L.R.O. 1/2012
LAWS OF GUYANA
DISTRICT LANDS PARTITION AND RE-ALLOTMENT ACT
CHAPTER 60:03
Act
16 of 1936
Amended by
17 of 1948
17 of 1965
6 of 1997




1 – 20 ... 1/2012
(inclusive) by L.R.O.
Pages Authorised
Current Authorised Pages
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Note
on
Subsidiary Legislation

This Chapter contains no subsidiary legislation.





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CHAPTER 60:03
DISTRICT LANDS PARTITION AND RE-ALLOTMENT ACT
ARRANGEMENT OF SECTIONS
SECTION
1. Short title.
2. Interpretation.
3. Petition for partition of land or re-allotment of holdings.
4. Proceedings on receipt of petition.
5. Appointment of officer.
6. Procedure of officer.
7. Powers of officer.
8. Evidence.
9. Plan of survey.
10. Officer may employ assistants.
11. Sale of land of which owner cannot be ascertained.
12. Additional powers of officer.
13. Compensation for permanent crops.
14. Compensation for other crops or building.
15. Report of officer.
16. Appeal from decision of officer to judge in chambers, and from judge to
Full Court.
17. Issue of title.
18. Fees and charges.
19. Expenses of allotment.
20. Recovery of expenses.
21. Liability for amount assessed.
22. Power to make regulations.
23. Obstruction of officer.
__________________________

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1929 Ed.
c. 169
1953 Ed.
c. 173 _______________________________________________________
16 of 1936 An Act to provide for the Partition of Lands for the re-
allotment of holdings, for the issue of titles therefor
and to render the occupation thereof more
beneficial.
[19th JUNE, 1926]
Short title.

Interpretation.
[17 of 1948]
c. 28:02

Petition for
partition of
land or
re-allotment of
holdings.
[17 of 1948]
1. This Act may be cited as the District Lands Partition
and Re- allotment Act.
2. In this Act—
“district” means a village, country, or rural, district declared
under the Local Government Act, and includes two or
more of any of those districts;
“the officer” means the person appointed by the Minister
under section 5(1);
“owner” means any person who by transport, letters of
decree, inheritance, or devise, has acquired title to any
share in any land not partitioned, or to any holding in
any partitioned land, and includes any person who has
purchased the share or holding but has not received
transport or other title therefor.
3. (1) The owners of undivided shares in any land in a
district who desire that it shall be partitioned, or the owners
of the several holdings in any partitioned land in a district
who desire that that land shall be re- allotted among them in
some manner different from that in which it is occupied to
ensure the more beneficial occupation thereof, or in order to
CHAPTER 60:03
DISTRICT LANDS PARTITION AND RE-ALLOTMENT ACT

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have correct titles issued therefor where it is not being
occupied in accordance with the division shown on the plan
to which the existing titles relate, may present a petition to the
Minister praying that under this Act the area specified in the
petition be partitioned or re-allotted, as the case may be,
among the owners thereof.
(2) The petitioners must be the owners of shares or
of holdings which in the aggregate constitute not less than
fifty-one per cent in extent or in value of the area to which the
petition relates.
(3) Every petition shall—
(a) contain a full statement showing the
reasons for the partition or re-
allotment, and define clearly the land
which is to be partitioned or re-
allotted, and state its area and value;
(b) state the extent or value of the shares
or holdings of each of the petitioners;
(c) contain particulars of the claim by the
petitioners to be the owners of shares
or of holdings which in the aggregate
constitute not less than fifty-one per
cent in extent or in value of the area to
which the petition relates;
(d) be signed by every petitioner, who
shall state his postal address.
(4) Whenever a petition has been presented under
this section, the Minister shall forward such petition to the
Minister responsible for local government, and the Minister
responsible for local government shall send the petition to the
district commissioner of the district in which the land to
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which the petition relates is situate, for investigation and
report by him.
(5) The district commissioner shall, for the purpose
of performing his duties under subsection (4), convene a
meeting of all persons claiming to be owners of the land to
which the petition relates, or of any portion thereof.
(6) Notice of the meeting referred to in subsection
(5) shall be published in the Gazette and in a daily newspaper
circulating in Guyana not less than twenty-one days before
the date for which the meeting is convened, and the district
commissioner shall cause copies of such notice to be posted—
(a) in conspicuous places in the office of
the district commissioner and in every
post office and police station within
his district; and
(b) upon conspicuous places on the area
of land aforesaid.
(7) The petition shall be investigated by the district
commissioner or the assistant district commissioner, and after
such investigation the district commissioner or the assistant
district commissioner shall return the petition to the Minister
responsible for local government, and shall at the same time
forward his report on the petition together with the evidence,
including documentary evidence, received on such
investigation.
(8) The Minister responsible for local government
shall transmit to the Minister all the papers forwarded to him
under subsection (7) together with his report on the petition
for the information of the Minister.

