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UNIT 3
LAND REGISTRATION AND ITS LEGAL
BASIS
By Asrat J

April 2023
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Outline of the Presentation 12/18/2023

3.1. Definition of land registration

3.2. Purpose of registration
3.3. The legal status of land and real
property
3.4. Land tenure
3.5 Systems of registration
3.6 Deeds registration
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3.7. Title registration

3.8 Adjudication of title to land
3.9 Benefits of titling to property
3.10 Cadastral surveying
3.11 Coverage of registration
3.12 Institutions involved in registration
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Section 3.1 Legal Status of Land and Real Property

• Law is a complex set of rules that have evolved with in each
society to ensure its orderly running and peaceful behavior of
its members.
• Law may take many different forms at the present time.
• When we observe globally, there is statutory law in which all
rules and regulations are written down and credited.
•There is also customary law in which there is not written record.
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•There are four main areas of law that affect the process of land
administration. These are:
1. The law of real property that affect the dealings in land
2. The laws on land reform such as
 Privatization of state owned land
 Restitution of former private land
 Land consolidation
 Redistribution of land
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3. The laws that govern the conduct of land administration such as the
regulation that control the operation of cadastre, property formation,
4. The laws on ‘intellectual’ property that affect matter such as
 Ownership of information and idea
 Protection of data
 Personal privacy
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•The law of property studies about the relationship existed in between

people and things.
•The law of real property is emphasized on regulating what may be done on
the land.
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Land may be owned by one person, in possession of another and occupied by a third person.
Ownership means the right to enjoy the use of something, the ability to dispose it and to benefit
from the rights associated with it.
•Possession refers to the ability to enjoy the use of land and in some situations to exploit the
products on or below its surfaces. Possession implies the physical power to control an object.
Thus, a possessor of land has the ability to make use of the land in some way or another.
Possession may be legal or illegal. Legal possession of other people’s land takes place through
formal agreement such as lease or rental agreement that protects the right of the true owner.
•Land may also be subject to adverse possession, when the occupation is contrary to the interests
of the true owner.
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•Adverse possession refers to the acquisition of property rights through occupation of land without any
opposition for a period prescribed by law.
•Adverse possession is also known as squatting which is an illegal occupation of land. Many landless
people are forced to squat on the land as they have no where else to go.
• Squatting is usually taken place on state land. It is a major social and economic problems that is
associated with
 Poverty
 Crime
It is a usual phenomenon in the cities of developing nations. This problem can be solved with effective
and efficient land administration system.
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Nations that draft and enact new land laws need to ensure that the law:
 Distinguishes Between real and personal property (immovable and movable property).
 Defines the nature of land, the form and nature of ownership and legally recognized
forms of tenure,
 Distinguishes between ownership, possession and the use of land and protects the rights
of land lords, tenants and third parties including those of mortgagees,
 Define how right can mature
 Establish, with in the public section, an independent, self financing land registry
institution with clear statutory power.
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 Establish administrative systems for land transfer and mortgage registration.

 Co-ordinate legislation relating to urban planning, land use and the recording of
information on the land register,
 Ensure that rights registered are guarantied by the state
 Indicates the rights less than full ownership, such as servitude, should be recorded
 Ensure clarity of ministerial responsibilities and authority
 Specify the administrative role of the agencies responsible for national mapping,
land valuation and land use.
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Section 3.2 Land Tenure

