REGISTRATION OF DOCUMENTS

(1) There shall continue to be in Colombo a land register office for the purposes of this Ordinance and the Land Registration Ordinance, No. 5 of 1877* [* Repealed by Ordinance No- 23 of 1927.] and No. 4 of 1889* [* Repealed by Ordinance No- 23 of 1927.]with branch offices at such places as the Minister[1] may from time to time direct, and the land register office and branch offices established under the Land Registration Ordinance, 1891,†[† Repealed by Ordinance No. 23 of 1927.] or any enactment repealed by that Ordinance shall be deemed to be duly established under this Ordinance.

(2) The business of the land register office and branch offices shall be conducted by a Registrar-General of Lands (in this Ordinance called the ” Registrar-General”), and such number of Assistant Registrars-General (in this Ordinance called ” Assistant Registrars-General”) and Registrars of Lands (in this Ordinance called ” Registrars”) as the Minister[1] may from time to time consider necessary. Acting appointments may be made as may be necessary in the event of the Registrar- Law General or any Assistant Registrar-General or Registrar being ill or incapable of acting or temporarily absent from duty.

(3) All appointments under this section shall be made, and may at any time be revoked, in accordance with the law for the time being in force relating to the appointment of public officers :

Provided that in the case of death, illness, incapacity, absence from duty, or other emergency, the Registrar-General may appoint any person to act as a Registrar for not more than thirty days at any one time and may at any time revoke such appointment.

†(4) All appointments under this section shall be notified in the Gazette.[† See Order published in Gazette No. 8, 796 of 26th September, 1941, under section 2 (1) of the Government Gazette (Publication) Ordinance, exempting notification in the Gazette.]

(5) All appointments made under the Land Registration Ordinance, 1891,*[* Repealed by Ordinance No. 23 of 1927.] shall be deemed to have been made under this Ordinance.

(6) The Registrar-General may, if he thinks fit, exercise all or any of the powers possessed by a Registrar.

(7) Subject to the directions of the Registrar-General, any matter or thing which by this Ordinance or any regulation may or is to be done by the Registrar- General may also be done by any Assistant Registrar-General.

(1) Every District Judge, every Judge of a Primary Court, or Justice of the Peace shall, on or before the fifteenth day of each month, deliver or transmit to the Registrar of the district wherein he resides the duplicates of all deeds or other instruments executed before him during the previous month, under the provisions of the Deeds and Documents (Execution before Public Officers) Ordinance, together with two copies of a list of such duplicates, and, if the land affected by any such deed or instrument is situated in a district other than that in which he resides, he shall also on or before the day aforesaid transmit or deliver an attested copy of the deed or instrument to the Registrar of the last-mentioned district.

(2) Every public officer by or before whom any document affecting land is executed shall, if subsection (1) of this section does not apply thereto, on or before the fifteenth day of the following month deliver or transmit a duplicate or an attested or certified copy thereof to the Registrar of each district in which the land affected thereby is situated together with two copies of a list of all duplicates or copies so delivered by him.

(1) Every Registrar shall from time to time cause all duplicates and copies transmitted or delivered to him under the preceding section or any other written law, or by any notary under the provisions of the Notaries Ordinance, to be bound in convenient volumes distinguished by the name of the court to which the Judge is attached, or by the name of the Justice or notary who attested the deed or instrument, or, in the case of duplicates or copies transmitted or delivered under subsection (2) by the official designation of the public officer by or before whom the deed or instrument was executed, and shall keep and preserve the same in his office.

(2) All duplicates and copies transmitted or delivered to a Registrar or bound in volumes under the corresponding provision in the Land Registration Ordinance, 1891,* [* Repealed by Ordinance No. 23 of 1927.] or any enactment repealed by that Ordinance shall be deemed to have been so transmitted, delivered, or bound under this Chapter.

(1) An instrument executed or made on or after the 1st day of January, 1864, whether before or after the subsequent of this Ordinance shall, unless it is duly registered under this Chapter, or, if the land has come within the operation of the Land Registration Ordinance, 1877,+[+ Omitted from this edition,] in the books mentioned in section 26 of that Ordinance, be void as against all parties claiming an adverse interest thereto on valuable consideration by virtue of any subsequent instrument which is duly registered under this Chapter, or, if the land has come within the operation ‘of the Land Registration Ordinance, 1877+,[+ Omitted from this edition,] in the books mentioned in section 26 of that Ordinance.

