Présentation

This  book  covers  the  period  between  the  19th  and  the  first  half  of  the  20th  centuries.  It  investigates  the  different  land  registration  systems  in  certain  European  countries,  the  relationship  between  Europe  and  the  African  colonies  regarding  the  systems  of  land  ownership  and  land  registration,  and  the  international scientific collaboration developed to deal with problems that might arise when introducing a European land registration system in a colonial context. It  may  seem  that  these  three  issues  merit  independent  investigation,  given  their  breadth  and  the  many  possible  viewpoints  from  which  they  could  be  studied.  However,  by  researching  them  together  within  a  manifestly  national  legal  institution  such  as  a  land  registration  system,  the  transnational  entanglements,  that took place across various spatial-temporal contexts, can be discerned.

To  convey  the  dynamism  and  complexity  of  these  topics, the  book  has  adopted  the  structure  of  Greek  tragedy,  a  literary  genre  that  best  achieves  the  concept  of  entanglement.  The  first  episode  takes  place  in  Europe.  Some  mechanisms  occurring between the 18th and 19th centuries are examined to understand how land registration was used to «harmonise» property without limiting its contents. From the construction of the national space, the scope of the research is expanded to  demonstrate  how  European  debates  on  land  registration  systems  were,  in  reality, discussed and resolved in several parts of the world. In the African colonial context,  the  introduction  of  a  specific  land  regime  responded  to  the  creation  of  an  «organised  colonial  space».  The  type  of  land  registration  system  depended  not  only  on  the  decisions  of  the  «motherland»,  which  might  introduce  its  own  system,  but  also  on  geographical,  historical,  political,  and  legal  factors.  These  factors  were  decisive  in  selecting,  for  the  second  episode,  three  African  colonies  with particularly interesting land regimes: Eritrea, Congo Free State, and Togo.

This second episode shows that the majority of colonial empires, before deciding which  system  to  adopt  and  how  to  regulate  relations  between  citizens  and  foreigners  from  Europe  and  local  populations,  always  sought  «inspiration»  from  models adopted by other colonial powers.

In  1894,  former  colonial  officials  and  administrators,  as  well  as  jurists,  founded  the Institut  Colonial  International  in  Brussels,  which  is  the  subject  of  the  third  episode.  It  aimed  to  construct  a  common  space  to  discuss  and  resolve  colonial  problems,  such  as  teaching,  acclimatisation,  labour  in  the  colonies,  and  above  all, property and land tenure. The ambitious goal of the members of the Institut Colonial International was to «scientifically» construct a variety of legal principles that  would  create  unity  across  systems  of  land  register  legislation,  despite  the  profound diversity of individual colonies.

Sommaire

Prologo. Tra letteratura e diritto,l’inconciliabile intreccio di Emmanuel Besson

Parodo. Sulle orme di Besson per i sistemi di pubblicità immobiliare

I Episodio. La pubblicità immobiliare in Europatra la fine del Settecento e l’Ottocento

II Episodio. La pubblicità immobiliare nel contesto coloniale africanotra tecnicismo e praticabilità

III Episodio. L’Institut Colonial International, il regime fondiario e l’organizzazione dello spazio coloniale