Civil Transactions Act of 1984

This Act consisting of 819 articles divided in 22 Chapters represents the legal framework regarding land access in Sudan by providig for transactions in land, including leases and easements, transfer and inheritance of rights, and conditions for obtaining usufruct rights. It builds on Islamic Sharia in that it recognises land as belonging to God, and man as the guardian of land. It however reaffirms the State as a land owner and gives Government administration rights over land. The recognized rights on land ownership include (i) Right of way; (ii) right to water, every person has the right to benefit from water resources and their branches and streams of public benefit; (iii) right of the landowner to run irrigation water in another's land to reach his land from its distant resource; and (iv) right of flow, to let flow natural water or discharging unfit or excess water through its passage in the land of others.
The Act (i) protects property right by establishing that (a) nobody's property shall be taken away without a legitimate reason; and (b) no property shall be taken from anyone except for the public benefit and in return for a just compensation (art.517); (ii) establishes that land transactions must be registered; (iii) provides that registered usufruct rights to land are equal to registered ownership rights to land (art.560.3).
Several provisions regard water resources, mainly (i) the owner of the land must allow enough water to pass through his land to irrigate the lands far from the water supply, as well as the drainage water coming from neighboring lands to be poured into the nearest public drain, provided that he shall be compensated for that in advance (art.525); (ii) rights to develop and access water resources cannot be separated from rights which are exercised over the land, as long as permission is granted by the respective water authority; access to public water sources is given to all people; all water resources that are constructed are recognised as private property, and therefore access rights must be negotiated with the owner of the land on which these resources are found; in the event that a tenancy agreement is in place, a landowner will bestow the relevant rights of access to the tenant, including the right to use water (art.592). Grazing rights are dealt with in article 565 which establishes that (i) all fallow land is pasture; (ii) State authorities may impose restrictions on grazing as to time and space; (iii) State authorities may allocate lands on which are granted benefits for grazing, taking into account as much as possible that it is in the interest of all people and protecting livestock; (iv) federal or State authorities may restrict logging in place, time, type, or all together; (v) those authorities may grant the benefits of logging in any specific region or areas with the aim of protecting the environment and natural resources and without causing undue harm to the interests of the whole people; (vi) with the exception of traditional cleaning for the purposes of agriculture and the necessary removal of bushes harmful to the benefits of the land, an existing tree is not uprooted without prior permission from the competent authorities, and permission is not given to eradicate an existing tree except for necessity, and (vii) every person having an interest in grazing and logging for the purposes of daily life is considered to have an interest in protecting the environment, wealth and nature.
The Act consists of: Section I Introductory provisions; Section II Contract; Section III Accountability; Section IV Enrichment without legitimate reason; Section V Sale; Section VI Donation; Section VII Partnership; Section VIII Loan; Section IX Reconciliation; Section X Tenacy; Section XI Lending; Section XII Subcontract; Section XIII Labour contract; Section XIV Agency contract; Section XV Deposit contract; Section XVI Custody contract and its provisions; Section XVII Aleatory contracts; Section XVIII Personal insurance contracts; Section XIX Property, types, restrictions and reasons for; Section XX Rights descended from the right of property; Section XXI In-kind insurance; and Section XXII Final provisions.