Property
All land returned to custom owners in 1980; only leases for others
Articles 73 to 75 of the Constitution vested all land in the indigenous custom owners at independence. Nobody else can own land — non-indigenous persons and foreigners hold leases only.
Key rules
- Deadline — Leases are commonly granted for up to 75 years
- Deadline — Leases must be registered under the Land Leases Act to be effective
Governing law
- Constitution 1980 (art. 73)
- Land Leases Act 1983 (s. 6)
- Custom Land Management Act 2013
- Land Reform Act 1980
In practice
This is the most complete indigenous land restoration in the region: colonial freehold titles were extinguished, not merely restricted. The consequence is that every non-custom-owner interest is a registered lease, and the validity of that lease depends on having dealt with the right custom owners. Identifying them is the central difficulty, because custom ownership is determined by custom, not by a register. The Custom Land Management Act 2013 shifted determination of custom ownership to custom-based nakamal and Island Court processes and removed the Minister's power to grant leases over disputed custom land — a reform aimed squarely at earlier abuses where leases were issued over land whose ownership was unresolved. Due diligence must therefore examine the custom-ownership determination, not just the lease register entry.