Hacia un modelo interactivo del TDAH

The last difference mentioned here concerns the organizations that are involved in the system of land registration. When taking the system of land registration in a broad sense there are always several players active in addition to the parties who have entered in a transaction. In most countries some of these players are governmental organizations, whereas others are private practitioners. Usually more than one governmental organization is involved, although there are also countries with one integrated authority performing all governmental functions.

governmental organizations

Usually a key role in a system of land registration is played by one or more governmental organizations. Often the functions of land registration (in a narrow sense) and cadastre (see § 2.1.2) are performed by different organizations. The organization performing the former function can be part of the judiciary (regional courts; e.g. Austria, Sweden), another body within the Ministry of Justice (e.g. England), a body within the Ministry of Lands (e.g. Ghana) or a more independent land registry. The latter functions are usually performed by a cadastral authority or a survey department. Different countries have these organizations as part of different ministries, like the Ministry of Finance (e.g. Bavaria (Germany)), the Ministry of Lands (e.g. Ghana), the Ministry of Building (e.g. Berlin, Bremen, Hamburg (Germany)), the Ministry of Economy (e.g. Austria, Baden-Württemberg, Hessen (Germany)) or the Ministry of Internal Affairs (most other German States).

There is also a number of countries in which these governmental functions are combined in one authority, which again can fall under different ministries (Finance in e.g. France or Lands in e.g. Indonesia). In some cases the organization is more independent and only reports through a minister (e.g. Minister of Planning in the Netherlands) or directly to the council of ministers or the presidency (e.g. in Slovakia, Hungary and Moldova).

The introduction of computer databases has influenced the issue of one or more organizations. For instance Austria has introduced one database for the information kept by the courts and the survey departments without changing their organizational structure. On the other hand it was reported that Sweden, which also has a relatively long history of using computer databases in its system, was considering combining the different functions into one organization.

In several long established market economies far reaching privatization plans have been enacted, which have also affected land registration functions to some extent. Usually these functions remain a monopoly regulated by law, but the organizations are set up and run like commercial firms, sometimes in the form of a joint venture (e.g. the Netherlands, New Zealand, New South Wales (Australia), Ontario and New Brunswick (Canada)).

private practitioners

Although not everybody agrees with what has been happening in respect of the privatization of land registries and cadastres, there has been a long established involvement of private practitioners in the system of land registration as a whole in many countries.

Often deeds can only be drafted by specialized lawyers (e.g. the Netherlands and Indonesia), or at least need their notarization (e.g. Austria). These lawyers can be notaries, conveyancers or (specialized) solicitors. Even in countries where it is not obligatory to use such legal experts, most people use their services due to the complexity and high financial stakes of land transactions.

The performance of boundary surveys (or cadastral surveys) is restricted to certain people in every country. Quite often this is not limited to government surveyors, but includes so- called licensed surveyors who operate as private firms. Often the cadastral authority or survey department is involved in the licensing process and approval of every survey performed (e.g. Austria and Ghana).

Several of the countries which have (semi) privatized their registries or cadastres, are making the licensing and approval systems more liberal, relying more on quality assurance and professional liability and less on bureaucratic procedures.

cooperation

In general the organizational aspects seem to be of great importance in the well functioning of the land registration systems. The author thinks that combining the registry and the cadastre in one organization is a very sensible thing to do. Already in 1972 the Ad Hoc Group of Experts on Cadastral Surveys and Mapping stated that ideally the two should be performed by a single agency, in order to have the best possible coordination (UN 1973: 32). Other advantages of this setup are a clearer structure for accountability and responsibility and a more efficient way of updating (Osskó/Niklasz 1999). Unfortunately the idea finds strong opposition in quite some countries due to historically grown (inter- ministerial) power balances, (legally) established agencies, and strong beliefs on division of administration and judiciary (compare UN 1973: 32). Ultimately, it is more important that the functions both stand for are performed in a coordinated way in which all organizations (public and private) cooperate well with each other, than how they are exactly organized. With regard to the constant stream of letters being send between the German courts and

49 _{At a presentation at HMLR in London as part of the technical tour during FIG 1998 it}

was mentioned that in 1996/97 about 200 claims were paid totaling around £ 1 million. By far the most claims were related to errors in the register and eight were due to fraud or forgery. Just over half the compensation paid involved the latter.

survey departments, Böhringer (1997: 175) says that “The exchange of data can only be discontinued as soon as both establishments have changed over to EDP systems.” That can be seen in the Austrian solution. There one, shared database, but separated responsibilities, has produced a workable scenario.