«Land registrars have to make their voice heard when they claim for security of the land registry»
Dear Mihai, could you introduce yourself as President of ELRA and also tell us about your experience as a Registrar in your country, Romania?
First of all, thank you for reaching out! It is always a pleasure to discuss with you, knowing that both of us are having similar goals regarding land registry.
This year I turn 20 as a land registrar in Romania, preciously as the chief land registrar of Brasov County, Romania, after other 10 years as a land registry clerk. As all land registrars in Romania, I am licensed in law, and I gave the great and rare opportunity to contribute to the development of a new land registry system in Romania. This topic requires a special interview, so i keep it short: due to it’s historical evolution Romania had two different land registry system operating in different areas of Romania. The legislator decided to extend the title system at country level, replacing the deed system in 1996, but the real switch was made in 2005 when the National Agency for Cadastre and Land registration was established, merging cadastre from Ministry of Agriculture with land registry from Ministry of justice. That was also the moment of birth of a new profession – the new land registrars – who took over the land registry duties exercised before by judges. It wasn’t an easy transition, and I may say that, despite of these 20 years, we still have to harmonize things and to consolidate our profession. Land registry requires careful and solid regulation, because the impact is far from being sudden. It may take more than 10 years to reveal the real consequences of superficial or mistaken regulations. And it might happen to be costly or – in the worst case scenario – irreversible.
2005 was also the year when I start to cooperate with my second professional home – European Land registry Association. I still recall the first e-mail I received from Alicia, our head of secretariat and the first meetings. So, from my perspective, the last 20 years are the perfect professional blend between my daily duties and the cooperation with ELRA.
I believe in this organization and in the role it plays for land registry organizations in Europe, and I got involved in all its projects from the beginning. After these years I may say it is my second job. It enhances my knowledge widening my perspective and helping me to learn and understand how land registry can be improved to better serve the need of legal certainty and social peace. I wish people outside our professional bubble to listen even more carefully what land registry is saying or demanding, because it doesn’t claim for itself but for the purpose it exists.
I was honoured to become the president of this amazing organization and knowing the value of our members. I’m doing my best to meet their expectations and to make the right decisions. It is challenging these days, but also satisfying, because I do believe in our team and I’m very grateful for the trust they put in me.
What has been your relationship with IPRA-Cinder?
For me as a land registrar and a Romanian contact point in ELRA, IPRA-CINDER was a later discovery although I know now the long and impressive history of this organization. I was excited to discover that there is an international organization dealing with land registries from different continents. During the time, as ELRA and IPRA-CINDER developed a closer cooperation I got involved in its congresses, seminars and meetings. I always felt welcome in IPRA-CINDER, and I believe in our continuous cooperation.
What role do you attribute to international associations of registrars such as ELRA or IPRA-CINDER?
Both organizations are playing an important role in raising awareness about the role played by land registries in legal certainty and all the benefit derived from this. This legal certainty land registries should provide is one of the cheapest tools for increasing national economy and preserving or acquiring social peace. But this tool has to be used properly. And here comes the role of our organizations by providing know-how, exchange of best practices, creating a collaborative environment and a hub of ideas.
Land registry has to keep up with the latest legal and technical developments and to adapt to new environments. We already know the diversity of land registries, but we also know that there are some immutable principles which has to be preserved in order to keep the value of the land registries. New technologies may look very tempting and there is no doubts land registry will be influenced, but the core aims will always be the same: land registry as a reliable erga omnes source of accurate, up to date, complete information regarding property rights.
“The importance of land registry has to be understood by all those involved in the creation and implementation of an adequate legal framework”
Certainly the registry systems in Europe are very consolidated, however there are other regions of the world where registry institutions are developing; to what extent do you think that Cinder can contribute with its experience to support these projects?
In this question context, land registries in the world shall be viewed from two different perspectives: land registry type and stage of evolution.
