Property law innovation in Latin America with recommendations

Since 1990, Nicaragua, Peru, Mexico, and Honduras have passed new legislation to eliminate at least some of these restrictions. This study analyzes and compares these new laws and their impact on the historically disadvantaged, trade and investment, and the environment. The study suggests that the removal of restrictions on agrarian reform properties should be undertaken with care; preliminary evidence indicates the need to take account of the special needs of women, the poor, and indigenous groups, and to balance private sector needs against those of the historically disadvantaged and environmental policy. Further, eliminating restrictions does not of itself guarantee economic progress, but must be integrated within a broader strategy of economic revitalization. General guidelines for efforts to modernize property law are presented in conclusion. These are to: (1) remove restrictions on rights to mortgage; (2) rather than mandate specified form of tenure such as individual ownership, allow farmers to decide the legal form in which they wish to hold property; (3) consider establishing an unrestricted right to sell or transfer land; (4) consider recognizing forestry as an appropriate land use, in conformity with the social function of land; (5) explore the feasibility of giving mineral and subsoil rights to indigenous communities, where subsoil wealth is located on their land; and (6) identify areas for monitoring and evaluating the impact of legislative modernization, especially on the historically disadvantaged, trade and investment, and the environment.