Property Rights Under Oromia Rural Land Law: An Inquiry Into Adequacy Of The Legal Framework Of Oromia Rural Land Law In Protecting Private Property Rights Over Immovable Things

Abstract

This research reviews private immovable property rights provided under Oromia Rural Land Administration and Use Proclamation. The purpose of this research is to examine the adequacy of the legal framework of Oromia Rural Land Law in protecting private property rights over immovable things located in rural areas. The researcher used a doctrinal method approach so that proclamations, judicial decisions, text- books and journals are primarily examined to assess the adequacy of the Oromia Rural Land Administration and Use Proclamation in protecting private property rights over immovable things. The study identifies the defect of Oromia rural land law as it arbitrarily restricts property rights with regard to transferring fixed assets attached to the land which is inconsistent with the provisions of property rights enshrined under the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia Constitution which guarantees property rights by asserting that every Ethiopian citizen shall have the full rights to alienate, bequeath, remove and transfer his titles over the immovable property he builds and permanent improvements he brings about on the land by his capital or labor. The researcher argues the right to transfer and dispose of private immovable properties produced and built on the rural land by an individual labor or capital should not be arbitrarily restricted by law and recommends that the existing law needs to be amended.