Background

The need to develop an information system to support the provision of services became evident when the Public Registries were unified at an operational level, making it necessary to work with two systems at the same time, slowing and complicating the flow of work. The two systems were also conceptually independent, and publication of registry information about aspects of goods and chattels, license plates or registration numbers assigned, and liens related to them were registered in different ways in each system.

Because the information systems dated from the beginning of the 1980s, their data storage capacity was practically exhausted. There was also a lack of controls on the processes which were carried out by officials, the ability to access information was limited, there was no program for generating listings and reports, and there were no programs for validating safety mechanisms of documents, such as security forms, signatures of notaries, receipts of payment of rights and legal stamps, taxes for property transfers, etc. The lack of automated procedures for carrying out these and other tasks meant that control had to be carried out manually, which resulted in inadequate use of human resources, and slow services provided to users.

Given this situation, and the need to comply with one of the two  of the goals of the National Registry Administration at that time - institutionalization of the Goods and Chattels Registry, and achieving more efficient provision of the Institution's services -analysis began in May, 1992 for the creation of an automated system to support the requirements of the new Registry.

Costa Rican legislators created the Goods and Chattels Registry in 1964, pursuant to provisions in Art. 236 of the Commercial Code, Law N.º 3284 of April 30 of that year which says:

"The Goods and Chattels Registry is created, located in the city of San José, and shall act jointly with the Pledges Registry".

In spite of the Law's content, the various Goods and Chattels Registries were organized - technically and administratively - as independent registries, although the Law for the Creation of the National Registry, Law N.º 5695, of May 28, 1975 and its amendments in Art. 2 amended through Law N.º 6934 of November 28, 1983 provided that:

In addition to those assigned by other laws, the National Registry is constituted by the following registries: the Public Registry (including goods and chattels, mortgages, mortgage bonds, horizontal properties, leasing, persons, mercantile, associations, the media and publicity agencies); the Goods and Chattels Registry (including matters concerning pledges and vehicles); the Industrial Property Registry (which also includes matters concerning patents for  invention  and cattle branding), and the National Land Registry.

The Public Goods and Chattels Registry is made up of the former Public Registry of Ownership of Motor Vehicles, as well as those for General Pledges, Maritime, and the Ministry of Public Works and Transportation's License Plates Section.

The Public Registry of Ownership of Motor Vehicles was moved to the National Registry through Executive Decree N.º 14137-J,  of November 18, 1982; and the current Regulations for said Registry were authorized through Executive Decree N.º 16821-J, of December 26, 1985.

The General Pledges Registry was created through Law Nº 5, of October 5, 1941, as an office of the Treasury Secretariat, governed by the Superintendent of Banks, and in 1948 it was made part of the Ministry of the Interior. Its Regulations were promulgated through Executive Decree Nº 34 of September 10, 1964.

The National Ship Registry was created through the Organic Regulations of the General Maritime Transportation Office, whose Art. 3, Clause q, assigns said Office the responsibilities for:

Establishing and keeping a record which shall be called the Costa Rican Maritime Registry, which shall have two sections: the Administrative Maritime Registry and the National Ship Registry.

This Decree was complemented by another, No. 125568-T-S-H, of April 30, 1981, "Regulations of the Costa Rican Maritime Registry", which defined the scope of the two sections that make up that Registry.

The National General Registry Office, through Circular Nº 3-93, implements administrative reorganization and essential changes in functions carried out by the Pledges Registry and the Motor Vehicle Registry officials. It says: 

The present circular is issued pursuant to Agreement Nº 2236, adopted in Regular Meeting Nº 35-93 of September 6, 1993, based on Articles 2 and 6 of Law Nº 5695 of May 28, 1975, and its amendments, "Law for the Creation of the National Registry",  and is binding for the Directors and all officials of the Pledges Registry and the Motor Vehicles Registry, in accordance with which the aforementioned registries are united as of Monday, September 20, 1993, and are temporarily part of the General National Registry Office, for all administrative purposes.

Decree Nº 23178-J-MOPT of April 18, 1994 was issued as part of the establishment of the Goods and Chattels Public Registry, whose Art. 1 provides:

The National Ship Registry is moved to the National Registry's Goods and Chattels Public Registry, which shall be in charge of registering all types of ships and maritime vehicles, either larger or smaller than fifty tons (gross weight).

The Ministry of Public Works and Transportation's Department of License Plates is integrated into the Goods and Chattels Public Registry through Decree Nº 21900-MOPT-J, of January 20, 1993, whose Art. 1 states:

The Motor Vehicles Public Registry is in charge of drafting, creating and assigning the numbers of license plates and delivering them, for motor vehicles whose registration is authorized, except for the graphic design, color, material and technical specifications of metal license plates which will continue to be under the responsibility of the General Traffic Engineering Office, pursuant to the "Traffic Administration Law", Law Nº 6324 of May 24, 1979.

Finally, as part of the policy aimed at the administrative integration of offices dealing with goods and chattels, the Department of Computerized Certifications for motor vehicles (which had been a part of the Public Registry), was made a part of the Public Registry of Motor Vehicle Ownership (which is currently a part of the Goods and Chattels Registry), through Official Letter from the Public Registry Office No. DRP-486-93, in September, 1993.

The Aeronautical Registry, which was created through the General Civil Aviation Law, Nº 762, of October 18, 1949, has yet to be integrated. Currently, the Costa Rican Aeronautical Registry is regulated by the General Civil Aviation Law, Nº 5150, of May 14, 1973, amended by Law Nº 5437, of December 17, 1973, and Law Nº 6021, of December 15, 1976.