Land Registry News

A Message from the Land Registrar

On Wednesday 7 July the Land Titles Bill was passed by the Legislative Council. Now, nearly ten years after the Bill was first taken to the Legislature and 103 years since a scheme of title registration was proposed for the New Territories, the prospect of registration of titles in Hong Kong is set to become a reality. I would like to thank everyone who has helped to bring this important legislation into the statute books.

There is still much preparatory work to be done before the new ordinance will come into effect. I expect that this will take at least two years. Under the new conversion arrangement, existing properties will not come under the Title Registration system until twelve years after commencement. But, when they do, there will be no costly or time consuming process to go through.

When the legislation was first published, the then Registrar General, Noel Gleeson wrote "Although many of its provisions are unavoidably technical, this is not just about conveyancing and lawyers' law … the new law is very much in the nature of a people's law …" This idea was echoed in many of the speeches made during the debate in the Legislative Council. In all the preparatory work over the next two years, this goal of securing greater benefit for the public will remain at the forefront of my considerations.

K A SALKELD, J.P.
The Land Registrar & General Manager
The Land Registry Trading Fund, Hong Kong

Update: Information Systems Strategic Plan Implementation

Since last year-end the Land Registry has been putting its new Integrated Registration Information System (IRIS) through a stringent testing programme before we start the system migration stage.

The capabilities and capacity of IRIS are being verified during the tests. This includes proving of individual functions, system integration and trial of the whole system. Several rounds of Function Tests have been conducted. Every dimension of IRIS is being tested against strict acceptance standards. The contractor is refining the system to meet end user needs. We expect the testing to be completed by the end of summer. The legal process for bringing the remaining parts of the Land Registration (Amendment) Ordinance 2002 into effect cannot start until the new legislature convenes after the September elections. We expect that the legal process and all other preparation for the unified registry structure can be completed by the end of 2004 and that the central registration service and IRIS will be rolled out at that time.

To ensure quality service through the system migration, we have provided our staff with a comprehensive user-training programme. So far over 1,400 man-days of training has been arranged. We will post an electronic demonstration of the new online services on our website for customers to practise with. Land Registry Circular Memorandum and other publicity materials on procedural changes will be issued in due course.

Update: Land Titles Ordinance

The Bill passed the third reading in the Legislative Council on 7 July. Since the last newsletter, major changes have been made, following agreement to develop a new conversion mechanism that will do away with the certificates of good title required under the 'gradual' conversion mechanism. Under the now agreed scheme:

• All land under new Government leases - which will include most categories of lease regranted after a surrender - will come under the title registration system once the legislation commences;
• All existing land and property will remain under the Land Registration Ordinance (LRO) for a period currently set at 12 years;
• The LRO is amended to introduce two new instruments, a 'caveat' and a 'caution against conversion'. The caveat will allow notice to be given of a claim that can be made under an interest that is otherwise unregisterable under the LRO. Upon conversion of the land at the end of the 12 years this notice will be preserved as a 'non-consent caution' under the Land Titles Ordinance, safeguarding the claimant's potential interest in rem. The caution against conversion will allow a claimant to title to prevent the conversion of a property until his claim has been settled under the existing law.
• At the end of the 12 years, all existing property will be converted automatically to the title registration system except where a caution against conversion stands or where instruments already presented for registration under the LRO have not yet completed registration. These exceptional cases will come onto the title register as soon as the matter preventing their conversion has been settled.
  

In addition to these changes to the conversion mechanism, there have been substantial changes to the rectification and indemnity provisions to make their operation more certain. Opportunity has also been taken to carry out substantial revision to the legislation to simplify terms and refine the structure.

We have given undertakings to the Legislative Council that a number of subsisting questions will be further reviewed before the legislation is brought into effect. Furthermore, there is a large body of regulations that need to be made and extensive explanatory material to prepare for professional use and public education. We expect that it will take about two years to carry out all the necessary preparatory work. We have already begun to invite many of the partners who have helped with the development of the legislation to join us in this next stage of the work.

