Kiribati

Registering Property in

Kiribati

Listed below is a detailed summary of the steps, time and cost involved in registering property, assuming a standardized case of an entrepreneur who wants to purchase land and a building that is already registered and free of title dispute.

The information appearing on this page was collected as part of the Doing Business project, which measures and compares regulations relevant to the life cycle of a small- to medium-sized domestic business in 183 economies. The most recent round of data collection for the project was completed in June 2011.

  • Standard Property Transfer

  • Property Value: AUD 118,446.4
  • City: Tarawa

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No. Procedure Time to Complete Associated Costs
1 Acquire proof of previous ownership at the Land Information Department

A transfer of property is done by issuing proceedings in the Magistrates' Court and summoning all interested parties to the land. "Interested parties" are those persons who are related to the predecessor in title and who therefore, under native land law, have an interest in the land and must consent to the registration of the land in the name of a new owner.

Agency: Land Information Department (Ministry of Environment, Land and Agriculture Development) 		1 day no cost
2 Property is surveyed and any changes made on the property are recorded

If the land is freehold, and was not rented to the government, this formality of sub-leasing from the government is not necessary. But in the case of sub-leased land, then this land is given back to the government and then it is sub-leased again to the new owner.

Agency: Land Information Department (Ministry of Environment, Land and Agriculture Development) 		31 days US$ 30
3 Both parties appear at the Magistrate Court to endorse the transfer

There is a waiting period between each phase of the process: the application is filed, the decision is made, appeals are allowed, then final review of the case, and finally the name of the new owner is inscribed.

Agency: Magistrates' Court 		4 -6 weeks + 90 days for appeals US$ 3
4 Magistrate court reviews case to endorse transfer

If after the wait period there were no appeals to the transfer then there is a final review of the case and the transfer is endorsed.
There are still a lot of land disputes in Kiribati as land belongs to families rather than an individual. If all owners have not agreed and sign on the sale agreement, then disputes will arise.
Land disputes are varied but in general, most fall into two main categories, being either a registration of land, claiming an interest in the land from an ancestor (ownership) or a boundary determination dispute. Often, after these proceedings have been finalized, and a judgment given, the dispute may continue as a result of either a party entitled to be summoned, not being summoned to the original proceedings to be heard on the question of ownership, a party arguing that there was no entitlement for another party to have the land registered in their name or to be heard, or simply that the boundary outlined by the Magistrate was inconsistent with the original boundary.


Agency: Magistrates' Court 		365 days no cost
5 Magistrate Court issues a certificate of ownership

The new title certificate is issued to the new owner by the Chief Registrar after it is inscribed in the land record. The land information department will also be updated with the new owner’s name and the court order.

Agency: Magistrates' Court 		1 day US$ 1
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