239 Registration branch Personnel at i February 1958: registrars 32 administrative and clerical staff: 512 Transactions 1953/1957: number of documents transcribed (transfers, etc.): 612,000 number of documents recorded (mortgage deeds) 452,400 Surveying branch Personnel at 1 February 1958: 1218 (including 225 'landmeters'). Number of lots constituted 1953/1957 by the surveying service 378,000 by the service for special surveying operations and the reallot- ment service 64,000 Number of new cadastral plans (surveys) made 1953/1957: scale 1500 11000 12000 12500 15000 by way of revision 5 750 21 20 65 by way of reallotment 1 38 310 74 1 For comparison it may be noted that the territory of the Netherlands is about 33,500 square kilometers (12.800 sq.m.) and that the population numbers about 11 million. 2. Legal basis Land registration in the Netherlands is governed by an 'incomplete negative' system. Negative, because without transcription of a deed in the public registers there can be no transfer of real property, but transcription does not guarantee that the published deed is valid in law. Incomplete nega tive, because not all changes in ownership require transcription of a deed in the public registers (e.g., in case of succession, combination of estates, sep aration, legacy). Under this system a third party proceeding on the assumption that the transcription records valid title is generally not protected. The negative system implies a passive attitude on the part of the registrar, which means that as a matter of principle this official does not investigate the deeds of fered to him for publication and that he must not refuse such publication. After the introduction of the civil code (Burgerlijk Wetboek) the nineteenth century saw action from various sides in favour of a positive system, up holding the principle that a third party should in general be allowed to trust what has been published in the public registers. This battle has now subsided. In 1953 the question was put before parliament in connection with preparations for a new civil code as to whether the negative system ought to be continued. The discussion proved that it was generally felt that the negative system should remain in force, as realization of the positive system entails extensive administrative action, whereas the existing system in spite of its theoretical drawbacks does not cause undue difficulty in prac tice. It was thought that the system should be improved to the effect that third parties acting in good faith on the strength of what has been published in the register should be protected under certain conditions. The draft for a new civil code consequently includes a clause saying that no person may hold against a third party any fact which he might have published but which was not thus published, unless the third party might have been aware of such fact from other publications or announcements. That the negative system in practice presents no difficulty at all is largely due to the fact that the registrar informs parties concerned when he discovers defects in a deed, and also due to the conscientiousness with which the notary public or conveyancer establishes a deed which must be executed before a notary under article 671 of the Burgerlijk Wetboek (inserted with effect from 15 August 1956 by act dated 28 June 1956, Staatsblad 376) in case of transfer of real property and of establishment of title to real estate.

Digitale Tijdschriftenarchief Stichting De Hollandse Cirkel en Geo Informatie Nederland

Tijdschrift voor Kadaster en Landmeetkunde (KenL) | 1958 | | pagina 41