The Ministry of Justice's Directorate of Land and Property (DLP) has a new database to help it resolve more than 10,000 land claims made for property since Timor-Leste's independence in 2002. The computerized system will help Timor-Leste resolve often conflicting land claims from more than 400 years of Portuguese rule, 24 years of Indonesian occupation, and 2 years of UN administration.

The government's new land law set a March 2004 deadline for claims, and thousands of people filed the necessary paperwork. With technical assistance and training from the Land Law Program of Associates in Rural Development (ARD) and data entry by students from the National University of Timor Lorosa'e (UNTL), DLP officials can use the latest technology to evaluate the claims and make determinations on land ownership. Already more than 4,000 claims have been entered into the database and more than 50 have been resolved. The land claims database will also assist DLP in making policy and legislation recommendations to the government and the Parliament on land administration, land rights, titling, and land dispute resolution.

UNTL students have also been studying the 3,141 claims by foreigners for land ownership in Timor-Leste. Using a combination of fieldwork and comparatives studies from countries such as Mozambique, students will research different types of claims and analyze how many are overlapping or conflicting. The country's new constitution reserves land ownership for Timor-Leste citizens only. The study will help the government develop policies related to validated claims by foreigners from pre-independence periods.

As part of its work with UNTL, the Land Law Program helps professors and students conduct systematic land-tenure research, providing data to support the development of sound land issue policies and legislation. Collaboration between the Land Law Program and Australia's Charles Darwin University now offers UNTL professors and students the opportunity to study for a graduate certificate in applied social science research methods.

USAID supports the Land Law Program through its partnership with ARD. Working with the Ministry of Justice and the DLP, ARD assists the government in developing policies and legislation related to a wide range of land matters.