Instruction N°.007/Y.18/MINDAF/D300 of relating to the functioning of land Registry Offices
Decree N°.2005/178 of May 2005 to organize the Ministry of state property and tenure establishes Divisional Land Registry offices.
This instruction aims to define the rules governing the functioning and the attributes of the Divisional Registry Officer
I – DUTIES OF THE REGISTRY OFFICER
Registry officers shall mainly be entrusted with:
– Responding to registration applications and registering property under this system in land registers;
– Recording , in land registers the real rights and emcumberments over the registered property ;
– Conserving instruments plans and any document pertaining to registered buildings;
– Informing the public on properties from records ;
– Calculating and collecting the required fees regarding various registration formalities as per statutory rate.
I – 1 REGISTRATION FORMALITIES
After 30 (thirty) days, commencing on the date of publication of the final demarcation notice in the provincial bulletin of land notices, and after re-verifying the regularity of the application for registration and enclosed documents as well as ensuring that all prescriptions towards advertising this procedure have been fulfilled and that no claims nor applications for registration rights in a special record have been made, the land Registry office shall register the property in the land register.
The issue of a duplicatum of land certificate or ownership certificate shall be subject to the prior payment of a statutory fee.
Each case of registration shall prompt the land Registry officer to establish a land certificate showing the following elements:
– Description, composition situation and boundaries of property;
– Owner’s civil status ;
– Existing real property rights and encumberments.
Each land certificate shall bear a serial number and a special name. A plan of the property shall be appended to the document.
I -2 RECORDING OF RIGHTS IN THE LAND REGISTER
The land Registrar’s activity in registering landed property rights shall depend on the nature of the deed as follows:
II – 2-2 RECORDING OF ADMINISTRATIVE DEEDS THAT CONSTITUTE THE REAL PROPERTY RIGHTS OF PUBLIC BODIES
The deeds mentioned above shall mainly concern decrees to incorporate, expropriate. Classify and downgrade lands for the benefit of the public body.
Upon notification of the said deed, the land Registrar shall carry out specific operations regarding the nature and legal impact thereof.
a) Incorporation of a parcel of national lands into private property or a corporate public body private property.
The land Registrar shall
– Request the demarcation of a property not demarcated ;
– Ensure of the availability of the property to be registered,
especially in the event of double demarcation and encroachment on state land ;
– Register the property concerned, making sure that the cadastral records related thereto are signed by the competent officers.
b) Expropriation of a private property to state’s or public body’s benefit
The land Registrar shall:
– Request for the updating of all land certificates subject for expropriation ;
– Convert the expropriated land certificate to the name of the beneficiary public body, or parcel out the land certificates partly expropriated, using adequate cadastral documents ;
– Carry out all necessary verification to prevent or avoid land certificate overlaps
c) GRADING EQUIVALENT TO THE EXPROPRIATION OF CERTAIN LAND
CERTIFICATES TO THE BENEFIT OF THE STATE ARTIFICIAL PRIVATE PROPERTY
The land Registrar shall:
– Request the demarcation of the concerned property;
– Note down all necessary comments on the expropriated land certificate.
These recommendations shall aim, especially to nullify all previous right and to vacate the newly created parcel of state land, conferring on it all legal inalienable unssessable and unprescriptible rights.
For these recommendations to have full effect, the registrar shall ensure that any amendment on the land certificate be replicated on the duplicatum handed to the owner.
The letter shall be requested to produce hi/her duplicatum h. If the owner fails to do so after a request he/she shall forfeit the right of ownership and such rights shall only be restored upon the fulfillment of the required formalities.
d) DOWGRADING STATE LANDS TO THE BENEFIT OF PUBLIC BODIES
The Land Registrar shall publish and implement this decree in the same manner as those concerning the incorporation decree mentioned above.
I -2-2 CONVEYANCE OF RIGHTS ON PUBLIC BODIES LANDED PROPERTY
a) ALLOTMENT OF LAND TO A PUBLIC BODY
The Registrar shall:
– Request the demarcation of the parcel concerned;
– Give usage rights in order to oppose third parties claims.
In this regard, the Land Registrar shall request the demarcation of the parcels concerned, then proceed to the transfer of the said property to the beneficiary corporate public body making sure that all legal issues are handled on time and continuously.
b) LEASEHOLD OR FREEHOLD OF STATE LANDS
The same precaution as those regarding the assignment of state lands shall guide the land Registrar’s action.
