This week, 297 officials of Madagascar’s land and domains office from all regions in the country gathered to review the law on registration and land ownership’s legal regime, enacted in December 2017.

This meeting is a continuation of the process started late 2017 by Antananarivo to improve land management.

The officials should re-examine 19 articles of the law (voted by the Malagasy Parliament on 13 December 2017) which had been declared non-compliant with the Constitution by an opinion of the High Constitutional Court, issued on February 16, 2018.

 “The articles declared non-compliant include the court terrier itinerant, a court that existed since 1929. It has issued the largest number of titles in Madagascar. We are in trouble right now. What court could replace this one? We wonder what would happen to the decisions made by this tribunal since its creation. Will these judgments be retroactive?” Asked Hasimpirenena Rasolomampionona, MD of land Services. 

Moreover, the issue of the basic land ownership law will also be discussed. This is an important task according to Benjamina Ramarcel Ramanantsoa, the minister in charge of presidential projects, planning, and equipment, who stressed the importance of experience and technical instructions sharing. This work will be particularly followed by the civil society which had already reported that its observations had not been taken into account in the first bill of December 2017.