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Chapter Law Content

Title: Land Act CH
Category: Ministry of the Interior(內政部)
Part II. Cadastration
Chapter I. General Provisions
Article 36
Unless cadastration has been already completed according to Act, it shall be carried out according to the provisions of this Act.
The procedure of cadastration shall be: cadastral survey and land registration.
Article 37
Land registration shall mean the registration of the ownership of, and other rights over, land and constructional improvements thereon.
Rules governing land registration such as those covering procedures, fees, data to file, documents to attach and dispute settlement shall be formulated by the Central Land Administration.
Article 37-1
The application for the registration of land may be assigned to registration agents by issuing a written assigning contract.
Registration agents shall pass a registration agents’ examination or verification. But those registration agents who had been conducting registration agency business before the revision of this Act, and had registered as qualified registration agents with certificates or registration cards given by the Government, may continue their business. Those registration agents who had no certificate or registration card, may continue their business until December 31 1995.
Land Offices shall not accept any application for registration from non-professional land registration agents who arbitrarily act as land registration agents.
Rules governing the commencement and nature of any business, and the responsibility, training, and management of any association, and encouragement, reward and discipline, shall be formulated by the Central Land Administration.
Article 38
Cadastral survey shall be undertaken before land registration. In localities where cadastral survey has been already completed according to Act, the general registration of land shall be immediately undertaken according to the provisions of this Act.
“The general registration of land” referred to in the preceding paragraph shall mean the registration, within a definite period of time, of all lands in a given Special Municipality or County (City).
Article 39
Land registration shall be carried out by the competent Special Municipal or County (City) Land Administration Agency, but the general registration of land and other related matters may, if necessary, be carried out by a land registry set up ad hoc in a Special Municipality or County (City) by the said Land Office.
Article 40
Cadastration shall be carried out with each Special Municipality or County (City) as an independent unit. Each Special Municipality or County (City) shall be divided into districts; each district into sections; and each section shall comprise a number of plots, to each of which a serial number shall be given.
Article 41
Lands pertaining to Type III and IV according to the classification of Article 2 of this Act shall be given no serial numbers and be exempted from registration.
Article 42
The general registration of land may be carried out by districts to be known as “registration districts”.
The registration districts referred to in the preceding paragraph shall not be smaller than an urban district in the case of the Special Municipality, or a Township (City), District in the case of County (City).
Article 43
Registration duly made according to this Act shall have conclusive validity.
Chapter II. Cadastral Survey
Article 44
Cadastral survey shall be carried out according to the following steps:
(1)Triangulation.
(2)Supplementary control survey.
(3)Parcel survey.
(4)Computation of area.
(5)Map drawing.
Article 44-1
When cadastral survey is carried out, landowners shall set up border marks and permanently preserve them thereafter.
Rules governing the types, dimensions and methods of the setting up of border marks, and the trade and management of border marks, shall be formulated by the Central Land Administration.
Article 45
Where cadastral survey is to be carried out by the competent Special Municipal or County (City) Government, the projects thereof shall be submitted to the Central Land Administration for approval.
Article 46
If cadastral survey is to be effected by aerophotography, it shall be planned and carried out by the Central Land Administration.
Article 46-1
A repeat of a cadastral survey may be carried out if cadastral maps of a registration district, where cadastral survey has been carried out, are damaged, entirely destroyed or lost, or the scale of maps has changed, or for other important causes.
Article 46-2
Whenever cadastral survey is repeated landowners shall set up border marks and be present on site to identify the boundaries according to the time limit prescribed in the notification issued by the Land Office. If the landowners fail to set up border marks or to identify the boundaries within the said time limit, the cadastral survey shall be carried out according to the following order of precedence:
(1)Boundaries of adjacent land.
(2)Boundaries identified by current users.
(3)Boundaries with references to old cadastral maps.
(4)Local custom.
The provisions of Paragraph two of Article 59 shall apply mutatis mutandis, when there is any dispute among landowners arising out of the setting up of border marks or the identification of land borders.
Article 46-3
The result of a repetition of a cadastral survey shall be announced for a period of 30 days.
If the result referred to in the preceding paragraph is deemed to be wrong by the landowner, he may apply to the competent land office for a re-survey with the payment of a re-survey fee, unless he has failed to set up border marks or to identify land borders according to the preceding article. After the implementation of a re-survey, the landowner shall not re-apply for re-survey again.
The competent land office shall undertake the registration of the change in land descriptions accordingly, if there is no application for re-survey after the time limit referred to in the preceding paragraph, or if there is no mistake after the said re-survey.
Article 47
Rules governing the operational method, and procedure of cadastral survey, and the procedure for application to and required documents for land re-survey and construction survey, shall be formulated by the Central Land Administration.
