Executive Summary The signing of the Ceasefire Agreement in February 2002 by the Government of Sri Lanka and the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) resulted in the spontaneous return of an estimated 220,000 internally displaced persons (IDPs) by September 20021. Anticipated further large-scale movements of IDPs, and refugees returning from India, have heightened the urgency of identifying remedies for existing and projected property-related issues. The main objectives of this report were: 1) to produce a legal analysis of property-related issues affecting IDPs, 2) to make recommendations for legal reform, 3) to consider the adequacy of the infrastructure and resources of the judiciary to satisfactorily resolve anticipated property disputes in the conflict-affected areas, and 4) to consider the need for an alternative dispute resolution mechanism. The main issues addressed were: • • • • • • • • • • • • Loss of documentation proving ownership Unauthorised occupation of property owned by IDPs Problems related to IDPs resuming Crown land permits/ grants Default of bank mortgages by IDPs Extensive damage and destruction to property Loss of essential servitudes such as rights of way, use of wells and watercourses Destruction/encroachment of property boundaries Loss of title to property due to unlawful forced transfers Disputes over religious property such as temple lands Problems related to succession and proof of property inheritance Lack of access to private property and agricultural land located in High Security Zones, in uncleared areas, or occupied by the military, the LTTE or other armed or political groups Landlessness among displaced persons. As a result of our legal analysis of these issues, we identified four main categories of recommendations for further action: (1) Changes to the law and the suspension of discriminatory laws A number of pre-conflict property-related laws operate unfairly in the present circumstances, where communities have been displaced for long periods of time, and where courts have functioned irregularly or not at all during the conflict period. - The Prescription Ordinance, which operates to confer title on unauthorised secondary occupants where they have been in occupation for ten years or more, should be amended. The amendment should ensure that persons wishing to return to their homes do not lose title as a result of displacement caused by the civil war. - The Agrarian Services Act should be amended to enable all family members to succeed to the right to cultivate. At present, where no successor has been nominated, the spouse inherits and, on the spouse's death, the eldest male child inherits the right to cultivate. 1 United Nations Inter-Agency IDP Working Group, 28 November 2002 3