Dear Editor,
The issue raised by Attorney-at-Law Mr Leon Rockliffe in a letter in the Stabroek News of August 15 ‘Government should urgently amend the Land Registry Act’ has been raised by the Guyana Bar Association and the legal profession on a number of occasions.
Most recently, on May 22, 2015, Mr Ronald Burch-Smith, the immediate past President of the GBA, wrote to President Granger pointing to the state of dysfunctionality of the Registry and the unlawful appointment of the Registrar Ms Juliet Sattaur. Mr Burch-Smith took the opportunity in his letter to point out that section 7 (1) of the Land Registry Act Cap 5:02 provides as follows:
“There shall be a Registrar of Lands and a Deputy Registrar of Lands who shall be the persons for the time being holding the Offices of Registrar of Deeds and Deputy Registrar of Deeds respectively”.
He added that Ms Sattaur who was appointed by the previous administration as ‘Registrar of Lands’ was “neither the Registrar of Deeds nor the Deputy Registrar of Deeds and as such the appointment is in breach of the express and clear provisions of the Land Registry Act and is illegal.”
While there was no direct response to Mr Burch-Smith’s letter, Ms Sattaur was sent on leave and Ms Paula Ferdinand, Deputy Registrar of Deeds, was assigned to the Land Registry to carry out the statutory functions of the Land Registry. For some unknown reason, Ms Ferdinand was there very fleetingly, after which she returned to her substantive position. My understanding is that instructions then went out that no transfers or Certificates of Title were to be issued, effectively bringing the Registry to a halt.
Having received complaints and representations from attorneys, in my capacity as President of the Bar Association, I wrote President Granger on the matter, registering our concern “that the void now created has exacerbated rather than solved the problem.” I also took the opportunity to repeat the point made on numerous occasions by various persons, including Messrs Rockliffe and Burch-Smith, that until the Land Registry Act “is amended, the holders of the Offices of Registrar of Deeds and Deputy Registrar of Deeds should be assigned to undertake the duties and functions of the Registrar of Lands and a Deputy Registrar of Lands respectively.”
No response has been received from the Ministry of the Presidency to the two letters to President Granger. In the meanwhile however, we have learnt that the Ministry of the Presidency appointed an attorney-at-law as Registrar of Lands without an amendment to the Land Registry Act. Regrettably, that continues the very unlawful action to which the Bar Association had drawn attention.
Notwithstanding the reported appointment, it is my view that the proper and desirable course of action should have been as follows:
- i) that consultations should precede any decision to amend the law replacing the Registrar and the Deputy Registrar of Deeds, ex officio, as the Registrar of Lands and a Deputy Registrar of Lands respectively;
- ii) that the Land Registry ought to return to the pre-2006 position whereby it fell under the Office of the Attorney General and the Minister of Legal Affairs; and
iii) that if it is decided that separate offices of Registrar and Deputy Registrar of Lands are to be created, the appointments should be made by the Public Service Commission, after the vacancies have been properly advertised.
Yours faithfully,
Christopher Ram
President
Guyana Bar Association
