CROSS BORDER COOPERATION WITH LAND REGISTRIES

ELRA stands for European Land Registry Association ELRA is a non profit Association created in 2005 and seated in Brussels The EC supports ELRA through the programme “Civil Justice” The aim: to promote mutual understanding and the knowledge of Land Registry, stressing legal aspects

ELRA: 29 national associations from 22 countries

Land registers provide economic value: Recording of legal rights Reliable publicity of these rights Protecting of rights Prioritizing of rights Enforceability of rights Backed by authority of the State

Possible use of spatial data GIS systems for providing information, with respect for existing legal system ; Visualize differences between: - Physical boundaries - Cadastral boundaries - Legal boundaries (if necessary by description in a contract) Spatial data cannot define property rights by themselves. Valid agreement needs plain intelligible language

CROBECO I Project supported by the framework programme “Civil Justice” ( ) Project ended June 2012 Complies with the four founding principles of the European Union (free movement of goods, persons, services and capital) and article 81 TFEU Developed a Cross border Conveyance Reference Framework ( Based on: - Experience of pilots Netherlands /Spain; - Desk research Netherlands/Portugal; - Discussion with other stakeholders in three conferences; - Advices Universities of Maastricht (Netherlands), Valencia (Spain), Coimbra (Portugal)

Cross border Conveyance Reference Framework Choice of legislation of home country of foreign buyer: -for contractual obligations (Rome I, EC 593/2008) - for non contractual obligations (Rome II, EC 864/2007) Choice of jurisdiction of home country courts (Brussels I, EC 44/2001) Contract of sale in home country language Contract of sale by home country conveyancer Only possible when submission of foreign deeds is allowed For property rights respect Lex rei Sitae (art 345 TFEU)

Submission of foreign documents Results of questionnaire ELRA: submission possible in 50% of the MS Recent Supreme Court of Spain decision (STS 998/ June 2012) Foreign documents comparable to demanded documents in Spain have to be registered, regardless of formal differences Arguments among others: - Freedom of transfer of goods (article 1462 of the Spanish Civil Code) - EU tendency to avoid duplication of formal requirements - Commission’s Green Paper: Less bureaucracy for citizens

Pitfalls for foreign conveyancers (1) a.Different systems for Land Registries: -Title system, (foreign conveyancer can rely on output from the land register); -Deeds system, (foreign conveyancer has to scrutinize the deeds) b. Foreign languages in Land Register: -If EULIS MS - translation in English for all plots available -If non-EULIS MS - translation in English on demand of specific plots Deeds systems Advice CCRF: on demand positive (title) statement from registrar in English

Pitfalls for foreign conveyancers (2) Land registers, no info about: - Public limitations (for example public domain with restrictions for new buildings); - Public obligations (for example obligations to clean up polluted soil) To be collected from Municipalities or other governmental bodies.

Pitfalls for foreign conveyancers (3) Differences cadastral/legal boundary Cadastral (taxes) boundary: spatial data collected by surveyor. Legal boundary: description in words based on visual boundary marks (you buy what you see in the field). Neglecting differences could lead to neglecting public limitations/obligations

Pitfalls for foreign conveyancers (4) Electronic communication Different types of process: - eLodging (digital duplicate / original on paper) - eRegistration (lodgement of documents in electronic format only) -eConveyancing (paperless transactions through all stages conveyance process) Interoperability questions: - Format - Electronic signatures - Time stamping CCRF: principles of good IT governance and best practices ELRA Member States

Repository with clauses: - Demanded for registration; -Optional protection against unknown legislation Glossary with explanations of national legal terms Reference information about legal systems (ELRN) Helpdesk to: - Fulfil formalities; - Collect non Land Registry info Support for foreign CROBECO conveyancers

CROBECO II JANUARY 2013 – DECEMBER 2014

CROBECO II Specialized CROBECO conveyancers in home countries of foreign buyers Support for CROBECO conveyancers by implementing: -Repository of clauses -Glossary with explanations of national legal terms - Helpdesks in countries with many foreign buyers Initially with buyers from England / Netherlands of property rights in Portugal / Spain

ORGANIZATION Steering Committee ConferencesHelpdeskRepository Web platform

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