I. Land and land administration
Land as a resource
Cadastres and land registration
Land management and land reform
Land administration
The benefits of a good land administration system
Institutional issues
The role of computerization
Recommendations
II. The legal framework
The legal status of land and real
property
Land tenure
Deeds registration and title registration
Adjudication of title to land
Boundaries
Cadastral surveying
Land parcel information
Recommendations
III. Financial matters
Value and the valuation of land
Taxing land and property
Central valuation agencies
Land and property markets
Costs and benefits of land administration
Financing and sources of funding
Marketing land registry and cadastral data
Recommendations
IV. Land-use planning
The role of the cadastre in physical
planning
Land-use planning in urban centres
Land consolidation and reallocation
Environmental monitoring and geographic information
systems
Recommendations
V. Institutional arrangements
Land policy
Land administration activities
Land information management
Organization and management
Recommendations
VI. Technical matters
Control surveys
Cadastral surveying and mapping
Electronic data processing for land administration
Recommendations
VII. Procedures for introducing
a land administration system
The determination of user needs
The creation of new administrative and organizational
structures
The preparation of new legislation
The adjudication and determination of rights in
land
The surveying of land and property boundaries
The management of land information
The establishment of financial management procedures
Developing awareness in the user community
Recommendations
ANNEX:
Glossary of
terms 
Preface
In 1993 the United Nations Economic
Commission for Europe (ECE) launched an initiative
to strengthen land administration capabilities,
mainly for countries in east and central Europe.
The main purpose was to identify the current needs
and problems related to land administration in these
countries, and for experts both from countries in
transition and from the west to share views and
experiences. ECE also sought to assess the opportunities
for applying methods, policies and procedures of
land administration similar to those that evolved
over a long period of time in the market economies
of the ECE region.
In 1993 a seminar on reform of real
property, land registration and cadastre took place
in Copenhagen (Denmark). To follow up the seminar,
workshops were organized in Austria, Croatia, Hungary,
Latvia, the Netherlands and Romania. In parallel,
and with input from these workshops, a task force
was established by the ECE Committee on Human Settlements
to prepare the present Guidelines on land administration.
The task force consisted of Messrs. Friedrich HRBEK
(Austria), Branimir GOJCETA (Croatia), GAbor REMETEY-FULOPP
(Hungary), Jan BROUWER (Netherlands), Helge ONSRUD
(Norway), Virgil PAMFIL (Romania), Jim WIDMARK (Sweden)
and Peter DALE (United Kingdom), Chairman of the
task force.
These Guidelines define land administration
as the process whereby land and the information
about land may be effectively managed. They are
mainly written for senior governmental staff and
politicians engaged in land administration issues.
The aim is to out-line the benefit of having a relevant
and reliable land information system in place. The
Guidelines are based on the assumptions that:
(i) Access to food and shelter are
fundamental human needs;
(ii) Security of tenure is essential
for an effective housing policy;
(iii) Certainty in the legal status
of land is essential for efficient agricultural
production;
(iv) Investors in a market economy
require a formal structure of land and property
rights;
(v) Sustainable development is dependent
on the State having overall responsibility for managing
information about the ownership, value and use of
land, even though the private sector may be extensively
involved; and
(vi) Both land and information about
land are resources that must be husbanded in order
to achieve economic growth.
The Guidelines are in accord with
article I of the First Protocol to the European
Convention on Human Rights signed in Rome on 4 November
1950. That article states: Every natural or legal
person is entitled to the peaceful enjoyment of
his possessions. No one shall be deprived of his
possessions except in the public interest and subject
to the conditions provided for by law and by the
general principles of international law.
The Guidelines identify the factors
that should be taken into account in developing
the legislation, organization, databases and maps,
as well as the funding mechanisms, required to implement
and maintain a solid land administration system,
frequently referred to either as ;I cadastre or
a land registration system.
The initial investment in a new land
administration system may involve spending mil-lions
of dollars and the processes may take between 5
and IO years. Such an investment and time-scale
are however essential if economic development is
to be sustainable.
The Guidelines draw primarily on
experiences in eastern and western Europe. All western
systems of cadastre and land registration have been
established for a long time but many have been built
on traditional skills that have in the past not
necessarily focused on all the needs of users. They
were based on manual, not digital, methods although
most are now in the process of introducing computerization.
Like their eastern European counterparts they are
changing to meet the needs of a modern society.
Transition countries can learn much
from western experiences. They need however to build
their own systems within their own social, economic
and cultural environments. These Guidelines should
help them to consider alternative ways to meet modern
requirements.
Executive
Summary
These Guidelines are based on the
assumption that a formal system is necessary to
register land and property and hence to provide
secure ownership in land, investments and other
private and public rights in real estate. A system
for recording land ownership, land values, land
use and other land-related data is an indispensable
tool for a market economy to work properly, as well
as for sustainable management of land resources.
All industrialized nations with a market economy
maintain some sort of land register system that
fulfils the above requirements.
These Guidelines use the term "land"
to refer to the objects to which mortgages and other
data are to be connected. "Real estate" is an alternative
term. In practice a land administration system can
incorporate various basic objects or units, land
parcels being the most common.
Real estate can consist of one or
several land parcels. Many countries also allow
buildings or parts of buildings to be registered
as separate real estates, as well as structures
under or above the surface. The latter are referred
to as properties in strata. Defining the basic units
is a major element in the design of any land information
system.