By Shenali D. Waduge Sri Lanka has four land registers and successive governments have continued to pass amendments without including two simple insertions that could protect landowners and their lands, including State land.  Whether this is being done intentionally or on the advice of advisors or ignoring advice is something the Legislature needs to answer. Landowners cannot simply wait for the Government or public officials to protect their land. This article will discuss some practical solutions that landowners can take to protect their land. Former Minister of Justice Ali Sabry proudly announced in Parliament that after nearly a century, the biggest change to land registry law and notarial law had taken place with the help of an expert team of lawyers. However, recently the Registration of Documents Ordinance was amended. This has not ended land fraud nor provided any solace to notaries involved in land registration. Questions for the general public:

• Have laws been introduced to resolve Sri Lanka’s biggest problem – land fraud – as stated by the Registrar General of Lands in March 2019, when he said that almost 40-50% of land deeds in Sri Lanka were likely to be forged?
• Is the Land Register mandatory, which enables landowners to register their lands without searching for deeds which may not be registered? [1] 

  Recently passed amendments do not benefit landowners  

1. The Land Registrar has no authority to reject deeds if they are forged or invalid.
2. The Land Register is not mandatory. It has not been amended, converting it from a ‘priority register’ (archaic law) to a mandatory register as in the UK, the US, Europe, Australia, Singapore, India, and many nations which had registration laws similar to Sri Lanka’s Ordinance No. 23 of 1927.

Countries have introduced e-registration only after the introduction of the modern mandatory register and after they have empowered the land registrar with quasi-judicial power to reject forged deeds to protect registries from fraud and cybercrime [literature available on the internet].   Cabinet decision to provide a mandatory register with research   When amending the registration statutes, attention should have been given to Cabinet Memorandum 20/2100/322/007 of 24 December 2020 to follow the South African system – was this not complied intentionally and for what reasons?   Land Registry is not mandatory: Registrar General    The Registrar General in a letter dated 6 April 2016 has explained the above serious lapse in the Registration of Documents Ordinance 23 of 1927 (RDO) to the then Prime Minister [Ref RG/TRB/03/278/(2)]. His letter explains that the land registry under the RDO does not mandatorily require registration of all owners, therefore, it is not expected for notaries, banks, or anyone else to examine extracts in the registry and conclude ownership; they need to search deeds and find other methods.   World Bank view   The World Bank, pointing out this obstacle, provided funds for research to progress to mandatory registration with a viable institutional framework, including a cohesive organisational structure and plan for staffing and human resource (which was neglected) [2].  However, the Government did not utilise the funds as instructed to improve the existing register with the provided research (Land Information System [LIS]) but suddenly, without anyone’s advice, introduced the Registration of Title Act No. 21 of 1998 which superimposed the Australian land law rather than progressing to a mandatory fraud-free register. The act repealed the judicial process and most of our traditional land laws.  The World Bank thereafter withdrew its funding programme and today we are struggling with a second register called Bim Saviya, which was declared as a total failure by two committees appointed by the former President and Minister Sabry which advised landowners to revert to the old register.   Four registers   At present, a fourth register is being proposed called the Land Bank (as per the letter shown in the picture). Other registers as mentioned above are under:

1. Ordinance No. 23 of 1927
2. Act No. 21 of 1983
3. E-register – Land Information System (LIS)
4. Land Bank 

Are legislators unaware that a country needs only one register for State and private lands to be registered to reach a higher standard in the Doing Business Index?  This is the consequence of not having a legal team managing the research and progress of the registers as in other nations (registration law is a specialised legal field with literature available from other nations). Under the present laws, landowners need to protect their land ownership from land registry fraud. Solutions provided by a legal team are given below.   Notaries’ dilemma with a priority register (archaic law)   Registration statutes need to be amended in line with modern statutes of other jurisdictions as we are moving towards electronics with mandatory registration. Notaries today have to search beyond the register as registration is not mandatory and they cannot assure buyers with regard to ownership through an archaic priority law. They are very often confronted with cases against them for relying on the priority register. There is a tedious procedure for notaries which takes over three months for correction of minor errors by registry officials while the officials do not even have the power to correct their own mistakes under the RDO. It is imperative that a landowner fortifies themselves with the following vital supporting documents as the registry is unreliable even with the recent amendment:

1. Vital documents from the Land Registry have to be kept by owners as they cannot depend on the registry. Some documents are:

• Certified copies of the duplicate and the extracts from the respective land registries.
• Duplicate deed – A notary attesting a deed is mandatorily required to file a copy of the deed referred to as the duplicate copy with the Land Registry. The Land Registry is expected to preserve the duplicate copy in its archives to support the land rights of the owner.
• Extracts – All deeds are recorded chronologically in pages bound together into volumes called registers. Extracts are copies of pages or sheets of paper from these volumes where the deeds are registered. 

