BizCLIR

Real property law is crucial in market economies; it provides the legal environment for a business to own, use and sell land and buildings as well as to use them as collateral to obtain credit. Good property law is especially critical in transition-economy countries; a good law enables entrepreneurs to acquire land freely to produce goods and services in a secure ownership environment, which is a necessity for planning for the long term. A good property law must also be accompanied by an objective, standardized titling system.

Afghanistan’s land laws and practices and laws are extremely complex and often unclear. Moreover, Afghanistan has never had a reliable, standardized system of land titling. These circumstances are a natural result of the physical destruction and governmental discontinuity which characterized the conflict years going back to the 1970’s. The consequence is that, today, commercial land use and investment are much more difficult than they should be for future economic development.

At the same time, there is an understanding of the problems at many levels in and outside the government, and some important positive steps are being taken. A new national land policy is being developed which can lead to reform and replacement of the present inadequate and largely outdated laws. A comprehensive titling and survey project is currently in process which in several more years could cover much of the significant residential and commercially-usable urban land in Afghanistan.