Defining Title Registration

Abstract

Land registration is the system under which titles to land are recorded. As outlined in Chap. 2 there are two basic divisions; deeds registration and title registration, and these have co-existed in many jurisdictions for decades. 1 Many researchers and commentators ascribe very lofty aims to land registration systems. For example Manthorpe claims that "the essential purpose of land registration worldwide: [is] to promote the social stability and the economic well being of all but especially the landless poor and disadvantaged." 2 Lawson and Rudden say that "[r]egistration is a familiar device for preserving evidence and guaranteeing its truth". 3 De Soto sees land registration as part of a process of capital formation and points out the difficulties that arise when property rights are not formalised. 4 The absence of an efficient, trustworthy and transparent property rights infrastructure-and thereby access to modern financial services enjoyed by all citizens-constitutes one of the most important obstacles for economic growth in developing and transition countries in general. 5 If the poor cannot participate in an expanding market because they do not have access to a legal property rights system that would allow them to realise the value of their assets then their assets are dead capital stuck in the extralegal sector. 6 In order to turn land into capital owners need a formal system that provides a representation of their ownership which can be easily combined, divided, mobilised