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To succeed in your court action, it is important to choose the right law under which to bring your case. Below are a number of sources of law which may prove useful for legal action in land disputes.
The law of the country or part of the country, where the land is located is often the only relevant law. This law may itself be derived from various sources, which are sometimes contradictory or in conflict with one another.
a) The three common sources of national land law:
b) Main types of national laws relevant to land disputes:
Note that much of this rights-based law is not of direct effect or only applies to public bodies. This means that it can be difficult to use a right to property against a person or a corporation who evicts you.
You could, however, use it to challenge a law or action by the government or by a public body which infringes these rights.
Disputed land acquired legally under national law
One of the main problems with national laws is that often, the taking of land is, or is alleged to be, authorised by some land grant or purchase and is thus claimed to be legal under national law. Indeed, it often is legal.
Ways of dealing with this problem during litigation are detailed below under point 6 – Land disputes: taking legal action.[ Link: page 2 section 6: “When disputed land is acquired under local law”]
Many provisions of international law are potentially relevant to land disputes.
Specialist advice may be necessary as to
Many non-binding guidelines, codes, and statements of principle exist – often called “soft law” – which can be of real practical use.
[Check for more content on this point]
Land and its use is essential to many other activities and rights. Thus, infringement of rights to land may also involve breach of national or international laws on rights to:
- Land rights: introduction. A general overview for community activists
- Land disputes: taking legal action. Practical guide on planning and managing a court case.