Land and property law
Collective lands and land reform: where does Tunisia actually stand in 2026?
What is the exact status of the text?
Precision matters here, because the confusion is common. The Ministry of State Domains and Land Affairs has completed the drafting of a legislative text in the form of a decree-law. That text is at the preparatory stage.
No new rights flow from it today. Until a text is published in the Official Gazette of the Republic of Tunisia, it does not apply. Collective ownership disputes remain governed by the law currently in force.
What would the draft provide for the Land Court?
The draft would grant that court exceptional powers and simplified, derogating procedures in order to settle disputes over collective ownership definitively.
The stated aim is to lift a long-standing blockage: the legal complexity surrounding the status of these lands holds back investment projects, particularly in wind power, solar power and industry, in the southern governorates.
How far has the digitisation of State property progressed?
This strand is genuinely under way. Audit committees have inventoried and recorded 11,000 properties, built and unbuilt, out of an estimated total of 52,000 State-owned properties, destined for a central digital database.
For an owner or an investor, this improvement in the reliability of land information is good news in the medium term — but it dispenses with no verification today.
What to do in the meantime
- Do not base an acquisition or investment decision on an unpublished text.
- Have the exact land status of the plot verified — registered, undergoing registration, or collective — before committing.
- On collective lands, identify precisely the competent authority and the rightful claimants before any negotiation.
- Track publication in the Official Gazette: that, and only that, starts the new rules running.
Frequently asked questions
Has the collective lands reform come into force in Tunisia?
No. As at the date of this article, the text is a draft decree-law finalised by the Ministry of State Domains and Land Affairs, but it has been neither adopted nor published in the Official Gazette of the Republic of Tunisia.
What would the draft decree-law provide for collective lands?
It would grant the Land Court exceptional powers and simplified, derogating procedures to settle collective ownership disputes definitively, starting with the southern governorates of Tunisia.
How many State-owned properties have been recorded?
Audit committees have recorded 11,000 built and unbuilt properties out of an estimated total of 52,000 State-owned properties.
Sources
This article provides general legal information, current as of 19 August 2026. It is not legal advice and does not replace an assessment of your specific situation. Only the texts published in the Official Gazette of the Republic of Tunisia are authoritative.