• Land tenure refers to the manner in which land rights are held. It is concerned with the
rights, responsibilities and restrictions that people have with respect to land.
•Land tenure, from legal perspective, may be defined as any portion of the earth to which
rights of ownership, stewardship or use may be exercised. Thus land may include, for
example, the surface area of the earth, buildings, and permanently fixed improvements,
surface and subsurface resources including water and in some situation a defined unites of
air space.
• Land and building on land are usually referred to as real estate and the various rights
associated with land are referred to as real property.
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•The most important types of land tenure or real property identified in most
cadastre systems can be characterized as follows:
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•Ownership usually means the exclusive right to use the parcel and enjoy the yield from
the land and improvements. It also includes the right to transfer the parcel to another
person, to mortgage the property and to lease it. All of these rights may be more or less
restricted by legislation. It is common today that the legal rights of the land owner are
restricted to using the parcel of land in a manner that is beneficial and appropriate from
a community perspective. Restrictions may also include measures to protect the
environment. Ownership of the land usually includes ownership of any buildings on the
land, but in some jurisdictions land and buildings may be owned separately.
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•Lease gives the lessee or grantee the right to use the parcel (or part of a
larger parcel) for a limited time, in accordance with the regulations stipulated
not only in legislation but also in the contract with the lessor. The lessor may
be a private landowner or a government authority. The time span of a lease
varies from very short periods (e.g. several months) to periods of up to 99
years or longer.
•Leasehold tenure is usually not transferable to a third party without the
consent of the owner.
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•Easement is a limited right for an owner of one parcel to use or prevent

use of some kind on a neighboring parcel. The right is usually connected to
the parcel and exists in principle as long as the parcel exists. Special
easements or rights-of-way may also exist for such uses as construction
and access to utility lines. There may also be traditional public rights-of-
way over certain parcels to provide access to rivers, the coast, roads, etc.
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•Mortgage is a limited right in which real property is pledged to secure money. If the property owner
does not live up to the terms of the contract (e.g. does not meet monthly payments on the loan), then the
lender has the right to recover any losses incurred by taking possession of the property. There may be
more than one mortgage affecting a property and the right of recovery for losses will depend on the
priority given to each mortgage. In some jurisdictions, the lender actually acquires the title or
ownership of the property at the time the mortgage contract is signed. In this case the property owner
has the right of possession and use but the full ownership only transfers back when all the terms of the
contract have been met (e.g. all payments have been met). In other jurisdictions, the lender only
receives the right to repossess the property if the property owner defaults on the mortgage (e.g. does not
make the payments required).
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•Communal or group rights are important in many countries, especially

where land resources have been abundant and the land use of a group
covers an extensive area. In such cases, the right to use the land and
resources belongs to a group such as a family, a community, a clan, or a
band, rather than individuals in the group. Such rights are often found in
customary tenure systems, but not exclusively.
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•Customary land tenure

Customary tenure refers to the forms of tenure that are not formalized in a
written law system. In customary tenure system access to land are usually
connected with some kind of community control and approval.
The right to use land is usually connected to the right to use the land for
specific purpose and the right will exist as long as the use of the land for
that purpose exists.
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•Formalization of customary tenure system and other informal land tenure

system is therefore desirable but must be done in sensitive manner starting with
areas where there are needs.
Customary tenure can be characterized as follows:
 Right to use land for specific purpose
 Right to management with community approval
 Access and transfer need approval of a community
 Unlimited in time as long as it is utilized.
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Section 3.3 Land Registration and Cadastre

3.3.1 Land Registration

Henessen(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 means that there is an official record (land register) of rights on
land or of deeds concerning changes in the legal situation of
defined units of land. It gives an answer to the questions who and
how.
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•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.
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Historically, land records have been carried out for two main purposes.
• 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 ownership and other related rights.
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•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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3.3.2. 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:

1) Geographic part ( map or plan) showing the size and location
of all land parcels
2) Descriptive part ( register) that represents the attributes of land
such as land value, ownership, or use
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Importance of Cadastre
•Traditionally the Cadastre was designed to assist in land taxation, real estate conveyancing,
and land redistribution.
•The Cadastre helps to provide 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 boundaries marking the extent of lands
held for exclusive use by individuals and specific groups of individuals (e.g.
families, corporations, and communal groups).
•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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•Graphical indices of these parcels, known as cadastral maps, show the relative location
of all parcels in a given region.
•Cadastral maps commonly range from scales of 1:10,000 to 1:500. Large scale diagrams
or maps showing more precise parcel dimensions and features (e.g. buildings, irrigation
units, etc.) can be compiled for each parcel based on ground surveys or remote sensing
and aerial photography.
•Information in the textual or attribute files of the Cadastre, such as land value,
ownership, or use, can be accessed by the unique parcel codes shown on the cadastral
map, thus creating a complete Cadastre.
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•The Cadastre forms part of the base data required in any public land
information system. Since information about land parcels and land holdings
is often needed by many different users, having a unified, standard
Cadastre for each jurisdiction helps to avoid duplication and assists in the
efficient exchange of information.
•The Cadastre is usually created and managed through government
organizations.
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•Through the centuries, many types of Cadastral systems evolved and their
differences often depend upon local cultural heritage, physical geography, land
use, technology, etc.
Cadastres may be classified in many ways, e.g. by:
 primary function (e.g. supporting taxation, conveyancing, land distribution,
or multipurpose land management activities);
 the types of rights recorded (e.g. private ownership, use rights, mineral
leases);
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 the degree of state responsibility in ensuring the accuracy and