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Proceedings on
receipt of
petition.

Appointment of
officer.
[17 of 1948]

Procedure of
officer.
[17 of 1948]
4. (1) The Minister upon consideration of the petition
may if he thinks fit make an order that the land specified in
the petition shall be subject to this Act, and the order shall be
published in the Gazette and one newspaper published in
Guyana.
(2) The Minister may by order revoke or vary any
order so made.
5. (1) The Minister may—
(a) appoint a person to be the officer to
partition and re- allot, or to re-allot,
the land, and the officer shall have for
that purpose all the powers conferred
by this Act; and
(b) cancel any appointment so made and
appoint any other person to be the
officer.
(2) The Minister responsible for finance may fix the
remuneration (if any) to be paid to any officer appointed
under subsection (1).
(3) No remuneration shall be paid to, or received
by, such officer other than the remuneration fixed under
subsection (2).
6. (1) The officer, as soon as practicable after his
appointment, shall convene a meeting of all owners or
mortgagees, and of all those who claim to be owners or
mortgagees, of any part of or interest in the land, and the
meeting shall be held on the land or at some convenient place
in proximity thereto.
(2) The officer shall, not less than twenty-one days
before the date of the meeting—
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(a) publish a notice thereof in the Gazette
and one newspaper published in
Guyana;
(b) cause copies of the notice to be
posted, in conspicuous places in the
office of the district commissioner of
the district within which the area of
land is situate and in every post office
and police station within such district;
(c) send by post a copy of the notice to
every petitioning owner and to every
other owner of whom he may have
knowledge, and to every other person
whose name is recorded in the books
of any district in respect of the
payment of rates or taxes for the land
or any part thereof;
(d) cause at least twenty copies of the
notice to be posted in conspicuous
places on the land.
(3) The officer, prior to the meeting, shall cause a
copy of the notice of it to be re-published once at least in the
Gazette and one newspaper, the second publication to be one
week after the first.
(4) At the meeting the officer shall receive claims in
writing from those who claim to be owners or mortgagees of
any part of the land or of any interest therein.
(5) The officer may if necessary adjourn a meeting
for a period of not more than one week.

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Powers of
officer.
7. The officer shall have the power to do any or all of
the following things, that is to say, he may—
(a) enter on any part of the land at any
time;
(b) ascertain and determine the value and
extent of every share or holding in the
land;
(c) ascertain the amount due on any
mortgage, charge, or lien, on any
share or holding;
(d) inquire into and determine any claim
made by anyone to be an owner or
mortgagee of any part of the land, or
into any dispute between any
claimants with respect to any
undivided part or the boundaries of
any part of the land;
(e) where undivided land is owned
jointly, according as the petitioning
owners desire, either partition the
land in conformity with the manner in
which it is being occupied in severalty
by the joint owners, or partition it in
any other manner he considers
expedient to ensure the more
beneficial occupation thereof:
Provided that the portion
allotted to the several owners shall
be proportionate to their respective
shares.
(f) where the land has been previously
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partitioned and allotted, according as
the petitioning owners desire, either
re-partition and re-allot it in the
manner he considers expedient to
ensure the more beneficial occupation
thereof, or, in cases where it is not
being occupied in conformity with the
sub-divisions shown on the plan to
which the existing titles for the
several holdings relate, re-partition
and re-allot it in conformity with the
manner in which it is being occupied
so that new titles for the existing
holdings may be issued;
(g) make the reservations within the land
he considers necessary for the
purpose of laying out roads or paths,
or for the better drainage thereof, or
for any other purpose connected with
the improvement thereof;
(h) to ensure the more beneficial
occupation thereof, sub-divide the
land into sections and lay out those
sections in the manner and in the lots
he thinks fit:
Provided that the area of
any lot or lots allotted to the owner of
any share or holding shall be in the
aggregate in the same proportion to
the aggregate area available for
allotment after the reservations (if any)
have been made as hereinbefore
provided, as the area of the share or
holding previously occupied by that
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Evidence.

