INTRODUCTION

1. The Land Registry has operated for the last 75 years under the Land Registration Act 1925 and supporting rules. The legislation is cumbersome, and needs substantive reform in a number of areas. The Law Commission and the Land Registry have been working together on its improvement. They issued a joint consultative document in September 1998. The responses to that have shaped both a major report on land registration, which will be published on 10 July and the current Bill. That has three main aims. First, it restates those aspects of the existing law which it retains in a clear, modern form. Secondly, it proposes a number of substantive improvements, cumulatively aimed at ensuring that the land register will, over time, give the most comprehensive and accurate information possible on the title to registered land, and at protecting the rights and interests of the owners and prospective buyers of registered land. Thirdly, it proposes a statutory framework which will allow registration to be carried out electronically.

2. This has required extensive and careful consideration of the delegated powers conferred by the legislation in this area. The Law Commission's report finds that the 1925 Act did not observe any very clear demarcation between matters which were the subject of primary legislation, and what was left to rules made under it, with a number of important matters left to delegated legislation, for example, the general boundaries rule which is restated in clause 60 of this Bill. The Bill aims to provide a more principled balance between primary legislation and the delegated powers proposed for the Lord Chancellor, with the rule-making powers being more clearly defined. They are of two kinds.

3. First, there are still extensive powers to make land registration rules covering the technical aspects of how registered conveyancing is to be conducted, such as matters of procedure, forms of applications and the content of notices. As now, those rules will be made by the Lord Chancellor acting on advice from the Rule Committee (whose membership is widened by the Bill), by statutory instrument to be laid before Parliament. The same Parliamentary procedure will apply to the making of rules relating to proceedings before the adjudicator and the forwarding of applications to the registrar of companies, regulations, or to an order allocating applications to a particular office of the registry.

4. Secondly, the Bill confers some delegated powers which relate to matters of substance. These include the reduction in the length of leases which are registrable, and certain powers in connection with electronic conveyancing, including for the compulsory use of electronic means in some or all conveyancing transactions. Such rules or orders will be made only after consultation, and will be subject to annulment in pursuance of a resolution of either House of Parliament.

5. Clause 125 sets the framework for the exercise of the delegated powers under this Bill. It provides that:

• All rule, regulation and order-making powers of the Lord Chancellor are exercisable by statutory instrument; and
• He may make different provision for different cases.

THE RULE COMMITTEE

6. Certain rules and orders, as indicated below, are subject to annulment by resolution by either House of Parliament. The making of land registration rules (as distinct from other rules, regulations and orders under the Bill) by the Lord Chancellor is undertaken with the advice and assistance of a Rule Committee. The Rule Committee under the current legislation comprises:

• A High Court Judge
• The Chief Land Registrar
• A representative of the Bar
• A representative of The Law Society.

7. Modern conveyancing practice now requires the effective co-operation of a number of other professionals, and licensed conveyancers are now a significant part of the market. The Bill therefore adds:

• A representative of the Council of Mortgage Lenders
• A representative of the Council of Licensed Conveyancers
• Any other person nominated by the Lord Chancellor as appearing to him to have qualifications or experience of value to the committee.

8. Rules not classed as land registration rules under the Bill are clearly marked in the text below. In addition the rule-making powers which specifically require the Lord Chancellor to consult appropriate persons first have been identified.

9. Under the Land Registration Act 1925 the general rule-making powers are collected together in one section. The current rules rely heavily on the catch-all rule-making power at the end of that section to fill in the gaps left by the other 30 paragraphs. It is not therefore possible to produce a meaningful table comparing the rule-making powers provided by the Bill with those under the current system. In addition, the Bill has made a more principled split of matters between primary and secondary legislation, with more focussed rule-making powers than currently exist.