|
Introduction of Registry-related Legislation
The first attempts at making registry
information available to the public began in a request from the Courts of
Madrid in 1528, as a result of which a Royal Pragmatic legislation was
promulgated in 1539, which determined that cities or villas that were
administrative centers of a jurisdiction should keep a book identified as the
Registry of Censuses and Taxes, in which contracts of censuses and mortgages
were recorded.
Court scribes were required by the Laws of
the Indias to meet a series of requirements
designated by the Kingdom of Castile. Their function was to maintain in their
possession a record of all the deeds, acts and public information granted in
their presence.
A series of governing principles were
enunciated in the Spanish Mortgage Law of 1861, and the Registry was provided
with the organizational structure of a publicly-accessible office where
registrations were made in books. The registry was divided into a mortgages
section and another one concerning ownership which followed a real-estate
system in which the characteristics of each property were recorded.
The Registry Recording Law and the
introduction of a Mortgage Registry began in in
Costa Rica in 1778.
The Carrillo General Code, of 1841 was the
first to make reference to a Mortgage Law and the creation of a Registry. The
Mortgage Legal Instrument was regulated in 1850 through Decree No. 94, during
the Administration of President Juan Rafael Mora.
However, it was not until 1865 when, based on
the mentioned Spanish Mortgage Law, the Public Registry was created, an
institution that began operations on September 2, 1867 when the first public
legal instrument was received, and whose first record was created on
September 4 of the same year.
Decree No. 5, concerning the Registry's
functions and responsibilities, was published in La Gaceta
(the official newspaper) on January 4, 1878,.
The General Land Registry Office, which was
part of the Real Estate Registry, was created by the Cadastral Establishment
Law, Law No. 70 of 1916.
Decree No. 49 of 1926 established the General
Land Registry Office, and through Decree No. 1 of August 13 of the same year,
said Office was provided with regulations.
Since the registry regime had achieved a
level of scientific development, the idea arose to unify the offices of the
existing registries, and the Law of Bases of the National Registry, No. 4384,
was then promulgated, signed by the President of the Republic, José Joaquín
Trejos Fernández, on August 25, 1969, and was published in La Gaceta No. 194 of August 28 of the same year, creating
the National Registry as a branch of the Ministry of the Interior. With the
promulgation of the National Registry Creation Law, No. 5695, signed by the
President of the Republic Daniel Oduber, on May 28,
1975, the previous law was entirely annulled, and the basic legal ordinance
which makes it possible to focus registry-related activities of the country
in an integrated manner was defined. It was also stipulated that the National
Registry would be directed by an Administrative Board, which would have a
legal corporate status, and its functions were established in Article 3 of
said Law.
It was not until 1978, when the branch of
Justice was separated from the Ministry of the Interior, that the National
Registry became a part of the Ministry of Justice and Grace, which was duly
established with the amendment of several articles of its creation Law, No.
5695, through Law No. 6934 of November 28, 1983, especially to Article 1,
where it was established that the National Registry would be an office of the
Ministry of Justice.
It is also noteworthy that during 1979 -1980,
an extremely important objective was reached in the Costa Rican registry
history: starting in May, 1979 a new registration system called the "Real
Estate Registry" ("Folio Real") began its operations, based on the
foundations provided by computer memory, microfilming, and a digital graphic
representation of the documents in the Real Estate Registry, placing the
Costa Rican registration system among the leaders in this area; in addition,
construction of a new building started during that period, which now contains
all the National Registry's offices.
The primary purpose of the National Registry
is to register all the documents submitted to the National Registry for
registration in an efficient and effective manner, and to ensure and
guarantee all citizens their rights with respect to third parties. The
Registry also protects and provides to the public information concerning
goods and titles registered or in the process of being registered, through an
effective and efficient use of technology and suitable personnel, to expedite
legal transfer of goods to promote the country's social and economic
development.
Legal nature of the National Registry
Administrative board
The Costa Rican National Registry was created
through Law No. 5695 of May 28, 1975, which was amended through Law No. 5990,
of October 27, 1976, and Law No. 6934 of November 28, 1983.
Article 3 states that the National Registry
shall be directed by an Administrative Board which shall have a legal
corporate identity to comply with the purposes of said Law.
