Cape Verde's land registry (registo predial): what registering your title protects

You have signed a notarial deed, or you are about to. Many foreign buyers stop there, convinced that signing before a notary is enough. In Cape Verde, the other half of the journey is the registo predial — the registration of the title at the land registry.

The registo predial is governed by the Código do Registo Predial (CRP) (Decreto-Lei n.º 10/2010, de 29 de março) and kept by the Conservatórias do Registo Predial (land registry offices). It is not the same as the cadastre: the INGT states plainly that «a inscrição dos prédios no cadastro não deve ser confundida com o registo predial».

This guide explains what registration does, who it protects you against, and what a certidão predial proves. For the purchase checklist, see also our guide to the steps of buying property in Cape Verde.

Cape Verde's registo predial: an institution of publicity, not a mere stamp

Article 1.º of the CRP gives the registry the purpose of «dar publicidade à situação jurídica dos prédios, tendo em vista a segurança do comércio jurídico imobiliário». It does not create ownership: it makes it public so the market can be secure. Its force lies in the legal effect attached to registration, not in the paper.

The notarial deed binds you; registration protects you against a third party

The CRP separates two levels. Between the parties, facts subject to registration, even unregistered, may be relied on between the parties or their heirs (article 4.º n.º 1) — exception: a mortgage, whose effect between the parties depends on registration (n.º 2). Against third parties, they produce no effects against someone acquiring rights over the same property from the same author, registered with priority (article 5.º n.º 1). An unregistered deed protects you from the seller, not from a second buyer registered before you.

The certidão predial: what it proves, what it does not

The registry is proved by certidões (article 129.º n.º 1). Article 131.º n.º 1 sets their content: registrations in force, pending filings (apresentações pendentes), irregularities not yet corrected, archived documents. A certidão is valid for one year, renewable (n.º 2). Only a definitive registration carries the «presunção de que o direito existe e pertence ao titular inscrito» (article 7.º); a provisional one does not.

First registered, first served: priority between competing acts

Two acts over the same property? The order of the registry decides: «o direito inscrito em primeiro lugar prevalece sobre os que se lhe seguirem» (article 6.º n.º 1), by date of the registrations and, on the same date, by the order number of the filings. A provisional registration later converted into a definitive one keeps its priority (n.º 3); after a refusal, a registration made on a successful appeal keeps the priority (n.º 4).

Trato sucessivo: no one can sell you a right not registered in the seller's name

Article 14.º n.º 1 establishes legitimation: facts transferring rights or creating charges cannot be executed by notarial deed until the property is definitively registered in the name of the person you are acquiring from, subject to listed exceptions (expropriation, forced sale, justified urgency). Article 44.º n.º 1 is its counterpart: a definitive registration of acquisition depends on the prior registration in the name of whoever transfers or charges it.

Registration is mandatory — but phased and conditional on the cadastre

Registration is mandatory (article 9.º) and «deve ser pedido no prazo de três meses a contar da data em que o facto tiver sido titulado» (article 11.º n.º 1). Beyond that, article 13.º n.º 1 provides for a pecuniary sanction of 25 000$00, doubled if registration is requested more than fifteen days after notification; notaries send in a monthly list of acts (article 12.º). A decisive nuance: the obligation is phased, made conditional by article 4.º of the approving decree-law on a despacho conjunto (joint order from Justiça and Ordenamento do Território) published in the Boletim Oficial and confirming the relevant cadastre.

Provisional and definitive registration: two different protections

The CRP recognises registration provisional by nature (article 105.º): actions and proceedings under article 3.º, acquisition before the titling of the contract, voluntary mortgage before the establishment of the title. A provisional registration lapses if not converted or renewed (article 16.º n.º 2), its term being six months unless otherwise provided (n.º 3). Lei n.º 57/X/2025, de 05 de agosto rewrote article 105.º n.º 1.

What you risk if the deed is never registered

Failing to register does not undo everything, but it leaves blind spots: unenforceability against a third party whose rights were registered with priority (article 5.º n.º 1); no presumption of definitive registration (article 7.º); difficulty reselling without trato sucessivo (articles 14.º and 44.º); facts in the registry cannot be challenged in court without simultaneously requesting cancelamento (article 8.º). The exception, as it stands: article 5.º n.º 2, sub-paragraph a), excepts from that unenforceability «a aquisição, fundada na usucapião, dos direitos referidos na alínea a) do n.º 1 do artigo 2.º».

Requesting and reading a certidão predial in Cape Verde

Certidões are requested verbally or in writing (article 130.º n.º 1) and issued within two working days (article 132.º); each registration procedure gives a right to one free certidão of the registrations in force (article 129.º n.º 6), electronic versions carrying evidentiary value before any authority (n.º 3 to 5). The Portal da Justiça (Decreto-Lei n.º 53/2024, de 4 de novembro), via www.justica.gov.cv (article 5.º), issues certificates (article 25.º), with Registo Predial among its online services (article 28.º n.º 2 a) i.). In the cadastral areas, the Certidão de Identificação Predial (CIP) — governed by Decreto-Lei n.º 12/2024, de 21 de março (Regime Jurídico do Cadastro Predial), articles 25.º to 27.º — is valid for one year from its issue (article 27.º n.º 3) and carries full probative force as to the rights, charges or encumbrances registered (n.º 1): «Nas áreas cadastradas, a certidão de identificação predial substitui, para todos os efeitos legais, a certidão matricial e a certidão predial» (n.º 4). The cadastre is carried out «em toda e qualquer área do território nacional» (article 28.º n.º 1): the CIP therefore remains tied to the cadastral areas, which are no longer limited to four islands.

General information. This article sets out legal mechanisms for general information; it replaces neither the advice of a notary nor that of the competent conservatória (registry office).

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