RURAL DEVELOPMENT INSTITUTE - Consulting Services



	Capacity Statement & Expertise Curricula Vitae Experience

Albania: Land Registration and Land Market Project Evaluation
ARD and USAID. RDI co-conducted an in-country evaluation of the status of an Albanian land registration and land market project. The project included a field evaluation of registration system procedures and processes in six district registration offices and the Tirana central registration office. RDI attorneys also evaluated the process and progress of incorporating old, existing property transfer documents (primarily for apartments) into the new registration system. Also included were a document and statistics review and interviews of representatives from the Albanian government, Albanian NGOs, project teams, USAID, EU/Phare, the World Bank, Albanian private service providers, the Albanian banking industry, Albanian Notaries Association, and Albanian real estate brokers. RDI ultimately provided an assessment of project-to-date accomplishments, made recommendations as to what should yet be accomplished prior to the project’s end, and recommended land market support activities that might be undertaken by USAID after the project’s completion. October to December 2000.

Georgia: Project to Develop Land Markets
USAID/Booz Allen & Hamilton, Inc. RDI provided legal and consulting services on the USAID-financed "Project to Develop Land Markets in Georgia." RDI activities included field research, policy development, and legal drafting related to the development of urban and rural land and real estate markets in Georgia.

RDI lawyers worked closely with the project's team of Georgian lawyers on a variety of outputs, including: a comprehensive assessment of the legal basis for both rural and urban land ownership and land markets; a draft decree on speeding up land registration (this decree was modified and signed by President Shevardnadze); and a policy assessment of whether and how to privatize agricultural land remaining in state ownership. November 1997 to October 2000.

Indonesia: Land Law Reform
Checchi Consulting Corporation and USAID. RDI supplemented its prior fieldwork experience in Indonesia with fieldwork specifically examining issues arising out of the land law reform laws the Indonesians were in the process of drafting. RDI consulted and collaborated with the Indonesian land law reform drafting teams and produced a report that included specific recommendations for amendments to the law. In this work, RDI took particular note of the issues affecting markets, investor confidence and security, potential for social conflict arising out of land problems, and land issues or problems created or exacerbated by decentralization.

The primary focus of the research was in areas of customary law as they relate to land. Other areas of research and investigation included: the formalization of customary rights to land; possible structures for the resolution of existing and future land disputes; effective registration of existing land rights; possible guidelines for takings of land that ensure adequate notice and fair compensation; issues pertaining to zoning laws, and viability of land markets.
RDI also produced a report on the land law drafting process itself, noting areas of contention, institutional challenges, and further needed technical assistance work. RDI provided an overview of other land law reform efforts in Indonesia and technical assistance concerned with them. July to December 2000.

Kyrgyz Republic: On-Going Land Market Development,
Land Reform, and Regulatory Reform Legal and Policy Consulting
ARD/Checchi and USAID. RDI provided ongoing legal regulatory and institutional reform, legal drafting assistance, policy advice, and implementation assistance on the new Kyrgyz land code and laws on registration, peasant farms, cooperatives, mortgage, and privatization of land. RDI also organized and led an extensive field research and survey effort directed at obtaining baseline information on land administration, dispute resolution, land use, servitudes, and zoning to inform the drafting of regulations and institutional reform. The fieldwork and survey results were used in the development of implementing regulations and in public education programs. RDI attorneys then participated in the design and writing of a training program on land legislation and legal issues related to land ownership and land transactions presented to Kyrgyz lawyers slated to staff legal assistance centers. RDI lawyers also participated in the 3-week training session as trainers and facilitators. August 1999 to August 2001.

Romania: Rural Land Market Study
World Bank. As part of the process of preparing The World Bank's "Romania Rural Development Project," RDI attorneys conducted a field survey of rural land markets in order to identify measures needed to improve market performance. The survey results and recommendations were presented at a rural development workshop (July 5 & 7, 1999), and subsequently articulated in a written report. Recommendations from the field survey include reducing excessive notary fees, implementing measures to facilitate mortgage lending, holding land auctions, and simplify and reduce the land tax rates. June through October 1999.

Russia: Policy and Legal Advice on Land Privatization
and Land Market Development
USAID. RDI implemented a USAID-financed cooperative agreement to provide comprehensive legal and consulting services to the Government of Russia on policy, legal, and administrative issues of land reform, farm restructuring, land registration, and land market creation. RDI also conducted rural field research and managed two legal aid centers providing advice to rural landowners on how to best use their new land rights. The project included a Moscow office and in-country staff.

Major activities included key inputs into the State Duma deliberations on the draft basic law on land (the "Land Code"), advice to regional governments on development and implementation of regional legislation on private land ownership, field research in several provinces, consultations with high government officials, preparation of multitudes of background and policy documents on a wide range of land-related issues, establishment and management of a legal aid center in Samara Province, and management of a legal aid center in Vladimir Province. August 1997 through February 1999.

Russia: Policy Advice on Russian Federation Land Privatization
USAID/Harvard Institute for International Development. RDI worked under two USAID-financed activities -- a cooperative agreement and the "Legal Reform Project" -- to provide services on policy, legal, and administrative issues of land reform, farm restructuring, land registration, and land market creation in the Russian Federation. RDI also conducted rural field research and established a legal aid center providing advice to rural landowners on how to best use their new land rights. The project included a RDI attorney resident in Moscow from August 1994 through July 1997.

Major activities included key inputs into two presidential decrees on land reform, work on the law on land registration, drafting of a basic law on land, consultations with high government officials, and preparation of multitudes of background and policy documents on a wide range of land-related issues, field research in several Russian provinces, providing expertise to USAID's Regional Investment Initiative, and establishment and management of a legal aid center in Vladimir Province. October 1993 through July 1997.