A. Land tenure

Henssen (1995) mentions the following tenure systems:

• Anglo-American "in theory feudal"
• Continental European (allodial system, ownership basically independent)
• Socialistic (Public ownership, individual right of use, planning for optimal use of land)
• Islamic (ownership/stewardship defined by religious world view)
• Customary law (community based rights; non-written rules)

B. Classification of cadastres

Criteria 1: How is the parcel identified ?

• The English group: Parcels relate to topographic map (England, Ireland, Nigeria)
• The German group: Parcels are identified by cadastral map (German speaking countries, S, DK, Egypt, Turkey)
• The Torrens group: Parcels relate to available maps and sketches (Australia, New Zealand, Morocco, Tunisia, Syria)

Note that besides the identification of parcels you need a definition of the unit of record. The unit of record may be the real property, but the meaning of that term is likely to be complex, and depend on the tenure system concerned, cf. section A above.
 

Criteria 2: Legal implication of boundary

• General boundary system: Evidence in the field determines
• Fixed boundary system: Boundaries determined by measurements (coordinates). No adverse possession.

Criteria 3: How is the organization of land administration ?
 

C. Classification of land registry systems

• The deed registration system. Deed = document. Judge registers document, but registration constitutes no proof of ownership. Risk may be compensated through insurance.
• The title registration system. Title = property right. The land registry in principle records the rights, rather than the documents.

Other variants may be described by investigating whether the following principles hold or not:

• the speciality principle: Subject (owner) as well as object (parcel) must be systematically identified in the deeds
• the booking principle: Agreement takes effect only by recording in land registry
• the consent principle: Rights can be transferred only by a subject, who according to land registry is entitled to do so.
• the publicity principle: The data of the land registry are available to the public.
• the curtain principle: The information of the land registry is trustworthy, no further investigations are needed.
• the guarantee principle: In case of errors, the government compensates a holder of right, who is in good faith.

D. Professions and human resources

• Notary, lawyer
• (Chartered, licensed) Surveyor
• Registrar, judge
• Valuar, property broker
• Information Technology Manager

Dale & McLaughlin

• 2. Land tenure, property and development
• 4. Land registration
• 5. Surveying and mapping
• 12. Human resources management
• .. Controlling corruption
• .. Education and training
• The role of professional associations