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Vanuatu Consolidated Legislation |
Commencement: 1 August 1982
LAWS
OF THE REPUBLIC OF
VANUATU
REVISED
EDITION
1988
CHAPTER
145
ALIENATED
LAND
Act 12 of 1982
Act 18 of
1982
ARRANGEMENT OF SECTIONS
SECTION
1.
Interpretation
2. Register of
alienators
3. Applications to be
registered as alienators
4.
Registration of alienator
5. Refusal
of application and referral to
Court
6. Order by the Court in respect
of status of applicant
7. Application
under section 3 to be application under section 6 of the Land Reform
Act
8. Loss of rights of
alienator
9. Restriction of rights of
certain persons
10. Substitution of
registered alienators
11. Register of
mortgages
12. Registration of
mortgages
13. Information required on
registration of mortgages
14.
Registration of mortgages
15. When
mortgagees may be registered as
alienators
16. Voluntary
negotiations
17. Payment for
improvements
18. Fixing of day for
conclusion of negotiations
19.
Approval of lease or agreement
20.
Referral to Lands Referee during
negotiations
21. Compulsory referral
to Lands Referee
22. Criteria for
valuation of improvements
23.
Decisions of Lands Referee to be
final
24. Vacation of alienated
land
25. Representation of
unidentified custom owners
26. Special
fund for moneys
27.
Regulations
-------------------------------------------------
ALIENATED LAND
To
provide for dealings between owners of land and alienators and matters
incidental
thereto.
INTERPRETATION
1.
In this Act, unless the context otherwise requires-
"agreement" means an agreement for payment for improvements;
"alienator" shall have the same meaning as in the Land Reform Act, Cap. 123;
"improvements" means substantial improvements of a permanent character excluding-
(a) reclamation of land from the sea;
(b) clearing, levelling or grading of land, drainage or irrigation of land, reclamation of sewages, surveying and making boundaries if completed before 30 July 1970;
"Lands Referee" means the Lands Referee provided for in the Lands Referee Act, Cap. 148;
"registered mortgagee" means a mortgagee who has registered a mortgage in accordance with section 12.
REGISTER
OF
ALIENATORS
2.
Notwithstanding the provisions of the Land Reform Act, Cap. 123, the Minister
shall cause a register of alienators to be
kept.
APPLICATIONS
TO BE REGISTERED AS
ALIENATORS
3.
(1) Any person who claims to be an alienator shall apply either personally or
through an agent to be registered as such within 3
months of the coming into
force of this Act.
(2) A person
who applies for registration as an alienator shall furnish the Minister
with-
(a) a description of the land of which he claims to be the alienator;
(b) sufficient evidence to establish that the applicant is an alienator of such land;
(c) a statement setting out the options referred to in section 16(3) for which the applicant wishes to negotiate; and
(d) such other information including documents as the Minister may require to satisfy himself that the applicant is an alienator.
(3)
Any person who has made an application before the coming into force of this Act
on Form A for a certificate of registered negotiator
under section 6 of the Land
Reform Act, Cap. 123 shall be considered to have made an application under
subsection (1) on the day
of the coming into force of this
Act.
REGISTRATION
OF
ALIENATOR
4.
(1) If the Minister is satisfied that an applicant under section 3 is an
alienator he shall register him as an
alienator.
(2) An alienator issued
with a certificate of registered negotiator before the coming into force of this
Act shall forthwith after
its coming into force be registered as an
alienator.
REFUSAL
OF APPLICATION AND REFERRAL TO
COURT
5.
(.1) When the Minister is not satisfied that an applicant under section 3 is an
alienator, he shall notify the applicant in writing
that he refuses to register
the applicant as an alienator, and in such notification shall give the reasons
for his refusal.
(2) When the
Minister has notified an applicant of his refusal in accordance with subsection
(1) or failed to register an applicant
within 60 days of the receipt of an
application, the applicant may within 30 days of the refusal or the expiry of
the 60 days as
the case may be, refer the matter to the Supreme Court in
accordance with section 4 of the Land Reform Act, Cap.
123.
ORDER BY
THE COURT IN RESPECT OF STATUS OF
APPLICANT
6.
When the Court has heard a referral under section 5(2) it shall either declare
the applicant not to be the alienator or to be the
alienator of the land
referred to in the application and order the applicant to be so
registered.
APPLICATION
UNDER SECTION 3 TO BE APPLICATION UNDER SECTION 6 OF THE LAND REFORM
ACT
7.
An application under section 3 shall be considered to be an application also
under section 6 of the Land Reform Act, Cap.
123.
LOSS OF
RIGHTS OF
ALIENATOR
8.
A person who does not make an application in accordance with section 3(1) shall
not have any rights as an alienator in respect of
any
land.
RESTRICTION
OF RIGHTS OF CERTAIN
PERSONS
9.
