The Implementation of Cambodia's Laws on Land Tenure

The purpose of this dissertation was to discover possible shortcomings in the land registration processes and to indentify minimal adjustments for a successful land registration initiative in Cambodia. The enjoyment of collective ownership from 1979 to 1989 witnessed the failure of this system and therefore the country signalized a need of a new property system. Consequently, Cambodia introduced land privatization in 1989 in which Cambodian citizens could have a right of ownership over residential land and a right of possession over agricultural land. The government simultaneously attempted to register all landholdings by issuing the Instruction on the Implementation of Land Use and Management Policy dated on June 3, 1989. More remarkably, Cambodia adopted two subsequent land laws in 1992 and 2001. The latter aims at providing full ownership rights for Cambodian citizens through a system of land registration. However, land registration has remained a serious work for the government. Methodologically, this research examined the transitions of the implementation of the land laws and legal regulations from the inception of land privatization in 1989. The research used materials and data from published sources such as NGOs and government agencies as bases for analytical input. The interview of the Chief of the Department of Land Registration under the Ministry of Land Management, Urban Planning and Construction in Phnom Penh in December 2008 was another source of information to fulfill the analysis. Furthermore, this research looked on a comparative view of the success of Japanese land registration when the Meiji land tax reform started in 1873 as a tool for a proposed reform for Cambodian land system. The result of this research revealed that land registration system in Cambodia has remained unsuccessful. The centralized power to finalize land registration through sporadic land registration has made the system more convoluted, time-consuming and costly procedures thereby deterring landholders from participating in land registration. Moreover, the failure to introduce land taxation has shown that competent authorities do not have incentives to perform the duties. Resulting from such a failure, land tenure has remained uncertain thereby making more land grabbing and land disputes. Following the above findings, this research proposed several considerations. District authorities in cooperation with commune authorities should be the sole government agency to be responsible for sporadic land registration. Also, a law on land taxation should be urgently considered so that landholders are able to contribute their interest in land to the state. With regard to land taxes, the government in return is able to provide basic needs for social development. Amending necessary legal provisions of the 2001 Land Law and other relevant regulations in order to facilitate the implementation should also be necessarily taken into account.

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