Countries in Central and Eastern Europe and the Commonwealth of Independent
States (CIS) are aiming to achieve a fairer distribution of the economic
benefits from transition to market economies among their population. In many
countries, however, there is widespread evidence of increasing poverty and
inequality.
One of the ways of addressing this problem is to increase the access of the
population to a well-organised land and property rights system. Under the
auspices of the Real Estate Advisory Group (REAG), the United Nations
Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE) launched the Land for Development
Programme (LFDP) last year. This programme underlines the need for holistic
approaches to the development of land markets and the need to have in place
a number of important elements including an effective land management
system, a transparent land market, and a legal and institutional mechanism
for protecting property rights. Such a system is the basis for sustainable
development and poverty alleviation.
Consensus on the role of extended land and property rights
Supported by Tecnoborsa, an NGO of the Rome Chamber of Commerce, the First
European Real Estate Summit held in September 2002 declared its support for
the role that extended land and property rights can play in sustainable
development and poverty alleviation in the UNECE region. A consensus was
reached that the LFDP and its network of stakeholders, including
governments, private sector partners, international organisations,
development banks and real estate professionals, should be the vehicle for
identifying and removing bottlenecks that are an obstacle to social and
economic development.
The Second Land for Development Programme Forum took place in Rome on 30 to
31 October 2003 and focused on the implementation of the declaration. The
key points considered at the Forum were developing an integrated land
policy, resolving disputes over land, building human capital and expertise
for land and property rights systems, accessing financing, and security in
land management and property rights.
Co-chairing the Summit Session on resolving disputes over land, ADAS
International presented its experience from over 10 years of working on
behalf of the UK Department for International Development (DFID) in the
rural sector of Russia and the countries of the former Soviet Union, on the
issues of land ownership and land reform.
Experience has shown that the legal provision of land rights is not
sufficient in themselves. Access to information and advice for protection of
ownership rights and dispute resolution mechanisms to allow people to
exercise their rights are extremely important to safeguard success of
pro-poor land reform.
To put a dispute through the existing court system was bureaucratic, time
consuming, daunting and costly, particularly for the poor in the rural
communities. There was need for a fair, transparent, timely, affordable and
socially acceptable mechanism for resolving disputes. Third Party
Arbitration Courts or TPACs as they are referred to, have proved to be a
very effective mechanism in resolving civil and legal disputes; as
demonstrated by the DFID supported programmes in Russia, Moldova, Ukraine,
Kyrgyzstan and Georgia.
TPACs are designed to mediate between parties and reach workable compromises
acceptable to both sides. They operate outside the formal legal system but
their decisions are recognised by the court system. The parties involved in
the dispute must voluntarily agree to submit their disputes to the TPAC. To
resolve the dispute, the parties themselves will appoint a judge (or
judges), who are not necessarily lawyers or legal experts, but are often
respected specialists in their particular field. TPAC dispute resolution
procedures are kept as simple as possible and the hearings take place in
private.
Another key lesson learnt from involvement with these issues across the
region is that provision of rights to land on its own does not improve
socio-economic situations. Poor people need a range of supporting measures
to allow them to turn rights of access into livelihood benefits, including
access to advisory services, availability of support services, input
suppliers and markets, access to finance and credit, and functioning social
sphere infrastructure.
The Summit, which included representatives from 23 countries, developed a
shared vision, which proposed the establishment of a high level panel on
property rights for the poor under the chairmanship of Hernando De Soto,
President of the Institute of Liberty and Democracy, who participated in the
Summit by video link from Lima, Peru. The panel would be charged with
preparing a toolkit for policy makers to promote property rights for the
poor.
Contact ADAS International at
http://www.adasinternational.com
