Modelling legislation for a sustainable cadastral system

© 2015 Dr. Melkamu MogesA cadastral system deals with land — a very important resource for sustaining people’s livelihoods. No wonder, therefore, that a large volume of research has been undertaken on land management, land administration and most specifically on the cadastre and land register systems. Such research also deals with the manner of continually improving a cadastral system, and has included various models, principles and guidelines for this purpose. Nonetheless, the models developed so far have a shortcoming because they do not deal with cadastral system legislative principles. Researchers have thus underestimated the crucial role legislation might play with respect to the setting up of a successful cadastral system. Most existing cadastral systems, especially those in less-developed countries, do not achieve their intended objectives. One major reason for this is the lack of appropriate guidelines prescribing parameters for the preparation of a robust cadastral system legislation. This thesis argues that a cadastral system must be founded on a number of requirements and principles to be sustainable. It especially argues that a sustainable cadastral system must be based on a legislative framework which effectively encompasses such requirements and principles. The thesis will set the relevant factors and principles in a comprehensive and coherent framework in the form of a model — hence the title: ‘Modelling Legislation for a Sustainable Cadastral System’. The principles used to construct the model are derived from various sources. Firstly, the model is based on a set of principles already known by models of a cadastral system. Secondly, it is informed by the essential requirements of a sustainable cadastral system drawn out in the thesis. Thirdly, it makes use of principles of cadastral system legislation derived from general principles, theories and philosophy of law. Finally, it relies on the principles and best practices solicited from an analysis of the cadastral system legislation of Victoria, Sweden and Kenya. These jurisdictions are selected because they give a wide geographic and socio-economic coverage representing Africa, Australasia and Western Europe, with the view to constructing a model which is both representative of the broader experience across the globe and is able to be applied in a flexible manner. In short, this thesis develops a theoretical framework of principles for an effective cadastral system legislation, which is identified as one of the essential requirements of a sustainable cadastral system