Systems of Land Registration Aspects and Effects Jaap Zevenbergen NCG Nederlandse Commissie voor Geodesie Netherlands Geodetic Commission Delft, September 2002 Systems of Land Registration. Aspects and Effects Jaap Zevenbergen Publications on Geodesy 51 ISBN 90 6132 277 4 ISSN 0165 1706 Published by: NCG, Nederlandse Commissie voor Geodesie, Netherlands Geodetic Commission, Delft, The Netherlands Printed by: Optima Grafische Communicatie, Optima Graphic Communication, Rotterdam, The Netherlands Cover: Dynamic model of the system of land registration, Axel Smit (see also figure 4.8) NCG, Nederlandse Commissie voor Geodesie, Netherlands Geodetic Commission P.O. Box 5030, 2600 GA Delft, The Netherlands Tel.: +31 (0)15 278 28 19 Fax: +31 (0)15 278 17 75 E-mail: [email protected] Website: www.ncg.knaw.nl The NCG, Nederlandse Commissie voor Geodesie, Netherlands Geodetic Commission is an institute of the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences (KNAW). Systems of Land Registration - Aspects and Effects Proefschrift ter verkrijging van de graad van doctor aan de Technische Universiteit Delft, op gezag van de Rector Magnificus prof.dr.ir. J.T. Fokkema, voorzitter van het College voor Promoties, in het openbaar te verdedigen op maandag 11 november 2002 te 16.00 uur door Jacob Arie ZEVENBERGEN geodetisch ingenieur en meester in de rechten geboren te Werkendam Dit proefschrift is goedgekeurd door de promotoren: Prof.dr.ir. M.J.M. Bogaerts Prof.dr.mr. J. de Jong Samenstelling promotiecommissie: Rector Magnificus, voorzitter Prof.dr.ir. M.J.M. Bogaerts, Technische Universiteit Delft, promotor Prof.dr.mr. J. de Jong, Technische Universiteit Delft, promotor Prof.dr.ir. P.M.J. van Oosterom, Technische Universiteit Delft Prof.dr.mr. J.M. Otto, Universiteit Leiden Prof.Lic.Agro. E. Stubkjær, Aalborg Universitet Prof.dr. I.P. Williamson, The University of Melbourne Prof.ir. P. van der Molen, Kadaster en ITC There’s more to see than can ever be seen More to do than can ever be done There’s far too much to take in here More to find than can ever be found from the song Circle of Life of the Lion King Soundtrack (lyrics by Tim Rice) i CONTENTS LIST OF TABLES AND FIGURES v PREFACE AND ACKNOWLEDGMENTS vii 1 INTRODUCTION 1 1 Land registration 2 1 Main characteristics 2 2 Main problems 4 3 How to overcome? 5 2 Societal impact 10 1 Land as base of wealth 10 2 Land markets and the overall economy 13 3 Institutions and transaction costs 15 3 Research outline 20 1 Main premises 20 2 Research questions 20 3 Research methods 21 4 Structure of this report 23 2 LAND REGISTRATION 25 1 Terminology and definitions 26 1 Terminology and English 26 2 Land registration and cadastre 26 2 Appearances of land registration 31 1 Historical development 31 2 Transfer of immovable goods 31 3 Sophistication of transaction evidence 32 4 Transaction evidence through registration 35 5 Describing land parcels 38 3 Principles and features 42 1 Principles 42 2 Features 43 4 Concluding remarks 46 3 CLASSIFICATIONS OF SYSTEMS OF LAND REGISTRATION 47 1 Title registration versus deeds registration 48 1 Basics of title and deeds registration 48 2 Title registration 49 3 Deeds registration 55 4 Debate on “title versus deeds” 60 ii SYSTEMS OF LAND REGISTRATION 2 Other classifications 63 1 Negative versus positive systems 63 2 Race versus notice statutes 64 3 Parcel identification systems 65 4 Fixed versus general boundaries 67 5 Systematic versus sporadic adjudication 70 6 Organization of registry and cadastre 73 7 Limited importance of classifications 75 3 Fathoming classifications by abstract concepts versus reality 77 4 Concluding remarks 82 4 LAND REGISTRATION AS A SYSTEM 83 1 Systems approach 84 1 General systems theory 84 2 Systems terminology: a system of land registration 86 3 Systems view 91 4 Organizations as systems 92 5 Systems views on land registration 95 2 Land registration approached as a system 98 1 Goal 98 2 Whole (and emergent properties) 99 3 Environment 101 4 Relationships 101 5 Elements and their attributes 101 3 Modeling land registration 103 1 Modeling 103 2 Model of the static system of land registration 103 3 Model of the dynamic system of land registration 106 4 Tasks for updating a system of land registration 109 5 Need for further modeling 113 4 Concluding remarks 114 5 CASE STUDY DESIGN 115 1 Case study research 116 1 Why case study research? 