reliability of the data (e.g. complete state mandate, shared
public and private responsibility);
 location and jurisdiction (e.g. urban and rural Cadastres;
centralized and decentralized Cadastres);
 ways in which information about the parcels is collected (e.g.
ground surveys tied to geodetic control, uncoordinated ground
surveys and measurements, aerial photography, digitizing
existing historical records, etc.)
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•All of these factors help to determine the required resolution and scale of
graphical data (such as cadastral maps), the type and characteristics of data
recorded in both the graphical and attribute files, and the organizational and
professional responsibility for managing the data.
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Other factors that will influence the format and management of the Cadastre include:
 history, culture, and traditional land tenure arrangements;
 area;
 physical and economic geography;
 population distribution;
 level of technology;
 traditional public administration arrangements;
 land and property law arrangements;
 land policy priorities for the jurisdiction
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Cadastre Land Register

1. Parcel-based 1. Ownership/owner based
2. Information about the 2.Information about the
parcel rights and restrictions
3.Answer where? And 3. Answers who? And how?
how much?
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Classification of Cadastral System

•The cadastral systems can be classified in to three groups.

These are
 Tax Cadastre
 Real Cadastre
 Legal Cadastre
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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 usual that accuracy of the survey is low as its vital objective is tax
collection. In addition this, the rightful ownership is not properly determined since the
main objective is tax collection. 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.
•Real property comprises of not only land, but also buildings, trees etc.,
which are permanently attached to land. Minerals below the surface are also
integral part.
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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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•Success of a Cadastre
•There are several distinguished criteria that can be used for measuring the
concrete or prospective success of a Cadastre These criteria are:
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Criteria for the Success of Cadaster

1. Security
2. Clarity and Simplicity
3. Timeliness
4. Fairness
5. Accessibility
6. Cost
7. Sustainability
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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
A. Deed registration and
B. Title registration
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A. 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 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 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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• In a system of deeds registration, a copy of the transfer document is

deposited in a deeds registry. An entry in to the registry assures the ability
of the seller to sell the property.
• The government controls the deeds registry in nations where there is
national deeds registration system. A copy of all the agreements that affect
the ownership and possession of the land have to be registered in the
registry office and one copy of all documents is kept there. A notary or an
authorized body ought to check each document and verify its validity. The
buyer can feel confident that the seller has the right to sell through
observing the registry for the most recent document of transfer.
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•According to Zevenberga( 1994:4) deeds registration system has the

following defects:
 The deeds simply prove the fact that a transaction took place. It does not
guarantee that the intended changes did really occur; a deed, in itself,
does not prove title.
 It shows that a transaction took place but does not prove that the parties
are legally entitled to carry out the transaction
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It is not compulsory to register (all) changes of ownership,

 The object the deed refers to is not very well described;
 The chronologically stored deeds may badly accessible. Sometimes the
deeds are stored only through poorly alphabetized name indexes.
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• The main advantage of deeds is that the procedure for accepting the deed
by the registrar can be very quick.
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•According to Dale/McLaughlin (1988: 23), it is possible to take several

steps so as to advance the deeds registration system. The above
shortcomings can be resolved through the following solutions.
•They are presented in order of increasing need for legal change to
implement them.
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•Improved accessibility to facilitate the searches: It is possible to make the search process
easy through introducing a fully alphabetized name index and even a property index (like the
Scottish ‘search sheets’).
•Better object specialty: a nation is able to make clear (graphical) descriptions of
boundaries, use of parcel or index maps, and use of straight forward identifiers
•Use of computer: Land registration systems have existed well before the introduction of
computer. However, the use of computer is very crucial in land registration system due to the
increase in complexity of society and the increased density of population in certain areas.
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• Improving completeness: It is possible to enhance to completeness of

deeds registration by supplying legal advantages to registered deeds,
which unregistered deeds lack.
• Improving reliability: a country can improve the reliability of deeds
registration through guaranteeing that the registered information is as
good as possible.
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B. Title Registration System