(1) A person who on the coming into force of this Act is-
(a) a person to whom paragraph (e), (f) or (g) of section 15(2) of the Immigration Act, Cap. 66 applies; or
(b) a person against whom an order under section 17 of the Immigration Act, Cap. 66 has been made; or
(c) a body corporate or unincorporated or partnership in which a person to whom subparagraphs (a) or (b) of this subsection applies has any beneficial interest or share,
shall
not have the rights of an alienator in respect of any land except as provided in
subsection (2).
(2) A person to
whom subsection (1) applies shall be entitled to receive payment for
improvements provided that he applies to be registered
in accordance with
section
3.
SUBSTITUTION
OF REGISTERED
ALIENATORS
10.
Under this Act, the Minister may register a person in substitution for a
registered alienator if such person is the lawful successor
to the estate of a
deceased registered
alienator.
REGISTER
OF
MORTGAGES
11.
Notwithstanding the provisions of the Land Reform Act, Cap. 1.23 the Minister
shall cause a register of mortgages of alienated land
to be kept for the
purposes of this
Act.
REGISTRATION
OF
MORTGAGES
12.
(1) Any person who has lent money with alienated land given as security may
apply to have the loan registered in the register of
mortgages within 3 months
of the coming into force of this
Act.
(2) For the purposes of
section 11 and of this section "alienated land" means land in relation to which
there was an alienator on
the Day of
Independence.
INFORMATION
REQUIRED ON REGISTRATION OF
MORTGAGES
13.
A person who applies to register a mortgage under section 12 shall furnish the
Minister with-
(a) the document charging land as security for a loan which shall bear the signature of the borrower or the signature on his behalf by a person given power of attorney to so sign; and
(b) such other information including documents as may be reasonably required by the Minister to satisfy himself that the applicant is a mortgagee in respect of the land referred to in the application.
REGISTRATION
OF
MORTGAGEE
14.
If the Minister after having been furnished with the documents and information
required under section 13 is satisfied that an applicant
under section 12 is the
mortgagee of alienated land he shall register such person as mortgagee in
respect of that
land.
WHEN
MORTGAGEES MAY BE REGISTERED AS
ALIENATORS
15.
(1) On the day after-
(a) the period provided for in section 3 if no person has applied to be registered as an alienator;
(b) the 30 day period provided for in section 5(2) if no applicant has made a referral to the Supreme Court; or
(c) a decision of the Supreme Court under section 6 declaring an applicant not to be an alienator where no other person has been registered as an alienator or has a pending application under section 3,
a
registered mortgagee shall subject to subsection (2) become a registered
alienator for the purposes of this
Act.
(2) A registered mortgagee
shall be entitled only to negotiate with the custom owners for payment to him of
the lesser of the following-
(a) the amount due to him under the terms of the mortgage;
(b) the value of improvements.
VOLUNTARY
NEGOTIATIONS
16.
(1) An application in accordance with section 3 of this Act shall receive
consideration by the Minister before applications under
section 6 of the Land
Reform Act, Cap. 123 from persons who are not
alienators.
(2) If the custom
owners of the land referred to in an application by an alienator under section 3
either indicate to the Minister
by a day stipulated by him a willingness to
negotiate one or more of the options referred to in subsection (3) or do not
notify him
within that time of their refusal to negotiate the Minister shall
issue a certificate to the alienator in accordance with section
6 of the Land
Reform Act, Cap. 123.
(3) The
alienator may be registered to negotiate for-
(a) a lease of the land in respect of which he is registered as alienator;
(b) a lease of part of such land;
(c) a lease of such land and other land in addition to it;
(d) payment for the improvements to such land; or
(e) a lease of such land and payment for the improvements on the land that are not included in the lease.
PAYMENT
FOR
IMPROVEMENTS
17.
Where the value of the improvements as determined under the provisions of this
Act or any other law is in excess of VT1,000,000
and the custom owners are
unable to pay the full value of the improvements on the making of the agreement,
the custom owners shall
be entitled to make payment for the improvements by
equal instalments over a period not exceeding 10
years.
FIXING
OF DAY FOR CONCLUSION OF
NEGOTIATIONS
18.
(1) The Minister may-
(a) of his own motion; or
(b) on application from either the custom owners or the alienator,
serve
notice on the custom owners and the alienator requiring them to indicate to him
within a time stipulated in the notice the day
by which they are able to submit
a lease or agreement to him for
approval.
(2) The Minister may
after the end of the time stipulated by him under subsection (1) notify the
custom owners and the alienator of
the day by which a lease or agreement shall
be submitted to him for
approval.
(3) If a lease or
agreement is not submitted to the Minister by the day stipulated under
subsection (2) the Minister may extend the
time for such
submission.
APPROVAL
OF LEASE OR
AGREEMENT
19.
