[雙語翻譯]--外文翻譯--土地信息管理與土地所有權(quán)安全問題由國家法院系統(tǒng)加以證實(shí)（原文）

1、Land information management and landed property ownership security: Evidence from state-sponsored court systemRaymond T. Abdulai a,*, Anthony Owusu-Ansah ba School of the Built Environment, Liverpool John Moores Universi

2、ty, Byrom Street, Liverpool L3 3AF, United Kingdom b School of Business, Ghana Institute of Management and Public Administration (GIMPA), Accra, GhanaKeywords:CourtGhanaGuaranteeRegistrationOwnershipSecuritya b s t r a c

3、 tIt is commonly argued that land information management via land registration guarantees landedproperty ownership security in the developing world. This has, therefore, triggered various studies intothe relation between

4、 land registration and ownership security. The findings from these studies aredivergent. Whilst some studies claim that it is land registration that guarantees ownership security,others have established no discernible li

5、nk between registration and ownership security. This ground-breaking study contributes to the debate by investigating the nexus between land registration andownership security from a new dimension. It focuses on the pers

6、pective of the State-sponsored courtsystem on ownership security. Data from a High Court in one of the cities in Ghana covering a period of10 years was extracted and analyzed. The evidence adduced shows that land registr

7、ation per se isincapable of guaranteeing security as landed property ownership can be contested whether or not it isregistered and owners of registered landed property can lose their ownership via civil litigation in the

8、State-sponsored court system e cases are not automatically decided in favour of owners of registeredlanded property when disputes are brought before the courts for resolution. Thus, the argument thatland registration gua

9、rantees ownership security is unsustainable - land registration is made to serve thewrong purpose. The paper, therefore, defines the right and critical role of land registration. It isconcluded that land title or ownersh

10、ip insurance, albeit may appear to be expensive, is a tool that canpotently address the problem of landed ownership insecurity. The findings provide useful lessons forinternational donor organisations like the World Bank

11、 and United Nations that are supporting landregistration programmes as a panacea to the problem of ownership insecurity in the developing world.? 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.IntroductionThe importance of lande

12、d property1 in the economies of nations cannot be over-emphasized. For instance, land provides the space for various socio-economic activities and as Lund (2008), USAID (2005) and Deininger (2003) note, it is the most ba

13、sic and vital aspect of subsistence for many people around the world and, therefore, a strategic socio-economic asset, especially in poor so- cieties where wealth and survival are measured by control of, and access to la

14、nd. It is, thus, not surprising that in many developingcountries, land accounts for about 50%e75% of the national wealth (Bell, 2006). Regarding the developed world, the immense contri- bution of landed property to its d

15、evelopment has been well docu- mented by economic historians like Goldsmith (1995), Torstensson (1994), and Rosenberg and Birdzell (1986). Due to the critical role that landed property plays in human societies, insecurit

16、y of its ownership is a major concern to the citizenry and governments in the developing world as well as international donor agencies like the World Bank and United Nations. Landed property ownership security refers to

17、the certainty that a person’s property rights will be recognized by law and, especially, by community members and protected when there are challenges or disputes over the property (Abdulai FAO, 2005). It implies that if

18、 a person’s ownership is secure, that person should be able to exercise rights over his property peace- fully or devoid of contestation and where disputes do occur, the ownership of the property should be protected so th

19、at it cannot be* Corresponding author. Tel.: þ44 7903 107947; fax: þ44 1512312815.E-mail addresses: R.Abdulai@ljmu.ac.uk, talinberay@yahoo.com (R.T. Abdulai),aowusu-ansah@gimpa.edu.gh (A. Owusu-Ansah). 1 Landed

20、 property is a term that connotes land and/or the developments/build-ings attached to the land. The other terminology for landed property is real prop-erty and in American parlance, it is known as real estate.Contents li

21、sts available at ScienceDirectHabitat Internationaljournal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/habitatint0197-3975/$ e see front matter ? 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.habitatint.2013.1

22、1.005Habitat International 42 (2014) 131e137groups and traditionally land is vested in communities represented by chiefs or families depending on the ethnic group. In southern Ghana2 chiefs as traditional rulers sit in s

23、tate on specially designed stools/chairs3 whilst in northern Ghana, they sit on specially pre- pared skin of an animal (cow or sheep). The symbol of authority is, therefore, the stool or skin. Where the allodial interest

24、4 in land is vested in chiefs, it is called skin land among the ethnic groups in northern Ghana whilst it is known as stool land among the ethnic groups in southern Ghana. In such instances, the chiefs play two roles - t

25、hey are in charge of the traditional governance of the areas and at the same time own and manage the land within their ju- risdictions. With other ethnic groups, the allodial interest is vested in families [referred to a

26、s Tindamba (tindana for singular) among some ethnic groups]. There is, thus, family or tindana land. Where, the allodial interest is vested in families, chiefs play only the traditional governance role whilst the ownersh

27、ip and management of land is vested in the families. Thus, depending on the ethnic group, first level suppliers5 of land are chiefs or families; they allocate land to prospective acquirers or purchasers of land for vario

28、us purposes. In the traditional land market, customarily, oral land grants are made before witnesses after the open market price of the land known in traditional parlance as “drink money” or “cola money”, depending on th

29、e ethnic group is paid. Thus, traditionally, proof or evidence of landownership is not based on writing e it is by physical possession and occupation and the recognition of that fact by the members of the society. The ef

