The Liberia Land Authority (LLA) is a product of the policy, legal and institutional reform of the land sector of Liberia led by the Erstwhile Land Commission. The LLA, established by an Act of the National Legislature on October 6, 2016, as an autonomous agency of the Government with operational independence, subsumes land functions that were performed by several agencies of the Government, including the key land administration agencies - Department of Lands, Survey and Cartography of the former Ministry of Lands, Mines and Energy (MLME), now the Ministry of Mines and Energy, the Deeds and Titles Registry of the Center for National Documents Records Agency (CNDRA), and functions of County Land Commissioners from the Ministry of Internal Affairs.
As the one-stop-shop for land matters in Liberia, the Act, provides LLA with three key functions, which are summarized below:
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Land governance functions include the control and management, in the interest of equitable development, access to and use of Public and Government Land except for Reserves, Protected Areas, Proposed Protected Areas, and Diplomatic Missions;
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Land administration functions include administering the deed registry and land registry systems; establishing standards and regulating survey and mapping services; administering public survey and mapping services, and the national cadastre, promoting and regulating the proper development of private surveying profession, and therefore under no condition shall a surveyor or other staff of the Authority engage in the survey of private land or in the survey of communal land in a private capacity; value land and buildings for the Authority's land registry system; implement programs in support of property rights, including those of customary land owing communities; and adjudicate disputes arising in the context of systematic land registration.
- Land use and management functions include to promote, support and ensure the development of land use management plans and zoning schemes and their implementation through counties, districts and other local government structures (clans, etc.)