• 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
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Main Principles Of Title Registration

•There are three main principles in title registration system. There are:
 Mirror principle which reflects the situation that the register is supposed to show
the correct legal situation. Title mirrors interests in land
 Curtain principle it indicates the condition that there is no need of further (historic)
investigation beyond the register in title registration. There is search of one title
only- no a bundle of deeds.
 Insurance principles; it shows the situation that the State guarantees registered
interests. This means whatever is registered is guaranteed to be truth for a third party
of good faith
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Characteristics of Title Registration

•Land based
• Sure evidence
•Little need for investigations
•Active registrar
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•According to Henssen (1995:8) nations that operate a system of title

registration are usually categorized in to three groups .These are
 The English Group
 The German/Swiss Group
 The Torrens Group
The disparity can be largely originated from the scope of the technical
aspects, and more precisely the way parcels are described.
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The English Group:

• England, Ireland, some Canadian provinces, and Nigeria are categorized
in this group.
• In this group, the system of title registration covers almost all the
attributes that were discussed above.
• This system, differ in several ways from the continental system, has
strong influence on the former colonies of England.
• In the middle of the 19th century the commission’s recommendation
that titles be registered resulted in the Land Registry Act of 1862.
• This Act was followed by the 1875 Land registration Act.
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• The most important difference in between these two Acts is that the
1862 Act states that should be determined before land registration took
precise boundaries place whereas the 1875 Act introduced the concept
of general boundary that is the prevailing one in England.
• However, both Acts were not successful in achieving their target. Only
1000 titles were registered with in 40 years.
• The reasons were that registration was carried out on voluntary base
and the cost of registration was covered by the owner of the land.
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• In 1897 England introduced a new Land Transfer Act to undertake

compulsory registration on selective areas. The nation applied this measure
on the County of London in 1902 and registration was undertaken on
voluntary base on the rest of England and Wales. However, in 1925 England
had also enacted new laws among which Land Registration Act made
compulsory title registration with in designated areas.
• To day all areas are covered extending these designated areas. However,
registration is still undertaken sporadically which is mandatory in certain
cases cadastre has been almost unknown until recently and the system
knows very little boundary surveys. It is concentrated on the legal aspects.
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• The process does not ask for preparing an index map of the area before
registration can commence. It uses existing large scale topographic
maps.
• When combined with the use of ‘general boundaries ‘, this allows for a
quick and relatively cheap start.
• The land registry is the central agency. It is primarily an administrative
body, although it follows to the ministry of justice, and the Chief Land
Registrant has some judicial powers.
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The German / Swiss Group:

• Germany, Austria, Alsace Lorraine, Switzerland, Egypt, Turkey, Sweden,
and Denmark are grouped in this category.
• Nations that are categorized in this group use parcel based cadastral
maps.
• The German land book is usually kept within the courts; officially by
special ‘land book judges’ but in practice mainly by specialized support
staff. The documents that have to be presented to the courts must be
seen by legal private practitioners (notaries or lawyers). However the
cadastre is kept by survey departments.
• At least a part of the cadastral surveys, however, is usually performed
by another group of private practitioners (licensed surveyors).
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The Torrens Group:

