Tanzania
Registration of Documents Act
Chapter 117
- Published in Tanzania Government Gazette
- Commenced on 1 January 1924
- [This is the version of this document at 31 July 2002.]
- [Note: This legislation has been thoroughly revised and consolidated under the supervision of the Attorney General's Office, in compliance with the Laws Revision Act No. 7 of 1994, the Revised Laws and Annual Revision Act (Chapter 356 (R.L.)), and the Interpretation of Laws and General Clauses Act No. 30 of 1972. This version is up-to-date as at 31st July 2002.]
Preliminary provisions (ss. 1-7)
1. Short title
This Act may be cited as the Registration of Documents Act.2. Interpretation
In this Act, unless the context otherwise requires—"authorised person" means a person or class of persons authorised by the Minister under the provisions of section 12;"land" includes land, buildings, rights of way, lights, ferries, fisheries, and benefits to arise out of land or things embedded or rooted in the earth, or attached to what is so embedded for the permanent beneficial enjoyment of that to which it is so attached, or permanently fastened to anything so embedded, for the permanent beneficial enjoyment of that to which it is so attached, or permanently fastened to anything so embedded, rooted, or attached, and includes mines and minerals, and mineral oil as defined by the Mining (Mineral Oil) Act and standing trees and timber and growing crops and grass;"Minister" means the minister responsible for lands;"native" means a member of an African race, and includes an Arab, a Swahili, and a Somali;"Ordinance of 1921" means the Registration of Documents Ordinance, 1921;"prescribed" means prescribed by rules under this Act.3. Establishment of registry
4. Registers to be kept
The following registers shall be kept in the registry—5. Transfer of documents relating to land to the registry
Subject to the directions and supervision of the registrar, and to such exceptions as he may prescribe, all copies and duplicates of documents relating to land executed before the first day of April, 1921, and registered or recorded in any German public register of documents or in any of the Government political officers, and every register of documents of which the registration was compulsory under the Ordinance of 1921 kept at a district registry under that Ordinance shall be sent to and preserved at the registry.6. Continuance of existing registries and registers
Subject as aforesaid, the registries and registers established under the Ordinance of 1921 shall be continued as if and registers they had been established under this Act.7. Transfer of documents and registers to the registry
Subject as aforesaid, all documents registered and all registers kept at the principal registry or at a district registry prior to the first day of April, 19421, shall be delivered to the registrar and kept in his custody at the registry. Until such delivery the provisions of sections 37 and 38 shall continue to apply to such documents and registers and the fees prescribed in the Schedule hereto for searches, inspection, copies of documents and plans shall continue to apply to such documents and registers:Provided that for the purposes of this section the reference to "the registrar" in section 38 shall be construed as a reference to the officer who for the time being has custody of the documents and registers mentioned in this section.Compulsory registration (ss. 8-10)
8. Documents of which registration is compulsory
9. Unregistered document affecting land invalid
No document of which the registration is compulsory shall be effectual to pass any land or any interest therein or render such land liable as security for the payment of money, or be received as evidence of any dealing affecting such land unless and until it has been registered.10. Priority determined by registration not by execution
Documents of which the registration is compulsory shall, as between themselves, be entitled to priority in the order in which they are registered and not in the order in which they are executed or dated 5:Provided that an easement registered in the Water Grants record maintained under the Water Act 6 between the first day of October, 1954, and the date upon which the Water Act came into operation shall in so far as such easement affects land other than land registered under the Land Registration Act 7, be deemed to have been registered during that period under the provisions of section 8 of this Act.Optional registration (s. 11)
11. Optional registration of other documents
Any document of which the registration is not compulsory, whether executed before or after the commencement of this Act, may be registered at the option of the holder. Provided that the registrar may refuse to register any such document for reasons to be stated by him in writing. Such refusal shall be subject to appeal in manner hereinafter mentioned.Proof of execution and presentation for registration (ss. 12-17)
12. Proof of documents
13. Registration of orders granting roads of access
14. Presentation in person or by agent
Every document presented for registration shall be presented by one of the parties executing or claiming an interest under it or by his attorney duly appointed or by an advocate of the High Court, or, if such party is a minor or of unsound mind, by the guardian, next friend, or other person appointed by the court to act on behalf of such minor or person of unsound mind in the matter, or by the duly appointed attorney of such guardian, next friend, or other person, or by an advocate of the High Court.15. Presentation by post
A document may be presented for registration through the post or under cover if it is accompanied by the appropriate fee and by a letter requesting registration signed by a person who has power to present the document for registration.16. Identity of person requesting registration
The registrar may, if he thinks fit, take steps to satisfy himself as to the identity of the person presenting a document for registration, and of his right to present the document for registration.17. Power to summon witnesses
If the registrar considers that the testimony of any person is necessary to establish the authenticity of any document presented for registration or the identity of the person presenting a document for registration or his right to present it for registration, the registrar may in his discretion call upon the court of the Resident Magistrate in Dar es Salaam to issue a summons requiring him to appear at the registry either in person or by duly authorised agent as in the summons may be mentioned and at a time named therein, and may examine the person so summoned on oath which the registrar is hereby authorised to administer.Method of registration (ss. 18-24)
18. Presentation book
19. Duplicates to be registered
20. Maps and plans
Where a map or plan is comprised in or annexed to a document, a true copy of such map or plan must accompany the document when brought for registration and shall be filed in the register.21. Memorial of registration
A memorial signed by the registrar shall be endorsed on the original of every document registered recording the hour and date at which it was presented for registration together with a note of the volume and folio of the register where it is registered, and such memorial shall be prima facie evidence of the due registration of the document.22. Registration no guarantee of title