If your land is stolen, the investigating officers and the Judiciary will require the above documents for their investigations as they are prima facie evidence to prove your ownership. If you have neglected to apply and collect the certified copies before a fraudulent transaction takes place, you may be in deep trouble as the Registrar is not responsible and a letter will be issued that the copies are not available. 

1. The owners must also check the registry periodically

Some owners may have properties with deeds written several years ago and they may not know the state of these vital documents. Some find that the property is transferred and someone else is the owner only after the lapse of many years. 

1. Register your ownership with the service providers

To prove ownership of a land, a deed alone is not sufficient. Therefore, owners need to register with the relevant service providers as they will provide evidence of ownership and possession when required. They are:

1. Electoral register 
2. The local authority (Municipal Council, Urban Council, or Town Council where the land is situated). Retain the tax receipts issued for payment of taxes and obtain the ownership certificate in the name of the owner after the due registration of ownership.
3. The National Water Supply and Drainage Board
4. The Ceylon Electricity Board
5. Telephone authorities
6. Retain any other documents such as receipts from contractors, housekeepers, and repairmen for repairs, clearing, fencing, renovations, etc.

4. Do not give your deeds to anyone, even copies, or send documents via the internet; they need to be delivered through your trusted lawyer. 
5. Do not rush to buy land and protect yourself when buying someone else’s land. Very often deeds are written and the owner appears when you are fixing fences. There are deeds of unregistered lands that are sold and not registered as per the amendment. Since the register is not made mandatory, checking owners will be unreliable.

• The buying process should commence only after visiting the land and talking with neighbours to find out the names and identities of the owners.
• Exchange letters confirming the transaction with names and addresses of owners and retain covering letters from the owner’s notary forwarding copies of deeds for title examination to your notary.
• Do not rush to complete the transactions without face-to-face interviews with owners, agents, witnesses, surveyors, and even notaries.

6. The CID’s request is to obtain photographs at the time of signing the deed as it is not able to trace witnesses, owners, and brokers. Obtain their identity, telephone numbers, and addresses of home and working places. 
7. If a land is owned by a company, a search must be made at the Registrar of Companies to identify the directors of the company. If the owner is represented by a power of attorney, it is always best to contact the owner and have direct dealings with the owner.
8. Retain all the documentary evidence with your deed. 

The Government and the Ministry of Public Administration need to get Information and Communication Technology Agency (ICTA) engineers’ advice to amend the Land Registry statute to prevent fraud.   Amendments required  

• To make the registry mandatory with biometric solutions to identify owners and empowering the Registrar to reject fraud. Today, the registry is provided with electronic facilities and ICTA engineers are associated with the registry. The Minister of Public Administration could get their advice to amend the Land Registry statute to prevent fraud electronically. In the UK, there is a facility to report fraud or cybercrime to the registry advisory team at any time of the day using the online reporting tool. Mobile alerts to owners when forged deeds enter the registry is also another special feature.

• Biometric methods are used in other countries. They have developed advanced systems of ‘owner identification’ methods and adopted biometric solutions to identify owners to prevent land fraud. The land registries record, like in our banking system, iris and digital photos to ensure that fraud does not take place. The internet carries an extensive range of information from different countries that can be searched under the relevant names given to the databases of the land registries. They are Enjoa – a new electronic notary logbook used in the US, e-Tanah in Malaysia, Bhoomi project in India, and Loucha Pathap in Manipur. 

If you need advice regarding title registration and Bim Saviya, write about your problems to srilankastudycircle@yahoo.com   References    

• https://landportal.org/news/2020/11/land-fraud-sri-lanka

• https://documents1.worldbank.org/curated/en/293851468308634964/pdf/ICR0000190.pd