Madagascar’s High Constitutional Court has upheld a landmark law that transfers colonial-era land still registered in foreign names to the Malagasy state

Madagascar’s High Constitutional Court has upheld a landmark law that transfers colonial-era land still registered in foreign names to the Malagasy state. In Decision No. 15-HCC/D3 issued on 3 August 2026, the court declared Law No. 2026-007 constitutional and ordered its publication in the Official Journal. The National Assembly had adopted the legislation on 1 […]

Madagascar’s High Constitutional Court has upheld a landmark law that transfers colonial-era land still registered in foreign names to the Malagasy state.

In Decision No. 15-HCC/D3 issued on 3 August 2026, the court declared Law No. 2026-007 constitutional and ordered its publication in the Official Journal. The National Assembly had adopted the legislation on 1 July 2026.

What the law does
The law uses Madagascar’s independence day 26 June 1960 as the cut-off date. Any land title that was still registered in a foreign name on that day and has never since been transferred to a Malagasy owner now passes automatically into state ownership.

Key exceptions
Authorities confirmed three clear exemptions:
– Diplomatic and consular properties 
– Land already transferred to Malagasy citizens before independence 
– Land held by foreigners who later became naturalized Malagasy citizens and registered that change with the land registry 

Official framing
The government presents the measure as the final legal step in the decolonization of land ownership, closing a chapter that began under French colonial rule. Once the law is promulgated and published, a national census and inventory of affected parcels is expected to begin.

The decision settles a long-standing legal question over titles that remained in foreign names more than six decades after independence.