Constitution of Kiribati 1979, as amended to 2018
Property, Inheritance and Land Tenure
  • English
    Whereas every person in Kiribati is entitled to the fundamental rights and freedoms of the individual, that is to say, the right, whatever his race, place of origin, political opinions, colour, creed or sex, but subject to respect for the rights and freedoms of others or the public interest, to each and all of the following, namely-

    c. protection for the privacy of his home and other property and from deprivation of property without compensation,
    … (Sec. 3)
Property, Inheritance and Land Tenure
  • English
    1) Subject to the provisions of subsections (4), (5) and (8) of this section, no law shall make any provision that is discriminatory either of itself or in its effect.

    (3) In this section, the expression “discriminatory” means affording different treatment to different persons attributable wholly or mainly to their respective descriptions by race, place of origin, political opinions, colour or creed whereby persons of one such description are subjected to disabilities or restrictions to which persons of another such description are not made subject or are accorded privileges or advantages which are not accorded to persons of another such description.
    (4) Subsection (1) of this section shall not apply to any law so far as that law makes provision-

    (c) for the application, in the case of persons of any such description as is mentioned in the preceding subsection (or of persons connected with such persons), of the law with respect to adoption, marriage, divorce, burial, devolution of property on death or other like matters that is the personal law applicable to persons of that description;(d) with respect to land, the tenure of land, the resumption and acquisition of land and other like purposes;
    … (Sec. 15)
Property, Inheritance and Land Tenure
  • English
    1. Where any Banaban possesses any right over or interest in any land in Banaba, such right or interest shall not be affected in any way by reason of the fact that he resides in Rabi Island in Fiji.
    2. Where the Republic has acquired any right over or interest in land in Banaba-
    a. from any Banaban for the purpose of phosphate extraction; or
    b. by operation of law where the Crown had acquired it before Independence Day from any Banaban for that purpose, the Republic shall transfer that right or interest to the Banaban from whom it was acquired (whether by the Republic or the Crown) or to his heirs and successors upon the completion of phosphate extraction from that land.
    3. Where any Banaban possesses any right over or interest in land in Banaba, no such right or interest shall be compulsorily acquired other than a leasehold interest and in accordance with section 8(1) of this Constitution, and then only where the following conditions are satisfied, that is to say-
    a. the Banaba Island Council has been consulted; and
    b. every reasonable effort has been made to acquired the interest by agreement with the person who possesses the right over or interest in the land.
    … (Sec. 119)
Links to all sites last visited 8 January 2024
2

Sec. 55 as amended by 2018 Amendment.

3

Sec. 40 as amended by 2016 Amendment.

4

Sec. 55 as amended by 2018 Amendment.