C) ASSIGNMENT OF PROPERTY TO CORPORATE BODIES OTHER THAN THE STATE
The Land Registrar shall ensure that deeds relating thereto bear the visa of the Minister in charge of state lands, in accordance with section 13 (2) of ordinance N°.74/2 of 6 July 1974 to define the land system.
I -2-3 EXTINCTION OF REAL RIGHTS ON STATE PRIVATE PROPERTY OR ON DISMEMBERMENTS THEREOF THE ORDER TO FORFEIT PROPERTY RIGHTS
The land Registrar shall immediately implement the forfeiture deed by recording in the land register the transfer of the land certificate to the state from the forfeited allotee.
He shall order the latter to present the duplicatum of the land certificate in his possession for an up-date of the land register information as well as that of the duplicatum.
The land Registrar cannot legally write anything regarding this plot, except all the formalities mentioned above are done.
I -2-4 PROTECTIVE DEEDS
Emergency measures such as legal prenotations shall be recorded in land register by the land Registrar.
For all cases of registration of protective measures, the land Registrar shall verify as a prerequisite the final and opposable nature of the said deeds.
I – 2-5 UPDATHINGS THE STATE’S LAND CERTIFICATES
Section 9 of decree N°79/17 of 13 January on private non-movable property transactions, states that land registers and cadastral documents shall be definitely updated by the competent services, prior to the handing of certificates to their owners.
These provisions shall apply to states and other public corporate bodies land certificates
1-3 CONSERVATION OF DEEDS MAPS AND DOCUMENTS RELATING TO
REGISTERED LANDED PROPERTY
The Land Registrar shall be responsible for all the land registers, files card-index and documents in his custody and take measures to prevent their destruction and degradation, and preserve the genuineness of the information they contain.
These measures shall especially involve:
– Registering and classifying files in a chronological order ;
– Getting the registry signed by the president of the court of first instance where the land registry is found ;
– Instituting adequate procedural and disciplinary norms to supervise the duty of the registry’s keeper of records;
– Ensuring smooth collaboration with surveys and land tenure services.
1-4 COMMUNICATING RECORDS CONTENT TO THE PUBLIC
The certificate of ownership the statement recording of rights and the certificates attesting of other entries on the land certificate shall be the statutory means to communicate to the public the content of the land register.
All other means are prohibited and the land registrar held responsible.
1-5 LIQUIDATION OF MISCELLANEOUS FORMALITIES APPROPRIATE
FEES
In accordance with the finance law in force, the land registrar shall issue a payment order to enable the concerned user pay the fees provided for in section 19 of ordinance N°.74/1 of 6july 1974 to establish rules governing land tenure and relating to issuing the land certificate for the various entries in the land register and for the issue of certificates and statement of record from the land register.
II- DOCUMENT TO BE ISSUED BY THE LAND REGISTRAR
The interested users shall solicit from the land registrar the following
documents
1. Land certificate duplicatum
2. Ownership certificate
3. Certificate of registration of rights and fees
4. Certified true copy of land certificate
5. Statement of real non-movable property
III- THE LAND REGISTRAR’S WORKING TOOLS
The land register, the land registrar shall keep the following three (3) registers:
1. Pre-registration formalities register
2. Direct registration claims register
3. Submission of deeds and documents register
As indicated above these records shall be signed by the president of the court of first instance of the land registry’s jurisdiction.
IV- THE LAND REGISTRAR’S LEGAL RESPONSIBILITY
As a sworn state employee the land registrar shall be subject in the exercise of hi/her duties to various types of responsibilities.
1- DISCIPLINARY RESPONSIBILITY
Any abnormal behavior on the part of land register shall expose him to disciplinary measures provided for by the laws and regulations governing the Cameroon public service (Labour code public service general rules and regulations etc.)
2 CIVIL AND PECUNIARY RESPONSIBILITY
This especially implies the obligation to repair damages caused to a third party in accordance with section 11 42 of civil code in the event of him carelessly carrying out or not carrying out his/her assigned duties. Also in the case where the land registrar’s action shall lead to the state being sentenced by the substitution of responsibilities to compensate the victims a cross claim action shall be lodged against the latter for his/her blameworthy deeds.
2- LEGAL RESPONSIBILITY
This responsibility is based on sections 74 (2) 73 and 83 (1) of the penal code with especially state that legal responsibility is applicable to all including civil servants in the exercise of their duties and that ignorance of the law shall be no excuse for legal responsibility.
I attach must importance to the strict respect of this instruction whose follow-up shall be entrusted to provincial and Divisional Delegates of sate property and land Tenure.
