Legal Safety of the Spanish Land Registry
The Spanish Registry System is, without doubt, one of the safest in the world.
It is a Registry of rights. The registered rights are protected by the Courts in such a way that no-one can be deprived of them unless this is done through a contradictory court procedure in which the registered owner takes part.
In addition, the legal code attributes to the registered rights a series of legal presumptions, whose maximum effect is derived from the principle of registered public faith.
The Principle of Publicity, in the event of a conflict between the real situation and the Registry, gives certainty to the declarations made in the registry.
This Principle of Publicity has two fundamental aspects:
It is a Registry of rights. The registered rights are protected by the Courts in such a way that no-one can be deprived of them unless this is done through a contradictory court procedure in which the registered owner takes part.
In addition, the legal code attributes to the registered rights a series of legal presumptions, whose maximum effect is derived from the principle of registered public faith.
The Principle of Publicity, in the event of a conflict between the real situation and the Registry, gives certainty to the declarations made in the registry.
This Principle of Publicity has two fundamental aspects:
- The procedural aspect.- By virtue of En which the registered owner can enforce his registered rights before the Courts against the party disputing them through a Certificate issued by the Registrar, in which the validity of the respective entry is accredited with no contradiction whatsoever. Consequently, the burden of proof will be the responsibility of the person disputing the registered right.
- The substantive aspect.- In which two different dimensions are distinguished.
- A Negative Dimension.- What is not registered does not affect the contractual party included in the registered content.
- A Positive Dimension.- Which produces a double presumption in the registered content:
- Principle of Legitimisation.- "Iuris tantum¿ presumption that what is published in the Registry is true.
- Principle of Registered Public Faith.- ¿Iuris et de iure¿ presumption that what is published in the Registry is accurate and intact. In sum, if the following requirements exist: - Registration of the owner making the conveyance. - Acdquisition for value. - Lack of knowledge on the part of the buyer about any aspect that could invalidatewhat is posted in the Registry (with good faith being presumed) - And the registration of the buyer; this produces the legal effect that the new owner is fully protected by the Spanish registry system, even though the registered owner who transferred the right to him is not the rightful owner of that right.
An example will make this clearer. Any person buying a property who is registered in the Registry as its owner, and who does not know whether another owner exists and later registers his ownership obtained through the purchase is protected by the Spanish registry system, in such a way that no-one can dispute his ownership.
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Thursday, 07 February 2013
