New dominica and land law: Major innovations brought!

The multiplicity of acts of ownership or enjoyment, the non-respect by the actors of their fields of competence, the anarchic occupation of the public domain, the insufficiency and / or inadequacy of the modes of advertising during the procedure of registration of plots of land, the slowness in the processing of land files and the difficulties of application of certain court decisions etc., are all evils that characterize state and land management in Mali.

To remedy this, the department in charge of estates and land has revised the State and Land Code in force since 2000 allowing the adoption of an Ordinance on "State and Land Law" by the Government, ratified by the National Transitional Council during the plenary session of 30 September 2021 and promulgated by the President of the Transition on 7 October 2021. This new law brings major innovations to the state and land law of our country.

Thus, Ordinance No. 2020-014/PT-RM of 24 December 2020 and its implementing texts, which contribute to the implementation of the recommendations of the "Estates General of Land", were adopted as part of the State and Land Reform initiated by the Government and whose main objective is to rebuild social relations in order to establish social peace and stability, to put land at the service of development, to support good governance of the State and to fight against land grabbing. The new State and Land Law is part of this framework.

The adopted law brings major innovations that will meet expectations by correcting the shortcomings found in the old law. Typical example: the new law reduces the number of deeds of ownership and/or enjoyment by enshrining the Land Title as the only deed of ownership.

Here are some innovations of the new law:

• The introduction of a glossary to clarify a number of terms used in state and land matters:

The glossary makes it possible to define certain concepts specific to state and land management to avoid various interpretations.

• The power granted to the Minister in charge of the Domains to cancel at any time, any attribution in the public domain:

The Minister in charge of Domains may cancel at any time any allocation in the public domain without prior downgrading. This power is not locked up within any time limit within the meaning of Article 27 DFL. In other words, portions of the public domain, such as green spaces, streets, easements of waterways, railways, etc., will be better monitored and protected.

• The precision of the missions of the General Directorate of the Administration of State Property and the prerogatives it shares with the National Directorate of Domains and the National Directorate of Cadastre:

Article 32 specifies the missions of the National Directorates of Domains, Cadastre and the General Directorate of the Administration of State Property. This avoids overlapping competences and allows the technical services responsible for the management of the domain of the State to be more efficient.

• The abolition of the rural concession from the methods of allocation of land in the private real estate domain of the State
• Rural concessions, which were once awarded by the administrative authorities

(Sub-prefect, prefect, governor...) are abolished as a method of allocating the Private Real Estate Domain of the State.

Rural concessions are awarded on land for agro-sylvo-pastoral purposes, i.e. agricultural land. This land is covered by the Agricultural Land Act. Thus, for the sake of consistency with that law, they were abolished by the State and Land Act.

• The possibility of transforming the certificate of land ownership or possession of duly established customary land rights into a land title:

The certificates of possession and/or possession provided for by the Agricultural Land Act may be converted into a land title within the meaning of Article 114 of the State and Land Law. This makes it possible to guarantee and protect the land properties of peasants, by granting land titles relating to their agricultural land.

• The restriction of direct transfer only to plots of land for residential use:

In accordance with the provisions of Article 35, the direct transfer may relate only to residential land. This avoids land speculation. Land subject to other uses (industrial, commercial, office, school, etc.) is first allocated in the form of a lease with a promise of sale and the State cedes the land title when the reasons for the lease are realized, that is to say the development of the land (effective construction of the school, factory, commercial establishment, etc.).

• The consecration of the principle of transfer in the form of land title of land in the private real estate domain of local authorities, for the purpose of residential use:

Residential land belonging to the private real estate domain of a territorial collectivity is transferred in the form of a land title (Article 56 DFL). This enshrines the land title as the only deed of ownership and minimizes disputes related to the existence of several deeds of ownership and / or enjoyment on the same plot.