• This group includes Australia, New Zealand, and some provinces of
Canada, some parts of the USA, Morocco, Tunisia, and Syria
• The English law and practice exerted great influence up on those nations
dominated by Britain.
• However, the Real Property Act introduced in 1858 by Sir Robert Torrens
has become very famous in South Australia.
• This system is fundamentally of title registration system. He simplified
much of the traditional English common law, and did away with the
difference between law and equity and with feudal property law. He also
threw out lawyers from the conveyancing process.
• The transfer of land parcel can take place without any lawyers
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• The title register under the Torren system is applied to all land granted
by the crown after the introduction of the Transfer of Land Act
developed by Torren.
• Two grants are issued in this system for each peace of land at first
registration:
•One is called the original grant
•The other is the duplicate
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• The original crown grant is held by the office of titles in the register
book which is open to the public and the duplicate is issued to the
grantee.
• The grant describes the land by means of a diagram (an isolated survey
plans )which appears on both the original and the duplicate. It also gives
• The name of the grantee and his occupation
• The price paid for the property
• Any limitation and special reservation
• Area and its crown description
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• The main feature of the Torren system is that the land in question is
identified on a map attached to the certificate of title and the certificate
of title gives the details of ownership as well as description of the land
with appropriate reference to the easement, encumbrance and other
conditions.
• All transfers have to be applied, examined and registered at the office of
titles. This mandatory requirement is also a very crucial characteristic of
the Torrens system, for the crown can thus guarantee the new
ownership.
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Disadvantages of Title Registration

 it is complex and elaborate and requires highly skilled

personnel
• It requires high initial capital outlay to start the system,
especially in economies where there are no up-to-date cadastral
surveys
• Consume time to check formal requirements and validity of
transactions
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Adjudication of Title to Land

As Lawrance(1985) defines
• Adjudication is the word now used in many English speaking countries
to describe the process whereby all existing rights in a particular parcel
of land are finally and authoritatively ascertained.
• The equivalent word in French speaking countries is ‘constatation’. This
specialized use of the world ‘adjudication’ is of recent origin.
• It was first introduced in the 1950s to replace ‘settlement’, the word
previously used to describe systematic ascertainment of rights in land;
use of the word ‘settlement’ was causing confusion, for it is usually
taken to mean settlement of persons on land, a process sometimes
referred to as ‘colonization’.
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•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.
Adjudication is an essential prerequisite for certain land measures such
as:
 Land registration
 Land consolidation
 Disposition of state land
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• 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.
• 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.
• The process may operate sporadically or systematically.
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• The word “Sporadic” in this context means “here and there “or “now
and then”. Thus adjudication takes place whenever or wherever there is
a reason to determine the precise user rights and limits of individual
parcels
• Sporadic adjudication may be voluntary or compulsory. If it is voluntary,
it may be initiated by the owner or occupier.
• The cost of sporadic adjudication is normally covered by the applicant.
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• Systematic adjudication is carried out area by area

• Systematic adjudication is almost always based on an administrative
proceeding including determination of disputes in the first instance.
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Where systematic adjudication of title to land takes place there should be:
•A law that gives authority for the adjudication to take place;
•Selection of priority in accordance with need-for example areas that are to be
subject too land reform, are under rapid development, have a high level of
disputers, or where there is need for credit, etc.,
•Wide publicity concerning the areas and the dates on which the claimants must
appear to give evidence;
•Procedures for the appointment of adjudication team;
•The determination of the rights in accordance with prescribed procedures;
•The publication of the results and the hearing of appeals within a specified time
limit such as 30or 60 days;
•The formal entry of the results into the registers of title that should from then on
is guaranteed.
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• The systematic approach implies a methodical and orderly sequence

where in, area by area, all parcels are brought onto the register. In the
longer term it is less expensive because of economics of scale. It is also
safe because it gives maximum publicity to the determination of “who is
using what” with in an area, and more certain because detailed
investigations take place on the ground with direct evidence from the
owners of adjoining properties
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• Sporadic adjudication can be applied voluntarily whereas the systematic

approach must be compulsory since it is necessary to summon everyone
who claims to use land within a designated area to give evidence. The
process must therefore be subsidized by the State in order to ensure the
cooperation of the people.
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Boundaries

• In a legal sense, a boundary is a surface, which defines where one land user’s property ends, and
the next begins. Generally, this surface is vertical and may be likened to a bead curtain
suspended from the sky so that anyone passing thought it from one side to the other passes
from one set of property rights in to another.
• In practice, most people mark the limits of their property of the surface of the Earth either with
linear features, such as fences or hedges, or with point features, such as wooden pegs, iron bars
or concrete marks. These physical objects may also be referred to as the boundary, thought they
may not follow the same line in space as the legal limit. In most legal systems, a fence is an item
of defense, a guard against intrusion; it is not necessarily a property delimiter.

