Recording land rights

Improving the delivery of services to citizens has been the focus of many countries. Efforts have addressed simplifying procedures, reducing costs and fighting corruption and analysing and addressing the challenges faced by women.

Azerbaijan introduced a mobile office for government services, including land registration in the form of a bus with connection to cloud computing which allows people in remote areas to obtain services.

In the Kyrgyz Republic, registration of a transaction takes less than a day, and is often completed within four hours for citizens.

The Russian Federation cut the waiting time for customers by introducing a computerized system that provides all services online with digitally-signed certificates nationwide.

Ukraine’s legal reform on Cadastre and a new National Cadastre System reduced the number of steps to register a parcel and obtain a cadastre extract. The cost of issuing extracts was reduced by 50 percent and for registering a new parcel by 31 percent.

Tackling corruption

Transparent, accessible and accountable systems for land administration can create a basis for corruption-free transactions. Many countries in Europe and Central Asia (including Albania, Bulgaria, Croatia, Georgia, Moldova, the Russian Federation, the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia and Ukraine) provide data online, which minimizes the need for clients to visit the local offices and reduces opportunities for corrupt practices.

In Albania, the Russian Federation and Ukraine, online tracking modules have been implemented in the form of simple Web-based applications that allow citizens to follow the workflow of their applications relative to the time defined by the law for processing the transactions. In the Russian Federation the case distribution is done automatically in order to avoid possible corruption.

The Kyrgyz Republic recognised the importance of addressing potential opportunities for corruption and introduced a policy whereby managers are moved from one office to another every three years. Rotation of staff can help to fight corruption because if a person occupies a position within a registry for too long and establishes close relationships with customers, this can create an environment for corruption.

In these countries, technical and financial support has been provided through the World Bank – FAO Cooperative Programme.

Gender and land registration

Countries in the Western Balkans used gender-disaggregated data from their land registration systems to assess the challenges faced by women. The data show that even if laws give equal opportunities to all, prevailing customs may limit women’s ownership of land. There is considerable variation among the countries, with the percentage of women registered as landowners ranging between 15-39 percent.

Addressing the challenges facing women in owning land in the Western Balkans is being carried out in the context of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. Capacities are being strengthened to collect data, monitor and report progress on the land indicators of the Sustainable Development Goals.

The work has been supported by FAO, the World Bank, GIZ on behalf of the German Government and the International Union of Notaries.

Read more about recording rights in these recent publications:

Creating a system to record tenure rights and first registration
Improving ways to record tenure rights