116 2 Case study methodology 116 3 Methodological triangulation 117 4 Analytical generalization and case selection strategies 118 2 Case design 120 1 Research design 120 2 Case protocol 123 3 Concluding remarks 131 CONTENTS iii 6 CASE STUDY RESULTS 133 1 the Netherlands 134 1 Functional description 134 2 Aspect based description 135 3 Developments 137 4 Task table 138 5 Concluding summary 139 2 Indonesia 141 1 Functional description 141 2 Aspect based description 143 3 Developments 144 4 Task table 146 5 Concluding summary 147 3 Austria 152 1 Functional description 152 2 Aspect based description 153 3 Developments 155 4 Task table 156 5 Concluding summary 157 4 Ghana 159 1 Functional description 159 2 Aspect based description 161 3 Developments 164 4 Task tables 165 5 Concluding summary 166 5 Concluding remarks 171 1 A first comparison of the cases 171 2 Cross case analysis 172 3 Other findings 175 7 CONCLUSIONS AND SUMMARY 177 1 Concluding summary 178 1 Answers to the research questions 178 2 Answer to the study’s question 181 2 Other findings 184 1 Case study results 184 2 Overall findings 186 iv SYSTEMS OF LAND REGISTRATION ANNEXES A. References 187 B. Translations 199 C. List of land administration offices visited 201 Nederlandstalige Samenvatting (Dutch summary) 203 Curriculum Vitae 210 v LIST OF TABLES AND FIGURES 1.1 Land registration as a nested subset of the economy 14 2.1 Core entities connected 29 2.2 Types of transaction evidence 32 2.3 Handing over a twig as a symbolic act for transfer of land 33 2.4 Risks of private conveyancing 34 3.1 Alternative ways of building cadastral/land registration systems 59 3.2 Two-dimensional classification of systems of land registration 64 3.3 Extract of Austrian cadastral map 66 4.1 Hierarchy of systems 85 4.2 Function and task 89 4.3 Sub- and aspect systems 90 4.4 Four partial perspectives of land registration 96 4.5 The system of land registration abstracted as an input - output model 99 4.6 The system with emphasis on legal document streams 99 4.7 The system with emphasis on information streams 99 (2.1 Core entities connected 104) 4.8 Dynamic model of the system of land registration 107 4.9 Relations between the updating tasks and their products (...) 110 4.10 Table with tasks, experts and aspect systems for updating (...) 111 4.11 Table of tasks and questions of a system (...) 112 5.1 Aspects and their interrelated effects 121 5.2 Table of desired characteristics and chosen countries 125 5.3 Land Administration Research Centre (...) 127 6.1 Tasks and questions of the Dutch system of land registration 138 6.2 Provincial BPN-office (‘Kanwil’) in Yogyakarta 142 6.3 Tasks and questions of the Indonesian system of land registration 146 6.4 Survey of subdivision caused by road improvement just East of Innsbruck 154 6.5 Tasks and questions of the Austrian system of land registration 156 6.6 Stool representing a customary community 163 6.7 Tasks and questions of the Ghanaian deeds system of land registration 165 6.8 Tasks and questions of the Ghanaian title system of land registration 166 6.9 Some basic information of the four cases 171 6.10 Qualification of aspects of the four cases 172 (4.5 The system of land registration abstracted as an input - output model 179) (4.8 Dynamic model of the system of land registration 179) (4.5 Het grondboekhoudingsysteem geabstraheerd als een input - output model 204) (4.8 Dynamisch model van grondboekhoudingsysteem 205) vii PREFACE AND ACKNOWLEDGMENTS Already during my studies, especially at the (then) Faculty of Geodetic Engineering, I was interested in land registration (and cadastres), thanks to the lectures of prof.dr.ir. M.J.M. Bogaerts, prof.mr. P. de Haan, and prof.mr.ir. J.L.G. Henssen. This interest continued in the early days of my work at the same Faculty (first as a research assistant, later as an assistant professor). Not only through literature, but also through visits to offices and talks with staff of land registration authorities in several (European) countries, my basic knowledge of the topic grew. Concentrating on materials in the English language I was struck by the often depicted black and white picture of “title versus deeds”, and the apparent lack of understanding of continental European systems by many Anglo-Saxon writers. My first, small attempts to express this came with my contribution on issues of land registration and cadastres to the 1992 LIS course for Central Europeans in Warsaw and my poster paper for Commission 7 at the 1994 FIG Congress in Melbourne on ‘improved registration of deeds’. Inspired by that 1994 congress and the summer course ‘Cadastral Information Management’ I helped organize together with the ITC the same year, I started to think about a PhD topic in the field of land registration. Shortly after writing down the first ideas on this, I unexpectedly found myself as a consultant in Moldova via ILIS-Nedeco for the World Bank, with prof. G. McGrath (now retired from Queens University, Kingston, Canada) as an inspiring team leader. After I returned from that assignment, I had deepened my understanding of land registration and had got a better idea of my PhD topic as well.