The Electronic Conveyancing Act 2012

Question

The Electronic Conveyancing (Adoption of National Law) Act 2012 (NSW) sets out the following objects in section 5 of the Appendix (which is the law applicable to Victoria pursuant to Electronic Conveyancing (Adoption of National Law) Act 2013 (Vic), s4):

5 Object of this Law

(1) The object of this Law is to promote efficiency throughout Australia in property conveyancing by providing a common legal framework that:

(a) enables documents in electronic form to be lodged and processed under the land title registration of each participating jurisdiction, but

(b) does not derogate from the fundamental principles of the Torrens system of land title as incorporated in the land title registration of each participating jurisdiction, such as indefeasibility of title.

(2) In order to achieve this object, this Law, among other things, authorises the Registrar in each participating jurisdiction to operate or authorise the operation of an Electronic Lodgment Network, and provides for the making of rules relating to the operation of the Electronic Lodgment Network.

Electronic conveyancing will open up new challenges for the law.  One of the critical concerns for the future lies in whether the tenets of technology are capable of adapting to the contemporary ideals of a Torrens system, particularly given the fact that this registration framework was implemented long before the digital era.  Some of the potential advantages include: greater certainty of title achieved by immediate registration, the elimination of the gap between settlement and registration, increased accuracy of the register and a reduction in costs associated with lodgement fees. On the other hand, in the absence of appropriate security, there is a risk that electronic conveyancing will make the system more amenable to large-scale fraud.

Discuss the underlying aims behind the shift to electronic conveyancing and consider the impact this shift will have upon the operation and core objectives of the Torrens framework.

Summary

This question belongs to law and discusses about The Electronic Conveyancing Act 2012 and the 5 object related to it.

Word count: 2237