36. Substituted certificates
Feedback & supportThe Registrar may issue a substituted certificate of title to replace any duplicate certificate of title which has been lost or destroyed or which is being improperly or wrongfully withheld.
Registrar
“Registrar” means the Registrar of Titles appointed pursuant to this Act.
Any substituted certificate of title shall be an exact copy of the relevant folio of the land-register, and shall be as valid as the certificate which is lost, destroyed or withheld, and shall be usable for any purpose for which that certificate might have been used.
land
“land” means the surface of any defined parcel of the earth, and all substances thereunder, and so much of the column of air above the surface as is reasonably necessary for the proprietor’s use and enjoyment, and includes any estate or interest in land and all vegetation growing thereon and structures affixed thereto. Subject to any provision to the contrary the proprietorship of land includes natural rights to air, light, water and support and the right of access to any highway on which the land abuts;
Application for a substituted certificate of title may be made by the proprietor of the land therein comprised, or by any person claiming through him, and shall be supported by evidence of the loss or destruction and, in the case of loss, by such evidence of search for the instrument as the Registrar may require.
The Registrar, before issuing a substituted certificate of title, may give 14 days’ notice of his intention to do so in one or more daily newspapers.
The Registrar shall enter in the relevant folio of the land-register a notification of the issuing of any substituted certificate of title, and that notification shall operate to cancel the lost or withheld certificate for all purposes, notwithstanding the fact that the certificate might subsequently be recovered.[32