Condensed: Security of tenure forms a central component of the right to adequate housing. Security of tenure should (a) guarantee legal protection nonwithstandig the type of tenure and (b) be available to all persons. The provision of security of tenure is an important measure in preventing forced evictions. Security of tenure relates to the level of protection afforded against evictions but can also relate to the length of tenure and the activities carried out within the length of tenure. Thus, a person with the right to use land for six months may securely carry out short-term activities but may not have security in terms of long-term activities. Strengthening security of tenure for some should not result in the weakening of other person’s rights such as the rights of minorities’ historic rights to usage of land. States should ensure that cultural customs, practices, social changes and discriminatory laws not result in denial of security of tenure to vulnerable groups, for example where widows and children are evicted from family homes and lands because they cannot inherit from deceased family members. Comprehensive: Security of tenure constitutes an aspect of the right to adequate housing:[1] Tenure takes a variety of forms, including rental (public and private) accommodation, cooperative housing, lease, owner-occupation, emergency housing and informal settlements, including occupation of land or property. Notwithstanding the type of tenure, all persons should possess a degree of security of tenure, which guarantees legal protection against forced eviction, harassment and other threats. Security of tenure should (a) guarantee legal protection; and (b) be available to all persons. The provision of security of tenure is an important measure in preventing *forced evictions*.[2] Security of tenure is not restricted solely to registered or formal title rights,or individual property rights. Security of tenure involves a complex set of formal and informal rights, ranging from various rights of use or occupation, to conditional or full rights to dispose of the housing or land.[3] Security of tenure relates to the protection afforded against eviction but can also refer to protection over the length of tenure and the activities that can be carried out within that length of tenure. Thus, for example, a person with the right to use land for six months may securely carry out short-term activities but may not have security in terms of long-term activities, since such a person does not have rights over the land beyond six months.[4]Different types of tenure carry varying degrees of security depending on the context, thus although it is arguable that full security of tenure can only arise where there is full private ownership, in some cases strong community-based tenure systems provide full security without private ownership.[5] The state has an obligation to provide security of tenure through enacting laws and other measures within the legal system. The CESCR has expressed concern at laws that do not provide adequate security of tenure to protect against eviction and arbitrary rent increases.[6] The principle of affordability requires that tenants be ‘protected by appropriate means against unreasonable rent levels or rent increases’.[7] Similarly, the CESCR has on occasion recommended that a state allocate sufficient resources towards the implementation of programmes aimed at granting security of tenure, including access to credit and housing subsidies for low-income families and marginalized groups.[8] In some cases, an effort to secure tenure for some may result in the weakening of security for others, for example, the issuing of titles and registration of land may result in curtailment of rights to accessing water or gathering of minor forest products, mainly affecting women and the poor.[9] Minority communities are affected by the lack of recognition of their historical claims to land, thus the Independent Expert on Minority Issues recommended that Ethiopia ‘grant land title in recognition of historic usage in order to ensure security of land tenure for all communities, including minorities facing encroachment on traditional lands’.[10] Security of tenure may also be adversely affected by culture, tradition, discriminatory laws as well as social changes such as HIV/AIDS, for example in contexts where there are *unequal inheritance rights*. The Human Rights Committee has stated that states ‘should ensure that traditional, historical, religious or cultural attitudes are not used to justify violations of women's right to equality before the law and to equal enjoyment of all Covenant rights.’[11] A widow may be evicted from her matrimonial home or lose possession of land if she is unable to inherit from her deceased husband, and similarly children who are unable to inherit such as girls and children born out of wedlock. Racial discrimination may also result in the denial of security of tenure. For instance, the CESCR has noted with deep concern the situation of Romani people in Bosnia and Herzegovina who are unable to lay claim to their settlements due to lack of security of tenure of their land. The informal settlements in which the Romani people lived prior to the armed conflict were destroyed without the provision of alternative accommodation or compensation. The Committee urged the state party to guarantee security of tenure to the inhabitants of Romani settlements.[12] [1]CESCR General Comment 4 para 8(a).
[2] UN Fact Sheet 25 ‘Forced evictions and human rights’
[3] UN Habitat, Global Land Tools Network Count me in: Surveying for tenure security and urban land management (2010).
[4] FAO ‘Land tenure and rural development’ (2002) FAO Land tenure studies para 3.32.
[5] FAO ‘Land tenure and rural development’ (2002) FAO Land tenure studies para 3.33.
[6] CESCR Concluding Observations: Australia UN Doc E/C.12/1/Add.50 (2000) para 21.
[8]CESCR Concluding Observations: Nicaragua UN Doc E/C.12/NIC/CO/4 (2008) para 25; CESCR Concluding Observations: Philippines UN Doc E/C.12/PHL/CO/4 (2008) para 29.
[9] FAO ‘Land tenure and rural development’ (2002) FAO Land tenure studies para 3.36.
[10] Report of the Independent Expert on Minority Issues, Mission to Ethiopia A/HRC/4/9/Add.3 (2007) para 99.