Revamp of the Training Information System

Training is a vital part of the support given to the Land Registry's staff for achieving our objective of giving better service to the community. With the set up of the Training Unit in 1996, a simple and command-based database was adopted to store training records. With better information technology and the ever-increasing operational needs, the Registry had developed a new Training Information System in-house. The new system which was launched on 6 April 2004 is:

• User-friendly
• Easily accessible via the departmental LAN
• Convenient for training administration

The new system benefits both staff and the management. Staff can easily retrieve their own training records any time through the departmental LAN while supervisors can access their staff's training records through the system. It greatly assists the management in human resources planning and staff development.

2004 Standard Chartered Hong Kong Marathon

In a cold, wet Sunday morning on 8 February 2004 when the outdoor temperature dropped to 6 ^oC - 8 ^oC, the Land Registry Marathon Racing Teams, their cheering colleagues and family members braved the rain and chill on one of Hong Kong's coldest days to participate in the 2004 Chartered Marathon. The Land Registry had nominated two corporate teams comprising four clerical staff in the ladies' team and five members of the Land Registration Officer and Clerical Grades in the men's team who successfully completed the 10-K Race. One courageous staff member from our Sha Tin New Territories Land Registry braved the challenge of the Half Marathon and finished in good time.

The Land Registry has participated in the event for three years in succession. It has since become a memorable departmental function for all, especially those who are ready to contribute physically and/or financially towards meaningful community causes. Apart from the money we raised, the event has provided a valuable opportunity for the Land Registry and its staff to show our care for the community. We look forward to giving our best on the next occasion.

Land Registrars' Development Officers' Conference 2004

The Land Registrars' Development Officers' Conference 2004 was held on 5 to 7 May this year in Brisbane, Australia. The objective of the Conference is to share among the participating jurisdictions information and experience in the contemporary development of land registration practices and services.

Delegates from all states of Australia, New Zealand, England, Scotland, Singapore as well as our Information Technology Manager Danny Lau and Assistant Registry Manager KF Pang exchanged views on the best practices and shared practical experience in land registration issues during the busy but enjoyable time.

Topics discussed included updates on electronic conveyancing, latest development of auto registration, state-of-the-art IT and experience-sharing of good management practices. A site visit to the land search office of the Queensland Land Registry was also arranged.

A Conference website LARIX Forum has been set up to allow all jurisdictions to exchange information and discuss issues relating to land registration. Congratulations to KF, he grasped the honorable mention award for the best comment posted on the Forum.

Performance Pledges for 2004 /05

Through continuous good teamwork and staff dedication, the Land Registry has achieved all the performance pledges set for 2003/04. We are glad that the targets for all services were met by 100%.

As part of our continuing commitment to serve the public, we have reviewed the performance pledges. In view of the forthcoming implementation of the Integrated Registration Information System (IRIS) introducing new business processes, central registration and Internet search in late 2004, we will maintain the existing service standards in the coming months. New service types and service standards will be introduced upon IRIS live run.

Pamphlets on the performance pledges for 2004/05 have been released and copies are available for collection at any office of the Land Registry, the District Offices of the Home Affairs Department and major public libraries. It can also be downloaded from our website at http://www.landreg.gov.hk. A table showing the actual performance for major services of the Registry in 2003/04 and the service standards for 2004/05 is given overleaf.

Sale of Street Index (36th Edition) and New Territories Lot / Address Cross Reference Table (5th Edition)

The 36th edition of the Street Index and the 5th edition of the New Territories Lot/Address Cross Reference Table (CRT) are available for sale at the Street Index Unit and the Islands New Territories Land Registry on the 19th Floor and the 17th Floor of Queensway Government Offices from 26 April 2004 respectively.

The price of the Street Index or the CRT is HK$250 per compact disc. Licences for the use of the Street Index and the CRT compact discs on computer networks are also available. The licence fees for a computer network linked with less than 50 terminals and a computer network linked with 50 terminals or more are HK$2,000 and HK$4,000 respectively.

Since the 35th edition of the Street Index, 623 amendments have been made and 8 new streets and 81 new lots/sections/subsections have been added to the Street Index data. As for the CRT, 6,307 amendments have been made and 44 new streets and 5,477 new lots/sections/subsections have been added to the CRT data since the 4th edition.

For enquiries, please contact the Street Index Unit at 2867 2816 and the CRT Unit at 2867 8071.

COMMENTS

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