An analysis of the notary's duty to examine title under Maltese law

Abstract

Examination of Title can be considered as a fundamental duty which has been exercised by the Notary for years. This said however its entrenchment within the law was only done in the past few years thereby leaving questions regarding the Notary’s responsibility and standard of diligence in examining title within the hands of Courts’ interpretations. In this respect amendments introduced in Chapter 55 and the promulgation of subsequent Examination of Title Regulations through Legal Notice 355 of 2012 as amended by Legal Notice 157 of 2018 entrenched the rules with regards to examination of title, and effectively crystallising what the courts previously had been opining. Accordingly this Professional Report goes into detail in Chapter 1 and 2 respectively, with regards to this legal process, examining how the Courts interpreted issues prior to these rules as well as analysing how the current laws and regulations regulate this duty. Additionally chapter 3 focuses on the question of standard of diligence required by Notaries in performing searches, in light of earlier jurisprudence as well as current laws. Finally the conclusion in light of the abovementioned analysis made conveys the importance of having rules to regulate such processes made by the Notary. Indeed due to the word limit of this Notarial Report, the conclusion also makes reference to the current Examination of Title Report amendments which would benefit further analysis.