E/C.12/GC/26 31. In recent years, titling has been encouraged to protect land users from eviction by the State and encroachment by private actors, particularly large landowners, and by investors. That process, sometimes referred as “formalization”, consists of demarcating the land effectively occupied and used by each land user (and generally recognized under customary law), increasingly using digital techniques, and attributing a deed protecting land users from expropriation, while at the same time enabling them to sell the land. The impact of titling has been mixed. Clarification of property rights was intended to provide security of tenure, to allow dwellers in informal settlements to be recognized as owners and to protect small farmers from being evicted from their land. It was also justified by the need to establish a market for land rights, allowing for more fluid transfer of property rights and a lowering of transaction costs in those markets. Those two objectives may be contradictory since commodification of property rights can be a source of exclusion and increase insecurity of tenure. Therefore, States should adopt laws and policies to guarantee that titling programmes are not implemented solely to support the sale of land and the commodification of land tenure. If such laws or regulations are missing, titling of pre-existing, customary forms of tenure may result in more conflicts rather than more clarity and may also result in less security rather than improved security, with a negative impact on rights under the Covenant, in particular the right to an adequate standard of living. States shall ensure that any titling process that involves determining competing claims to land protects the rights of those most at risk of marginalization and discrimination, while addressing historical injustices. 3. Obligation to fulfil 32. The obligation to fulfil requires that States adopt legislative, administrative, budgetary and other measures and establish effective remedies aimed at the full enjoyment of the rights under the Covenant relating to land, including the access to, use of and control over land. States parties shall facilitate secure, equitable and sustainable access to, use of and control over land for those who depend on land to realize their economic, social and cultural rights. This is especially important for those who are landless or live in poverty, especially women and those who are marginalized.45 33. Land registration and land administration shall be carried out without any discrimination, including discrimination on the basis of a change of marital status, lack of legal capacity and lack of access to economic resources. The legal recognition and allocation of tenure rights to individuals shall be carried out systematically, without discrimination on the basis of gender, family and community and in a way that ensures that those living in poverty and other disadvantaged and marginalized individuals and groups have every opportunity to acquire legal recognition of their current tenure rights. States parties should identify all existing tenure rights and rights holders, not only those in written records. States parties shall, through public rules, establish the definition of land user rights that are legitimate, in line with all the relevant Covenant provisions and with the definitions contained in the Voluntary Guidelines on the Responsible Governance of Tenure of Land, Fisheries and Forests in the Context of National Food Security. 34. Land administration shall be based on accessible and non-discriminatory services implemented by accountable agencies whose actions are reviewed by judicial bodies. Such services should be accessible and provided promptly and effectively. Disadvantaged and marginalized individuals and groups shall be supported in using those services and their access to justice shall be guaranteed. Such support should cover legal assistance, including affordable legal aid, particularly for those living in very remote areas. States parties should prevent corruption regarding tenure administration and tenure transfers by adopting and enforcing anti-corruption measures addressing, inter alia, conflicts of interests. 35. States parties shall also recognize the social, cultural, spiritual, economic, environmental and political value of land for communities with customary tenure systems and shall respect existing forms of self-governance of land. Traditional institutions for collective tenure systems shall ensure the meaningful participation of all members, including 45 10 African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights, “State reporting guidelines and principles on articles 21 and 24 of the African Charter relating to extractive industries, human rights and the environment”, pp. 12–13, sect. III (g)–(h). GE.23-00043