Law Assignment Final
Law Assignment Final
Law Assignment Final
Lecturer:
Dr Sr Anuar Alias
Prepared by:
Name : Tricia Lim Su Ying
Matric No: BEE 090040
BMEM 2113 Land Law Studies BEE 090040
ABSTRACT
This report demonstrates the process of dealings and applications by the land
administration system in Peninsular Malaysia which includes registration of rights
and interests, charges, caveats, easement, rights of way etcetera. It also addresses
issues and problems faced that causes the inability of land administration system in
Malaysia in terms of speed, cost and complexity of the process. As land
administration is a precondition to developments, the inability to identify all dealings
and applications efficiently and effectively have created threat to public confidence
and barriers to developers even with the new initiative launched that is the One Stop
Centre (OSC). Therefore, this report will identify sources to this inability and provide
suggestions to improve the situation.
1. INTRODUCTION
Malaysia consists of a federation of States in where each state is responsible for its
own land issues. This is in line with the Malaysian Constitution which provides
massive power to the State Authority in terms of land matters. All States operate a
Torrens System of registration, administered by the State District Land Offices
(Pejabat Tanah Daerah) and coordinated by the State Department of Land and
Mines (Pejabat Tanah Dan Galian).
These legislations were created to provide regulations in the aspect of land dealings
and application which include the aspects of land tenure, registration of land titles,
transfers of land, leases and charges, easement and other rights.
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However, for the purpose of this report only Peninsular Malaysia in taken into
consideration. Therefore, land administration governed includes the National Land
Code in general, exclusive of Sarawak Land Code and Sabah Land Ordinance.
Therefore, the Torrens System that works on two main principles which are Mirror
Principle and Curtain Principle provides the indefeasibility of title and rights, meaning
the ownership are guaranteed by the government.
The overall problems faced are the inability of land administration system in Malaysia
to quickly, cheaply and easily identify all dealings and applications in land and
property. This is mainly caused by human factors and legal factors that arises during
the process of applications.
The land administration also diminishes public confidence, where the public does not
trust the Land Offices. This is because of the Torrens System where ‘register is
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everything’ and the rights to land of certain person have been taken away. However,
the Torrens System is not to be blamed solely as it is also partially caused by human
factors.
4. SOURCES OF INABILITY
The inability of land administration might also be caused by the lack of knowledge in
the field of land administration within the State’s District Land Officers. Land Officers
that have been promoted and allocated to District Land Offices do not have the
suitable exposure from their previous position.
Other than that, District Land Officers are usually burdened by a wide scope of
workload, such as the responsibilities as District Officers and involvement in other
meetings with the Local Authorities. This wide work scope has led to absences in
enhancement courses and trainings.
To add on that, in this era of urbanisation more applications for land development to
the Land Office and Land Surveying department are coming in. Instead on
increasing the number of employments and balancing out the workload, Officers are
being burdened by even more workload. This will reduce the productivity of Land
Officers as they feel pressurised by overloading of work.
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Moreover disputes over land matters by the Federal and State Land Authorities in
terms of planning and development of land has caused massive delays in land
development.
Therefore, services such as the state’s cadastral mapping system, land registry and
title office, and Federal own-land management which is within controlled of the
Department of Director General of Land and Mines (Federal) can be found in each
state, integrated through sharing understandings. Today this is assisted by the
computerisation of spatial and non-spatial information
As we all know, the Registration and Application Process in any land matters
involves numerous forms. Problems arise when there are incomplete forms or forms
that do not serve the purpose intended. These forms are either left unattended, as it
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will be a hassle to find out the missing information, or Officers will have to inform or
contact the applicants for further information.
All these problems in processing forms and applications will thus create a backlog,
accumulating more and more applications needed to be processed. This will then
cause delay to the newer applications and registrations.
As most records and documentations are still processed manually and in the form of
hard copy, thus to ease findings of records, each record or file is given a unique
code or number. This code is then kept in other sets of record books in different
internal departments. This is done so that departments are able to locate the record
file when needed.
