Certificate of Land Use Rights

in the USSR, a document certifying the right to use a tract of land. It is issued by the executive committee of the raion council of workers’ deputies to sovkhozes; collective fisheries; cities; urban-type settlements; state, cooperative, and public institutions; and organizations and enterprises and by the executive committee of the oblast or by the council of ministers of a Union republic (if the republic is not divided into oblasts) to the cities. Kolkhozes are issued a state certificate of land use in perpetuity. The certificate of land use rights defines the general area of the land allotted to the user and also the basic agricultural areas in the given tract; in addition it contains a map of the plot of land and a description of its boundaries. The certificate lists only those lands that are granted to the user in perpetuity according to established legal procedure. For the use of land situated in several administrative districts—for example, lands used for railroad and motor transport—certificates are issued separately within each administrative district. The forms of the certificates are determined by the Council of Ministers of the USSR. The certificate’s form not only reflects the conditions of land use on the day the certificate is issued, but allows for later changes in land use (that is, adding or taking away the land through adjustments).

The certificate of land use rights has great national-economic significance. The information it contains concerning the precise boundaries of the land tract helps the user arrange the efficient use of the entire land allotted to him and also defend his right to the use of the land against illegal acts of other persons and organizations.