Plan of survey.
[17 of 1948]

owner was to the aggregate area of the
shares or holdings of all the owners
before the land became subject to this
Act;
(i) any other thing in his opinion
reasonably necessary to carry out the
purpose of the partition or allotment.
8. The officer may require in writing the claimant to
any share or holding in land the subject of this Act to produce
for his inspection all or any documents in the claimant’s
possession or power relating to the claimant’s title or to any
matter in connection with his duties under this Act.
9. (1)The officer may employ a land surveyor
approved by the Commissioner of Lands to survey the land
and prepare a plan to show the boundaries and extent thereof
and the existing sub-divisions (if any) therein, where no plan
of the land is available, or to lay out the land into the lots to
which, after inquiry as hereinbefore provided, he determines
each owner or person interested to be entitled; or to divide
and lay out the land in the manner he may after inquiry
determine in order to ensure the more advantageous
enjoyment and beneficial occupation thereof, or to permit
new titles to be issued.
(2) The Commissioner of Lands may approve of
the officer himself, if a sworn land surveyor, to be the
surveyor for the purposes of the preceding subsection.
(3) The Minister responsible for finance may fix the
fee (if any) to be paid to the land surveyor employed under
subsection (1).
(4) No fee shall be paid to, or received by, such
surveyor other than the fee fixed under subsection (3).

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Officer may
employ
assistants.
Sale of land of
which owner
cannot be
ascertained.

Additional
powers of
officer.
10. The officer may employ others to assist him in the
performance of his duties under this Act.
11. Where the owner of any share or holding in land
which is the subject of this Act cannot be ascertained the
officer may order the share or holding to be sold.
(2) The share or holding shall be sold by public
auction by the officer or an auctioneer, and the proceeds
thereof shall be paid to the officer, who, after deducting the
expenses of the sale, shall pay the balance to the Accountant
General.
(3) If within six years of the sale anyone satisfies
the Minister that he was the owner of that share or holding,
and that he was unable for good and sufficient reason to
prove his claim before the officer, the Minister may direct that
the balance shall be paid to the claimant, and that payment
shall be in full satisfaction of his claim, but if no one makes
that claim the balance shall vest in the State for the public use.
12. (1) Wherever, from the number of those entitled to
any share or holding in any land, or for any other good and
sufficient reason, the officer is of opinion that it would be
more convenient to sell that share or holding and divide the
proceeds amongst the persons entitled, he may, instead of
allotting that share or holding among those entitled thereto
order it to be sold.
(2) The share or holding shall be sold by public
auction by the officer or an auctioneer, and the proceeds of
the sale shall be paid to the officer, who, after deducting the
expenses of the sale, shall divide the proceeds amongst those
entitled thereto in proportion to the interest to which each
was entitled in the share or holding.
(3) The officer shall give title to the purchaser in the
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Compensation
for permanent
crops.
[17 of 1948].

