Property
Overlapping deeds and destroyed registries
Land title rests on a mix of formal deeds, customary claims and possession. Decades of conflict destroyed or duplicated registry records, so competing valid-looking deeds over one plot are common.
Governing law
- Law on Managing Land Affairs2017
- Civil Code of Afghanistan (1977), Book on Property
In practice
Most urban and nearly all rural land is held under customary arrangements documented, if at all', by locally witnessed deeds. Formal registration coverage was low even before 2021. Land disputes are now largely handled by Emirate-appointed judges applying fiqh, and earlier restitution mechanisms for returning refugees have lapsed.