Land Titles (Electronic Lodgment) Rules 2003

No. S 275

Land Titles Act

(Chapter 157)

Land Titles (Electronic Lodgment) Rules 2003

In exercise of the powers conferred by section 170(1A) of the Land Titles Act, the Singapore Land Authority hereby makes the following Rules:

Citation and commencement

1. These Rules may be cited as the Land Titles (Electronic Lodgment) Rules 2003 and shall come into operation on 9th June 2003.

Definitions

2. In these Rules, unless the context otherwise requires —

“approved certification authority” means any person or organisation named in the First Schedule that issues a certificate;

“asymmetric cryptosystem” means a system capable of generating a secure key pair, consisting of a private key for creating a digital signature, and a public key to verify the digital signature;

“certificate” means a record that at a minimum —

(a)	identifies the approved certification authority issuing it;
(b)	names or identifies its subscriber;
(c)	contains the subscriber’s public key; and
(d)	is digitally signed by the approved certification authority issuing it;

“correspond”, in relation to private or public keys, means to belong to the same key pair;

“digital signature” means an electronic signature consisting of a transformation of an electronic record using an asymmetric cryptosystem and a hash function such that a person having the initial untransformed electronic record and the signer’s public key can accurately determine —

(a)	whether the transformation was created using the private key that corresponds to the signer’s public key; and
(b)	whether the initial electronic record has been altered since the transformation was made;

“electronic record” means a record generated, communicated, received or stored by any electronic, magnetic, optical or other means of storage in an information system or for transmission from one information system to another;

“electronic signature” means any letter, character, number or other symbol in digital form attached to or logically associated with an electronic record, and executed or adopted with the intention of authenticating or approving the electronic record;

“hash function” means an algorithm mapping or translating one sequence of bits into another, generally smaller set (the hash result) such that —

(a)	a record yields the same hash result every time the algorithm is executed using the same record as input;
(b)	it is computationally infeasible that a record can be derived or reconstituted from the hash result produced by the algorithm; and
(c)	it is computationally infeasible that 2 records can be found that produce the same hash result using the algorithm;

“key pair”, in an asymmetric cryptosystem, means a private key and its mathematically related public key, having the property that the public key can verify a digital signature that the private key creates;

“private key” means the key of a key pair used to create a digital signature;

“public key” means the key of a key pair used to verify a digital signature;

“signature” includes any symbol executed or adopted, or any methodology or procedure employed or adopted, by a person with the intention of authenticating a record, including electronic or digital methods;

“subscriber” means a person who is the subject named or identified in a certificate issued to him by a certification authority and who holds a private key that corresponds to a public key listed in that certificate;

“verify a digital signature”, in relation to a given digital signature, record and public key, means to determine accurately that —

(a)	the digital signature was created using the private key corresponding to the public key listed in the certificate; and
(b)	the record has not been altered since its digital signature was created.

Electronic lodgment of instruments

3.—(1) The Registrar may —

(a)	allow the lodgment of instruments; or
(b)	give, grant, issue or serve any approval, decision, notice or other document,

under the Act in the form of an electronic record.

(2) The approvals, decisions, notices or other documents which may be given, granted, issued or served to or on any person by the Registrar in the form of electronic records in accordance with these Rules are set out in the Second Schedule.

Requirements for electronic lodgment

4. Any person intending to lodge an electronic record with the Registrar under these Rules shall, before lodging the electronic record, ensure that he has —

(a)	become the subscriber of a certificate issued by an approved certification authority; and
(b)	arranged for the payment of the appropriate fees as specified in the Schedule to the Land Titles Rules (R 1) to be made by inter-bank GIRO or such other means as the Registrar may require.

Digital signatures and electronic signatures to be used for electronic lodgment by subscribers

5.—(1) An electronic record to be lodged with the Registrar under these Rules by the subscriber of a certificate shall be signed with a digital signature or an electronic signature as the Registrar may direct.

(2) Such digital signature shall be capable of being verified by reference to the public key listed in the subscriber’s certificate.

Concurrent lodgment of paper instruments

6. Except for the instruments as set out in the Third Schedule and such other instrument as the Registrar may determine, all instruments in the paper form shall be lodged for registration in person on the same day after the same instruments in the electronic form has been electronically lodged in accordance with rule 3.

Time for electronic lodgment

7. Instruments in the electronic form shall be lodged for registration from 8.30 a.m. to 12 noon every day except Saturday, Sunday or any public holiday or between such other hours as the Registrar may direct.

Time and place for paper lodgment

8. Instruments in the paper form with the corresponding electronic form lodged under rule 7 shall be lodged for registration at the Registry from 8.30 a.m. to 3 p.m. every day except Saturday, Sunday or any public holiday or between such other hours as the Registrar may direct.

Lodgment form

9. Instruments in the electronic and paper forms shall be lodged for registration together with a lodgment form.

Date and time of lodgment

10. Upon receipt of instruments in the paper form that are lodged in accordance with rule 8, the date and time of lodgment shall be deemed to be the date and time of the instruments in the electronic form as lodged in accordance with rule 7.

Application of other subsidiary legislation

11. These Rules shall not affect the application of any other subsidiary legislation made under the Act to any instrument except in so far as they are inconsistent with the provisions of these Rules, in which case these Rules shall prevail.

Made this 5th day of June 2003.

LIEW HENG SAN

Chairman,
Singapore Land Authority.

[SLA (LR)20/99 Vol. 4; AG/LEG/SL/157/2003/1 Vol. 1]

(To be presented to Parliament under section 170(2) of the Land Titles Act).

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