Tenure (national legislation and policies)

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Websites/Multiple Documents

Source/publisher: Online Burma/Myanmar Library
Date of entry/update: 2013-10-25
Grouping: Websites/Multiple Documents
Language: English, Burmese (မြန်မာဘာသာ)
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Individual Documents

Description: "This Land Policy Briefer with Cartoons covers a wide rage of issues related to land tenure including definitions of land tenure types, registration procedures, safeguards and adjudication procedures, contract farming and investments, restitution and redistribution principles, land valuation and taxation procedures, and regulation of spatial planning..."
Source/publisher: KESAN
2018-01-19
Date of entry/update: 2018-11-11
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language:
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Description: Burma is situated in Southeastern Asia, bordering Bangladesh, India, China, Laos and Thailand. The majority of its population lives in rural areas and depends on land as a primary means of livelihood. Because all land in Burma ultimately belongs to the state, citizens and organizations depend upon use - rights, but do not own land. Burma?s laws grant women equal rights i n some respects and also recognize certain customary laws that provide women equal rights in relation to land. In practice, however, the rights of many women are governed by customs that do not afford them equal access to or control over land. Forcible and uncompensated land confiscation is a source of conflict and abuse in Burma, and protests and fear of ?land grabs” have escalated as the state opens its markets to foreign investors and pursues policies to dramatically increase industrial agricultural prod uction. Burma has rich water, forest and mineral resources. However, a rapid expansion of resource extraction efforts in the past three decades has led to widespread land and water pollution, deforestation, community protests and forced relocation.
Source/publisher: USAID
2017-09-13
Date of entry/update: 2017-10-04
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language: English
Format : pdf
Size: 594.89 KB
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Description: "Housing, land and property rights are fundamental human rights and a global advocacy priority for the Norwegian Refugee Council. The restitution of housing, land and property rights after conflicts and periods of non-democratic governance are fundamental aspects of transitional justice which are essential for the achievement of durable solutions to forced displacement, and to broader concerns of peace, reconciliation and economic prosperity. The NRC Country Office in Myanmar considers it necessary and positive to increase attention to the benefits of establishing specific post-conflict restitution mechanisms that would enable everyone with a restitution claim to have access to an appropriate remedial mechanism.... "
Creator/author: Prasant Naik
Source/publisher: Displacement Solutions and Norwegian Refugee Council
2017-03-00
Date of entry/update: 2017-05-08
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language: English
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Description: "... The restitution of housing, land and property rights after conflicts and periods of non-democratic governance are fundamental aspects of transitional justice which are essential for the achievement of durable solutions to forced displacement, and to broader concerns of peace, reconciliation and economic prosperity. The NRC Country Office in Myanmar considers it necessary and positive to increase attention to raise public awareness on international standards on the matter as well as national laws and available legal remedies. For these reasons, in partnership with Displacement Solutions, the NRC has supported the publication by international restitution expert Scott Leckie of this ?An Introductory Guide to Understanding and Claiming Housing, Land and Property Restitution Rights in Myanmar: Questions and Answers”. The guide gives an overview on how restitution has been addressed thus far in Myanmar, the position of international law on the question of restitution and some of the key existing obstacles and gaps. This guide is designed for use by refugees and IDPs and their representatives, providing a simple, easy-tounderstand written tool on the basic principles of restitution, where these measures have taken place in other countries and various mechanisms that have been established to enable claims processes for HLP losses. Clearly, at present there are essentially no effective HLP remedies available for refugees and IDPs, hence their informed engagement in policy development on these matters will be crucial, particularly in the context of the ongoing peace process..."
Creator/author: Scott Leckie
Source/publisher: Displacement Solutions, Norwegian Refugee Council
2017-03-00
Date of entry/update: 2017-03-14
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language: English
Format : pdf
Size: 707.32 KB
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Description: Background Introduction ...Legal and Regulatory Framework...Registration of Land Tenure...Customary or Informal Tenure Arrangements...Public Access to Accurate Land Information...Land Dispute Resolution Realities...Public Participation in Decision Making Process...Difficult Situation, Not Impossible...
Creator/author: Robert Burton Oberndorf, JD
Source/publisher: USAID Land Tenure Project
2016-06-14
Date of entry/update: 2016-07-01
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language: English
Format : pdf
Size: 77.82 KB
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Description: Land Core Group Shifting Cultivation Meeting Yangon, Myanmar 17 June 2016 .....Legal Framework = Tools in a Toolbox...Where to start? Constitution...What tools exist in various laws?...Association Registration Law...Farmland Law (Strengths)...Farmland Law (Weaknesses)...Forest Law and CFI (Strengths)...Forest Land and CFI (Weaknesses) ...Vacant, Fallow and Virgin Land (VFV) Law ...Need for a new tool...
