Status of the Land Registrar in each country

What is the status of the Land Registrar in your country:

a) Who is responsible for performing the act of registration of property rights?

The Land Registrar is an independent professional integrated in the Ministry of Justice; to become Land Registrar you must add to a law degree. – two years of specialization in property and mercantile law, as well as civil and procedure law in general, administrative, taxes, edification and environmental legislation; – apply to public contests and fulfill legal demands to be a Public Servant; – and you must practice for one year in land, mercantile and civil persons registry services.

b) In case of doubt/appeal, who decides? c) Must he/she have a legal educational background?

In case of doubt the interested party can appeal to the Instituto dos Registos e Notariado, the entity in charge of the registry services in the Ministry of Justice, or directly to court. If the appeal is decided by the Instituto the person in charge is a legal professional in a board of Registrars; if it is decided in court, it is a judge, a legal professional, obviously.

d) Could you characterize the act of registration as a purely administrative duty or a quasi-judicial one?

In Portugal the act of registration e a quasi-judicial one.

e) Is the Land Registrar independent in his/her decision making? If yes, how does your legal system assures such functional independence (i.e. the decisions are only challenged before a court).

Yes, the land registrar in completely independent. The system assures such independence by the exclusivity of the function, by nominating the registrars through legal proceedings, by the responsibility of the registrar with the liability of the State and trough the possibility of appealing from the registrars decisions to court as above referred.