Revised Laws of Saint Lucia (2021)

8.   Registration of agricultural charges

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   (1)   There shall be a Registrar of Agricultural Charge who shall be—

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      (a)     a public officer appointed by the Public Service Commission; and

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      (b)     responsible for the maintenance and updating of a register.

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   (2)   An agricultural charge shall be registered by the holder within 28 days after its execution and if not so registered, shall be void as against any person other than the farmer, trader or related business as the case may be.

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   (3)   Despite subsection (2), the Registrar may, on proof that omission to register within such time as aforesaid was accidental or due to inadvertence, extend the time for registration on such terms as he or she thinks fit.

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   (4)   An agricultural charge shall be effected by sending by post or delivering to the Registrar's office, a memorandum of the instrument creating the charge and such particulars of the charge as may be prescribed, together with the prescribed fee, and upon receipt thereof the Registrar shall enter the particulars in the Register and file the memorandum.

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   (5)   The Register kept and the memoranda filed under this section shall, at all reasonable times, be open to inspection by any person on payment of the prescribed fee, and any person inspecting the Register or any memorandum may, on payment of the prescribed fee, make copies or extracts from them.

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   (6)   Any person may, on payment of the prescribed fee, require to be furnished with a copy of any entry in the Register or memorandum certified to be a true copy by the Registrar.

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   (7)   Registration of an agricultural charge may be proved by the production of a certified copy of the entry in the Register relating to the charge, and a copy of any such entry purporting to be or certified as, a true copy by the Registrar shall, in all legal proceedings, be evidence of the matters stated therein without proof of the signature or authority of the person signing it unless the contrary is proved.

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   (8)   The Registrar is not liable to any action or proceeding 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 powers conferred on the Registrar under this Act.

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   (9)   Any person aggrieved by any decision of the Registrar may appeal to the High Court within 30 days of such decision.

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   (10)   Registration of an agricultural charge under this section shall, from the date of registration, be considered to constitute actual notice of the charge and of the fact of such registration to all persons and for all purposes connected with the property comprised in the charge.

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   (11)   Despite subsection (10)—

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      (a)     where an agricultural charge is expressly made for securing a current account or further advances, the holder, in relation to making further advances under the charge, shall not be considered to have notice of another agricultural charge by reason only that it is so registered if it was not so registered at the time when the first-mentioned charge was created or when the last search, if any, by or on behalf of the holder was made, whichever was the later; and

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      (b)     registration shall not be considered to constitute actual notice to a purchaser for the purposes of section 6.