Article 173 of the Notaries' Code amends the
National Registry Creation Law. Article 4 indicates that the Administrative
Board "shall be made up of 7 members: the Minister of Justice, who shall be
the President; a practicing notary of recognized experience, designated by
the Minister of Justice and Grace; the National Notaries' Director, and a
representative of each one of the following organizations: the Republic's
Attorney General's Office, the Costa Rican Attorneys' Association, the
Topographic Engineers Association, and the Costa Rican Institute of Notarial Law. A substitute shall be designated for each
member".
Internal Audit Office
The Internal Audit Office is subsidiary to
the National Registry's Administrative Board, and is governed by the
provisions in the Organizational and Functional Regulations of the Internal
Audit Office of the National Registry, published in La Gaceta
No. 136, of Wednesday, July 15, 1998.
General Office
The National Registry, as a public service
entity, plays a fundamental role within the Costa Rican civil service as a
guarantor of the security of the rights within its jurisdiction, and as a
disseminator of information about all these rights in the community. The
institution has several ways of assuring that the different Registries make
information available to the public, with a minimum of limitations that are
necessary to protect their security.
The National Registry General Office was
created through Law No. 5695. It is responsible for executing the resolutions
emitted by the Administrative Board, and for coordinating internal and
external institutional efforts, aiming at having the necessary resources for
the evaluation and registration of public documents, and for the provision of
safety in registration, seeking at all times efficiency in the provision of
services by the National Registry. It is in charge of managing the
institution.
To comply with the functions entrusted to it,
the General Office must carry out actions aimed at modernizing the services,
as well as in the registration, administrative, and technical areas, always
trying to meet the needs of users in such a way that actions lead to
continuous improvement of service quality, thus contributing to the country's
political, economic, social and cultural development.
The principal characteristic of this General
Office is that it is a multi-functional Office, in charge of the different
offices of the Registries that make up the Institution: the Administrative
Office, the Computing Office, the Regional Offices, and the Strategic
Development Unit.
Legal Advice
The Legal Advice Office of the National
Registry was created in 1999, with the unification of the various Advice
offices. Integration of the technical-administrative area with the
legal-registration area were carried out in this unification, which led to
the establishment of a legal-registration platform that provides strong
support to the National Registry's Administrative Board, as well as to the
different offices that make up the Registry.
The Legal Advice Office is a Consulting Body
and, as such, should have extensive knowledge of the new legal ideas and
concepts that are constantly evolving in this globalized world; otherwise, the
country will be out of phase with the world's realities.
The essential element of this new structure
is the concept of multi-functionality, without losing specialized knowledge of the subject
matters addressed in the Legal Advice Office; moreover, following this
principle strengthens the concepts of the new administrative office, which
implies that all professionals and support personnel must exchange knowledge
to make institutional functioning more agile and efficient. The flow of work
is not paralyzed because one employee does not know about the subject matters
managed by his/her coworkers; to the contrary, all employees have access to
and share the same knowledge to advance the projects and works of the Legal
Advice Office.
Institutional Strategic Development Unit
This Unit was created through the National
Registry's reorganization process, approved and amended by the National
Registry's Administrative Board, in Special Session No. 58-97, carried out on
October 30, 1997, and endorsed by the Ministry of National Planning and
Economic Policy through official document DM063-98.
Finance Department
National Registry Creation Law
Transportation and Communications Department
The Transportation Department was created
through official document No. DM 081-98, of June 29, 1998, submitted by the
Minister of the Presidency Mr. Roberto Tobar Faja. Its regulations were created through Decree No.
28862-j, published on August 25, 2000.
Procurement Department
The Procurement Department was established
after the internal reorganization process which became effective in 1998,
with the approval of the Institutional Positions Manual by the Planning
Office, the Civil Services Office, and the Human Resources Office of the
Ministry of Justice and Grace. According to the institution's organizational
chart, this Department reports to the Administrative Office.
Computing Office
The Computing Office is responsible for the
planning, direction, coordination and supervision of professional activities
in the computing area in technical and administrative areas, aimed at
achieving institutional objectives through the development of Information
Systems and work schedules, the execution of difficult processes and
projects, and collaboration in facilitating efficiency and effectiveness of
substantive services provided by the National Registry.
Legal Library
Created through Decree No. 22010-J of April
28, 1993.
The Library was physically moved to the
National Registry in February, 1997. Starting in September, 2001, with
publication of Decree No. 29801-J, it was established within the National
Registry.
|