(2) But fraud or collusion in obtaining such subsequent instrument or in securing the prior registration thereof shall defeat the priority of the person claiming thereunder.

(3) An instrument duly registered before the commencement of this Ordinance, under the Land Registration Ordinance, 1891,*[Repealed by Ordinance No. 23 of 1927.] or any enactment repealed by that Ordinance, shall be deemed to have been duly registered under this Chapter.

(4) Registration of an instrument under this Chapter shall not cure any defect in the instrument or confer upon it any effect or validity which it would not otherwise have except the priority conferred on it by this section.

(a) if executed or made before the commencement of this Ordinance, every deed or other instrument of sale, purchase, transfer, assignment, or mortgage of any land, or of promise, bargain, contract, or agreement for effecting any such object, or for establishing or transferring any security, interest, or incumbrance affecting any land (other than a lease at will, or for any period not exceeding one month); or of contract or agreement for the future sale or purchase or transfer of any land; and every deed or act of release, surrender, or annulment of or affecting any such deed or other instrument, and every will disposing of any land, and every grant of administration, affecting any land; and every judgment or order of court affecting land;

(b) if executed or made after the commencement of this Ordinance, all instruments, including wills, decrees and orders of any court or authority, and awards, which purport or operate to create, confer, declare, limit, assign,, transfer, charge, incumber, release, or extinguish any right, title, or interest, whether vested or contingent, past, present, or future, to, in or over land, or which create or record or are evidence of any contract for effecting any such object, and also a notice of seizure issued under section 237 of the Civil Procedure Code:

(i) any decree or order of court where the action in which the decree or order is made has been duly registered as a lis pendens;

(ii) a writ of execution issued under section 225 of the Civil Procedure Code;

(iii) any letters of administration to the estate of an intestate;

(iv) a decree or order adjudging a person to be insolvent or bankrupt;

(v) a decree, order, or other instrument appointing or recording, certifying, or confirming the appointment or election of an assignee or trustee in insolvency or bankruptcy;

(vi) any document relating to shares in a registered company notwithstanding that the assets of the company consist in whole or in part of land ;

(vii) a mortgage or debenture by a registered company, so long as its only effect, as respects the land affected thereby, is to create a floating charge thereon in such form that the company can, until the security is enforced, dispose of the land in the ordinary course of its business free from the mortgage or debenture;

(viii) any debenture issue by any such company the only effect of which, as respects the land affected thereby, is to entitle the holder to the benefit of the security afforded by a duly registered instrument;

(ix) any endorsement upon or transfer of any debenture specified in (vii) or (viii);

(x) any receipt for payment of money due under a mortgage or charge ;

(xi) any instrument if the only interest in land created or dealt with thereby is a tenancy at will or for a period not exceeding one month or determinable by the landlord by not more than one month’s notice.

(1) A notice under section 237 of the Civil Procedure Code, of a seizure of land effected after the commencement of this Ordinance is an instrument affecting the land seized and may be registered under this Ordinance.

(2) A notice of a seizure effected before the commencement of this Ordinance may also be registered under this Ordinance.

(3) Registration of a notice of seizure shall remain in force for six months only from the date of registration, but may be re registered as often as may be necessary.

(4) Registration of a notice of a seizure in the book kept under section 237 of the Civil Procedure Code, shall remain in force for six months only from the commencement of this Ordinance. But the notice may be re registered under this Ordinance. No re- registration shall be effected under section 237.

(1) A will shall not, as against a disposition by any heir of the testator of land affected by the will, be deemed to be void or lose any priority or effect by reason only that at the date of the disposition by the heir the will was not registered under this Chapter.

(2) This section applies whether the testator died before or after the commencement of this Ordinance, but does not apply-

(1) No Us pendens affecting or relating to land instituted on or after the 9th day of November, 1917, shall bind a purchaser, unless and until the Us pendens is duly registered under this Chapter.

(2) But a lis pendens duly registered before the commencement of this Ordinance under the provisions of Ordinance No. 29 of 1917,*[*Repealed by Ordinance No. 23 of 1927.] shall be deemed to have been duly registered under this Chapter.

(3) In this section, ” purchaser” means any person (including a mortgagee or lessee) who, for valuable consideration, takes any interest in or charge on land.

(4) For the purpose of registering a lis pendens a document in the prescribed form shall be presented for registration, and such document shall be registered in the same manner as other” instruments affecting land, but shall be retained by the Registrar.

