Keeper's corner

ARTL – Draft Order Consultation

The Agency has published for consultation a draft order under section 8 of the Electronic Communications Act 2000, which is intended to make the legislative changes necessary to introduce automated registration of title to land (ARTL).

Changes are proposed to the Requirements of Writing (Scotland) Act 1995 to permit that deeds such as dispositions and standard securities created within the ARTL system may validly be created as electronic documents. These electronic documents will be authenticated by electronic signature. The draft order sets out the proposed requirements that digitally signed electronic documents must meet in order to be valid formally and to have self-proving status. It is proposed that the Keeper, by direction, be empowered to set out conditions as to the creation and certification of acceptable digital signatures. The consultation paper includes an indicative draft of such a direction.

Changes are also proposed to the Land Registration (Scotland) Act 1979. These are to introduce conditions on which electronic applications for registration may be made and to permit that land and charge certificates may be issued as electronic communications.

The consultation paper can be accessed online at www.ros.gov.uk/artl/latestnews and paper copies are also available from the Agency. The consultation period runs until 25 November and we welcome responses from all quarters.

Contact: diane.mclennan@ros.gov.uk (ext 5019)

Feudal abolition and title conditions seminars

During September and October, Registers of Scotland has been running a series of “update seminars” under the title Feudal Abolition and Title Conditions 2005. The seminars are due to conclude in Glasgow late this month. Incorporating the benefit of almost a year’s experience of working with the legislation, the update seminars have focused strongly on practical advice, relative to changes in registration practice, and have given information on key issues such as the dual registration requirement, the differences between real burdens and servitudes, and the Keeper’s policy on updating Land Register titles.

The speakers at the seminars have been members of Registers of Scotland staff with a close knowledge of the legislation and registration practice. In all, 17 update seminars will have been held in various locations across Scotland. Feedback so far from solicitors who have attended indicates that the update seminars have been received as positively as the introductory seminars last year.

The Feudal Abolition pages on the Registers of Scotland website (www.ros.gov.uk/feudalabolition) have been updated to include material from the update seminars and a summary of matters raised in feedback will be added once the series has concluded.

Contact: ken.young@ros.gov.uk (ext 5687)

System testing for application forms

RoS is currently investigating the scanning of Land and Sasine Register application forms directly on to our registration systems. This will improve both the quality and accuracy of our data and the speed of processing of applications for registration in future.

We have established a prototype system which will scan Land Register and Sasine Register application forms to enable other parts of the registration system, including the application record, to be pre-populated automatically with application information.

A number of solicitors’ firms have been invited to participate in the prototype. Their involvement will enable us to obtain valuable feedback on the effectiveness of the technology and on the proposed layout of the forms, and will give them the opportunity to suggest any improvements that would benefit the wider solicitor community.

The feedback from this exercise will be combined with an internal review of the application forms, which will result in revised Land Register and sasine application forms being available early next year.

Contact: tim.shepherd@ros.gov.uk (ext 3879)

Direct debit payment coming

In April 2004, the Keeper intimated that he was soon to begin piloting direct debit payments and would be contacting some customers to assist in this exercise.

This pilot has now been concluded, and the business benefits envisaged from the pilot have been realised. Customers engaged in the pilot responded positively, and have confirmed their intention to continue to use this service in the future.

In light of this information, Registers of Scotland is pleased to announce that from 31 October 2005, direct debit payment methodology will be available to all customers. This will be available for prepayment of land registration and sasine registration fees. Full details on how to apply for direct debit payment of these fees will be included in a Registers Update.

The Agency hopes that that by providing a wider range of choice in terms of payment mechanisms, we will be able to meet the needs of individual firms. Our overarching objective is, as always, to improve customer service.

Contact: stephen.welham@ros.gov.uk (ext 3632)