Article 47-1
The competent land office may assign cadastral surveyors for the undertaking of cadastral survey.
Rules governing the cadastral surveyor shall be separately enacted.
Article 47-2
Standards governing the fees for land re-survey and construction survey, shall be formulated by the Central Land Administration.
Chapter III. General Registration of Land
Article 48
The general registration of land shall be carried out according to the following steps:
(1)Cadastral investigation.
(2)Proclamation of registration districts and of the period of application for registration.
(3)Filing of applications and documents.
(4)Critical examination of applications and public announcement of the results thereof.
(5)Entry on the register, issuance of certificates, and compilation of registration books.
Article 49
The period of application for registration in any registration district shall not be shorter than two months.
Article 50
The cadastral map of a registration district shall be exposed to public view before the general registration of land begins.
Article 51
Application for the general registration of land shall be made by the landowner by filing a written application together with documents of evidence during the period of application for registration. In case rights over land other than ownership are to be registered, the application shall be made jointly by obligee and the obligor.
Article 52
The registration of public land shall be effected by the competent Special Municipal or County (City) Land Administration Agency at the request of the authority which is entrusted with the care of the said land or which is using it; and under the “Owners” column a note shall be inserted to indicate whether the land is owned by the State, the Special Municipality, the County (City), the District or the Township.
Article 53
Any public land which is neither entrusted to the care of, nor used by any public authority, or any public land which has come to light as a result of cadastration, shall be directly registered by the competent Special Municipal or County (City) Land Administration Agency; and under the “Owners” column a note shall be inserted to indicate that the said land is owned by the State.
Article 54
Any person who has peaceably and continuously taken possession of any land and may, according to the provisions of Articles 769 and 770 of the Civil Code, apply to be registered as its owner shall, during the period of application for registration, file an application for the registration of the ownership of the said land on the testimony of those persons who own the adjacent lands.
Article 55
All applications and requests for registration that are found upon examination and testimony to be correct and proper shall be publicly announced by the competent Special Municipal or County (City) Land Administration Agency. The same rule shall apply to those lands that are to be directly registered according to the provisions of Article 53.
In case additional documents of evidence are required in respect of the applications and requests for registration referred to in the preceding paragraph, the competent Special Municipal or County (City) Land Administration Agency shall prescribe a time limit for the presentation of such documents.
Article 56
Where an application for registration is dismissed on account of facts found therein upon examination according to the provisions of the preceding Article, the applicant may bring an action before the competent judicial authorities for the confirmation of his rights. If his rights are duly confirmed by a judicial decision, he may again apply for registration on the strength thereof.
Article 57
Any land of which no person has applied for registration during the period of application, or any land of which the applicant for registration has failed to present the required additional documents of evidence within the prescribed time limit, shall be regarded as ownerless land and publicly announced as such by the competent Special Municipal or County (City) Land Administration Agency. If, on the expiration of the period of public announcement, no objections have been raised thereto, such land shall be registered as land owned by the State.
Article 58
The period of the public announcements made according to Article 55 shall not be shorter than fifteen days.
The period of the public announcements made according to Article 57 shall not be shorter than thirty days.
Article 59
During the period of the public announcements referred to in the preceding Article, any person with interests in such land may raise objections thereto by submitting a written statement together with documents of evidence to the competent Special Municipal or County (City) Land Administration Agency.
Any dispute over land rights arising out of the objections raised according to the provisions of the preceding paragraph shall be submitted to the competent Special Municipal or County (City) Land Administration Agency for conciliation. Any party who refuses to abide by the terms of the conciliation shall, within 15 days on receipt of the notice of the said terms, bring the case before the judicial authorities for settlement. If he fails to bring the case before the judicial authorities within the said time limit, the terms of the conciliation shall be carried out accordingly.
Article 60
Any person who has lawfully taken possession of any land but has failed to apply for its registration during the period of application for registration and has raised no objections during the period of public announcement shall forfeit his right of possession.
Article 61
The judicial authorities in localities where the general registration of land is being carried on shall set up special courts to handle cases involving land rights and to hear and decide on them with all dispatch.
Article 62
Any land right of which application for registration has been duly made and to which no objection has been raised during the period of public announcement, or which has been established through conciliation or confirmed by judicial decision, shall be definitively registered, and a certificate of landownership or of other right over land shall be issued to the obligee.
The certificate of landownership referred to in the preceding paragraph shall be issued with a plot map attached thereto.
Article 63
The area of land that is to be definitively registered according to the provisions of the preceding Article shall be that which is obtained by an actual survey of the land made within the boundaries indicated by documentary evidences.