(1) Subject to subsection (3) if a lease or agreement is submitted to the
Minister by the day stipulated under section 18(2), he
shall within 21 days
either approve the lease or agreement or refuse such
approval.
(2) The Minister may if
he considers it desirable, refer any term of the lease or agreement to the Lands
Referee for his opinion before
he exercises his powers under this
section.
(3)The Minister may make
his approval conditional on acceptance by the custom owners and the alienator of
changes proposed by him
in the lease or
agreement.
REFERRAL
TO LANDS REFEREE DURING
NEGOTIATIONS
20.
(1) During the course of negotiations of the terms of a lease between an
alienator and custom owners, if the Minister considers
that the negotiations
will be thereby expedited he may request the Lands Referee to give an opinion as
to the rent that should be
payable taking into account the circumstances and
terms agreed at that stage of the
negotiations.
(2) The Lands
Referee may during the course of such negotiations, at the request of the
parties thereto, assess the rent that would
be payable if all other terms of the
lease were to be agreed between the parties and approved by
Minister.
COMPULSORY
REFERRAL TO LANDS
REFEREE
21.
If-
(a) the custom owners do not indicate a willingness to negotiate in accordance with section 16(2); or
(b) a lease or agreement is not submitted either by the day stipulated under section 18 or within an extension of time granted under that section,
the
Minister shall make a reference to the Lands Referee requiring him to assess the
value of
improvements.
CRITERIA
FOR VALUATION OF
IMPROVEMENTS
22.
(1) The Lands Referee shall value improvements for the purposes of this Act at
such sum as would in his opinion fairly represent
the market value of the
improvements at the time of the valuation to a purchaser of the land on which
the improvements are situate
and shall take into consideration such other
factors as the Minister may
specify.
(2) From the sum arrived
at by the Lands Referee under subsection (1), he shall deduct an amount equal to
the value of reasonable
rent for the use of the land between the Day of
Independence and the vacation of the land by the
alienator.
DECISION
OF LANDS REFEREE TO BE
FINAL
23.
(1) The decision of the Lands Referee on the value of improvements shall be
final and there shall be no appeal therefrom to any
court except on a point of
law.
(2) An appeal on a point of
law shall be made to the Supreme Court within 30 days of notification by the
Lands Referee of his decision
to the party appealing
therefrom.
VACATION
OF ALIENATED
LAND
24.
(1) Subject to subsection (2) a person shall vacate and surrender to the
Minister land occupied or claimed by him as an alienator
either in person or
through agents-
(a) if he does not make application under section 3(1) in which case he shall vacate and surrender up the land not later than 3 months after the coming into force of this Act; or
(b) if he is a person to whom section 5(2) applies but he does not make a reference thereunder in which case he shall vacate and surrender up the land immediately on the expiration of the 30 days referred to in that section; or
(c) if he is a person who makes a reference under section 5(2) in which case he shall vacate and surrender up the land within 30 days of the decision of the Court that he is not an alienator of the land;
(d) if the custom owners of the land indicate to the Minister in accordance with section 16(2) that they are willing only to negotiate payment for improvements to such land in which case he shall vacate and surrender up the land within 60 days of notification to him by the Minister of the wishes of the custom owners; or
(e) within 60 days of a referral by the Minister under section 20.
(2)
Any person referred to in section 9 shall vacate and surrender up to the
Minister all land of which he or it claims to be the
alienator within 30 days of
the coming into force of this
Act.
(3) Where any person who has
been required by the Minister to vacate or surrender land as required by the
provisions of section 24(2)
.fails, neglects or refuses to do so, a warrant may
be issued by a magistrate. authorizing the police to use such force as is
necessary
to remove such person or persons from the property named or described
in the order of the
Minister.
REPRESENTATION
OF UNIDENTIFIED CUSTOM
OWNERS
25.
(1) If in the opinion of the Minister the custom owners of land referred to in
an application under section 3(l) cannot be identified
within a reasonable time
the Minister may appoint a person to act as trustee for and represent the custom
owners for the purpose
of this
Act.
(2) Except where the context
otherwise requires a trustee appointed under subsection (1) shall be considered
to be the custom owner
for the purposes of this
Act.
(3) A trustee appointed in
accordance with subsection (1) shall not be personally liable for anything done
by him in good faith on
behalf of the custom owners for whom he is appointed to
act as
trustee.
SPECIAL
FUND FOR
MONEYS
26.
Any moneys payable to a custom owner under a lease made under this Act where the
custom owner has not yet been identified shall
be paid into a special fund
established by the Treasury where they shall be held on behalf of the custom
owner.
REGULATIONS
27.
The Minister may by Order make regulations for the better carrying into effect
of the purposes of this Act and in particular may
make regulations providing
for-
(a) anything that may be prescribed under this Act;
(b) the manner in which any applications may be made under this Act;
(c) forms to be used for the purposes of this Act.
--------------------------------------------------
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