Security of tenure forms a central component of the right to adequate housing. Security of tenure should (a) guarantee legal protection nonwithstandig the type of tenure and (b) be available to all persons. The provision of security of tenure is an important measure in preventing forced evictions. Security of tenure relates to the level of protection afforded against evictions but can also relate to the length of tenure and the activities carried out within the length of tenure. Thus, a person with the right to use land for six months may securely carry out short-term activities but may not have security in terms of long-term activities.
Strengthening security of tenure for some should not result in the weakening of other person’s rights such as the rights of minorities’ historic rights to usage of land. States should ensure that cultural customs, practices, social changes and discriminatory laws not result in denial of security of tenure to vulnerable groups, for example where widows and children are evicted from family homes and lands because they cannot inherit from deceased family members.
Comprehensive:
Security of tenure constitutes an aspect of the right to adequate housing:[1]
Tenure takes a variety of forms, including rental (public and private) accommodation, cooperative housing, lease, owner-occupation, emergency housing and informal settlements, including occupation of land or property. Notwithstanding the type of tenure, all persons should possess a degree of security of tenure, which guarantees legal protection against forced eviction, harassment and other threats.
Security of tenure should
(a) guarantee legal protection; and
(b) be available to all persons.
The provision of security of tenure is an important measure in preventing *forced evictions*.[2]
Security of tenure is not restricted solely to registered or formal title rights,or individual property rights. Security of tenure involves a complex set of formal and informal rights, ranging from various rights of use or occupation, to conditional or full rights to dispose of the housing or land.[3]
Security of tenure relates to the protection afforded against eviction but can also refer to protection over the length of tenure and the activities that can be carried out within that length of tenure. Thus, for example, a person with the right to use land for six months may securely carry out short-term activities but may not have security in terms of long-term activities, since such a person does not have rights over the land beyond six months.[4] Different types of tenure carry varying degrees of security depending on the context, thus although it is arguable that full security of tenure can only arise where there is full private ownership, in some cases strong community-based tenure systems provide full security without private ownership.[5] The state has an obligation to provide security of tenure through enacting laws and other measures within the legal system.
The CESCR has expressed concern at laws that do not provide adequate security of tenure to protect against eviction and arbitrary rent increases.[6] The principle of affordability requires that tenants be ‘protected by appropriate means against unreasonable rent levels or rent increases’.[7] Similarly, the CESCR has on occasion recommended that a state allocate sufficient resources towards the implementation of programmes aimed at granting security of tenure, including access to credit and housing subsidies for low-income families and marginalized groups.[8]
In some cases, an effort to secure tenure for some may result in the weakening of security for others, for example, the issuing of titles and registration of land may result in curtailment of rights to accessing water or gathering of minor forest products, mainly affecting women and the poor.[9] Minority communities are affected by the lack of recognition of their historical claims to land, thus the Independent Expert on Minority Issues recommended that Ethiopia ‘grant land title in recognition of historic usage in order to ensure security of land tenure for all communities, including minorities facing encroachment on traditional lands’.[10]
Security of tenure may also be adversely affected by culture, tradition, discriminatory laws as well as social changes such as HIV/AIDS, for example in contexts where there are *unequal inheritance rights*. The Human Rights Committee has stated that states ‘should ensure that traditional, historical, religious or cultural attitudes are not used to justify violations of women's right to equality before the law and to equal enjoyment of all Covenant rights.’[11] A widow may be evicted from her matrimonial home or lose possession of land if she is unable to inherit from her deceased husband, and similarly children who are unable to inherit such as girls and children born out of wedlock. Racial discrimination may also result in the denial of security of tenure. For instance, the CESCR has noted with deep concern the situation of Romani people in Bosnia and Herzegovina who are unable to lay claim to their settlements due to lack of security of tenure of their land. The informal settlements in which the Romani people lived prior to the armed conflict were destroyed without the provision of alternative accommodation or compensation. The Committee urged the state party to guarantee security of tenure to the inhabitants of Romani settlements.[12]
[1]CESCR General Comment 4 para 8(a).
[2] UN Fact Sheet 25 ‘Forced evictions and human rights’
[3] UN Habitat, Global Land Tools Network Count me in: Surveying for tenure security and urban land management (2010).
[4] FAO ‘Land tenure and rural development’ (2002) FAO Land tenure studies para 3.32.
[5] FAO ‘Land tenure and rural development’ (2002) FAO Land tenure studies para 3.33.
[6] CESCR Concluding Observations: Australia UN Doc E/C.12/1/Add.50
(2000) para 21.
[7] CESCR, General Comment 4 para 8(c).
[8]CESCR Concluding Observations: Nicaragua UN Doc E/C.12/NIC/CO/4 (2008) para 25; CESCR Concluding Observations: Philippines UN Doc E/C.12/PHL/CO/4 (2008) para 29.
[9] FAO ‘Land tenure and rural development’ (2002) FAO Land tenure studies para 3.36.
[10] Report of the Independent Expert on Minority Issues, Mission to Ethiopia A/HRC/4/9/Add.3 (2007) para 99.
[11] HRC General Comment 28 para 5.
[12] CESCR Concluding Observations: Bosnia and Herzegovina UN Doc E/C.12/BIH/CO/1 (2006) paras 25, 47.