Legal problems
A January report on property issues affecting internally displaced persons (IDP) says that a number of Sri Lankan laws relating to property rights must be amended to assist returning refugees. Prescription laws provide for ownership of property, if an occupier can establish uninterrupted possession for a period of ten years. A returning IDP may not be able to claim ownership of land where another person has occupied the land for ten years. Even those who occupy the property as tenants or lessees may be able to claim ownership by prescription, if they can establish that the nature of the occupation changed at a particular point in time. Returning IDPs may also find that persons are asserting new ancillary property rights, such as access to roads and water wells, which were not in existence before displacement. A common problem is the loss of documents to establish title to land, because of displacement or destruction of homes and other buildings. In some areas, the Land Registry offices and their registers have been destroyed. Fences and walls marking boundaries may have been destroyed in conflict areas and lands encroached by other persons. In the case of a large number of deaths and disappearances, death certificates have not been issued. Successors may find it difficult to institute testamentary proceedings without death certificates.Returning IDPs and refugees may also find that the LTTE have introduced new laws, including a Tamil Eelam Penal Code and have amended provisions of Thesavalamai, the customary law applicable to Tamils of the Northern Province. The LTTE have also established their own system of courts in areas under control. The report says that new mechanisms and specialized bodies are needed to handle disputes regarding property rights.
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