These slides describe the main provisions of the Registration of Documents Ordinance of Sri Lanka and what should be observed by Notaries when submitting Deeds and Notices for registration. This is from a lecture in Conveyancing conducted for the final year students of the Sri Lanka Law College in 2007

1. Registration of Documents Ordinance
The law relating to the Registration of
Documents
Ajithaa Edirimane, LLB MLB
Attorney-at-Law & Notary Public
COPYRIGHT Ajithaa Edirimane - No part of this slide
presentation shall be copied or extracted or used in
anyway without the publisher’s permission -
ajithaa2001@yahoo.com

2. Sec. 8 : Instruments affecting land to which this Ordinance
applies
 Sale, purchase, transfer, assignment or mortgage of immovable
property
 Promise, bargain, contract or agreement effecting immovable
property
 Any security, interest or encumbrance effecting immovable property
 Contract or agreement relating to the future sale or purchase of land
 Every deed or act of release or surrender or annulment affecting
such land
 Every will disposing of land
 Grant or administration affecting land
 Every judgment of court affecting land

3. Registration of Duplicates of Deeds
Sec. 4 of the RoD Ordinance
• Applies to every District Judge, every Judge of the Primary
Court, J.P., every public officer or Notary
• In respect of All Duplicates of Deeds executed before him/her (which
are stamped through affixation of stamps or by Inland Revenue
stamping)
Rule:
 To deliver to the Registrar of the District where he
resides
 Before the 15th of the following month
 All such stamped duplicates with two copies of a list
indicating particulars of all such Deeds executed
 If land is situated in another District – Deliver an attested
copy of the Deed to the Registrar of such District along
with a list in duplicate of all such Deeds.

4. Inspection of Duplicates of Deeds
• The Registrar should keep all such Deeds bound under
the name of the District Judge / Primary Court Judge,
Notary, J.P., and/or Public Officer
• All Attorneys-at-Law and/or Notaries Public have a right
to inspect the Duplicates by filing an:
“Application for search of Duplicates of Deeds” by giving
the following information:
- Name of the Attesting Notary
- District where he practised
- No. & Nature of Deed
- Date or probable period
- Name of Grantor and Grantee

5. METHOD OF REGISTRATION
• All instruments (Except Wills) submitted for registration
should carry a schedule giving the following:
• The name of the land and boundaries
• Extent
• Situation – District, village, korale or other division and in
the case of a town, the street, etc.
• If a divided portion the exact boundaries
• If any undivided share, the proportion the undivided
share bears to the whole
• The volume and folio written on the top right hand corner
of the 1st page of the instrument ( A (division) 13(volume) /
456 (folio) )

6. Importance of registration of the Instruments affecting land
in terms of this Ordinance
Unless the Instrument is registered at the respective
Land Registry (i.e. the Land Registry of the District within
which the land is situated) it shall be void against (Sec.
7):
(a) all parties claiming an adverse interest
(b) upon a written instrument derived from the same
source subsequently registered .
Kanapathipillai vs Levai – 15 NLR 177
(c ) on payment of valuable consideration (Jayasekera
vs Wanigaratne 12 NLR 364 : mere words of
valuable consideration insufficient)
Primary and secondary mortgages are not considered
adverse – Brodie vs Anthony.

7. When priority is lost
1. FAILURE TO REGISER IN THE ‘PROPER
FOLIO’ - (Sec. 14) Which is registered on the folio in
which previous registrations relating to the said land is
registered or in any other folio cross referenced to the
said previous folio)
2. Against a previous unregistered instrument acquiring
title under Prescription
3. Registration acquired through fraud (registration
does not cure defects of deeds and does not validate
fraudulent or illegal acts)

8. REGISTRATION OF NOTICES
• Registration of Notices which does not require
the consent of the owner of the land and which
are connected to an action filed in court:
1. NOTICE OF SEIZURE (Sec.9)– This is a notice under
Sec. 237 of the Civil Procedure Code in respect of an
immovable property which prevents the Judgement
Debtor (current owner of the land) from transferring or
charging the property in any way. It will remain in force
for 6 months but can be renewed as necessary.
The Notice gives:
• the names of the parties to an action,
• the judgment-debtor
• Dates of judgement and seizure
• Name, situation and boundaries of land seized

9. Reg. of Notices: Cont.
2. LISPENDENS (Sec. 11) – For the application of the
doctrine of Lispendens, an action duly registered as a
“lis pendens” should be pending in court, even though
Summons had not been served on the defendant.
A Notice of Lispendens will bind a prospective
purchaser (which in terms of Sec.11(3) includes a
Mortgagee and Lessee) who for valuable
consideration takes any interest or charge over the
land.

10. Reg. of Notices: Cont.
3. SEIZURE PRIORITY NOTICE (Sec.31) – This is a
Notice registered by the Judgement Creditor indicating
that the land described therein is liable for seizure
under the writ of execution.
This Notice shall remain in force for 6 weeks but can
be renewed for periods of 6 weeks prior to the expiry
of a term.
If a Notice of Seizure in respect of the same land is
registered while the Seizure Priority Notice is in force,
the Notice of Seizure shall be deemed be registered
from the date of registration of the Seizure Priority
Notice or from the date of the actual seizure, which
ever is later.

11. Reg. of Notices: Cont.
• Registration of Notices which does not require the
consent of the owner but are not connected to a
court action
4. CAVEAT (Sec. 32)– Any body can register a Caveat
requiring to be served with notice if any instrument
effecting the land as described is presented for
registration. A Caveat will be in force during the period
prescribed, which corresponds to the fee paid.
• If while the Caveat is in force, an instrument
effecting the land is submitted for registration, the
Registrar will give notice to the Caveator in the
prescribed form, sent by registered post to the address
given in the Caveat.
• A Caveator can file action within 30 days of receipt of such
notice, and if it is proved in court that the instrument submitted is
void or fraudulent against him, the court can order the rectification
or cancellation of such instrument.

12. • Registration of Notices which require the consent of the
owner
5. PRIORITY NOTICE (Sec 30)– A prospective
transferee of a land for valuable consideration may
with the consent of the transferor,
• register before the execution of the instrument effecting
the land a Priority Notice,
• which shall be in force for a period of 6 weeks,
• which can be renewed for further periods of 6 weeks with
the consent of the Transferor.
While a Priority Notice is in force, the Transferor cannot
register any instrument effecting the land without the
consent of the intended Transferee.

13. A Priority Notice can be registered even after the
execution of an Instrument effecting the land. i.e. if
registration of the Instrument is going to be delayed.
If the Instrument effecting the land is registered in the
name of the Transferee during the period of the Priority
Notice, the registration will take effect from the date of
registration of such Priority Notice.