30、fectiveness of physical possession and occupation as evidence of landownership is amply demonstrated by the operation of limitation or prescription laws. Under such laws, a true owner of land can be dispossessed of his l

31、and via a reasonable period of occupation by a squatter. In Ghana, under the Limitation Decree of 1972 (NRCD 54) a trespasser dis- possesses the true owner of land if the trespasser occupies the land for 12 years and wit

32、hin such period, the true owner fails to assert his ownership. At the end of the prescription period, the true owner loses his ownership and the right to sue the ownership is extin- guished. Even where the land has been

33、registered by the true owner, he still forfeits the land. Similarly, under the French Civil Code, the prescription period is 20 years where the true owner is resident outside the territory in which the land is located e

34、if the true owner lives within the territory where the land is located, the limitation period is 10 years. Also, in England and Wales, the rele- vant law is the Limitation Act (1980) and the limitation period is 12 and 1

35、0 years for unregistered and registered land respectively. In some parts of Ghana, however, traditional land law has evolved to a stage where when land is transferred it is evidenced by a form of documentation like a rec

36、eipt or an allocation paper. Thus, when land is allocated or granted by the first level suppliers orallodial interest holders, the transfer is normally evidenced by an allocation note issued by them. In the traditional l

37、and market, any land grantee can commission lawyers or solicitors to prepare a title deed or indenture after the allocation of land by the first level suppliers at any time if he so wishes. A title deed is considered as

38、a more “formalized” form of evidence of landownership. Regarding the State land market, transfer of land from the State to any land purchaser is evidenced by a title deed or an indenture. Access to land in both the tradi

39、tional and State land markets is open to all (males, females and foreigners) who wish to partic- ipate in such markets, the only criterion being the person’s ability to pay the price demanded by the suppliers. Participat

40、ing in the land markets is, therefore, contingent upon a person’s purchasing power.Land registration systems in GhanaBefore describing the land registration systems in Ghana, it is expedient to first of all discuss the s

41、ystems that exist globally. Across the world, there are two main types of registration systems, which are deed registration and title registration. In a deed regis- tration system, legally recognized and protected land r

42、ights arise upon conclusion of an agreement or contract between the land grantor and grantee; the entry of the agreement or contract into the public register is to provide public notice of the existence of the landowners

43、hip rights and challenges to such rights will be handled through civil litigation (Deininger, 2003). On the other hand, in a title registration system, legal validity of land rights arises from entry of such rights into

44、the public registry, which is guaranteed by the state - therefore, all entries in the public register are prima facie evidence of the legal status of the landownership (Deininger, 2003). According to Deininger, title reg

45、istration is the norm throughout Europe and in Canada whilst in United States of America it is deed registration that is mostly used (Deininger, 2003). In Ghana, land registration was first introduced in 1883 through the

46、 promulgation of the Land Registration Ordinance 1883 (No. 8) and it was a deed registration system. The Land Registry Ordinance of 1895 (Cap 133) (revised in 1951) was enacted, which replaced the 1883 Ordinance. Cap 133

47、 governed land registration in Ghana until 1962 when the Land Registry Act (Act 122) was passed. In 1986, a title registration system was introduced via the enactment of the Land Title Registration Law (PNDCL 152). The t

48、itle registration law is expected to replace the Land Registry Act of 1962. As earlier noted, Ghana is divided into ten regions for political and adminis- trative purposes and each region has a capital, which is the admi

49、nistrative centre. PNDCL 152 currently operates in two of the regions e Greater Accra and Ashanti Regions with their regional capitals as Accra and Kumasi respectively whilst the rest of the country is covered by Act 122

50、.Sources of legal validity of landownership in GhanaThe first source of legal validity of landownership is Ghana’s 1992 Constitution, the supreme law of the country. As the supreme law, any other law that is inconsistent

51、 with any provision of the Constitution is void [Article 1(2)]. According to Article 11 (1), the laws of Ghana shall comprise: the Constitution; enactments made by or under the authority of Parliament; any Orders, Rules

52、and Regulations made by any person or authority under a power conferred by the Constitution; the existing law; and common law. Clause 2 of the Constitution defines common law as follows. “The common law of Ghana shall co

53、mprise the rules of law generally known as the common law, the rules generally known as the doctrine of equity and the rules of customary law including those determined by the Superior Court of Judicature”. Clause 3 expl

54、ains2 Ghana is divided into 10 regions for political and administrative purposes andeach region has a capital, which is the administrative centre. Seven of the regionsform southern Ghana whilst the rest of the three cons

55、titute northern Ghana.3 Chiefs in southern Ghana in the olden days sat in state on stools. However, astime progressed and with modernization they started using specially designedchairs. Thus, today most chiefs use chairs

56、, but the stool remains the symbol of thechief’s authority.4 In the traditional scheme of interests in land, the allodial interest is the highestproprietary interest beyond, which there is no other superior interest. It

57、is variouslyreferred to as paramount, absolute, ultimate, final, or radical interest. In England forinstance, the allodial interest in land is vested in the Monarch or Crown.5 First level suppliers are of land are the al

58、lodial title holders. They are alsoknown as primary suppliers and therefore the land transactions between them andland grantees are known as primary transactions. However, when A acquires landfrom the allodial title hold

59、ers and transfers it to B, the transaction between A and Bis described as a secondary transaction and A becomes a second level or secondarysupplier.R.T. Abdulai, A. Owusu-Ansah / Habitat International 42 (2014) 131e137 1