Crown land

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Crown land is a designated area belonging to the Crown, the equivalent of an entailed estate that passed with the monarchy and could not be alienated from it. In the United Kingdom and during the British Empire, the hereditary revenues of Crown lands were a feature until the start of the reign of George III when the Crown Estate was surrendered to the Parliament of Great Britain in return for a fixed civil list payment - the monarch retains the income from the Duchy of Lancaster. The concept of federal lands in the US was developed in parallel to that of Crown land in Canada and Australia. In the Austro-Hungarian Empire and its predecessor the Austrian Empire Crown lands were alternative administrative units to Duchys, as in the Kingdom of Poland and its successor, the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth.

1 United Kingdom and its predecessor states
2 The Commonwealth of Nations
3 Australia
4 Canada
5 Austro-Hungary
6 Poland
7 References
8 See also
9 External links

United Kingdom and its predecessor states

See Crown Estate.

The Commonwealth of Nations

In theory, also, state lands in the former British colonies were supposed to be vested in the crown, and they are called crown lands; actually, however, the various national legislatures have full control over them, including power of disposal. In the Commonwealth of Nations, the law concerning these lands has developed further.

Australia

In Australia, public lands are considered to belong to the Crown. This includes land for nature conservation and various other governmental purposes, as well as vacant land. Public lands comprise around 23% of Australian land, of which the largest single category is vacant land belonging to the Crown, comprising 12.5% of the land.^[1] Crown land is held in the 'right of the Crown' of either an individual State or the Commonwealth of Australia; there is not a single 'Crown' (as a legal governmental entity) in Australia (see The Crown). Various States have adopted differing policies towards the sale and use of their Crown lands; for instance, New South Wales passed a controversial reform in 2005 requiring Crown lands to be rated at market value.^[2] Crown land is used for such things as airports (Commonwealth) and public utilities (usually State). In Tasmania, the management of Crown land is governed by the Crown Lands Act 1976.

Canada

In Canada, about 89% of Canada's massive land area (or 8,886,356 km²) is Crown land, which may either be federal (41%) or provincial (48%); the remaining 11% is privately-owned.^[3] Most federal Crown land is in the Canadian territories (Northwest Territories, Nunavut and Yukon) and is administered on behalf of Indian and Northern Affairs Canada; only 4% of land in the provinces is federally-controlled, largely in the form of National Parks, Indian reserves, or Canadian Forces bases. In contrast, provinces hold much of their territory as provincial Crown land (for instance, 95% of Newfoundland and Labrador is provincial Crown land^[3]) which may be held as Provincial Parks or wilderness. Much of Canada's natural resource extraction industry is based on Crown land (largely but not exclusively provincial) rented for logging and mineral exploration rights; revenues flow to the relevant government and may constitute a major income stream, such as in Alberta. Crown land may also be rented by individuals wishing to build homes or cottages.

Austro-Hungary

Main article: Cisleithania

The term crownlands, in Austria-Hungary under the Dual Monarchy, was applied to the various provinces.

Poland

In Poland, the Crown lands were known as królewszczyzny (sing. królewszczyzna). Since 15th century they have been leased or gifted to the members of nobility (szlachta). Those nobles who had received the privilege of administering the Crown lands (and thus keeping most of its profits) had the title of starosta. Once given a Crown land, one had the right to keep it 'for life'. Ruch egzekucyjny (execution movement) of the late 16th century, led by kanclerz Jan Zamoyski, put as one of its goals the 'execution of lands', i.e. return of all Crown lands, which were often illegally held by next generations of starost families. In 1562-1563 they forced most of the Crown land in the Crown of the Polish Kingdom to be returned to the monarch, however they failed to force the magnates of Grand Duchy of Lithuania to give up their prizes (Poland and Lithuania were ruled by the same king, and became one country after the Union of Lublin in 1569). Crown lands formed about 15-20% of Poland (later, the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth), and were divided into two parts:

the table lands (dobra stołowe or ekonomie), which were providing money for the king's personal treasure and expenses, among them the support of the army (wojsko kwarciane)
the rest, which the king was obliged to lease to the outstanding members of the szlachta.

Eventually the szlachta controlled most of the Crown lands. Among the largest Crown lands in the 16th and 17th centuries were the territories of Grodno, Malbork and Wielkorządy with Niepołomice in the Crown of the Polish Kingdom, and Mohylew and Sambor in Lithuania. The conditions of peasants were better in the Crown lands than on the territories held by the szlachta, as there were fewer serfdom obligations. Crown lands were reformed in 1775, lessening the abuses of the szlachta, and the Great Sejm of 1788-1792 decided to put them on sale, to raise funds for reforms and modernising the army. After the partitions of Poland in 1795 they were directly annexed by the partitioning powers.

References

^ Land Tenure at Geoscience Australia
^ Crown land rent changes spark concerns for clubs, ABC News, 10 November 2005
^ ^a ^b V.P. NEIMANIS. Crown Land. The Canadian Encyclopedia: Geography. Historica Foundation of Canada. Retrieved on 2007-02-12.