Compensation
for other crops
or building.
same manner as if the purchaser were an owner to whom the
share or holding was allotted by him.
13. (1) The owner of any coconut, cacao, coffee, fruit,
or other economic trees, or permanent cultivation of a similar
nature, who is deprived thereof by reason of partition or re-
allotment made under this Act, shall be entitled to the
compensation therefor determined by the officer:
Provided that where the owner is dissatisfied with
the amount of compensation assessed by the officer, he may,
within one month of the publication of the list required to be
published under section 15(4), apply to the magistrate of the
district within which the land is situate to have the amount
of his claim ascertained and certified, and the magistrate
shall inquire what is the value of the trees or cultivation
aforesaid, and shall have the same power to inquire into the
claim as if it were a complaint of petty debt and the officer
were the defendant, and shall after investigation certify
under his hand the amount of compensation to which the
owner is entitled.
(2) The amount of compensation assessed or
certified under the preceding subsection shall be deemed to
form part of the expenses of the partition or re-allotment and
shall be recoverable accordingly.
14. (1) The officer may direct what compensation shall
be paid to any person entitled to any growing crops, or to any
building, by anyone obtaining them or it through partition or
re-allotment of any land under this Act, and may either
prescribe the amount of that compensation or postpone the
date of the coming into effect of the partition or re- allotment
to allow the crops to be reaped or the building to be removed:
Provided that the cost assessed by the officer for
removing a building shall be deemed to form part of the
expenses of the partition or re-allotment and shall be
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Report of
officer.
recoverable accordingly.
(2) Where the date of coming into effect of a re-
allotment is postponed, the officer may direct that any current
rates or taxes due in respect of the land whereon the growing
crops or building are situate shall be paid in the manner
prescribed by him.
(3) The officer may direct by whom and in what
manner any rates due at the time of the partition or re-
allotment are to be paid.
15. (1) As soon as practicable after the officer has done
all in his opinion necessary to effect a partition or re-allotment
of the land, he shall transmit to the Minister responsible for
local government—
(a) a report setting out briefly the claims
made in respect of the land and his
decision upon each;
(b) a plan of the proposed partition or re-
allotment, as the case may be, with
the names of those entitled to the lots
defined on the plan;
(c) a list giving the sections and numbers
of the lots into which the land has
been partitioned or re-allotted and the
names of those entitled by his
decisions to such lots, together with
the name of any mortgagee, the
amount of the mortgage and the lots
affected by such mortgage.
(2) Upon receipt of the report, plan and list of
decisions referred to in subsection (1), the Minister
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Appeal from
decision of
officer to judge
in chambers,
and from judge
to Full Court.
[17 of 1948
17 of 1965]
responsible for local government may approve of the same, or
any of them, or may send them, or any of them, back to the
officer for further consideration and transmission to the
Minister responsible for local government.
(3) When the report, plan and list of decisions have
been finally approved by the Minister responsible for local
government, the officer shall send to the district
commissioner of the district in which the land partitioned or
re-allotted is situate a copy of the said plan, and the said copy
shall be open to inspection, during office hours, by any
claimant to, or any mortgagee of, any share or holding in the
said land, or by any agent of any claimant or mortgagee.
(4) The Minister responsible for local government
shall cause a copy of the aforesaid approved list of decisions
to be published in the Gazette and in one newspaper
published in Guyana.
(5) The officer shall post, or cause to be posted,
copies of the aforesaid approved list of decisions—
(a) in conspicuous places in the office
of the district commissioner, and in
every post office and police station
situate within the district of such
district commissioner; and
(b) upon conspicuous places on the
aforesaid land.
16. (1) Any claimant to, or any mortgagee of, any share
or holding who is dissatisfied with a decision of the officer
may, within one month after the publication under section
15(4) of the list in the Gazette, appeal from the said decision to
a judge in chambers by filing in the Registry of the Supreme
Court in the prescribed form a notice of appeal in which the
grounds of appeal shall be briefly set out.
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(2) The appellant shall, within fourteen days after
filing the notice of appeal aforesaid or within such further
time as may be allowed by a judge in chambers, serve copies
of the notice of appeal upon the officer and upon the person
or the legal representative (if any) of any deceased person
who or whose estate is by the decision of the officer entitled to
the land to which the appeal relates.
(3) Service under subsection (2) may be effected by
registered letter posted within the time or extended time
referred to in subsection (2) and addressed to the person
proposed to be served, at his postal address.
(4) A judge in chambers may, if the circumstances
so warrant, direct that copies of the notice of appeal be served
on persons other than those specified in subsection (2), and
may give directions as to the time and manner of such service.
(5) Any person upon whom a copy of a notice of
appeal has been served shall be entitled to appear and to be
heard at the hearing of the appeal, and any such person who
so appears shall be a respondent on the appeal.
(6) The Registrar of the Supreme Court shall,
forthwith after the filing of a notice of appeal under
subsection (1), notify the Minister responsible for local
government thereof, and the Minister responsible for local
government shall thereupon cause to be transmitted to the
Registrar—
(a) a certified copy of the report of the
officer;
(b) a copy of the plan; and
(c) any other documents, or certified
copies thereof, material to the appeal
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and in the possession of the Minister
responsible for local government.
(7) Where the judge in chambers is satisfied, either
from the notice of appeal or otherwise, that a question as to
title to immovable property arises on the appeal, he may, on
the application of either of the parties or otherwise, refer the
question to the Registrar of Deeds for investigation, and the
Registrar of Deeds shall thereupon investigate such title and
thereafter report his findings to the judge.
(8) Either of the parties to the appeal shall have the
power to summon witnesses to appear before the Registrar of
Deeds in the same manner and to the same extent as if the
investigation by the Registrar of Deeds were the trial of an
action.
(9) The Registrar of Deeds, on such investigation,
shall have the power to examine on oath witnesses for either
or both of the parties, to order the production of documents,
and to enter upon the land the subject matter of the partition
or re-allotment.
(10) At the hearing of the appeal the judge in
chambers shall have the power to examine the parties or any
of them and their witnesses and to order the production of
documents, and may affirm, modify, amend or rescind either
in whole or in part the decision of the officer, or may make
any decision which the officer ought to have made, or may
refer the matter back to the officer with such directions as the
judge may think fit for the further partition or re-allotment by
the officer.
(11) All costs of and incidental to an appeal under
this section to a judge in chambers shall be in the discretion of
the judge.
(12) The Chief Justice may from time to time make
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Additional
powers of
Commissioner
of Title.