Creator/author: Robert Burton Oberndorf, JD
Source/publisher: USAID Land Tenure Project
2016-06-17
Date of entry/update: 2016-07-01
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language: English
Format : pdf
Size: 80.66 KB
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Description: Paper prepared for presentation at the 2016 WORLD BANK CONFERENCE ON LAND AND POVERTY, The World Bank - Washington DC, March 14-18, 2016 The paper is based on the study on customary tenure for LCG in Chin and Shan States 2013-2015 in brief periods. The relevance of the topic was grounded in a wish to 1) identify statutory means to protect the livelihood of ethnic upland communities in Myanmar from losing, in particular, their shifting cultivation fallow land to agribusiness concessions; 2) based on results from fieldwork, to guide the Government towards recognizing customary (communal) tenure in the drafting of the National Land Use Policy (NLUP) with the ultimate aim of recommending procedures for customary (communal) land registration in a future new Land Law and associated Rules 3); to define how to recognize boundaries of shifting cultivation parcels in a customary system of fair but variable annual local land sharing. "... In Myanmar land issues are of paramount importance after years of land grabbing by the military and business cronies. A rapid anthropological study 2013-14 in Chin and Shan State for the Land Core Group was carried out to inform the post 2011 government. The study recorded the internal rules of customary communal tenure and identified possible statutory means of protecting untitled land, including fallows, against alienation. The Land Core Group guided the Government Committee during 2014-15 to recognize customary tenure in drafting of the National Land Use Policy, not yet endorsed. The study recommended conversion of the community into a legal entity/organization registering all its agricultural land, while keeping separate and intact its customary internal rules. The study construed a reading of existing regulatory framework in support. The study proved, though, that precise mapping of large tracts of shifting cultivation land is difficult due to annual diversity of fuzzy boundaries... Key Words: land rights, communal tenure, mapping, land registration, indigenous peoples..."
Creator/author: Kirsten Ewers Andersen
Source/publisher: The World Bank
2016-03-00
Date of entry/update: 2016-04-11
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language: English
Format : pdf
Size: 1.41 MB
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Description: EXECUTIVE SUMMARY: "Myanmar?s agricultural sector has for long suffered due to multiplicity of laws and regulations, deficient and degraded infrastructure, poor policies and planning, a chronic lack of credit, and an absence of tenure security for cultivators. These woes negate Myanmar?s bountiful natural endowments and immense agricultural potential, pushing its rural populace towards dire poverty. This review hopes to contribute to the ongoing debate on land issues in Myanmar. It focuses on land tenure issues vis-à-vis rural development and farming communities since reforms in this sector could have a significant impact on farmer innovation and investment in agriculture and livelihood sustainability. Its premise is that land and property rights cannot be understood solely as an administrative or procedural issue, but should be considered part of broader historical, economic, social, and cultural dimensions. Discussions were conducted with various stakeholders; the government?s inter-ministerial committee mandated to develop the National Action Plan for Agriculture (NAPA) served as the national counterpart. Existing literature was also reviewed. Limitations of the review included: • maintaining inclusiveness without losing focus of critical aspects such as food security; • the lack of a detailed discussion on the administration and management of forest land which is outside its purview; and an evolving regulatory environment with work currently underway on the new draft of the National Land-Use Policy (NLUP) and Land-Use Certificates (LUCs) for farmlands (Phase One work)..."
Creator/author: Shivakumar Srinivas, U Saw Hlaing
Source/publisher: Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO)
2015-05-00
Date of entry/update: 2015-09-02
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language: English
Format : pdf pdf
Size: 1.15 MB 7.49 MB
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Description: "...[O]n 19th June, 2012, the President of the Union guided on the following land reform matters to draw and implement the national development long term and short term plans: (a) To manage, calculate, use and carry out systematically the Sustainable Development of natural resources such as land, water, forest, mines to enable to use them future generations; (b)To manage and carry out systematically the land use policy and land use management not to cause land problems such as land use, land fluctuation and land trespass; (c) To disburse, coordinate and carry out with the Union Government, the Land Use Allocation and Scrutinizing Committee, the Myanmar Investment Commission, the Privatization Commission, the Vacant, Fallow and Virgin Land Management Committee and relevant departments for urban and rural development plans and investment plans; (d)To carry out to renegotiate, draw and enact the laws and matters relating to tax and custom duty administered by the various departments relating to land in accord with international standards or existing situations..."
Source/publisher: Government of the Republic of the Union of Myanmar Land Use Allocation and Scrutinizing Committee
2014-10-18
Date of entry/update: 2014-10-24
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language: English
Format : pdf
Size: 269.13 KB
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Description: Use Google Chrome to read online - otherwise download and read offline
Creator/author: J. S. Furnivall
Source/publisher: Cambridge University Press
1920-00-00
Date of entry/update: 2014-02-17
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language: English
Format : pdf
Size: 193.3 KB
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Description: "This report provides an overview of issues related to upland smallholder land tenure. The immediate objective of the report is to promote a shared understanding of land tenure issues by national-level stakeholders, with a longer term objective of improving the land tenure, livelihood and food security of upland farm families. The report is intended for government and non-government agencies, policy makers and those impacted by policy. The report covers four main areas: status of and trends in upland tenure security; institutions that regulate upland tenure security; mechanisms available to ensure access to land; and points for further consideration which could lead to increased effectiveness and equity. Trends in the uplands include increased population growth, resettlement and concentration of populations, fragmentation and degradation of agricultural lands, and increased loss of land to smallholder farmers or landlessness. Declining access to land for smallholder farmers results in the depletion of common forest resources, increased unemployment, outmigration for labor, and ultimately food insecurity for the people who live in these areas..."
