Real Property Law

Currently, the Institute of Land Administration, Bahir Dar University is offering a Master’s Degree program in Land Administration and Management, the first of its kind in the country. This program has relatively a holistic approach including several different disciplines which give the students" knowledge of the technical, economical, and legal and management aspects of land administration. This program gives the students the choice to specialize in three fields, namely, Land Information, Real Property Law, or Real Property Valuation. But the specialization in the Real Property Law component includes only three courses and takes a single semester. Therefore, the existing curriculum in MSc in Land Administration and Management is not framed in a way it includes sufficient number of legal courses in real property law and adequate length of time to get the required knowledge and skills. 

Hence, there is still a need to work on further specialization in the field of real property law to better answer the demand to manage and administer the land resource of the country in line with what the time demands. Following the initiative of the Ministry of Urban Development and Housing, and discussion with the Ministry of Agriculture and Natural Resources and other stakeholders, the Institute of Land Administration has found it timely and appropriate to develop an MA Degree Program in Real Property Law for handling the current complex land problems in the country. The aim of the program is to bridge the existing gap in the lack of qualified legal experts in real property law in the country. It shall produce skilled and educated man-power having different practical and theoretical knowledge in the field of real property law both in rural and urban setting. The graduates from the program will be an input for the government, various education institutions, the private sector and others in their work on the legal aspects of land administration in the country. The new program which is a result of the splitting of the old MSc program in Land Administration and Management into other new specializations including the MA program in Real Property Law includes far more diverse and focused courses that can really meet the new changes in the rural and urban land administration system in the country. 

At the national level, no other academic institution has offered a master’s degree in Real Property Law. On the other hand, other international Universities with developed educationin real property have postgraduate specializations in the field. These include universities in the USA, UK, Canada, and so on. An overview of the programs offered in other universities in the field show that there is a shortage of understanding the nature and diversity of courses that need to be covered. This is not surprising though given the fact that legal education has only slightly addressed courses relating to Real property.  Therefore, as the need assessment survey attached in the appendix 3 indicates, it is significant and timely to open the proposed master’s Program. 

Objectives (Aims) of the Program 

General Objective 

The program aims at providing a modern education on real property law/regulation, land administration and policy in Ethiopia. The program shall use a unified approach in the sense that the issues will be addressed in respect to both urban and rural areas. Thus challenging aspects of real property law in rural investments, the environment, real property taxation, and urban real estate business shall be deal with. 

Specific Objectives 

The Program aims to: 

•         Provide learning opportunities so that students can be equipped with the knowledge and understanding, skill and competence to undertake research particularly in Real Property Law. 

•         Contribute to the University`s objectives of expansion of graduate studies to provide high quality education and increase the employment rate in the land governance sector of the country. 

•         Produce graduates who are capable of undertaking consultancy tasks and other professional works on Real property law areas. 

•         Provide graduates with the skills to investigate and analyze law, governance and policy, particularly in the area of real property administration.