From 1 March 2009, rights to obtain information from the Cadastral Register will become more restricted.
The Cadastral Register is parallel to the UK Land Registry in listing real estate and giving the description, location, dimensions and entries affecting ownership title and other rights (such as easements or mortgages).
The changes affect the provision of information from the Collection of Documents and the Overview of Ownership, which is available to anyone until the end of February and then, from 1 March 2009, is only available to someone who identifies himself and states why he requires the information.
It will also no longer be possible to inspect the Collection before ordering of copies of stored documents: information will only be available in the form of verified or unverified copies.
The Collection is an essential part of any inspection of title or the validity of an easement or mortgage because it sets out the legal basis on which entries in the cadastre are made, such as decisions by state authorities, contracts and other documents. The Overview lists all the properties in the Czech Republic owned by each person.
Other changes include:
- allowing every Cadastral office to provide information from the Cadastre regardless of the location of the property, as long as it is held in electronic form
- allowing certain submissions to be made electronically instead of in paper form, although this may not happen immediately, particularly for applications to register an ownership title
- defining a plot of land as a part of the earth's surface which can separated from adjacent parts by a mortgage. This will allow a mortgage to be granted over part of a plot without it having to be sold, although permission to divide the original parcel of land would still be needed from the building authority.
Law: Act No. 344/1992 Coll., Real Estate Cadastre Act
This article was written for Law-Now, CMS Cameron McKenna's free online information service. To register for Law-Now, please go to www.law-now.com/law-now/mondaq
Law-Now information is for general purposes and guidance only. The information and opinions expressed in all Law-Now articles are not necessarily comprehensive and do not purport to give professional or legal advice. All Law-Now information relates to circumstances prevailing at the date of its original publication and may not have been updated to reflect subsequent developments.
The original publication date for this article was 25/02/2009.
