Exploring legal tenure security in Malaysia: does formal titling ensures rights to land owners?

Abstract

One of the main objectives of establishing a land management system is to acquire land tenure security. Although there are several layers to the idea of tenure security, the most widely held opinion is that obtaining such security has frequently been tied to having possession of a land title record obtained through a formal titling system. Malaysia as a country which adopted the Torrens system of land registration appears to have a dedicated system of formal titling in place. However, the prevalence of land disputes is a worrying trend that might threaten tenure security. This research aims to analyse the effectiveness of the existing laws, policies, and practices in Malaysia’s land administration in ensuring legal tenure security. Data was collected through laws, court cases, policy documents and semi-structured interviews of key informants. The findings demonstrated that formal land titling and the establishment of a land registration system, while crucial to a nation’s economic development, do not always ensure tenure security and that it is still possible to lose title through litigation without receiving proper reparation.

Keywords

• Compensation
• formal titling
• land dispute
• land registration
• tenure security
• Torrens