DL-2

LAND LAW

N TA M T I C H A R L E S

LL.B,LLM-ICJ& HR, MED-ODL, B.A-

E C O N O M I C S , M S C E C O N O M I C S , A D V.
D I P L O M A I N A C C O U N TA N C Y
Meaning of Land Law
 It is a body of doctrines which governs the
ownership of, commercial transfer and the use of
land. It focuses on relationships between land and
rights which can exist in/over land and the
relationship between various persons who wish to
own or defeat those competing interests. It is about
ownership, interests, restrictions and the
machinery of law. (Osborn’s Law Dictionary.)
Meaning of land law(cont..)
 Ownership refers to the physical size of the
land owned or possessed. Interest include
rights enjoyed by a person not the owner of
the land and are binding on subsequent
holders or owners of the land e.g. Lessees,
mortgagees etc. Restrictions are limitations or
statutory regulation of certain forms of
disposition of land or interest in land.
Meaning of land

 At common law the rule that an article

annexed to land becomes part of the land was
relaxed in favor of a tenant for years, and he
was allowed to remove two types of fixtures
namely:-any articles attached to the land for
the purpose of carrying on his particular trade,
e.g. fittings in a bar, petrol pumps in a garage
and brewing vats.
MEANING OF LAND(CONT..)
 The reason generally given being that it is
public policy to encourage industry; and a
tenant could remove chattels he fixed to a
house for ornament or convenience. Examples
of articles in this class are stores and grates,
ovens and presumably now refrigerators and
electric cookers.
 in case of Elwes v. Maw it was held that a farmer
could not remove chattels even if they were fixed
to his holding for the sole purpose of improving is
agricultural operations. In that case the tenant
farmer had built at his own cost a shed for animals,
a carpenter’s shed and a fuel house each of which
here moved before the end of the lease. He was
held liable to pay compensation to the land lord.
Meaning of land(cont..)

This unfortunate estate of affairs was
mitigated in England by a series of
Agricultural Holdings Acts giving a
right of compensation, and where that
did not apply, a right of removal.
 According to section 2 of the Land Act of 1999 Cap
113 R.E 2019
“….. includes ‘the surface of the earth and the earth
below the surface and all substances other than
minerals and petroleum forming part of or below
the surface, things naturally growing on the land,
buildings and other structures permanently affixed
to or under land and land covered by water.”
 Quicquid plantatur solo, solo cedit (Latin,
"whatever is affixed to the soil belongs to the soil")
is a legal Latin principle related to fixtures which
means that something that is or becomes affixed to
the land becomes part of the land; therefore, title to
the fixture is a part of the land and passes with title
to the land. Consequently, whosoever owns that
piece of land will also own the things attached.
PRINCIPLE DEVELOPED…

a)Purpose of attachment
b)Degree of attachment
Meaning of land(cont..)
 It can thus be noted that although land includes
surface and subsurface substances, it does not include
mineral such as Gold, Diamond, Tanzanite, Copper
etc. There as on for this is somehow historical. At
common law mines and minerals below the surface
of the earth moved with the ownership of the soil
above except gold and silver which were vested in
the Crown by virtue of Royal prerogative
Categories of land in Tanzania
For the purpose of the management of land, public land it divided
into three categories;

a) General land; is all land that not follow in village or reserved

land in fact is all town land.

b) Village land; is all land that belong to village boundaries

c) Reserved land; is the land that is earmarked for future use or

specific activities such as forest area, national parks, water
sources etc.
Categories
 Reserved land designated or set aside under the provisions of the;
Forest Act, National Park Act, Ngorongoro Conservation Area Act,
Wildlife Conservation Act, Marine and Reserved Act, Town and
country Planning Act, Highway Act, Public Recreation Grounds
Act, and Land Acquisition Act. Also Reserved land is land parcel
within a natural drainage system from which the water resources
of the concerned drainage basin originate, land reserved for public
utilities, and land declared by order of the minister, in accordance
with the provision of the Land Act to be hazardous land. See
section 6(1) of the Land Act Cap 113 R: E 2019
SOURCE OF LAND LAW

