With their presentations held in the conference – some of which contained historical background and international experiences – among others, eminent Norwegian and Slovak professionals verified and confirmed the standpoint of the Hungarian land management leaders. Namely that the currently valid rules of law provide the necessary guarantee for providing and protecting the security of title and ownership rights. One element of them is the Act on Land Registration as the land office network is also one of the institutional circles performing administrative duties. 

In our opinion, the concept that wishes to replace the current unified land registration system with the creation of a new land book denies the tangible achievements of 30 years’ work (among others: the unprecedented huge, complete land and property privatization), the advantages of mapping and legal subsystems built on each other and working in the same organization and also that the overlapping can be avoided in this way. This concept contradicts the reality and the proved international trends, therefore it is entirely faulty.

The main reason of the deficiencies in the previous land registration and land book functioning before 1972 was the separated status that finally led to an intolerable situation. Consequently, the creation of the unified integrated land registration system became a must. The contradictions between data, rights and facts were so many that the editing procedure took nine years. Those who mention the land book as legal institution declaring it an ideal solution both of theoretical and practical points of view, remain silent of the very negative experiences of the past. The concept does not mention at all that exactly the decisions made during legal remedy procedures of the court prove the lawfulness of the land offices proceedings. This is really not bad that out of annual three million decisions made by land offices, only 0.05 thousandth of the cases failed at the courts.

The backlog of the land offices – that is significantly lower than that of the previous years – is due mostly to the dramatically growing amount of duties. The number of the cases to be managed has doubled since 1999. There is no organisational structure that could cope with a burden like this without radical improvement of personal and working conditions.

The institutional system of land registration is settled, its operation corresponds to the rules of law. The further development along the modernization programme of land offices, education and training, the ongoing improvements and their results prove that the land management sector – supported from Hungarian resources and EU aid – has been doing much to cope with the difficult challenges, developing its services to an acceptable level and improve it continuously.

The unanimous standpoint of the conference participants is that the improvement of the quality and up-to-dateness of the currently operating unified land registration system and the elimination of the backlog can be solved. The precondition of it is the provision of the human resources for professional direction and execution, the clarification of the rules of law and completing the development of instruments/hardware. The amount to be allocated from the central budget for this purpose is a very small part of that other one, which would be necessary to separate the current system and create an independent new land registry and a new land book. The reconstruction and adjustment to the judicial environment of the existing land office information system  – that now forms the background of the working electronic case management built up in 7 years with an investment of HUF 8 billion –  would cost almost the same or even bigger amount. 

On international level – with special attention to the EU accession – a general trend can be observed that shows the direction to the unified system of cadastre and land registration, in which the legal and technical data can be managed in the same organisation and information system. The idea of re-establishing the land book, the separation of the unified institution contradicts the international trend.  Recommendations were formulated on the relation between people and land, globalisation, questions of market economy, sustainable development and environment. The participants support the unified land management and mapping among others at the specialized fora of UNO, (European Commission of Economy, Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO), Centre of Human Settlements (HABITAT), UN Economic and Social Department for the Sustainable Development and UN Regional Commissions for Mapping.  By now, Hungary has developed a centralised land registration organization that became a good example to follow worldwide. To keep this favourable position and avoid stepping back, it is vital that the Government definitely supports it and lifts the activity of the existing system onto the highest level.

It is important mentioning that the thoughtless discussion of this theme in the media negatively affects the atmosphere of the land offices, destroying the work morale of the employees and creating unnecessary tensions.

Considering that the expected advantages remain far behind the necessary expenditures, therefore – in connection with the concept of the new Civil Code – we are urging the definite rejection of the proposal aiming at re-establishing the Land Book, and we are asking the same from the leaders of the agrarian sector and the Government.