• Within a registration system, boundaries are often referred to as either “fixed” or “general”.
These terms are ambiguous for there are at least three concepts of a fixed boundary and three
for general boundaries.
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• To some fixed boundary (sometimes referred to as a specific boundary)

is one which has been accurately surveyed so that any lost corner
monument can be replaced precisely from the measurements. To
others, the term “fixed boundary” is used to describe a boundary corner
point which becomes fixed in space when agreement is reached at the
time of alienation of the land. The location of the legal boundary cannot
then be changed without some document of transfer. The surveyor’s
measurements may provide useful evidence of the boundary’s location
but the boundary is fixed whether or not there has been a survey. This is
the principle which is adopted under the so-called Torrens system.
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• In the case of general boundaries, the precise line of the legal boundary
between adjoining parcels is left undetermined as to whether it is one
side of a hedge or fence or the other or down the middle. The user
rights of the land can be guaranteed up to the bounding feature, the
user rights of which are left uncertain. There is no need for a precise
survey, although a reasonable accurate topographic plan is needed.
General boundaries are most appropriate where the development of
the landscape is mature, for example in urban areas and in rural areas
that have been cultivated for a long time so that the pattern of land use
is well established.
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• Information about the location of parcels and their boundaries is an

important part of a land information system (LIS). The data from either a
general boundary or a fixed boundary system can be used in a LIS, the
only differences being the precision with which the location of
boundaries is recorded and the extent to which this information can be
sued as legal evidence.
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Benefits of Title to Land

Alleviating tenure insecurity,
increases access to credit,
increases investment,
 increases working capital,
make land markets more liquid,
gives environmental benefits,
provides information benefit,
maintaining benefits over time, and
distribution of benefits.
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• According to Feder and Feeny (1991) land titling can bring the above mentioned
benefits through three main mechanisms.
• These are
By increasing security of tenure, it can remove disincentives to invest in land or
capital equipment for working the land; this is sometimes known as the
investment demand or security effect.
By increasing access to credit, thanks to use of the land as collateral, it can
remove constraints to, and reduce the cost of, both capital for long-term
investments and working capital; this is sometimes known as the collateral effect.
By improving the functioning of land markets, it can ease the re-allocation of land
to its most productive use; this is sometimes known as the efficiency or
transactions effect.
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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 surveying is usually undertaken using ground survey methods. A
cheap and simple method is to use plane tables or tapes and optical squares.
• More sophisticated methods include the use of electronic distance measuring
equipment or "Total Stations", which usually give higher accuracies. Satellite
positioning fixing using the Global Positioning System (GPS) is being
introduced more and more and promises to give high accuracy at a relatively
low cost in the future.
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• Cadastral surveying can also be undertaken by using aerial photography

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Content of the Land Registration in Ethiopia

Parcel code:
Parcel location: - Zone, Woreda, Kebele
Parcel holders’ names, their date of birth, their relationship (husband, wife)
Parcel holders’ permanent Address: - zone, Woreda, Kebele, Sub-Keble, Village
Name of legal guardian : date of birth, relationship to the trustee
Legal guardian’s permanent address: - Zone, Woreda, kebele, Sub-kebele,
village
Address of children under guardian :- Zone, Woreda, Kebele, Sub-Kebele, village
Details of land holding:- parcel I.D.NO., boundaries, area central coordinates,
level of fertility, land use, specific location, condition of acquisition, easement
Details of family members/ beneficiaries:- full name, sex, date of birth, relation
to household head
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I.D. No. of holding certificate

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Institutions involved in Land registration in Ethiopia

Ministry of Urban Development and Housing
Municipalities
Ministry of Agriculture, RLAU
Regional Bureau of Land/ Natural Resource Development/Agriculture
Woreda Land Administration offices
Kebele Administration
LAUC at Kebele