The Object of the Bill is gradually to replace the present system of "registration of deeds" by a new system of ''registration of title to land".

The current system provides the means for the registration, in a public registry, of all deeds conveying immovable property and of real rights on such property. The registration is made, and the index is kept, by reference to the parties to the deed; and it is very cumbersome, often impossible, to find out, from the registry, who owns what and, more so, the liabilities that attach to the property. Moreover a deed does not necessarily transfer title, and there is therefore no certainty that the transferee is in fact the proprietor of the title which the deed purports to transfer.

Until recently the title to land in Malta was further complicated by the effect of general hypothecs on immovables. It will be recalled that the hypothecary system was radically changed in 1975. As a result of those changes, except for previous general hypothecs the effect of which on third parties will cease completely in 1985, only special hypothecs can now affect property transferred by the debtor.

Other steps previously taken to pave the way for the new system of registration of title were the abolition of the right of pre-emption and the dissolution of the contract of sale on the ground of lesion.

Under the system which the Bill proposes to introduce, what will be registered is not the deed conveying the land but the title to the land and the charges, rights, interest and incumbrances to which the land may be subject. All these will result from a certificate which assures to the proprietor of the title a security of tenure which for most practical purposes will be absolute, unless the certificate otherwise specifies. Consequently anyone examining the certificates can see at a glance, who owns or otherwise holds the land, under what title or titles, and the charges etc. to which the land is subject. Subject to certain inevitable precautions - such as those against the fraud of the person appearing on the certificate to be a proprietor - the certificate is a mirror of all that matters concerning the property to which it relates.

This security enables the proprietor of the title to transfer it with practically the same ease as if he were transferring shares in a company.

The system is, of course, not immune to human error. But even these errors do not affect the title shown on the register and consequently on the certificate. Where such mistakes do happen, the proposed law will provide for the payment out of a fund established by the law itself. of an indemnity for any loss sustained.

Another important advantage of the new system is that land is registered by reference, not to a deed and the parties to it, but to a map showing the location, configuration, size and other important data concerning it and to its number of registration, the latter being also the number of the certificate of registration.

This new system, which is indifferently described as "registration of title to land" or ''land registration" and also, though less accurately, as the "Torrens system'', is not to be confused with the system known as "Cadastre", a french system meaning a public register of the quality, value and ownership of the immovable property in a country, compiled by the state for its own purposes, mainly to serve as a basis for taxation. The system the Bill proposes Lo introduce has as its main purpose a guaranteed security at tenure for the registered proprietor and ease of conveyancing of immovable property.

The new system will be introduced with a speed compatible with the time necessary for the examination of titles to land prior to their registration. It is felt that the quickest way is to designate specific areas and to subject all conveyancing (and indirectly also all transmissions by succession) in that area to registration. The main advantage of this procedure is that the title of the transferor and consequently that of the transferee who applies for registration will have already been examined by the latter's legal advisor, and its confirmation by the Registrar will normally be a matter of routine. 

Provision is, however, also being made for voluntary registration. Indeed in so far as this can be done without delaying registration where this is compulsory, voluntary registration will be encouraged in order that the titles to all land in Malta and Gozo will be registered in the shortest possible time.
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