Moreover, the need of similar information in different department has caused mixed
up in documents. Where, records were taken out of shelf for reference but were not
recorded in the log book or was not placed back in order which it was taken from.
This will therefore cause the other departments that require the same information in
future, to think that the file or report is missing and thus creating a duplication of
record, similar to which that has been taken.
When similar records are reproduced, the updated information and mistakes might
occur causing the information to differ from the existing records that have been
thought to be missing at that time. Thus, when the former record has been placed
back into order, there will be a repetitive record with similar code but different
information. This difference information will then cause more confusion when land
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dealings come into play, as there are two similar records of the same property but
with different information.
In Peninsular Malaysia, the National Land Code (1965) is the main standard of land
legislation to provide a practical way of land administration.
The National Land Code (1965) is based on the Torrens System which establishes
the ownership of an ‘indefeasible’ title to land. Thus it also regulates all dealings on
land matters, as of Section 340 NLC (1965).
As for planning requirements, the National Land Code (1965) provides procedures
that have to be adhered to for planning applications. This includes land subdivisions
and partitions of land, conversion of category of land use, and the amalgamation to
land offices and land registrars. Conditions as stated in Section 136 and 147 of the
National Land Code (1965) also includes approval or consent from every person or
body that has rights or interest in the land.
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In conclusion, all this procedures and requirements for development and land
administration will prolong the time for development, and thus incurring more cost to
land developers on land administration and dealings alone.
As of all the factors mentioned above, delays are bound to happen in all
administration processes due to human and other legal factors. However, the delay
in Malaysia’s Land Administration processes in particular has been said to be
deficient compared to other countries.
Although the incorporation of one stop centre (OSC) has been introduced for more
den two years, however the overall objective and massive effect have yet to be seen.
The new initiative by the government is aimed to effectively receive and process
development proposal of land approval, planning permission and building plan. OSC
is a hub that receives the said applications concurrently, this concurrent process of
applications is said to be able to reduce the processing time to 4 – 6 months.
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Though, in current situation, the OSC is unable to be fully utilized because there is a
lack of technical and skilled staffs at the OSC. Other than that, there is no clear
manual on the procedure and guidelines in the OSC. Staffs who are confused with
the unclear procedure, then produces documents which are not part of their work
scope.
Other weaknesses of the OSC include delays from agencies and departments that
may take 14 to 25 days alone. Delays are also caused by requests from Local
Authorities who needs extra documentations or requires the feedback of residents
and professionals regarding the development.
6. PUBLIC CONFIDENCE
The public confidence is diminished through the legal system that is practiced in
Malaysia and also the Land Offices through human factors.
As the National Land Code (1965) is based on the Torrens System, the basic
principle ‘register is everything’ is practiced.
In a recent case for example, in year 2008, 81 villagers have lodged a report with the
Anti- Corruption Agency (ACA) claiming that government officers have ‘seized and
obtained titles’ to a government land in Kedah which they have been working on for
over 20years.
The villagers had paid RM50 to the Padang Terap Land Office in 2003 as processing
fees for their application of land titles to be processed. However, after 5 years of
waiting, they were told to evict as the disputed land had been alienated to another
person.
This has caused the public to lose confidence in both the land administration and the
way the Torrens System has worked out that has failed to bring justice to the
deserving villagers.
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This is as oppose to the case of Adorna Properties Sdn Bhd vs Boonsom Boonyanit,
where justice prevailed when the Federal Court had reversed its previous decision
which holds the basic principle of Torrens System where “The title of any person or
body for the time being registered as proprietor of any land shall be indefeasible.”
However, this reversion is made 10 years after the first Court decision that has gave
the advantage to unscrupulous people to acquire properties by fraudulent means.
This kind of loop hole in the both the Land Administration and Legal System has
caused the Public to lose confidence in the Land Administration and Legal System in
Malaysia.
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