(5) A lis pendens may be registered at any time after the plaint has been accepted by the court in accordance with the provisions of the Civil Procedure Code.

(6) For the purpose of the application of the doctrine of Us pendens, an action duly registered as a Us pendens shall be deemed to be pending from the time of registration notwithstanding that the summons has not been served on the defendant.

(7) Where a Us pendens has been duly registered on a date before the 1st day of May, 1947, such registration shall continue in force until such time as it is cancelled under section 33 of this Ordinance.

(1) Every Registrar shall prepare and keep the prescribed books for the registration of instruments, allotting to each book (which may be in as many volumes as necessary) a defined division of his province or district.

(2) The books for the registration of instruments established under the Land Registration Ordinance, 1891,*[*Repealed by Ordinance No. 23 of 1927.] or any enactment repealed by that Ordinance shall continue to be used, and shall be deemed to be kept under this Chapter.

(1) Every instrument (except a will) presented for registration shall contain embodied therein, or in a schedule annexed thereto, an accurate and clear description of the land affected thereby, its boundaries, extent, and situation specifying the district and the village, pattu, korale, or other division of the district in which the land is situated ; and in case the land is situated in any town, the name, if any, of the street in which it is situated.

(2) If the land consists of a divided portion of a land or allotment, such portion shall be clearly and accurately defined by its particular boundaries and extent.

(3) If the land consists of an undivided share in a land, the proportion which the share bears to the entire land shall be stated, and a description of the entire land shall be given as required by subsection (1).

(4) A person desiring to register a will shall give to the Registrar a written description of the land affected thereby which shall comply with the provisions of subsections (1) to (3) of this section.

(5) No instrument, other than a will, which does not state the particulars required by the foregoing provisions of this section shall be registered except with the sanction of the Registrar-General, who shall give his sanction, if it is shown to his satisfaction-

Any person aggrieved by a decision of the Registrar-General under this subsection may, within thirty days from the date of such decision being communicated to him, institute in any District Court having jurisdiction a suit against the Registrar-General praying for the variation or reversal of such decision.

(6) Where the description of the land affected by an instrument executed or made after the commencement of this Ordinance is not contained in a schedule to the instrument, a fee of five rupees shall be payable for the registration in addition to any other fee which may be payable :

Provided that nothing in this subsection shall be construed so as to apply to or affect any grant or lease of State land made or executed after the commencement of this Ordinance.

(7) There shall be typewritten or written in ink at the head of every instrument (except a will) presented for registration a reference to the volume and folio in which some earlier instrument relating to the same land is registered if such reference is known to the notary who prepared the instrument, or, if the instrument was not prepared by a notary, if such reference is known to the person presenting the instrument for registration.

(1) Every instrument presented for registration shall be registered in the book allotted to the division in which the land affected by the instrument is situated and in or in continuation of the folio in which the first registered instrument affecting the same land is registered:

Provided that-

(2) An instrument, whether registered before or after the commencement of this Ordinance, shall not be deemed to be duly registered under this Chapter unless it is registered in accordance with the foregoing provisions of this section.

(3) Every order made after the commencement of this Ordinance under section 4 of Ordinance No. 1 of 1897*[* Repealed by Ordinance No. 20 of 1931.] entitled ” An Ordinance relating to claims to Forest, Chena, Waste, and Unoccupied Lands” and embodying therein an agreement between the Government Agent or Assistant Government Agent or the special officer appointed under section 28 of that Ordinance and the claimant shall be registered in a new folio to be allotted by the Registrar, and an instrument affecting land dealt with by the agreement and registered after registration of the order shall not be deemed to be duly registered under this Chapter unless it is registered in or in continuation of the folio in which the order is registered.

(1) In this Ordinance, unless the context otherwise requires, “bill of sale” includes any assignment, transfer, declaration of trust without transfer, and any other assurance of movable property, whether absolute or by way of mortgage or otherwise, and also a power of attorney and authority or licence to take possession of movable property as security for any debt, but does not include a marriage settlement or assignment thereof.