In case the boundaries indicated by documentary evidences referred to in the preceding paragraph are not clearly defined or show discrepancies, the area obtained by an actual survey of the land shall be registered, if it does not exceed the area indicated in the documents by 10 per cent. But if the area obtained by an actual survey exceeds that indicated in the documents by more than 20 per cent, the excess area shall be regarded as land owned by the State; but the original occupant shall have preferential right to purchase it and apply for registration thereof.
Article 64
For each registration district a general register of all lands duly registered shall be compiled and permanently kept in the files of the Special Municipal or County (City) Government.
The form, and the methods of treatment and preservation, of the general register shall be prescribed by the Central Land Administration.
Article 65
In applying for the general registration of land, the obligee shall pay a registration fee at the rate of 0.2 per cent of the declared value of the land, or 0.2 per cent of the value of any right over it other than ownership, as the case may be.
Article 66
If the original obligee of any land in respect of which public announcement has been made according to the provisions of Article 57 raises due objection thereto and submits documentary evidence to apply for the registration of the said land during the period of public announcement, such application, if found to be correct and proper, shall be publicly announced, and the registration of the said land shall be effected according to the required procedure, but the applicant shall pay a 50% extra charge in addition to the regular registration fee.
Article 67
For each certificate of landownership or of any other right over land issued, a fee shall be charged. The charge shall be formulated by the Central Land Administration.
Article 68
Where damage is sustained through error, omission, or fraud in registration, the competent Land Office shall be liable to pay compensation therefore, unless the Land Office can prove that the person injured is responsible for the cause of such damage.
The compensation for damage referred to in the preceding paragraph shall not exceed the value prevailing at the time when damage was sustained.
Article 69
If any error or omission in registration is discovered by the registration officer or an interested party after registration has been completed, no rectification shall be made until the said error or omission has been reported in writing to the competent superior authorities and they, after due investigation, have approved of the rectification. Unless the error or omission in registration is purely the negligence of the registration officer when he enters the registration, and there are original documents of evidence citing reasons for registration for examination, the Land Office should be rectified directly.
Article 70
Ten per cent of the registration fees received by the Land Office shall be earmarked as a Registration Fund to be used for the specific purpose of paying the compensation provided by Article 68.
Compensation for damage borne by the Land Office shall be paid back by the registration officer, if the said damage is a result of his gross negligence. All sums thus paid back shall be turned over to the Registration Fund.
Article 71
If any claim for compensation is rejected by the competent Land Office, the person injured may bring the case before the judicial authorities for adjudication.
Chapter IV. Registration of Changes in Land Rights
Article 72
After the general registration of land, any change in land rights such as transfer, subdivision, consolidation, augmentation, diminution, or extinction, shall be duly registered.
Article 73
Application for the registration of any change in land rights shall be made by the landowner; but application for the registration of any change in rights over land other than ownership shall be made jointly by the obligee and the obligor. If the registration of change in land rights is due to inheritance, the application may be filed by any inheritor on behalf of all inheritors. But the application does not affect other inheritors’ rights to renounce inheritance or to fix a limit to inheritance.
The application referred to in the preceding paragraph shall be made within one month after any change in a land right has been effected. In case of the registration of inheritance, the application may be made within six months from the day the inheritance has been effected. In case the application is made after the expiration of the said period, a fine equivalent to the registration fee for each month in arrears may be imposed on the applicant, limited to no more than twenty times of the registration fee.
Article 73-1
Where the registration of change on any inherited land or constructional improvement thereon has not been applied for after one year following the inheritance, the competent Special Municipal or County (City) Land Administration Agency shall publicly announce that the inheritors shall apply for the registration of change within three months, and shall notify the inheritors in writing. The competent Land Office may take over the management of the said land and make a detailed statement in tabulated form on the case, if the inheritors fail to apply within the said time limit. But if the applicant is not responsible for the cause of such failure, that time limit shall not be taken into account.
The duration of the management referred to in the preceding paragraph shall not be more than 15 years. If the registration of change of the inherited land or constructional improvement still has not been applied for after 15 years, the competent Land Office shall transfer them together with a list to the National Property Administration, Ministry of Finance for public tendering and notify the inheritors in writing. Any inheritor or third party who has unlawfully taken possession of the land shall forfeit his right of possession after sale by tender. If the inherited land or constructional improvements have been under a lease for more than five years, the lease shall not be for more than five years after public tendering.
The sale by tender of the land or constructional improvement according to Paragraph two shall be publicly announced for 3 months, and the inheritors, lawful occupants, or other co-owners shall have preferential right to purchase the area occupied by them in the said order. But the preferential right shall be deemed to have been waived if the holder does not express his intention to make the purchase within 30 days of the closure of the sale by tender.
