Principles of the Land Registry in the Czech Republic

The new legislation on the Land Registry in the Czech Republic (related to the New Civil Code) is based on the following fundamental principles:

Material Publicity Principle

The land registry will be governed by the material publicity principle, i.e. the protection of good faith. If the entry made in the land registry does not reflect the actual legal status, such entry in the land registry will favour the person (confirm its right) who acquired the right in rem for consideration in good faith from a person authorized according to the status (entry) recorded in the registry. In other words it is presumed that what is registered in the Land Registry is compliant with the actual legal status.

We suggest that for each legal act concerning real estate property an up-to-dated extract from the Land Register is obtained and the new entry in the Land registry is executed without any undue delay after the execution of the relevant legal act (e.g. after transfer of ownership title under a purchase agreement).

Application for registration and Priority Principle

The registration of new entry will be possible only upon a filing an application by a party to the registration proceeding. The law does not subscribe any statutory period during which such application should be filed; however from a practical point of view we suggest filing the registration application without any undue delay. The Land Registry is governed by the priority principle which means that as decisive for the order of registration is the exact time when an application is submitted for registration to the Land Registry.

Fewer counterparts (copies) of a contract must now be submitted; instead of submitting counterparts equal to the number of participants in the legal proceedings plus two, a single counterpart will now suffice. In case a participant is represented in the registration proceeding by an attorney, his signature on the relevant power of attorney must be officially verified.

Registration

Once the Land Registry approves the new entry, it will not send out a written decision on the registration, but the registration will become effective by uploading it in the Land Registry file. If the Land Registry rejects and application for new entry, it is obliged to issue a written decisions and send it out to the participants. After the new entry, the participants will only receive a notification of the new entry. The Land Registry is now obliged to send out all documentation not only to the participant´s attorney (if appointed), but also to the participant.

By: Jiří Spoust