Source/publisher: Food Security Working Group
2011-02-00
Date of entry/update: 2013-10-25
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language: Burmese (မြန်မာဘာသာ)
Format : pdf
Size: 4.34 MB
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Description: "This report provides an overview of issues related to upland smallholder land tenure. The immediate objective of the report is to promote a shared understanding of land tenure issues by national-level stakeholders, with a longer term objective of improving the land tenure, livelihood and food security of upland farm families. The report is intended for government and non-government agencies, policy makers and those impacted by policy. The report covers four main areas: status of and trends in upland tenure security; institutions that regulate upland tenure security; mechanisms available to ensure access to land; and points for further consideration which could lead to increased effectiveness and equity. Trends in the uplands include increased population growth, resettlement and concentration of populations, fragmentation and degradation of agricultural lands, and increased loss of land to smallholder farmers or landlessness. Declining access to land for smallholder farmers results in the depletion of common forest resources, increased unemployment, outmigration for labor, and ultimately food insecurity for the people who live in these areas..."
Source/publisher: Food Security Working Group
2011-02-00
Date of entry/update: 2013-10-25
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language: English
Format : pdf
Size: 2.61 MB
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Description: "...with increasing frequency, land is taken from farmers, often with little or no compensation. Large swathes of farmland have already been made available to foreign-based companies in a process that appears to be accelerating. Government data show that the amount of land transferred to private companies increased by as much as 900 percent from the mid-1990s to mid-2000s and now totals roughly 5 percent of Myanmar?s agricultural land... Myanmar law requires farmers to grow what the government or the local military commander wants them to grow, and subjects farmers to production quotas. Policies like these also displace farmers and lead to food insecurity, as farm productivity suffers. This can push farmers into debt by forcing them to take out loans from money lenders or sell their land in an effort to meet an unrealistic planting directive. And now two new land laws — the Farmland Bill and the Vacant, Fallow, and Virgin Land Management Bill, recently passed by the legislature and awaiting action by President Thein Sein — are poised to give the government even more power to seize land without consultation or compensation..."
Creator/author: Roy Prosterman, Darryl Vhugen
Source/publisher: "New York Times"
2012-06-13
Date of entry/update: 2012-06-14
Grouping: Individual Documents
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Description: The Draft land law
Source/publisher: Hluttaws
2011-09-20
Date of entry/update: 2012-01-10
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language: English
Format : pdf
Size: 34.04 KB
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Description: A Statement by the Asian Human Rights Commission... During the second sitting of the new semi-elected parliament in Burma this year, the government submitted a draft land law. The government gazette published the draft on September 16, and it is currently still before the parliament. Burma needs a new land law. The current legislation on land, either for reasons of content or because of institutional factors, lacks coherence. It is ineffectual in protecting the rights of cultivators. With the rise and rise of private businesses linked to serving and former army officers and bureaucrats, the incidence of land grabbing also is fast increasing, and is bound to increase even more dramatically in the next few years. Although a new law would not stop or perhaps even slow land grabbing of its own accord, one protecting cultivators? rights and situating powers of review over land regulations and cases in the hands of the judiciary and independent agencies could at least set some clear benchmarks against which to measure actual practices, and establish some groundwork for minimum institutional protections. Unfortunately, the draft bill before parliament is not the law that Burma needs. In fact, it is precisely the opposite of what the country needs. Rather than protecting cultivators? rights, it undercuts them at practically every point, through a variety of provisions aimed at enabling rather than inhibiting land grabbing. It invites takeover of land with government authorization for the purpose of practically any activity, not merely for other forms of cultivation. Under the draft, farmers could be evicted to make way for the construction of polluting factories, power lines, roads and railways, pipelines, fun parks, condominiums and whatever else government officials claim to be in "the national interest"..."
Source/publisher: Asian Human Rights Commission
2011-11-01
Date of entry/update: 2011-11-08
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language: English
Format : pdf
Size: 101.7 KB
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Description: Renting Land for Cultivation Law The Union of Burma Revolutionary Council Law 8, 1963 [Reprint 1963]....THE TENANCY LAW AMENDING LAW, 1965. (THE UNION OF BURMA REVOLUTIONARY COUNCIL LAW NO. 2 OF 1965)
Source/publisher: Union of Burma Revolutionary Council
1965-00-00
Date of entry/update: 2011-05-25
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language: English, Burmese (ျမန္မာဘာသာ)
Format : pdf
Size: 996.15 KB
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Description: (THE UNION OF BURMA REVOLUTIONARY COUNCIL LAW NO. 9 OF 1963).....Repealed by the Farmland Act - Pyidaungsu Hluttaw Law No. 11/2012
Source/publisher: Union of Burma Revolutionary Council
1963-00-00
Date of entry/update: 2011-05-25
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language: English
Format : pdf
Size: 102.74 KB
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