Rechtsverwerking Concept of Customary Rights in Land Registration

Abstract

People would strive to justify any means to obtain a certificate because it is the only means of proving ownership of land rights. This effort can be prevented by the government by applying the principle of "nemo plus juris", which means that it is unjustifiable for people who are not entitled to become entitled to the certificate. As a result, the government cannot fully guarantee the validity of the certificates that have been issued. It means that anyone, who believes they have a claim to the land being certified, can sue the certificate holder at any moment. For this reason, the government has recently strengthened the negative publication system by adopting the rechtsverwerking institution, which governs customary rights in land registration, and by terminating the right to sue at any moment after 5 years from the day the certificate was issued. This effort is known as rechtsverwerking and it aims to improve the land registration system's positive publication mechanism.