Land Registries & Cadastres

In your country, the Land Registry and the Cadaster are they different institutions?

Yes, and it has always been like that. In the beginning of XX century, when geometric cadaster has been implemented in Portugal, further law publications in that area after 1995 and recent laws published in 2017, all projected to offer citizens land parcels mapping and other elements of physical identification of plots, have always been developed to cooperate with taxes, administrative and judicial Institutions including the land propriety registration (or land registry), not to substitute any of them.

a) Which are the main duties of the respective organizations?

Land registry in Portugal is a real folio system which aim is to define the legal situation of immovable property, providing accurate information to support legal certainty, security and liability of immovable conveyance. Portuguese land registry information covers a wide range of rights, burdens and encumbrances on property, rights of use, judicial claims, administrative and municipal restrictions.

Cadaster in Portugal is in charge of mapping the land and demarcating the parcels, namely for tax purposes.

The Cadaster and Land Registry are separate organizations with completely different purposes.

b) Which Ministry’s competence do they fall under?

Land Registry – Ministry of Justice

Cadaster – Ministry of Environment

c) Could you describe in brief the form of collaboration between the two institutions?

Although a new form of collaboration is about to be implemented in Portugal through a new digital interconnection aiming a simplified cadaster, the collaboration is always intermediated by the owner who carries to the land registry the necessary information from the cadaster as regards to the parcel, namely the location and area.