Registration may be described as an account of certain transactions and legal facts inserted in a book called a register and kept at a public office. The purpose in view usually is to preserve an authentic and exact record of the transactions, to secure for them a means of publicity, or to simplify the methods of proving them. The practice of inscribing a copy of private documents in a public register seems to have been originally introduced by the Emperor Leo in reference to gifts—the object being to enable heirs to ascertain to what claims the estate was liable before deciding whether to accept the inheritance. A system of registration is now employed in many different departments and for very various purposes. The extent to which registration is carried varies very much in different countries; on the whole, however, it is more carefully enforced and more widely applied in continental states than in England or America. In France and Italy, for example, in almost all transactions parties resort to a notary, who draws up the documents relating to the business in hand. Such notarial transactions are to a certain extent public acts, and are presumed to be valid and binding, until they have been impeached and set aside by a separate proceeding instituted for that purpose. Further, in these countries all documents executed in the presence of a notary having any reference to certain subjects—for example, to the creation or transfer of an interest in land—are transcribed by him in a public register, and so become available for general information.
In England all judicial decisions and the whole proceedings of the higher courts in their various stages are registered; and with registrars attached to the Privy-council, the supreme court, and the county courts, affidavits, pleadings, &c. are filed. Probates of wills and letters of administration, both of which are really judicial proceedings, are registered either in the principal registry of the Probate Division in London, or in one of the district registries, which are situated at various places throughout the country. Land registries, for officially recording the title to, dealings with, and charges on land, are of two classes—viz. registries of title and registries of assurances. The former are authentic and self-explanatory records, behind which one cannot go except in case of fraud. The latter merely contain a statement of the existence of documents or assurances affecting the title to the land, giving an epitome of each document, and leaving the persons concerned to draw their own conclusions as to the effect of those documents on the title to the land. The whole subject of land registration has been much discussed of recent years in England, and several attempts to establish a system of registration have been made without much success. Lord Westbury's Act (25 and 26 Vict. chap. 53), establishing a general land registry for England and Wales, has notoriously proved a failure. The present statute regulating the general registration of land is the Land Transfer Act (38 and 39 Vict. chap. 87), which creates an office of land registry in London; but in the case of this act also practical results have been very small. The doubts and complications surrounding titles to land in England are so appalling that, though a compulsory system of registration is universally recognised to be expedient, parliament has not dared to enforce it. Bills of sale must be registered within seven clear days after execution, or, if executed out of England, then within seven days after their arrival in England; further, a bill, if still existing, must be re-registered every five years. Under the Merchant Shipping Acts every British ship must be registered, as also must all changes of ownership in a ship, whether by sale, mortgage, death, or bankruptcy; in the United
Kingdom the principal officer of customs at the port of registry is the registrar. Among the other principal registers are the register of joint-stock companies, established by the Companies Acts; the register of friendly societies; the registers of designs; copyrights, patents, and trade-marks; the registers of seamen, of newspapers, of solicitors, of petitions in lunacy, and so on.
In Scotland registration is an important feature in the administration of the law. It may be treated under two heads—viz. registration for preservation and execution, and registration for publication. Registration in order to execution—i.e. to enforce the performance of obligations, arose before the Reformation from the practice of churchmen, who, in order to bring the enforcement of ordinary contracts within their jurisdiction, procured the insertion in obligations of a solemn oath of performance and consent to excommunication in the event of failure. It is now an almost universal practice to insert a clause of registration in deeds stipulating for money payments, especially in bonds. A short clause of registration has been introduced by recent conveyancing acts, in these words: ‘And I consent to registration hereof for preservation (or for preservation and execution);’ and this clause, in any deed or writing whatsoever, is declared to import ‘a consent to registration and a procuratory of registration in the Books of Council and Session, or other judge’s books competent therein to remain for preservation; and also, if for execution, that letters of horning and all necessary execution shall pass thereon, upon six days’ charge, on a decree to be interponed thereto in common form’ (31 and 32 Vict. chap. 101, sects. 8, 138). Such registration for execution, which is in effect a short cut to a judgment without the formality of an action, may take place after the death either of the creditor or of the debtor. By special statutes the privileges of registration in order to diligence are extended to bills and promissory-notes, the acceptance and subscription of which implies a consent to registration for execution. The records now available for registering deeds for preservation or execution are these: (1) The Register of the Great Seal; (2) the Books of Council and Session, for all deeds and probative writs; (3) the books of any sheriff court; (4) the books of royal burghs, for instruments of protest on bills or notes; (5) the General Register of Sasines.