The Land Act under section 180 provides
the laws applicable in the adjudication of
land issues in Tanzania Mainland. These
include a wide array of laws. In particular
the Act discourages the application of the
common law except only where the matter
cannot be catered for.
UNITED REPUBLIC OF TZ
 Given the prominence of the URT Constitution (1977 as
amended) as the fundamental law of the land and by virtue
of the principles it carries, it is also one of the laws that must
be considered in dealing with land matters in the country.
(section 180(1) of the land Act Cap 113 R: E 2019)
 For instance despite the acknowledgement in the national
land policy that land should be constitutional category, the
URT Constitution provides clearly for private property and
compensation to all those whose property has been acquired.
(Article 24 of the URT Constitution (1977)
 THE LAND ACT OF 1999
 The Land Act and the Village Land Act are the
principal laws that regulate land in Tanzania
Mainland. The Land Act is specific to land other
than village land and reserved land while the
Village Land Act is specific for addressing village
land. It needs to be noted that according to section
181 of the land Act, where there are conflicts on a
particular matter in relation to land, the Land Act
will prevail.
FACILITATIVE LAWS
 These are written laws include all laws other
than the Land Act and the Village land Act
enacted by the Parliament of United Republic
of Tanzania these include the Land
Registration Act Cap 334, Registration of
Documents Act Cap 117, Land Acquisition Act
47/1967, the Land Disputes Courts Act 2002,
Cap 216/2002 etc.
CUSTOMARY LAW
 According to section 180 of the Land Act other key laws to be
applied include customary laws of Tanzania. Customary law
means any rule or body of rules where by rights and duties are
acquired or imposed, established by usage in any African
Community in Tanzania and accepted by such community in
general as having the force of law, including any declaration or
modification of customary law made or deemed to have been
made under section 9A of the Judicature and Application of Laws
Ordinance, and references to native law or to native law and
custom shall be similarly construed.
 CUSTOMARY LAW
 Also, Section 20 (1) of the Village Land Act provides
categorically that the law to be applied in determining a
dispute on customary right of occupancy is customary
law. Subsection 2 of section 20 of the Village Land Act it
provides that Upon application of such body of law which
may include customs, traditions and practices of the
community one must pay attention to the extent the
custom tally with fundamental principles of the National
Land Policy and any other written law.
CUSTOMARY LAW

The application of customary law in
Tanzania provided by section 11(1) of the
JALA, according to this provision it
provides that generally the customary law
applicable to matter of a civil nature, in
that fact land matters is pure civil in
nature.
COMMON LAW AND DOCTRINAL OF EQUITY
 These are the laws of England, applied in all
commonwealth countries include Tanzania. In
Tanzania these laws are empowered under section
2(3) of JALA, which provides that the jurisdiction of
the High Court shall be exercised in conformity with
the substance of the common law, the doctrines of
equity and the statutes of general application in force
in England on the twenty-second day of July, 1920
COMMON LAW AND DOCTRINE OF EQUITY


Provided that the said common law, doctrine
of equity and statutes of general application
shall be enforced in Tanzania only so far as the
circumstances of Tanzania and its inhabitants
permit, and subject to such qualifications as
local circumstances may render necessary.
INDIAN LAWS
 The JALA Cap 358 provides under section 14
for the application of Indian laws as were in
force on the 1st of December 1920. These
include the Indian Succession Act 1865 which
apply to matters of intestate succession to
Christians and people of European origin.
This is a valid source of land law as the
inheritance may be of some interests in land
ISLAMIC LAWS

According to section 2 of the JALA any
court of law may apply the rules of
Islamic law in matters of marriage,
divorce, guardianship, inheritance, wakf
and similar matters in relation to
members of a community which follows
that law.
Any Question?