Property
The Land Rights Act 2018 recognised customary land as private community property
The Land Rights Act 2018 is one of Africa's more far-reaching land reforms: it classifies land as public, government, customary or private and recognises customary land as the collective private property of communities, requiring community consent for concessions. Article 22 restricts ownership to citizens, and citizenship to persons of Negro descent.
Key rules
- Jurisdiction — Liberia Land Authority administers; Civil Law Courts hear title disputes; community committees govern customary land internally.
Governing law
- Land Rights Act, 2018 — Customary land as community private property; FPIC for concessions; women's representation.
- Liberia Land Authority Act, 2016 — Single land administration agency.
- Constitution of Liberia, 1986, arts 22 and 27(b) — Ownership limited to citizens; citizenship limited by descent.
In practice
Historically most rural land was treated as public land subject to state disposal, with communities holding only usufruct — the legal foundation of large rubber and mining concessions. The Land Rights Act 2018 changed that by recognising customary land as owned by the community as private property, whether or not surveyed or deeded, and requiring formal community self-identification, boundary harmonisation and the establishment of a Community Land Development and Management Committee. Concessions on customary land require the community's free, prior and informed consent, and women must be represented in community governance structures. The Liberia Land Authority Act 2016 created a single land agency replacing the Land Commission and the deeds registry functions. The constitutional restriction in article 22, read with the article 27(b) citizenship rule, means non-citizens cannot own land and may only lease, typically for terms up to fifty years renewable. Implementation — surveying and formalising thousands of communities — is the central practical challenge.