Order of
Commissioner
of Title deemed
to be that of a
judge.

Issue of title.
[17 of 1948]
rules prescribing the forms to be used, the fees to be taken
and the costs to be charged in respect of all matters and
proceedings in appeals made under this section to a judge in
chambers.
(13) Where the appellant, or any respondent, is
dissatisfied with the decision of the judge in chambers, he
may appeal from that decision to the Full Court of the High
Court, and the provisions of any rules of court for the time
being in force regulating appeals to the Full Court from a
judge in chambers shall, as far as is practicable, apply to such
appeals.
(14) In any appeal made under this section, the
judge in chambers or the Full Court, as the case may be, may
direct that the officer take further evidence.
(15) A Commissioner of Title may hear and
determine such matters in respect of which a judge of the
High Court has power to exercise jurisdiction under this Act
as may be assigned to him by the Chief Justice, and for that
purpose shall be vested with and may exercise the powers of
a judge of the High Court.
(16) Any order of a Commissioner of Title made in
pursuance of the jurisdiction conferred on him by subsection
(15) shall be deemed to have been made by a judge of the
High Court.
17. (1) Where the Minister responsible for local
government has, under section 15, approved of the report and
list of decisions of the officer and of the plan of the proposed
partition or re-allotment, the officer shall, as soon as
practicable after the time limited by section 16 for appealing
to the judge in chambers has expired, proceed to give title for
the lots in respect of which there has been no appeal in the
manner now provided by law, or may give title and have it
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Fees and
charges.

Expenses of
allotment.
Recovery of
expenses.
recorded or registered in any manner hereafter provided by
law for the transfer or registration of title to immovable
property.
(2) On the final determination of an appeal the
officer shall in like manner give title to the person declared to
be entitled thereto.
(3) The officer may also in like manner give a
mortgage of any lot to anyone found entitled thereto.
18. For a transport or mortgage, including the grosse
copy thereof, advertisement in the Gazette, and all other
expenses, the Registrar of Deeds shall charge the sum of one
hundred dollars and no more, and that sum shall be paid by
the person receiving the transport.
19. All costs, charges, and expenses directed by the
officer to be paid, the amount of any compensation assessed
or certified under sections 13 and 14 and the expenses of the
removal of every building under section 14, and the cost of
surveys and the remuneration of the officer, if any, incurred
in carrying out the provisions of this Act, unless the officer for
any reason otherwise directs, shall be charged
proportionately on all the lots into which the land has been
partitioned or re-allotted, and for that purpose the officer
shall value each of the lots independently of the buildings and
cultivation thereon and assess the rate or portion to be paid in
respect of each lot.
20. (1) The amount charged on each lot under the
last preceding section shall be paid to the officer by the
person to whom the lot is allotted within thirty days after a
demand for payment in writing is served on him or the
demand is posted on any principal building, conspicuous
tree, stake or paling, on the lot; and, in default of payment,
the officer, either himself or by someone authorised in writing
by him, may proceed for the recovery of the amount by
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Liability for
amount
assessed.

Power to make
regulations.

Obstruction of
officer.
[6 of 1997]
summary or parate execution according to law.
(2) Where more lots than one are allotted to anyone
and one of the lots is a township or residential lot, the service
of summation or other legal process for the recovery of an
assessment in respect of all or any of those lots upon the
township or residential lot shall be deemed to be valid and
sufficient service.
(3) In that process and in any other legal process it
shall be sufficient to describe the officer as “The Officer for
the allotment of .................,” without specifying his name or
proving his authority.
21. (1) All lots as aforesaid shall be, and are hereby
declared to be liable and leviable for the amount assessed
thereon as aforesaid, and the amount due by or claimable
against any lot aforesaid shall be and is hereby declared to
be preferent over and above all claims of whatever nature,
kind, or description (except only debts due to the State)
whether any of those claims are against the lot or lots and
buildings or against the owner thereof, anything in this or any
law or Act notwithstanding, and over any claims against the
owners of the lots or against the lots in the land.
(2) Any sums assessed and owing under this Act
may be recovered by summary or parate execution.
22. The Minister may make regulations for carrying
out the provisions of this Act.
23. Anyone disobeying an order in writing of the
officer to produce documents, and anyone obstructing the
officer, or any surveyor, or other person appointed or
employed by him under this Act, shall be liable on summary
conviction to a fine of four thousand eight hundred and
seventy-five dollars or to imprisonment for one month.