Registration of acts and titles to ensure certainty of ownership.

Abstract

The first chapter gives a historical outline of the development of the Notarial profession. It also outlines the significant foreign laws from which our own legislation emanates. The second chapter deals with the notion of public faith attributed to an act, linked to the debate as to whether the notary should be considered mainly as a public officer or a liberal professional. An interesting view is taken of the internal and external forms of an act. The third chapter examines the importance of searches in order to ascertain the title which is being transferred or hypothecated. Since the law does not spell out the duty of the notary to carry out these searches, the discussion develops onto whether this practice emanates from a mandate between the notary and his clients or whether it forms an essential part of his duty to act as a bonus paterfamilias. This is followed by a view on the notary's contractual responsibilities. The fourth chapter focuses on the registration of the acts in the Public Registry and registration of title to land in the Land Registry and a comparison is made between these two registries. This is followed by an overview of the various titles given before and after 1995. This chapter aims to provide a picture regarding certainty of ownership. The fifth chapter looks toward the future - a new system being introduced by the Central Registry Act, as proposed in the White Paper issued in April this year.