This paper explores the dynamics of policy and legal reforms in Somaliland. It does so by scrutinising the work of a special commission established in 2009 to strengthen statutory institutions' capacity to address a growing problem of land-related conflicts in Hargeisa, much of which is now adjudicated by non-statutory institutions such as traditional elders or Islamic clerics. In addition to the stated government goal, the commission's establishment, as the paper shows, was part of a reform agenda in which the state seeks to reconcile contradictive demands placed on it by the society it governs and the community of nations it pursues to join. Through participant observation, key informant interviews, and investigation of court records, the paper, therefore, aims to reveal how the state uses ambiguity as a strategy to advance its reform agendas. The paper also demonstrates that the ineffective way urban land conflicts are adjudicated erodes public confidence in the state and reinforces sub-ethnic patriotism.

本文探讨了索马里兰政策和法律改革的动态。它通过审查 2009 年成立的一个特别委员会的工作来加强法定机构的能力，以解决哈尔格萨日益严重的与土地有关的冲突问题，其中大部分问题现在由传统长老或伊斯兰教徒等非法定机构裁决神职人员。除了既定的政府目标，该委员会的成立，正如该文件所显示的，是改革议程的一部分，在该议程中，国家寻求调和其所管理的社会和它寻求加入的国际社会对其提出的相互矛盾的要求。因此，通过参与观察、关键线人访谈和法庭记录调查，本文认为，旨在揭示国家如何利用模糊性作为推进其改革议程的战略。该论文还表明，对城市土地冲突的无效裁决削弱了公众对国家的信心，并强化了亚民族爱国主义。