3. Section 1(2) of the 1970 Act, under which the Land Registry consists of a central office in Belfast and local offices, shall cease to have effect.
4.—(1) In section 1(3) of the 1970 Act (staff of Land Registry, functions, etc.) after “seals” there shall be inserted “used or”.
(2) The amendments specified in the following paragraphs shall be made in Schedule 1 to the 1970 Act (administrative provisions relating to the Land Registry).
(3) For the cross-heading to paragraph 4 (appointment of other central office officials) substitute “Other officials”.
(4) Before paragraph 6 (functions of staff of Land Registry) insert the cross-heading “Functions”; and in that paragraph for “and with Land Registry Rules” substitute “or any other statutory provision (including Land Registry Rules)”.
(5) For paragraphs 7 to 12 (and their cross-headings) substitute:
“7. An assistant registrar nominated by the Registrar may, in accordance with any general or specific directions given by the Registrar and notwithstanding any vacancy subsequently occurring in the office of Registrar, act as Registrar and exercise all or any of the functions of the Registrar.
8. Where the Registrar is absent from the Land Registry or the office of Registrar is vacant and no person is acting as Registrar under paragraph 7 in accordance with a direction that he exercise all the functions of the Registrar, the senior assistant registrar present may act as Registrar and exercise all the functions of the Registrar.
9. All acts done by an assistant registrar under paragraph 7 or 8 shall, without proof of, respectively, the directions or circumstances, have the same effect in all respects as if they had been done by the Registrar.
10. The Land Registry shall have an official seal.
11.—(1) Judicial notice shall be taken by all courts of the official seal of the Land Registry, and any document purporting to be sealed with that seal shall be admissible in evidence; and if the document is a copy of another document or a copy in legible form of a record kept in non-legible form, the copy shall be admissible in like manner as the original document or record.
(2) In this paragraph “legible” and “record” have the same meaning as in section 85A.
(3) This paragraph also applies to the official seal of the central office or a local office (under this paragraph as originally enacted) which has been affixed to any document before the commencement of Article 3 of the Registration (Land and Deeds) (Northern Ireland) Order 1992.”.
5. The following section shall be substituted for section 3 of the 1970 Act:
3. The person who is Registrar shall not, nor shall any assistant registrar or other officer or person appointed under paragraph 5 of Schedule 1, be liable to any action, suit or proceedings for or in respect of any act or matter done or omitted to be done in good faith in the exercise, or purported exercise, of the functions conferred under this Act or any other statutory provision on the Registrar, the Land Registry, any assistant registrar or any officer or person appointed for the service of the Land Registry.”.