The Gazette 1994

GAZETTE

JULY 1994

L A W B R I E F

By Dr. Eamonn Hall

There are at present in excess of 500 staff working in the Land Registry and the Registry of Deeds. What was needed was not necessarily more staff but perhaps more investment in technology and business orientation. The conversion of the Registries to a commercial State-sponsored body was well under way. An interim board whose chairman and members had a wide range of business expertise had been appointed in 1992 to assist and advise on the procedures and the legislative changes that would be necessary to bring about the conversion. Additionally the Minister stated that up-to-date information technology and computerisation of a wide range of procedures was being implemented. "Solicitors who lodge incorrect and incomplete applications in the Land Registry give rise to non-productive work and represent a poor utilisation of the Registry's scarce resources. Efforts to bring about improvements in the quality of work lodged have been disappointing." Decentralisation of some of the Land Registry's operations to Waterford was in accordance with Government policy and steady progress was being made. The Minister stated that a site was available in Waterford and inquiries had been received from interested developers with a view to building office premises. The Government's programme provided for the transfer of 150 to 200 civil servants to the "beautiful city of Waterford".

"that the earliest civilisations had officials of great intellect, versed in the art of writing, who carried out functions similar to those performed by the notary of today". The European Parliament in a resolution adopted on January 18, 1994 and published in the Official Journal of the European Communities (No. C 44 36, 14.02.1994) urged the European Commission and the Member States and notarial organisations to consult together with a view to instituting the necessary reforms to bring about approximation at European level of certain aspects specific to the organisation and exercise of notarial activities and a sectoral approach to rules for its exercise, insofar as developments in the completion of the internal market justify this. The Parliament called for measures to be taken to remove, for citizens of the European Union, (without prejudice to other conditions which may be imposed by each State for entry), the nationality requirement for those wishing to enter the profession and for appropriate proposals to be made to supplement the Brussels Convention of September 27, 1968 on jurisdiction and the enforcement of judgments in civil and commercial matters with provisions which take into account the particular aspects of the transfrontier "movement" of notarial acts. The Parliament called on the Commission and on Member States to use the legal instruments provided for by the EC Treaty to ensure mutual recognition without formalities of notarial acts, particularly Article 220 of the EC Treaty and to reconcile in accordance with subsidiarity the exception on grounds of "order public" provided for in Article 55 with the general principle of equality of treatment provided for in Article 6 of the EC Treaty.

Land Registry Delays

The issue of delays in the Land Registry was raised in the Dáil in an Adjournment Debate on April 19, 1994. The Minister of State at the Department of Transport, Energy and Communications, Noel Treacy, responded on behalf of the Government. The Minister stated that since 1990 additional staff had been appointed and a considerable investment had been made in computerisation and information technology. Over each of the past four years annual output in the Land Registry had exceeded the annual intake of business, thus reducing the arrears level. At the end of 1989 the total arrears in "dealings" amounted to 51,145. At the end of 1993, the corresponding figure was 41,828, representing an improvement of some 18.2 per cent. The Minister stated that the average time taken to have a dealing processed in the Land Registry was between 16 weeks and 24 weeks, depending on complexity and geographic location. Solicitors were blamed by the Minister for part of the delay. He stated that many solicitors lodged incorrect and incomplete applications which gave rise to non-productive work and represented a poor utilisation of the Registry's scarce resources. However, the Minister said that in cooperation with the Law Society efforts had been made to bring about an improvement in the quality of work lodged. He observed, however, that the results to date had been disappointing. He stated that this would have to be tackled further by solicitors and the Law Society.

The Office of Notary Public

The notary public ranks amongst the most ancient of professions. Mr. E. Rory O'Connor in his book The Irish Notary (Professional Books, 1987), noted that it was generally accepted

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