(2) Nothing in this Chapter shall apply to contracts of sale of goods within the meaning of the Sale of Goods Ordinance, and made in the ordinary course of any business, trade, or calling, nor to bills of sale of any ship or vessel registered under the Merchant Shipping Act or any share thereof, nor to bills of sale of goods in any foreign parts or at sea; nor to property represented by bills of lading, dock warranty, warehouse-keepers’ certificates, warrants or orders for the delivery of goods; nor to any shares or interests in the stock funds or securities of any Government, or in the capital or property of any incorporated or joint stock company; nor to choses in action, other than book debts as defined in section 89 of the Mortgage Act; nor to any crops or produce growing or to be grown on any lands or plantations.

(a) such property is actually delivered into the possession and custody of the pledgee, mortgagee or transferee or of some person (other than the pledger, mortgagor or transferor) on behalf of the pledgee, mortgagee or transferee, and continues to remain actually, ostensibly and bona fide in such possession and custody from the date of the pledge, mortgage or bill of sale until such time as the pledgee, mortgagee or transferee seeks to enforce his rights as such to, over, or in respect of such property; or

(b) such pledge, mortgage or bill of sale is created by an instrument in writing signed by the person effecting the same, or by some person thereto lawfully authorized by him, and unless such writing shall, within twenty-one days (exclusive of public holidays) from the date thereof, have been duly registered in the office of the Registrar of Lands for the district in which such property shall be at the time of such pledge, mortgage or bill of sale, or in the office of the said Registrar for each of such districts, when such property is at the time of such pledge, mortgage or bill of sale in more than one district.

(1) A pledge, mortgage or bill of sale of movable property not in existence at, or to be acquired after, the time of such pledge, mortgage or bill of sale, and a transfer or assignment of such a pledge, mortgage or bill of sale, shall, if it is registered under this Chapter in any district, be deemed to be duly registered as respects such movable property, but shall not affect such movable property unless and until such movable property is in, or is brought into, the district in which the bill or sale is registered.

(2) This section applies to pledges, mortgages or bills of sale and transfers or assignments of pledges, mortgages or bills of sale, whether created or executed before or after the commencement of this Ordinance but, shall not affect any title for value acquired before the commencement of this Ordinance.

(1) Every Registrar shall prepare and keep the prescribed books for the registration of pledges, mortgages or bills of sale. Each book may be in as many volumes as necessary.

(2) The books for the registration of bills of sale established for the purposes of Ordinance No. 8 of 1871* shall continue to be used, and shall be deemed to be kept under this Chapter.[*Repealed by Ordinance No. 23 of 1927.]

(3) Every Registrar shall prepare and keep a separate book for the registration of instruments creating a pledge or mortgage of book debts.

(4) Every Registrar shall prepare and keep a separate book for the registration of instruments creating a pledge or mortgage of the entirety of the goods which are or may be in any specified premises or which constitute or may at any time constitute the entirety of the stock in trade of the business carried on in any specified premises.

(5) Every Registrar shall prepare and keep a separate book for the registration of trust receipts for imported goods and trust receipts for goods for exportation executed in conformity with the provisions of the Trust Receipts Ordinance.

(1) Every pledge, mortgage or bill of sale and transfer or assignment of a pledge, mortgage or bill of sale shall contain embodied therein or in a schedule annexed thereto as clear and accurate description of the movable property affected thereby as circumstances permit.

(2) Where the description of the movable property affected by a pledge, mortgage or bits of sale executed or made after the commencement of this Ordinance is not contained in a schedule annexed thereto, a fee of five rupees shall be payable for the registration in addition to any other fee which may be payable.

(3) Registration of a bill of sale shall be effected by entering the prescribed particulars in the proper book and in the prescribed form.

(a) the preceding provisions of this Chapter shall apply to such instrument in so far as a pledge, mortgage, or bill of sale of such movable property is effected or purported to be effected thereby;

(b) the preceding provisions of this Chapter shall not in any way affect such instrument in so far as an assurance or mortgage of the land is effected or purported to be effected thereby.

(1) An instrument may be presented for registration by-

(2) Either the original or a duly attested or certified copy of the instrument may be presented for registration:

Provided that, in the case of a will, the probate or letters of administration with a copy of the will annexed shall be presented for registration.

(3) An instrument may be presented for registration through the post or under cover if it is accompanied by the appropriate fee, if any.

(1) Each Registrar shall keep a book to be called the ” day book”, in which shall be entered the prescribed particulars of every instrument presented for registration with the day and hour and, if required by the person presenting the instrument, the minute of presentation, and for the purpose of priority the time of presentation shall be taken as the time of registration.

(2) An instrument presented for registration through the post or under cover shall be deemed to have been presented for registration at the time when the packet containing the instrument is opened.

