• If the decree of reduction is to have any effect upon the registered title, that effect will be achieved only through rectification of the register under subsection (1) of section 9. The decision in Short’s Trustee highlights one of the primary distinctions between the Land Register and the Sasine Register. Whereas the former is a register of title the latter is simply a register of deeds. In  the  Sasine  system  a  deed  remains  the  document  of  title,  whereas  under  Land  Registration  the register itself becomes, in effect, the document of title. Indemnity 7.10 A major benefit of registration of title is the certainty that comes from a State guaranteed register of title to interests in land. Once an interest in land is registered in the Land Register, title to that interest flows from the register. The provisions at section 9 in Part I of the Act prohibit rectification of the register to the prejudice of a proprietor in possession except in limited circumstances. It follows that, regardless of the quality of the title prior to registration, the quality of the registered title depends on the quality of the indemnity given by the Keeper. If the Keeper registers the title with full indemnity, that title becomes all but indefeasible so long as possession is maintained. Subject to the provisions of section 9 then, the general effect of the Act is that, in a dispute, it is the registered proprietor who retains the property. The person who, but for the Act, would have been the true proprietor, is able to claim indemnity for the loss of the right. It is noted that Lord Hamilton in MRS Hamilton Ltd v Keeper of the Registers of Scotland (No.1)¹⁰ suggested that claims for indemnity under section 12(1) were fully assignable  A further effect is that the public can rely on the register in the knowledge that, if loss is suffered as a result of that reliance, the loss will attract indemnity. The indemnity provisions in respect of registered interests in land are to be found in Part II of the Act at sections 12 and 13. Section 12(1) sets out those situations in which a claim for indemnity may arise; section 12(2) empowers the Keeper to exclude, on registration, any right to indemnity in respect of anything appearing in or omitted from the title sheet; and section 12(3) sets out the circumstances under which there is no entitlement to indemnity. When indemnity may be payable 7.11 Section 12(1) provides that a person who suffers loss as a result of certain events shall be entitled to be indemnified by the Keeper in respect of that loss. The purpose of this section is to indemnify any person against loss suffered as a result of the register being rectified; the register not being rectified; the loss or destruction of any document while it is in the Keeper’s custody; and any error or omission in any information from the register given formally by the Keeper. The Keeper’s policy when dealing with  the  indemnity  provisions  is  that  loss  must  be  demonstrable,  real  and  actual,  as  opposed  to hypothetical or speculative. Note also that the constraints set out at section 12(3) and the provisions of section 13(4) may affect the outcome of any claim. 12.(1)(a) Rectification of the register made under section 9 of this Act; 7.12 If the Keeper rectifies the register under section 9 to correct an inaccuracy and a party suffers loss as a consequence, under section 12(1)(a) the Keeper may have to make good that loss. For example, where two adjoining properties held under separate ownership are registered with an overlap causing the  same  area  to  be  included  in  both  titles  with  indemnity  excluded  in  neither,  and  the  Keeper subsequently corrects the anomaly by rectifying the register by removing the overlap from the title

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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