Access of Public and Private Agencies to the Information Managed by Land Registration Systems

Abstract

In the transition countries of Eastern and Southern Europe and the Former Soviet Union, the introduction of market-oriented economies has been accompanied by a considerable increase in the amount of land information being created. Albania, for example, has witnessed the rapid development of varied information about land since 1991. However, little attention has been devoted to the economic and legal issues associated with the implementation and maintenance of land information systems in the post-1991 period. In addition, legal and economic issues concerning access and allocation in public and private partnerships for the elaboration and dissemination of land information have not been adequately addressed. The design of appropriate policies for guaranteeing fair public access to government information and for harmonizing legal issues related to land information such as copyright and privacy is becoming an important concern for Albanian government agencies. The United States and the European Community, although quite different from each other in their approaches, have evolved strategies related to these issues. They are, however, still investigating the best options for taking advantage of the prospective benefits and reducing the potential negative impacts of easily and inexpensively disseminated land-related information and for finding appropriate balances when building partnerships between public and private sectors. Albania?s different legal, economic, political, historical, and cultural environment suggests that pure importation of such strategies (assuming it is feasible) may not be adequate. After discussing the unique aspects of the Albanian environment, this paper explores options for land information policies and legal actions that could be used in the Albanian context. In addition, appropriate timing and sequencing of these policies is considered important. Reasons for the current lack of cooperation between private and public institutions are presented and ways of benefiting from such cooperation are proposed. As one of the first discussions to address the legal and economic aspects of land information development in Albania, this paper calls for consensus-building activities, presents a conceptual proposal for information pricing and sharing, and suggests the creation of a National Geomatic Association. The paper also reports on the recommendations of a United Nations sponsored workshop held in Tirana, Albania in early 2000, on this topic.