Abstract:
Since people have lost almost all their legal documents during
the displacement and calamities of war, proof of ownership to their own
land too has become a difficult task. The people who are allowed to
resettle in their places of origin need to establish the ownership to the
land belonging to them in order to receive housing and various
assistance from state and non state agencies. The researcher wants to
analyze the possibility of execution of a deed of declaration and get it
recognized by the funding or assisting agency. The researcher also
intends to analyze the legal and practical barriers in the process of
validating and recognizing deeds of declaration as proof for ownership
and award of compensation for victims of land in Northern province of
Sri Lanka in the post war context. This study will be based on
interviews with different stake holders such as Divisional secretaries,
Notary publics and the victims of lands etc. It is alleged by the
relevant officers that the genuineness of deed of declaration is always
doubtful since it is a mere declaration of one’s ownership over a land.
The researcher intends to say where and when the deed of declaration
could be a genuine document and acceptance of them by the respective
officials when they could be treated as genuine. The research finding
will hopefully help the people and the respective officers to recognize
the validity of the deed of declaration to a good extent to redress the
victims.
