5. Mode of registration
Feedback & supportLast amended by an amending law of 2025.
Any person desiring to register an instrument under this Act must present to the Registrar —
Registrar
“Registrar” means the Registrar of Deeds and includes any Deputy Registrar of Deeds appointed under this Act;
in the case of instruments other than private Acts, probates, letters of administration, orders of court and certificates of appointment of trustee in bankruptcy — the original and a memorial thereof;
in the case of orders of court or certificates of appointment of trustee in bankruptcy — an office copy and a memorial thereof;
in the case of a private Act — a copy purporting to be printed or published by the Government Printer and a memorial thereof;
in the case of probates or letters of administration — a memorial thereof prepared in accordance with the rules together with the probates or letters of administration; and
in the case of a memorandum of lien or charge, or a memorandum of discharge of lien or charge — the original and a memorial thereof.
Where the Registrar has accepted any instrument for provisional registration under this Act, he or she must —
allot a volume and number of the register to that instrument; and
endorse on the instrument or its memorial the volume and number which has been allotted and the date and time of acceptance of the instrument for provisional registration.
As soon as convenient after the provisional registration of any instrument has been effected, the instrument or its memorial must be duly enrolled in the register by an entry made in the index to land which is maintained by the Registrar for the purposes of the registration of instruments under this Act.
land
“land” means —(a)the surface of any defined parcel of the earth, so much of the subterranean space below the surface and so much of the column of airspace above the surface whether or not held apart from the surface as is reasonably necessary for the use and enjoyment of the proprietor, and includes any estate or interest therein and all vegetation growing thereon and structures affixed thereto; or(b)any parcel of airspace or any subterranean space held apart from the surface of the earth and described with certainty by reference to a plan approved by the Chief Surveyor and filed with the Authority, and includes any estate or interest therein and all vegetation growing thereon and structures affixed thereto,and where the context so permits, 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;
Upon the presentation for registration of an instrument affecting any land that has not been surveyed and demarcated to the satisfaction of the Chief Surveyor, the person on whose behalf the instrument is so presented is deemed to have made an application for the land to be surveyed and demarcated under the direction of the Chief Surveyor, and for the purposes of satisfying the Chief Surveyor on the survey and demarcation of the land, that person may either —
make application to the Chief Surveyor for the survey to be carried out by the Government Survey Department in which case the Chief Surveyor may either —
cause the survey to be carried out by the Government Survey Department; or
direct that a registered surveyor be employed to carry out the survey; or
satisfy the Registrar by annexing an assurance plan to the instrument which has been approved by the Chief Surveyor as provided in section 13(1)(c).