Where the document registered relates to land, the registrar shall cause to be endorsed on the original the works "registration implies no guarantee or admission of title by the Government."23. Power of registrar to correct errors and omissions
Where any person alleges that any error or omission has been made in a register or that any entry or omission therein has been procured by mistake, the registrar shall, if he considers such allegation satisfactorily proved, correct such error, omission, or entry as aforesaid.24. Registration not to cure defect or confer validity
Registration shall not cure any defect in any document registered or confer upon it any effect or validity which it would not otherwise have had except in so far as provided in this Act.Refusal of registration (ss. 25-31)
25. Power to refuse to register document executed by native
Where any party to a document presented for registration is a native, the registrar may, if he thinks fit, notwithstanding that the execution of the document by the native has been proved in by native manner provided by this Act, take such steps as he may consider necessary to ascertain whether the native understood the effect of the document before he executed it, and may refuse to register any such document the effect of which was not, in his opinion, understood by any native party thereto, or the terms of which, as respects any native, appear to be harsh and unconscionable.26. Documents in foreign language
27. Documents containing interlineations, blanks, erasures or alterations
The registrar may refuse to accept for registration any document in which any interlineation, blank, erasure, or alteration appears unless the persons executing the document affix their signatures or initials to such interlineation, blank, erasure, or alteration.28. Description of land
The registrar may refuse to register a document relating to land unless it contains a description of such land sufficient for its proper identification, or a reference to some other registered document containing such a description.29. Registrar to refuse to register certain documents
The registrar shall not register any document liable to stamp duty unless it is duly stamped, or any disposition of land by a native in favour of a non-native unless it has been approved.30. Reasons for refusal to be recorded on request
Where the registrar refuses to register a document, he shall, if so requested by any party to such document, record his reasons for such refusal in writing and shall without payment or unnecessary delay give such party a copy of the reasons so recorded.31. Appeal
Where the registrar refuses to register a document presented to him, any person aggrieved by such refusal may within thirty days from the date of refusal institute in the High Court a suit for a decree directing the document to be registered in the appropriate register, and notwithstanding anything contained in this Act the document shall be receivable as evidence in such suit.Caveats (ss. 32-35)
32. Power to lodge caveat
33. Notice of claims of caveator
Every part to an instrument of which the registration is compulsory executed by a person with respect to whom a caveat has been lodged and is subsisting and whose name appears in the list required by this Act to be kept shall be affected with notice of the claim by the person lodging the caveat.34. Withdrawal of caveats
35. Damages for unreasonable caveat
Any person injured by reason of the lodgment of a caveat without reasonable cause may recover compensation from the person who lodged it.Indexes and searches (ss. 36-38)
36. Indexes
There shall be kept at the registry indexes of all registered documents in such form and containing such particulars as the registrar may direct.37. Registers may be searched
Subject to payment of the prescribed fees, all registers may be searched and examined by any applicant during the usual office hours and certified copies of any entry or document may be obtained if required, but no document filed in the register shall be permitted to be taken therefrom, and no applicant shall be permitted to copy any document or to take any note or memorandum relating thereto except the registered number and the date of registration and an extract from or note of the effect of the document, but so that such extract or not shall not exceed sixty works in length.38. Certified copy of registered document admissible in evidence
A copy certified under the hand of the registrar to be a true copy of any document registered under this Act shall be prima facie evidence of the contents of such document for all purposes subject to all just and lawful exceptions.Documents executed before commencement of Ordinance (ss. 39-42)
39. Documents executed on or after 1st April, 1921, but before commencement of Ordinance
40. Registration of documents executed before 1st April, 1921
41. Documents already registered
42. Priority of documents executed 1st April, 1921, not determined by registration
The provisions of this Act as to the determination of priority by the date of registration do not apply to documents before executed before the first day of April, 1921.Supplemental (ss. 43-48)
43. Power for High Court to cancel registration
Where it is shown to the satisfaction of the High Court that any registered instrument is a forgery, or has been registered without due authority or in contravention of any provision of this Act or the Ordinance of 1921 if applicable, or where any registered instrument is rectified or set aside by a competent court, the High Court may order the registered duplicate or copy to be removed from the register or to be rectified in such manner as the circumstances may require, and may order the original instrument to be brought into court and the memorial of registration to be cancelled or altered.44. Indemnity of registrars and assistant registrars
Neither the registrar nor any assistant registrar shall be liable to any suit, claim, or demand by reason of anything in good faith done or refused in his official capacity.45. Defect in appointment or procedure
Nothing done in good faith pursuant to this Act or the Act of 1921 by the registrar or any assistant registrar shall be deemed invalid merely by reason of any defect in his appointment or procedure.46. Fees
The fees specified in the Schedule hereto shall be payable for the matters to which they relate, but may be altered or added to the matters to which they relate, but may be altered or added to by rule made under the next succeeding section.47. Power for Minister to make rules
The Minister may make rules as to any matter which may or is to be prescribed, and generally for carrying this Act into effect.48. ***
[Repeals the Ordinance of 1921.]History of this document
31 July 2002 this version
Consolidation
01 January 1924
Commenced
Cited documents 4
Legislation 4
1. | Public Corporations Act | 52 citations |
2. | Public Procurement Act | 46 citations |
3. | Mining Act | 17 citations |
4. | Highways Act | 11 citations |
Documents citing this one 59
Judgment 38
Gazette 15
Legislation 5
1. | Rent Restriction Act | 35 citations |
2. | Land Survey Act | 8 citations |
3. | Freehold Titles (Conversion) and Government Leases Act | 3 citations |
4. | Land Registration Act | 2 citations |
5. | Urban Leaseholds (Acquisition and Regrant) Act |
JOT Documents and Guidelines 1
1. | Exhibits Management Guidelines |