Registration law property deeds legal documents

Registration law property deeds legal documents

Although the history of document and property registration dates back approximately 4,000 years, the adoption of the first law on document registration in Iran dates to 1290 in the Solar Hijri calendar.

The first Law on Registration of Documents and Property dates to 1302, followed by the Registration Law enacted in 1308. Until that time, registration of immovable property was optional. With the enactment of the Registration Law of 1310, property registration became mandatory. The bylaw implementing the Law on Registration of Documents and Property was adopted in 1311 and remained in force until 1317. Ultimately, a new bylaw was adopted in 1317, which repealed the previous one. Today, the governing legal framework consists of certain provisions of the Registration Law of 1310 and the bylaw of 1317, subject to limited amendments, additions, or deletions.

The Role of the Organization for Registration of Documents and Property in Securing Ownership Rights

Registration Structure

Until the year 1352, the registration authority operated as the General Department of Registration of Documents and Property. In that year, a single-article law was adopted, pursuant to which the former General Department was transformed into the Organization for Registration of Documents and Property of the country. At present, the head of the Organization for Registration of Documents and Property, who also serves as a deputy to the Head of the Judiciary, presides over this organization. The Organization’s central administrative headquarters is located in Tehran. In addition to registration offices in each county, provincial Registration Departments are established in each province’s capital.

To facilitate registration, especially in large cities and provincial capitals, county registration offices are divided into multiple districts. Pursuant to Article 2 of the Law on Registration of Documents and Property, registration officers, including directors, representatives, and employees of registration offices, as well as notaries public and officials of notarial offices, are regarded, with minor qualification, as registration officers.

The jurisdiction of these officers is limited to the area in which they are assigned to perform their duties. However, for property registration, applications must be submitted to the registration office within whose jurisdiction the property is located. In contrast, with respect to the execution of official documents, notaries public enjoy nationwide jurisdiction. Nevertheless, a notary public may not transfer their office outside their designated jurisdiction or register documents outside that jurisdiction.

The Position of Registration Law in Legal Classifications

One of the fundamental questions concerns whether registration law falls under domestic law or international law, and whether it is part of public law or private law. Registration law is generally not classified as part of international law, which concerns legal relations among states, international organizations, or individuals of different nationalities at the international level. Since registration law typically involves no foreign element, it is regarded as part of domestic law. Domestic law is commonly divided into public law and private law. Public domestic law governs relations between state institutions and between individuals and state authorities within a state’s national sovereignty, whereas private domestic law concerns ordinary legal relations among individuals. Private law is further divided into civil law and commercial law. Regarding the classification of registration law as public or private law, a nuanced approach is required.

Public law rules are generally mandatory, while private law rules are often subject to the will and intentions of individuals. From this perspective, registration law, in certain respects, such as the imposition of state fees and the mandatory compliance with regulatory requirements in the registration and execution of documents, clearly falls within public law. In other aspects, particularly where the will of contracting parties plays a decisive role in the execution of documents, registration law demonstrates a closer affinity to private law.

Is Registration Law a Fundamental Right or an Individual Right?

Another question that may arise is whether registration law constitutes a fundamental right or a branch of individual rights. Fundamental rights are typically expressed in the plural form and govern individuals’ relations within social life. Individual rights, by contrast, are usually expressed in the singular and refer to a person’s legal capacity to perform or refrain from performing certain acts, such as the right to choose an occupation.

Based on this distinction, registration law is recognized as a fundamental right, as it governs social and economic relations concerning ownership and property rights.

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