the Land Board decides that the certificate is to be granted the Register will issue a certificate of customary ownership(Section 7(5) Land Act). Any person aggrieved by the decision may appeal to the Land Tribunal(Section 8(6) Land Act). The certificate shall be conclusive evidence of any customary rights and interests specified in it(Section 8(1) Land Act) and thus would – at least in theory – also make impossible any evictions. As is evident from the above, the procedure for applying for a certificate is long and cumbersome. Given the lack of functioning Land Boards and Committees, until 2006 not one certificate of customary ownership had been issued 103 . Under these circumstances, it is currently up to traditional authorities or courts to determine themselves on the basis of the local rules about who is the appropriate owner or user of the land. Under current law, traditional institutions may intervene in conflicts. Article 88 of the Land Act stipulates that traditional authorities shall not be prevented, hindered or limited in their function of determining disputes over customary law or acting as mediators in these matters. In summary, under current law, a person claiming ownership of the land may apply with the Land Board to be issued a certificate of ownership. Under this procedure, at least theoretically, traditional institutions may be consulted. Further, dispute resolution by traditional institutions supplements or may take precedence over settlement by formal courts. Since customary tenure is a form of tenure which is subject to local customary regulations, there might be several reasons for evictions and their lawfulness must be decided separately in each case. c) The problems of the Land(Amendment) Bill Against this background, it is not totally clear what the proposed amendment means when it stipulates that“a person claiming interest in land under customary tenure” shall only be evicted upon a court order. Are“persons claiming interest” only those who are in possession of a certificate of ownership or anybody who simply claims he has an interest without reference to any specific customary rule? The only exception made by the proposed law concerns those who have been allowed to only temporarily occupy or use land(see Section 32 B(3) of the Land Bill). Since a certificate of ownership is conclusive evidence of ownership – thus in theory obviating the need for any dispute – it must be assumed that the proposed provision is intended to apply to all those persons claiming interest in land under customary law who do not possess a certificate. Further, since customary ownership normally is a function of community or family 103 Deininger et.al., Rural land certification in Ethiopia: Process, initial impact, and implications for other African countries(April 2007), p. 4. 30