Establishing and regulating land rights is vital for economic stability and growth in agrarian countries. There are several different land rights systems in Ghana and Côte d’Ivoire, from customary laws to the law administered by state courts. Policymakers should consider whether having several systems strengthens or confuses land rights for poor people.

Debates on land rights in West Africa tend to focus on customary forms of land tenure. These are based on social norms rather than written documents, and they often disagree with state laws. Research from the University of London in the UK examines how legal pluralism (several different legal systems) might compare to a single state system for land rights in Ghana and Côte d’Ivoire.

In Ghana, customary land laws are strongly legalised. Chieftaincy is the main institution for regulating land disputes, although this sometimes conflicts with state systems, especially in and around urban areas. The government aims to encourage a revival of the chiefs’ customary justice and is piloting new Customary Land Secretariats for local land administration. There is also encouragement of Alternative Dispute Resolution Systems (ADRS) together with a Land Division of the High Court.

In Côte d’Ivoire, the state has never recognised customary or local land laws. The confusion of systems and low levels of legalisation have provoked ethnic conflict, particularly because of the large numbers of migrants in the country. The 1998 Rural Land Law, which aimed to legalise customary land rights, has become part of the dispute between rebels and the government since the 2002 civil war.

The research shows:

• Half of land disputes in Ghana are brought before formal state courts, often by families who prefer the definitive judgements of state courts to traditional laws.
• In Côte d’Ivoire, formal state courts are not widely used, except as a last resort, and the rulings can cause conflict.
• In Ghana, state-related mediation and formal committees are not used much. Informal mediation by state officers is effective but open to abuse. However, Ghana’s Commission for Human Rights and Administrative Justice has successfully used ADRS.
• State-related local land committees have potential in Côte d’Ivoire, but they are not operational yet.
• There is no dominant form of non-state dispute resolution in Ghana, although non-locals are less likely to go to traditional chiefs.
• Land priests and chiefs are an important form of non-state mediation in Côte d’Ivoire, but their authority is less well respected by younger generations and migrant populations.

The recent land reform programmes in Ghana and Côte d’Ivoire both acknowledge customary laws and attempt to legalise land rights through documentation. To support these programmes, the researchers recommend:    

• Ghana state courts will remain important, but need funding and reform. Court-related ADRS also have considerable potential.
• The Côte d’Ivoire court system may legalise land rights and resolve conflicts, but it requires greater flexibility.
• Mediation by state officers is open to abuse; in Ghana this role could be taken on by committees. District administrators (prefects) will continue to be important in Côte d’Ivoire, so it is more important to improve the legal systems they use.

Source(s):
‘The Law, Legal Institutions and the Protection of Land Rights in Ghana and Côte d’Ivoire: Developing a More Effective and Equitable System’, IDS Research Report 58, by Richard Crook with Simplice Affou, Daniel Hammond, Adja F. Vanga, and Mark Owusu-Yeboah, IDS: Brighton, 2007 (PDF) Full document.

Funded by: ESCOR (SSRU) grant; UK Department for International Development

id21 Research Highlight: 12 October 2007

Further Information:
Richard Crook
Institute of Commonwealth Studies
School of Advanced Study
University of London
28 Russell Square
London, WC1B 5DS
UK

Tel: +44 (0)20 78628844
Fax: +44 (0)20 78628820
Contact the contributor: richard.crook@sas.ac.uk

University of London, UK

Institute of Development Studies
University of Sussex
Brighton, BN1 9RE
UK

Tel: 44 (0)1273 606261
Fax: +44 (0)1273 621202
Contact the contributor: bookshop@ids.ac.uk

Other related links:
'Innovation for land rights in Africa'

'Family first: land transfer rights in West Africa'

'Legal titles to land are not enough in Nicaragua'

'Land disputes in Ghana: can the state courts deal with them?'

See id21's links for land