• The precision of the conditions of transfer of the land assigned and transferred to the Local Authorities:

Decree No. 2020-414/PT-RM of 31 December 2020 determines the conditions for the allocation of the private real estate domain of local authorities, whether it is land affected or transferred.

• The prohibition of hoarding of land for the purpose of speculation for residential land:

Land grabbing for speculative purposes is prohibited by the provisions of article 57 of the Act, which prohibits the allocation of more than one parcel of land for residential use to the same individual. The allocation may exceptionally relate to two plots of land for residential use in the same urban planning operation, where the said land is contiguous and a necessity justifies it, but no more.

• The adaptation of the State and Land Law to the regulations relating to stock accounting, the regulation of the sale of movable property of the State and Public Authorities admitted to the reform:

The sale of movable property admitted to the reform is made according to the rules of stock accounting. Thanks to the new law, the movable property of the State and local authorities can no longer be sold off. Previously, state vehicles, for example, could be reformed and sold at low prices; the new law puts an end to that.

• The precision of the regulatory act and the authority empowered to authorize the sale of the movable property of the State and the Collectivities and the precision of the quality of the instrumental agent who must carry out the sale:

Article 68 of the DFL specifies the authorities responsible for the sale of reformed assets of the State and local authorities. This was not provided for in the old Code.

• The introduction of the Land Single Window:

Article 90 of the DFL establishes a one-stop shop to facilitate and simplify State and land procedures and to allow users to carry out formalities in the same place. Thanks to this system, the obstacle course related to the acquisition of land documents will be a bad memory. All the actors in the land allocation procedure will be grouped on the same IT platform to expedite the files. It will also minimize the risk of corruption.

• The strengthening and adaptation of land advertising to socio-cultural realities through the introduction of all modern and customary means of information:

Article 120 provides for the use of modern and customary means of registration information. Thus, the heads of villages, neighborhoods or fractions will be directly involved in the registration of plots of land located in their jurisdiction. This will further legitimize land ownership and prevent the dispossession of village and other lands.

• The reduction of the time to maintain the placard poster in the registration procedures of immovables from sixty (60) to thirty (30) days:

Article 124 provides for a period of 30 days for the disclosure of the rights of third parties instead of 60 days provided for in the old legislation. This makes it possible to shorten the time to obtain a land title by 30 days; this was a strong demand from investors.

• The introduction of the notion of regularity in the procedures for creating the land title so that it is legally valid:

The land title is only valid if the procedures are respected. Any irregular title may be subject to censorship by the Administrative Court (Article 143) and the perpetrators and their accomplices will be punished. Thus, the principle of the unassailability of land title, although reaffirmed, does not cover cases of irregularly created land titles, which can be attacked and cancelled.

• The clear statement of the right granted to the State and the Collectivities to exercise the recourse action against their agents in case of intentional misconduct:

The State and the Collectivities may turn against their own agents in the event of fault in the establishment of land titles (Article 146 paragraph 3). This makes it possible to avoid abuses of power by certain public officials in land matters.

• The enumeration of the constituent acts of stellionat and the fixing of the quantum of the penalty and the amount of the fine:

Article 244 of the DDA determines the acts constituting the offence of stellionat and the penalties. The old legislation referred to the Penal Code for the punishment of stellionat. However, the Penal Code does not provide for such an offence. As a result, many acts escaped punishment. From now on, breaches of land management rules and procedures are punished by concrete provisions. It also deters anyone from acting against the texts governing land.

• The validity of provisional titles already established until their transformation into land title:

Provisional titles of rural concessions, occupancy permits, letters of award, urban/rural concessions for residential use, issued before the adoption of Ordinance No. 2020-014/PT-RM of 24 December 2020, remain valid until their transformation into a land title. Thus, those who hold land documents before the new law will continue to enjoy their plots and will be able to apply for land titles to their plots of land.

Finally, the State and Land Law determines the rules applicable in State matters (domains of the State, Collectivities) and land matters (rules applicable to the ownership of land).

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