and hence to provide secure ownership in land, investments and other private and public rights in real estate. In its current form and context, the bill has been subjected to highlevel scrutiny. The kenya criminal procedure code outlines the procedure of criminal trials in kenyan courts. Legal notice no 278 land registration general regulations. Published by the national council for law reporting with the authority of the attorney general.
Land related conflict continues in kenyas land, water and forest sub sectors. Kenya law reform, the state law offices, non state actors in the land sector, institute of surveyors of kenya, kenya institute of planners, the law society of kenya and the ministry of lands. This act may be cited as the law of succession act. Focus on land kenyas national land policy and land. Legal notice no 278 land registration general regulations, 2017. Lecture one introduces you to the basic concepts of business law 1. The lecture also discusses the legal aspect of tort in regards to trespass to person, trespass to land and trespass to goods. Overview of the kenyan land laws amendment act 2016 cms. Community land is defined pursuant to article 63 of the constitution and includes land. The republic of kenya shall be a multiparty democratic state.
Kenya supervising attorneys, the iwhrc faculty and law students engaged in substantive discussions about the application and impact of existing legislation, case law, and practices on womens to access and control of property and land. Published by the national council for law reporting with the. Law uses what shakespeare, in the merchant of venice, called its gracious voice to obscure the outcome of dispossession. Report of the commission of inquiry into the land law system. These include the trust land act, the land adjudication act, the land disputes tribunals act and the land consolidation act, which fall under the customary law. Land law is the form of law that deals with the rights to use, alienate, or exclude others from land. Below is a list of sections and parts of the kenya criminal procedure code. The new laws therefore make provision for the registration of community land. Legaland ethical dimensions patricia kamerimbote in governance. This paper can be downloaded in pdf format from ielrcs website at. These longstanding tensions and conflicts, culminating in landrelated electoral violence around the 1992, 1997, and 2007 elections, all contributed to very high levels of pressure for land law reform in kenya. Effects of formalisation of land rights on customary rights. Commission of inquiry into the land law system of kenya, charles njonjo.
Land control in kenya journal of african law cambridge. In many jurisdictions, these kinds of property are referred to as real estate or real property, as distinct from personal property. Laws of kenya limitation of actions act chapter 22 revised edition 2012 2010 published by the national council for law reporting with the authority of the attorneygeneral. Comprehensive reform to bring kenyas land laws to the standards set by the commission is vital before the 2012 elections, human rights watch, witness, and the endorois lawyers said. Mar 14, 2019 these longstanding tensions and conflicts, culminating in land related electoral violence around the 1992, 1997, and 2007 elections, all contributed to very high levels of pressure for land law reform in kenya. During the clamor for change and reforms in kenya, one of the most prominent issues that kenyans agitated for was reforms in land administration and management. The constitution of kenya chapter fiveland and environment. The historical development of land law in kenya the kenyan. A community land law, which will devolve ownership and governance of certain lands down to local communities, is required by the constitution and is expected to be passed in the near future. Besides that, the amendments have also introduced some pertinent changes to land law and conveyancing in kenya.
Application of act 1 except as otherwise expressly provided in this act or any other written law, the provisions of this act shall constitute the law of kenya in respect of, and shall have universal application. Pdf the community land act in kenya opportunities and. Government of kenya, report on the commission of inquiry into land law systems in kenya on principles of a national land policy framework, constitutional position of land and new institutional framework for land administration government printer nairobi 2002. Encumbrance on the land rights of one, such as an easement, may. This constitution is the constitution of the republic of kenya and shall have the force of law throughout kenya and, subject to. Land laws amendment bill, 2015 kenya land alliance. The act has introduced the new concept of controlled land which is land within a zone of 25 kilometres from the inland national boundary of kenya, within the first and second row beach plots in the coast region and any other law that may be declared controlled land by statute. Institutions and the human condition, strathmore university and. Laws of kenya environmental management and coordination act chapter 387 revised edition 2012 1999 published by the national council for law reporting with the authority of the attorneygeneral. Kenya inherited colonial land laws that are a hybrid of english and african customary. The land question in kenya international environmental law. Kenyas national land policy, developed through a multiyear consultative. This act was to replace all other laws related to land in kenya. Thus, the reader is expected to view the principles of land law and conveyancing in two perspectives.
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