(1) After registration, the Registrar shall endorse the instrument in the prescribed manner and return it on demand to the person who presented it for registration or his agent.

(2) If the return of an instrument is not claimed within six months from the time of registration or, in the case of an instrument registered before the commencement of this Ordinance, within six months from such commencement, then-

(3) When an instrument is destroyed, the Registrar shall make a note to that effect in the prescribed form in the day book at the place where the particulars of the instrument were entered on its presentation for registration.

(1) An instrument which affects land or movable property situated in more districts than one may be presented for registration to the Registrar of each such district, or to the Registrar-General.

(2) The Registrar-General shall, if the instrument is presented to him, instruct each Registrar concerned as to the entry to be made in the register by him.

(3) For the purpose of determining the time of registration, the receipt by a Registrar of the instructions of the Registrar-General shall be deemed to be the receipt of the instrument for registration.

(4) When the instrument has been registered by all the Registrars concerned, the Registrar-General shall endorse the instrument in the prescribed manner and return it on demand to the person who presented it for registration and section 28 shall apply to the instrument.

(1) Any person (in this section called a ” transferee”) acquiring or proposing to acquire for valuable consideration from any other person (in this section called the ” transferor “) any interest or benefit in any land may before the execution of the instrument by the transferor with his written consent, or after the execution of the instrument by the transferor without such consent, present for registration a notice (in this Ordinance called a ” priority notice “) of his intention to register the instrument.

(2) If, at any time while a priority notice remains in force, any instrument is registered whereby the transferee or a person deriving title under him acquires for valuable consideration from the transferor or a person deriving title under him any interest or benefit in the land described in the priority notice, such instrument shall, for the purposes of this Ordinance, be deemed to have been registered at the time of registration of the priority notice.

(3) No instrument executed by the transferor while a priority notice registered with his written consent remains in force and affecting any land described in the priority notice shall, except with the written consent of the transferee, be registered while the priority notice remains in force.

(4) The Registrar shall, on receiving a priority notice, register it in the same manner as other instruments, but shall retain the notice.

(5) A priority notice shall remain in force for six weeks from the date of registration of the notice, but may at any time before the end of such six weeks, before the execution of the instrument by the transferor with his written consent, or after the execution of the instrument by the transferor without such consent, be renewed by the transferee or a person deriving title under him for a further period of six weeks, and if so renewed shall remain in force for a further period of six weeks computed from the end of the first period of six weeks.

(6) If an instrument is not registered pursuant to a priority notice while the notice remains in force, the priority notice shall be deemed to have lapsed and shall have no effect under the provisions of this Ordinance.

(7) This section shall apply to a decree, order, or will affecting land in like manner as it applies to any other instrument, except that a priority notice as to a decree, or order may not, except with the leave of the court, be lodged before delivery in court of the judgment, and apriority notice as to a will may not be lodged until after the death of the testator.

(1) When a writ of execution is issued, the judgment creditor may, so long as the judgment remains unsatisfied, present for registration a notice (in this Ordinance called a ” seizure priority notice “) to the effect that the land described therein is liable to seizure under the writ of execution.

(2) If, at any time while the seizure priority notice remains in force, notice of seizure of any land described in the seizure priority notice is registered, notice of the seizure shall, for the purposes of this Ordinance and of section 238 of the Civil Procedure Code, be deemed to have been registered at the time of registration of the seizure priority notice or at the time when the seizure was actually effected, whichever date shall be the later, and shall have effect accordingly.

(3) The Registrar shall, on receiving a seizure priority notice, register it in the same manner as other instruments, but shall retain the notice.

(4) A seizure priority notice shall remain in force for six weeks from the date of registration of the notice, but may, at any time before the end of such six weeks, be renewed for a further period of six weeks, and if so renewed shall remain in force for a further period of six weeks computed from the end of the first period of six weeks.

(5) If notice of a seizure under the writ of execution is not registered while the seizure priority notice remains in force, the seizure priority notice shall be deemed to have lapsed and shall have no effect under the provisions of this Ordinance.

(1) Any person (in this Ordinance called a ” caveator”) may present for registration a caveat in the prescribed form requiring to be served with notice of the presentation for registration of any instrument affecting the land described in the caveat.

(2) The Registrar shall on receiving a caveat register it in the same manner as other instruments, but shall retain the caveat.