Registration for publication applies chiefly to writs connected with heritable rights. The present system owes its origin to the statute 1617, chap. 16, which established a general register in Edinburgh, and particular or local registers throughout the country, in which sasines and other writs affecting heritable property should be registered within sixty days of their date. The instrument of sasine and the whole ceremony of sasine are now dispensed with in the transfer of lands; by the Titles to Land Acts of 1858 and 1860, the recording of the conveyance itself, with warrant of registration thereon, now constitutes infertment to the same effect as if an instrument of sasine had been expedited and recorded at the date of recording the conveyance. Registration, however, operates as infertment only in favour of the party expressed by the warrant. The registers for publication now subsisting are (1) the General Register of Sasines, divided into counties; (2) Register of Entails; (3) General Register of Inhibitions and Adjudications; (4) the Burgh Registers of Sasines for lands in each royal burgh in which such a register has been in use to be kept. The public registers of Scotland used to be under the charge of the Lord Clerk Register; but the duties of that functionary in this connection were by 42 and 43 Vict. chap. 44, sect. 5, transferred to the Deputy-clerk Register. All the records are collected at the General Register House in Edinburgh.
In the United States, in order to be wholly valid, a deed or other instruments affecting the title to real estate must be recorded in the proper office for the registry of deeds, and this constitutes constructive notice of its contents. A chattel mortgage must be filed to be effective against third persons; but it is valid between parties without filing. In most of the states the effect of the filing continues only for a limited period, usually for a year, and the mortgagee must consequently refile within the prescribed time. The certificate of the recording officer is conclusive of the fact of filing. For a digest of the provisions of the different statutes as to the registration of deeds, see Stimson’s American Statute Law, sect. 1610 et seq.
REGISTRATION OF BIRTHS, DEATHS, AND MARRIAGES is the name for the system of regulations providing for a record of these events. In England the first act on the subject dates from 1836. By it a general registry-office was provided at Somerset House, London, for England and Wales. But even before the new arrangement there had been long in operation an ecclesiastical mode of registration of marriages, baptisms, and burials in connection with each parish church, it being the duty of the officiating minister to keep such a register (see REGISTERS, PARISH). Also, since 1592, the compilation of weekly bills of Mortality (q.v.), containing particulars as to the death-rate of London, has gone on almost uninterrupted. These modes of registration were found to be well-nigh useless for statistical purposes. Hence the systematic plan instituted in 1836, by the Acts 6 and 7 Will. IV. chaps. 85, 86, which have been since amended by subsequent legislation, the whole being entitled the Births and Deaths Registration Acts, 1836-74; the last and most important is the 37 and 38 Vict. chap. 88. There are special legislative provisions as to the registration of marriages. The acts provided that the head of the system should be the Registrar-general of births, deaths, and marriages in England. An annual abstract of the registrar’s returns must be laid before parliament. Every poor-law union throughout the country is subdivided into districts, and in each district a locally-resident registrar is chosen. Superintendent-registrars are also appointed. The registrars make out their returns quarterly, and send them to the superintendent-registrar of the district, by whom they are transmitted to the general register-office. There they are preserved, and may be inspected or excerpted on payment of a small fee.
Births.—In the case of every child born alive, the father and mother, or, in their default, other specified persons, are to give notice of such birth to the district registrar within forty-two days after the occurrence. If this is not done he may require any of the defaulters, by notice in writing, to attend and inform him, within three months of the birth, with the particulars thereof. Special provisions are made for the case of foundlings, children born at sea, &c. It is the duty of the registrar to acquaint himself with all births in his district, and register the same within three months free of charge. After three months the birth can only be registered with certain formalities, including payment of a small fee, and after twelve months only with the written consent of the Registrar-general. The particulars to be registered are the place and date, sex of child, its name and that of the mother and the father, with the calling of the latter. The signature and description of informant are also noted. The date of registration and signature of registrar complete the entry.
Marriages.—These may be religious or civil. In the first case they may be performed according to the rites of the Church of England, of the general body of Nonconformists, of the Society of Friends, or of the Jews. The Registrar-general must send marriage register-books to the minister of every church and registered chapel, and to each registering officer in England of the Society of Friends or Quakers, and every secretary of a synagogue in England. In each case, the official to whom the book is sent must register in two of the books in duplicate the particulars of the marriage. One of these books when full is sent to the superintendent-registrar, and a quarterly return is also furnished to him. In the case of Nonconformists other than Jews and Quakers, the registrar attends at the registered building, and registers the marriage himself, as he also does when it is a purely civil ceremony taking place at his office. The particulars entered are date of marriage and name, age, condition, calling, residence, father's name and calling of both parties.
Deaths.—Much of what has been said about registration of births applies to registration of deaths, but the following points are to be noted. Notice must be given within five days of the occurrence by the nearest relative of the deceased present; if he does not, the duty falls on other specified persons. A notice preliminary to registration may be sent, and this extends the time to fourteen days. In default of action of others, the registrar ought to require the person liable to appear before him before twelve months from the death have elapsed, and supply him with the statutory particulars. After the lapse of twelve months there must be written authority of the Registrar-general before the entry can be made. There are special provisions for inquest cases, &c. The particulars of registration are date, place, name, sex, age, calling, cause of death, name of certifying medical man, name and description of informant, date of registration, and signature of registrar. Provision is made for sending notice of the death of medical practitioners, &c. to special registrars, in order that their names may be struck off special lists.
