Ownership of State Lands by Encroachers - An Analytical Study

Abstract

       The Kurdistan legislator, in accordance with the provisions of the law on ownership of encroached lands within municipal boundaries in the Kurdistan Region - Iraq No. (3) of 2019, as amended, granted the infringemener person the right to own the encroached upon land. Thus, the Kurdistan legislator did not take the constitutional protection of public funds into consideration, and in doing so he exceeded the legislative constants that establish criminal liability and civil liability for the infringementer on state lands, leading to his being held accountable for his illegal action. However, the Kurdistan legislator, instead, rewarded the infringementer by granting him the right to own property. Therefore, this study sheds light on the provisions of the law and the extent of its legitimacy from a constitutional standpoint and the extent of Its conflict with legislative constants, as well as evaluating the effectiveness of this method and legislative policy in addressing the phenomenon of encroachment on state lands.