Customary Land Tenure in Liberia - Land Tenure and Property ...

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however, rights granted to communities seem limited to forest use for subsistence, as the law specifically
prohibits the use of communal forests for commercial purposes. 24 This problem is resolved in the Community
Rights in Forest Lands Law of 2009, which allows communities to enter into commercial contracts for the
harvesting of timber and other forest products in community forests, while acknowledging those communities‟
historic right to use the land. 25 While the law does not grant communities full ownership rights to the land, as
would exist under a fee simple deed, it does recognize communities‟ rights to community forest land and
ownership over all forest resources on that land. It also stipulates that any decisions or agreements pertaining to
that land require the consent of the community to proceed. 26 For rights pertaining to community forest land to
be invoked, forest land must be “traditionally owned or used by communities for socio-cultural, economic and
development purposes.” 27
1.4 INTERFACE BETWEEN CUSTOMARY AND STATUTORY LAW
There is limited research on the intersection of customary and statutory law in Liberia (Unruh, 2008). At the time
of the Americo-Liberian settlement, most land in the country‟s interior was held by indigenous Africans under
customary tenure regimes, while land on the coast was converted to fee simple ownership by the settlers and
“civilized” indigenes. While generally this pattern persists today, statutory law has, over time, removed land from
the domain of customary tenure and customary governance authorities. Provisions in certain laws and the
practices of government authorities imply that land held under customary tenure is legally considered public
land, the full authority over which is vested in the government (Unruh, 2009).
Historically, customary and statutory tenure systems in Liberia served as distinct and separate systems that have
not informed one another. Under the statutory legal framework, the indigenous inhabitants of Liberia were
subject to statutory laws, even while they were unable to hold land under these laws. In contrast, Americo-
Liberian settlers were not subject to customary laws (Unruh, 2009). In an attempt to bridge this disconnect, the
government created what Unruh (2009) calls “state sponsored customary law,” which did not accurately reflect
or respond to customary norms and needs (p. 5). Instead, these laws, including the Rules and Regulations
Governing the Hinterland and the Public Lands Law, violated many commonly accepted customary land tenure
norms and served as a third tenure system that competed with customary laws (ibid).
Unruh (2009) cites an example of this disconnect in the Public Land Laws (GOL, art. 90), in the governmentheld
right of escheat, which is the “reversion of property to the state in consequence of a want of any individual
competent to inherit” (p. 14). He states:
The definition of escheat focuses on the „competent individual‟ as opposed to a group, able to inherit
land. The fieldwork noted however that rural land in the Liberian interior is in most cases tied to groups
and not individuals, with indigenous individuals unable to inherit land in the individualized Western
sense. Instead land is tied to the lineage and access to it by lineage members is subject to clan,
Paramount Chief, and elders‟ prescriptions. In the Public Lands Law the procedure for reclaiming land
back from the government that it has taken over via the right of escheat is also focused on the
individual, and assumes a good deal of literacy and financial resources. Thus because customary groups do not
pursue inheritance based on the individual, this aspect of the law is unworkable, goes against customary concepts of the
group-land relationship, and resulted in loss of land and a source of grievance. [emphasis added] (ibid)
The problematic interface of customary and statutory law can also be seen in the confusion surrounding forest
ownership in Liberia. In her research on the topic, Wily (2007) found that forests comprise an integral part of a
community‟s property that are identified as discrete land areas held by towns, clans, or chiefdoms. However,
23 National Forestry Reform Law, Ch. 10, Sec. 10.1
24 National Forestry Reform Law, Ch. 9, Sec. 9.10(b)(iii)
25 Community Rights Law of 2009 with Respect to Forest Land, Ch. 3
26 Id. at Ch. 2, sec. 2.2
27 Id. at Ch. 1, sec. 1.3
CUSTOMARY LAND TENURE IN LIBERIA