All the registers since 1836 and a number of the older irregular ones are preserved in Somerset House. The registrars are bound to permit, on payment of a fee, a search of such recent registers as are in their possession. There are thirty-nine acts on the subject. They are from the 52 Geo. III. chap. 146 to the 50 and 51 Vict. chap. 71. In Ireland the system of registration, introduced in 1863, is almost exactly the same as in England. There is a Registrar-general and a general register-office at Dublin. In the case of Roman Catholic marriages, a registrar's certificate must be obtained and produced before celebration. The officiating clergyman then fills it up; it is returned to the registrar, who enters the particulars in the proper books. Other religious marriages are registered in the same manner as Church of England marriages are in England. There are fifteen acts dealing with the subject, the first being the 7 and 8 Vict. chap. 81, the last the 43 and 44 Vict. chap. 13.
Although the law in Scotland on this subject is much the same as in the rest of the United Kingdom, some points of difference are to be noted. The general register-office is at the Register House, Edinburgh. The office of Registrar-general is held by the Deputy-clerk Register. Notice of a birth is given in twenty-one days; after three months a declaration must be made before the sheriff by the informant of the particulars proposed to be registered. Provision is made for correction of the register in the case of children legitimated per subsequens matrimonium. Notice of death is to be given within eight days of the event. In the case of regular religious marriages a statutory schedule is produced to and filled up by the officiating minister. It is then sent to the registrar, who enters the necessary particulars in his book. The registrar is bound, when required, to be present at a marriage, and register the same. The statutory fee for this is 20s., and he is entitled to the same sum for registration after conviction or decree of declarator of an irregular marriage. There are ten acts dealing with the subject, the first being the 10 Anne, chap. 10, the last the 48 and 49 Vict. chap. 61, sect. 5. It will be understood that penalties of varying degrees of severity are enacted against breakers of the Registration Acts. See Flaxman's Registration of Births and Deaths in England, Wales, and at Sea (1875).
REGISTRATION OF VOTERS.—It is a condition precedent to the exercise of the right to vote in parliamentary elections that the name of the voter should be upon the register—a preliminary requisite first introduced when the franchise was remodelled in 1832. In England the process of registration, as settled by the last Registration Act (48 and 49 Vict. chap. 15), is as follows: On the 15th of April in each year a precept, containing a description of the qualifications which entitle persons to be registered as voters, is sent by the clerk of the peace in a county, or by the town-clerk in a borough, to the overseers of every parish or township. Before the 31st of July the overseer must make out a list of occupiers, whom he has ascertained to be qualified—persons who have paid their rates, and who are not disqualified by receipt of parochial relief—and a list of lodgers, who have sent in their claims to vote in respect of their lodgings. By the 20th of August all new claims have to be sent in, and the lists, together with notices of objections, have to be published on the door of every church or public chapel in the parish. These lists of occupiers and of claims and objections are then sent by the overseer to the clerk of the peace in a county, and to the town-clerk in a borough. In September the revising barrister comes round and adjudicates upon disputed claims and objections; from his decision an appeal lies on a case stated by him to the Queen's Bench Division of the High Court. After this revision the register is finally made out. If it is for a county, there are three lists—lists of ownership, occupation, and lodger voters; if it is for a borough, there are two lists—the ownership list being omitted in boroughs.
In Scotland the system of registration is carried on largely by means of the machinery introduced, for the valuation of land, by the Valuation Act (17 and 18 Vict. chap. 91). The valuation roll, annually made up under the Valuation Act, is the basis of the register of voters; a new form of this valuation roll was provided in the Registration Act of 1885, each dwelling-house in the county or burgh being now specified in the roll. The duties of assessor for registration purposes are performed by the valuation assessor of each burgh, or county, or division of a county; he may not be a sheriff-clerk, or collector of poor-rates, or employed as a factor or land agent in the county or burgh for which he is assessor. Every year, on or before the 15th of September, the assessor makes out a list of voters, arranged alphabetically according to wards or parishes and polling districts, and publishes the list by affixing it to the town-hall, the parish church, or other conspicuous place. Any person whose name is on the list may object to any other person as not having been entitled, on the last day of July preceding, to have his name inserted, by giving notice in a form prescribed, on or before 21st September, to the assessor and to the person objected to; similarly, any person whose name has been omitted may claim to have it inserted, by notice to the assessor. Between 25th September and 16th October sheriffs hold open registration courts for the purpose of revising the lists of voters and disposing of claims and objections. The revised list is delivered by the sheriff to the town-clerk or the sheriff-clerk, and, being printed, constitutes the register of persons entitled to vote at any election before the 1st of November in the succeeding year. Appeals in registration cases are carried to a special court, constituted by the Reform Act of 1868, consisting of three judges of the Court of Session, one judge from each division of the Inner House, and one from the Lords Ordinary.
See works by G. L. Broune (1878), Cox and Grady (new ed. 1880), F. E. Davis (new ed. 1880), F. N. Rogers (14th ed. 1885), J. H. Saint (1885-87), and M. Mackenzie (1888).