(3) A caveat shall be in force for such period as may be specified therein, not being longer than the period covered by the fee paid on the caveat.

(4) The notice to be given to the caveator shall be in the prescribed form and shall be sent by registered letter to the address mentioned in the caveat.

(5) If, while a caveat is in force, an instrument affecting the land described in the caveat is presented for registration, and in an action commenced by the caveator in a competent court within thirty days from posting of the notice required by subsection (4) it is proved to the satisfaction of the court that the instrument presented for registration is or was at the time of registration void or voidable by the caveator or fraudulent as against him or in derogation of his lawful rights, the court may order the instrument to be rectified or cancelled as may be necessary to preserve the rights of the caveator, and may order the necessary correction to be made in the register.

(6) Nothing in this section shall affect any other power which may be possessed by any court of ordering any instrument to be rectified or cancelled.

(1) Registration of a priority notice, seizure notice, seizure priority notice, caveat, or lis pendens may be cancelled at the request in writing of the person by whom or on whose behalf it was presented for registration.

(2) A District Court may, on the application of any person interested in any property affected by registration of a priority notice, seizure notice, seizure priority notice, caveat, or Us pendens, if it is satisfied that the registration was or has become unnecessary, order that the registration be cancelled. An application under this subsection may be made in a suit or summarily under Chapter XXIV of the Civil Procedure Code.

(3) A cancellation under this section shall be registered by the Registrar in the prescribed manner.

(1) Where it is shown to the satisfaction of the Registrar-General that any error or omission has been made in registering any instrument, whether before or after the commencement of this Ordinance, the Registrar-General shall, in the case of a deed with the written consent of the parties thereto, or in the case of a will with the written consent of the executor or administrator, or in the case of any other instrument with the written consent of the person who presented it for registration, order such error or omission to be corrected, and the correction shall then be made by the Registrar concerned in the prescribed manner, but shall not affect any priority accrued before the correction is made:

Provided that the Registrar-General may with like effect make such an order for the correction of any error or omission made in registering any such instrument if it is proved to his satisfaction by any person interested that by reason of the death or legal incapacity of any person or party whose written consent is required as aforesaid or for any other sufficient cause whatever, such written consent cannot be obtained.

(2) When the error and correction are not in the same folio, they shall be connected by cross references in the prescribed manner.

(3) A person aggrieved by the refusal of the Registrar-General to make an order under this section may, within thirty days from the date of such refusal being communicated to him, institute in the District Court a suit praying for the variation or reversal of the decision of the Registrar-General.

(1) A Registrar may, if he thinks fit, refuse to register an instrument-

(2) A Registrar shall refuse to register an instrument-

(1) Any person aggrieved by an order of a Registrar refusing to register an instrument may, within thirty days from the date of the order being communicated to him, appeal to the Registrar-General, who may vary or reverse the order.

(2) Any person aggrieved by the decision of the Registrar-General under this section may, within thirty days from the date of such decision being communicated to him, institute in the District Court a suit against the Registrar-General praying for the variation or reversal of the decision of the Registrar-General.

(1) A copy or extract purporting to be certified under the hand of a Registrar to be a true copy of or extract from any duplicate or copy preserved under this Ordinance or of or from any book kept pursuant to this Ordinance shall be admissible in evidence without proof of the signature or appointment of the Registrar, and shall be prima facie evidence of the contents of such duplicate, copy, or book: for all purposes and in all proceedings, civil or criminal, but subject to all just and lawful exceptions.

(2) An endorsement by the Registrar in the prescribed form on a duplicate of an application for registration of a Us pendens. or on a duplicate of a priority notice or seizure priority notice or an application for renewal of such a notice, or on a duplicate of a caveat shall be admissible in evidence without proof of the signature or appointment of the Registrar, and shall be prima facie evidence of registration of the Us pendens, priority notice, or seizure priority notice or caveat or of the renewal of the priority notice or seizure priority notice for all purposes and in all proceedings, civil or criminal, but subject to all just and lawful exceptions.

(1) The Minister[1] may make regulations, to be published in the Gazette, as to any matter which by this Ordinance may or is to be prescribed and generally for regulating the forms to be used and the procedure and practice to be observed in carrying this Ordinance into effect.

(2) All such regulations shall, as soon as conveniently may be, be laid before parliament and may, at any of the next following three meetings, be rescinded by resolution of Parliament but without prejudice to anything already done thereunder, and if not so rescinded shall be deemed to be valid.