Finally, Article 28 confirms the absolute property
right by indigenous communities of their land,
by stating “No authority outside the community
may acquire any rights to immovable properties
belonging to an indigenous community.”
concession areas, leaving areas used by farmers
in shapes resembling leopard or tiger using
patterns.
Forestry Law 2002. This law contains important
provisions on traditional use and access rights
to forest resources, though these do not include
management rights. The law has provisions
that allow for the creation and management of
community forests, whereby communities are
granted an area of the Permanent Forest Reserve
to manage and derive benefits from.
Cadastral Commission. This body has the
competence to identify properties, establish
cadastral index maps, issue ownership titles,
register land and inform people about the status
of each parcel of land.
Registration, collective land titles and interim
measures. In line with the Land Law and the 2009
Sub-decree on Procedures of Registration of Land
of Indigenous Communities, the IPs wishing to
receive a communal land title need to follow the
three steps listed below:
• Identification of indigenous peoples and
communities
• Registration of the IP community as a legal
entity
• Registration of the collective land title and
issuing the title
The whole process has been subject to heavy
criticism by IP organizations and CSOs because of
the amount of procedural hurdles one needs to
overcome in order to go from one step to another.
Directive 01BB. In July 2012, the RGC launched
Directive 01BB: Measures Reinforcing and
Increasing the Efficiency on the Management of
Economic Land Concessions. Among other things,
the directive called for increased monitoring of
ELCs and reinforced the concept of a “tiger (or
leopard)-skin policy“. The policy stipulates that
land inhabited by farmers (that also applies to
indigenous communities) must be cut out of the
28
Dispute Resolution and Recourse Mechanisms
National Authority for the Resolution of Land
Disputes. This Authority is made up of 17 highranking officials from various ministries. However,
according to observers, its members have largely
delegated its tasks, rendering the body ineffective
in practice.
Suspension of a concession contract. The
Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries
(MAFF) has the power to suspend an ELC contract
with a company, in cases where the company in
question fails to respect the conditions and terms
of the ESIA reports or where there are disputes
between the local population or other third
parties related to a concession land.
Domestic courts. IP communities and CSOs
remain very skeptical about the efficiency and
impartiality of the Cambodian justice system,
which continues to be the subject of concern
among numerous actors such as the United
Nations.
Policies and laws on agriculture, land use, food
security, conservation and forestry, that also
have impact on IPs
Rectangular Strategy. The Rectangular Strategy
for Growth, Employment, Equity and Efficiency –
Phase II is the RGC’s main socio-economic policy
Asian NGO Coalition for Agrarian Reform and Rural Development (ANGOC)
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