Customary land is land held under customary land tenure and the enjoyment of some use of land that arises through customary, unwritten practice rather than through written codified law.[1] It is the tenure usually associated with indigenous communities and administered in accordance with their customs, as opposed to statutory tenure usually introduced during the colonial period.[2][3]
Since the late 20th century, statutory recognition and protection of indigenous and community land rights continues to be a major challenge. The gap between formally recognized and customarily held and managed land is a significant source of underdevelopment, conflict, and environmental degradation.[4]
In many countries, most land is held under customary tenure, including 90% in Africa.[5]
In the Malawi Land Act of 1965, "Customary Land" is defined as "all land which is held, occupied or used under customary law, but does not include any public land".[6]
In most countries of the Pacific islands, customary land remains the dominant land tenure form. Distinct customary systems of tenure have evolved on different islands and areas within the Pacific region. In any country there may be many different types of customary tenure.[7] The amount of customary land ownership out of the total land area of Pacific island nations is the following: 97% in Papua New Guinea, 98% in Vanuatu, 88% in Fiji, 87% in the Solomon Islands, and 81% in Samoa.[7]
^Online. "customary land rights". landportal.org. Retrieved 2024-04-12.
^"Customary and Community Tenure". LandLinks. Retrieved 2024-04-12.
^"The Future of Customary Tenure". LandLinks. Retrieved 2024-04-12.
^"Indigenous Community Land Rights" Archived 2020-06-26 at the Wayback Machine, Land Portal
^Microsoft PowerPoint - Defining Customary Land Rights edited_huggins.ppt (brookings.edu)
^Malawi Land Act of 1965, ILO
^ abAusAID: Making Land Work: Reconciling customary land and development in the Pacific, Canberra 2008 Archived 2009-09-14 at the Wayback Machine, retrieved 2009-09-07
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of customaryland tenure. Proponents argue that providing formal titles increases security of land tenure, supports development of markets in land, and...
carried out in defense of "what has always been done and accepted by law". Customary law (also, consuetudinary or unofficial law) exists where: a certain legal...
pertains to physical land and its resources. Property can be bought and acquired following statutory or customary laws. Eighty percent of land in Ghana is owned...
legal claim for customary land lost during the German era of Samoan colonialism. The dispute dates back to 1886 when customaryland was sold to the family...
In Nepal, some customary units of measurement are still used, although the metric system has been the official standard since 1968. The kos (kosh, krosh...
Copyhold was a form of customaryland ownership common from the Late Middle Ages into modern times in England. The name for this type of land tenure is derived...
inalienable tenure. This customaryland notionally covers most of the usable land in the country (some 97% of total land area); alienated land is either held privately...
magistrate's court, or by the CustomaryLand Appeal Court if the dispute relates to customaryland. The CustomaryLand Appeal Court hears only cases relating...
ideas of land control more closely affiliated with individual land ownership. "Informal" or "customary" land systems refer to ideas of land control more...
decision to uphold its ruling in 2010 that acknowledges customaryland titles as communal land for indigenous peoples. Another such case is the Caribbean...
Liberia, squatting is one of three ways to access land, the other being ownership by deed or customary ownership. West Point was founded in Monrovia in...
non-compliance, and connect people with the land and with each other, through a system of relationships. Indigenous customary law is not uniform across Australia...
distinctive groups and tribes, each with its own language, culture and customaryland. Each group considers itself independent and different from the other...
Australian law to describe the rights to land and waters possessed by Indigenous Australians under their customary laws that are recognised by the Australian...
Customary international law are international obligations arising from established or usual international practices, which are less formal customary expectations...
cocoa, including 11,772 ha on unencumbered state land and 3,522 on what was formerly native customaryland. In 1981, it withdrew from almost all rubber schemes...
land rights of indigenous peoples are referred to as aboriginal title. In customary law jurisdictions, customaryland is the predominant form of land...
allocate Trust Land to their communities in accordance with customary law. After 1936, Native Trust Land constituted over 80% of the land in Nyasaland and...
principles of customary law which governs the holding of matai titles and customaryland—each legal system has its own court." Customary law is also primary...
and other terms) is a common law doctrine that the land rights of indigenous peoples to customary tenure persist after the assumption of sovereignty under...
metres (0.49 acres). The jerib was roughly equivalent to the other customaryland measures in south Asia and the Middle East, the Indian bigha and the...
The customary norms in a given society may include indigenous land rights[dubious – discuss], honour, filial piety, customary law and the customary international...
main opposition between 1988 and 2003. Its major policy issues are customaryland rights, unemployment, and the enfranchisement of overseas Samoans. The...
Ghana Supreme Court of Ghana Ollennu, Nii Amaa (1962). Principles of CustomaryLand Law in Ghana. Law in Africa Volume 2. London: Sweet and Maxwell. OCLC 877770...
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