A special account shall be set up in the National Treasury to keep the proceeds from the sale by tender, and the inheritor may withdraw his lawful share accordingly. The proceeds, if no inheritor withdraws within 10 years, shall belong to the National Treasury.
The National Property Administration, Ministry of Finance shall choose another time to re-tender the land or constructional improvement referred to in Paragraph two, if there is no buyer, or the highest price bid by a buyer is lower than the lowest offer price. The National Property Administration, Ministry of Finance shall consider reducing the offer price for re-tender. The reduction shall not be more than 20 per cent. If a sale by tender fails for the fifth time, then the land or constructional improvement shall be registered as state owned, and the forfeiture of the right of possession, and the limit of duration to the lease provided by the second half of Paragraph two shall, mutatis mutandis, apply. The original obligee may, by furnishing documentary evidence, apply to the National Property Administration, Ministry of Finance for the withdrawal of proceeds according to his lawful share of the inheritance, from the specific account referred to in Paragraph four, within 10 years from the completion of registration. After the claim is proved to be correct by examination, the amount calculated based on the base offering price of the land or constructional improvement at the fifth sale by tender shall be given, if there is no objection filed during the public announcement period.
Article 74
Application for the registration of any change in a land right shall be filed together with the original certificate of landownership and the attached plot map, or with the original certificate of any other right over land, as the case may require.
Article 75
When an application for the registration of a change in a land right has been examined and found to be correct and proper by the competent Special Municipal or County (City) Land Administration Agency, the said change shall be immediately entered in the general register, a certificate of landownership or of any other right over land, as the case may require, shall be issued to the applicant, and the original certificate of land ownership or of other right over land shall be either nullified or duly annotated, as the case may require.
A plot map shall be attached to the certificate of landownership issued according to the provisions of the preceding paragraph.
Article 75-1
Before the completion of the registration referred to in the preceding Article, the land Office shall immediately change the registration to be a case of attachment, provisional appropriation, provisional disposition, or bankruptcy, and notify the applicant if it is required by the court to undertake the registration according to those circumstances.
Article 76
In applying for the registration of any change in a land right, the obligee shall pay a registration fee at the rate of 0.1 per cent of the declared value of the land or 0.1 per cent of the value of any right over it other than ownership, as the case may be.
But no registration fee shall be charged for the registration of a change in the content of any other right over land, unless its value increases when a registration fee shall be charged on the increased value according to the preceding paragraph.
Article 77
For each certificate of landownership or of any other right over land issued in the registration of a change in land right, a fee shall be charged according to the provisions of Article 67.
Article 78
For each of the following registrations, the applicant shall be exempt from paying the registration fee:
(1)Registration of change due to land consolidation.
(2)Registration of rectification.
(3)Registration of deletion.
(4)Registration of cancellation.
(5)Registration of change in name.
(6)Registration of change in domicile.
(7)Registration of change of descriptions.
(8)Registration of restriction.
Article 79
Requests for the replacement of certificates of landownership or of other rights over land that are either damaged or entirely destroyed or lost shall be made according to the following provisions:
(1)Any one making a request for the replacement of a certificate that is damaged shall submit the original damaged certificate for examination.
(2)Any one making a request for the replacement of a certificate that is entirely destroyed or lost shall fully explain the causes of its destruction or loss and shall furnish related supporting documents, and a replacement may be issued to him after his request has been publicly announced for 30 days by the competent Land Office, if there is no objection filed during the public announcement period.
Article 79-1
The applicant shall furnish the approval of the person whose name is registered when applying for the registration of caution of the following rights to claim:
(1)Rights to claim in relation to the transfer of land right or to its elimination.
(2)Rights to claim in relation to the change of contents or order of land right.
(3)Rights to claim the attachment of conditions or a time limit.
Before the registration of advance announcement referred to in the preceding paragraph is cancelled, the person whose name being registered shall not dispose of, or set any encumbrance on the land. The said disposal or encumbrance is invalid if it obstructs the registered rights to claim. The registration of advance announcement does not exclude any new registration based on expropriation, judicial decision or special performance.
Article 79-2
A fee to cover expenses, or for viewing, shall be charged if any one of the following conditions applies:
(1)Application for the change or the replacement of the original certificate of land ownership or of other right over land is filed.
(2)Application for the issue of a transcript or abridgment of the land register or the cadastral map.
(3)Application for transcribing or photocopying the application form and its attachment.
(4)New certificates issued to a new lot created after an application for the registration of subdivision.
(5)Application to view the blue print or copy of the cadastral map.
(6)Application to view the electronically processed file of cadaster
Rules governing the fees charged to cover expenses, or for viewing, referred to in the preceding paragraph, shall be formulated by the Central Land Administration.