To contribute to the development of land registries in certain countries, it is important to take advantage of previous experiences and to adapt to the specific requirements of that particular land registry. Indeed, land registries in Europe are more or less stable, but there are valuable lessons to be learned from each national system and there are also ongoing processes of updating land registries. One of the stronger lessons is that land registrars shall advice about land registry.
Land registry is not protecting itself, but is protecting the civil traffic of property rights, ensuring a trustful transfer of rights or a secure mortgage rights environment, for instance. Despite the misleading sintagma “land registry”, this institution is dealing mainly with the substantial or formal legal control over property rights registration. Who else if not land registrars have the closest connection with the land registry? Their hands on experience is the most relevant and one trying to implement or improve and land registry shall take it into consideration. It might also help to avoid costly mistakes which might appear too late after the implementation.
In a globalized and interconnected environment, such as the one we live in, do you think that citizens are aware of the security and guarantee offered by the Registries?
No. Land registry is quite abstract. I understood this when I was asked by friends of mine, what I’m actually doing at work? I think is normal, people are naturally not interested in things that are not interesting for then or are not affecting them. Land registry is somehow like health: you start to appreciate it more, once you miss it. So, as long as land registry accomplishes its mission, everything is fine. But it not people’s task to take care of land registry. The importance of land registry has to be understood by all those involved in the creation and implementation of an adequate legal framework.
What do you think are the main risks of digitalisation?
I see the benefits of digitalization implemented in a proper way: mitigated bureaucracy, more secure environment, faster services, for instance. But if we take a closer look to the milestones of digitalization process, we’ll notice also the need for adaptation to this new environment. First comes the transition to digital environment and the period when paperwork and digital work coexists. Although digital processes are miming the paperwork, there might be technical constraints which will require adaptation or redefinition of workflows. I would advise for an accelerated process of digitization and digitalization, but without any prejudice to the quality of data. Risk of garbage in-garbage out shall be eliminated, because once existent the information will be taken for granted in the digital processes and I expect a low interest in checking it twice. So, the risk of replicating an error is increased.
Secondly, legal framework has to be updated and adapted to this new environment. Reformation of land registries is a natural process related to the new technical breakthrough, but it shouldn’t imply deformation of these systems. Thirdly, people has to be trained and land registrars has to overpass the reluctance which might occur. So, if I have to define some risks I would say that the main risk is to fail the proper digitalization process.
There is the risk to overestimate the value of digitalization; it will not replace the need of legal checking and it shouldn’t reduce the complexity of human relations to predefined algorithmic cases. Many years ago, a land registry digitalization process failed just because of too much certainty on what the new system was able to do. There is no doubt that some processes can be automated until a certain point, and I have no doubts this will happen. However, we have to bear in mind that land registry information is crucial and there are other related systems (courts, banks, notaries etc) who completely rely on it. The failure of a digital land registry will generate a chain reaction in all adjacent systems.
“We already know the diversity of land registries, but we also know that there are some immutable principles which has to be preserved in order to keep the value of the land registries”
And consequently, what do you think are the main challenges that we as registars have to face at the moment?
I started my professional carrier as a land registry clerk. In my first day of work, I got a typing machine. Few years later I brought my own PC to the office in order to speed up my work and to reduce the typing mistakes. I started to use Word and its “protected fields” to create records and land registry excepts.
In 2005 the national authority (ANCPI) has started to develop an IT system dealing with land registry process. We are now at the 3rd version and it is almost obsolete. I don’t expect to end my carrier in the same environment And I’m looking forward to the changes to come. What is obvious is that we are in a continuous evolution. As land registrar we also have to evolve and to adapt. European legislation, foreign languages, IT&C skills are now common for nowadays land registrars.
Land registrars have to make their voice heard when they claim for security of the land registry. They are the guardians safeguarding people’s assets and they require a proper environment. Here also comes the role of our organizations in contributing to a better understanding of land registry not as journal of time-lined events, but as a secure system for property rights registration meant to provide legal certainty and contributing in this way to economic growth and social peace.
Alfonso Candau
