Article 1
This Act is hereby formulated in order to improve the development of religious groups and deal with the ownership of real estate registered by religious groups in the name of natural persons.
Article 2
The term ‘competent authority’ referred to in this Act shall mean the Ministry of the Interior in the central government; the Municipal Governments in Municipalities, the County (City) governments in the Counties (Cities) level.
Article 3
The term "religious groups" as mentioned in this Act refers to those that meet one of the following requirements:
1.Religious foundations, religious corporations, or temples that have completed temple registration.
2.Temples that have not been registered as temples.
The temples provided for in subparagraph 2 of the preceding paragraph are limited to those that meets one of the following conditions before the implementation of this Act, and shall compose the temple preparatory office with three or more promoters:
1.An entire building for religious activities has been constructed.
2.The temple construction establishment undertaking plan has been approved by the competent authority.
3.The name of the temple preparatory office shall be annotated by the real estate registration authority in accordance with the provisions of Paragraph 2 of Article 104 of the “Regulations of the Land Registration”.
Article 4
The term "real estate" as mentioned in this Act refers to those registered in the name of natural persons under any of the following circumstances before the implementation of this Act:
1.Religious groups purchasing with their own funds.
2.Religious groups receiving donation.
3.Contracts or other certification documents sufficiently to proof the real estate owned by religious group.
The provisions of this Act shall not apply to the real estate under any of the following circumstances:
1.Banned or prohibited by law of being owned by a religious group. But arable land is not limited to this.
2.The ownership registration has been completed in accordance with Paragraph 2, Article 104 of the “Regulations of the Land Registration”.
Article 5
Religious groups may, within two years from the date of implementation of this Act, apply to the competent authority for examination and approval of the ownership of the real estate in Paragraph 1 of the preceding Article, and the application overdue will not be accepted.
Article 6
The application specified in the preceding article shall be made by the person in charge or representative of the religious group, and the following documents or materials shall be attached:
1.Application form.
2.Temple registration certificate or legal person registration certificate; for temples that have not been registered as temples, the agreement of all the propagators of the temple preparatory office shall be attached.
3.The qualification certificate of the person in charge or representative.
4.Contracts, notarial deeds (or deeds of attestation) or other documents or materials sufficient to identify the real estate as the substantial ownership of the religious organization.
5.Real estate list and the land registration transcripts. However, if the land registration transcript can be searched by computer, it is not necessary to submit it.
6.Agreements of consent of the nominee for real estate registration or all his heirs; if there are several persons, the consent of more than half of the Co-owners whose holding of ownership is more than half of the total share shall be required. But if the holding of ownership is more than two thirds, the numbers of consenting co-owners need not be taken into account.
7.Other documents or materials designated by the competent authority.
The agreement stipulated in the second paragraph of the preceding Paragraph shall specify the following matters:
1.The name of the temple preparatory office.
2.The names of all the promotors and their signatures.
3.The representative of all the promoters.
4.The method and procedure for the generation of a successor in the event of the death or change of the promotor and the representative.
5.For those whose arable land has been restricted and registered, the method of decision to dispose of the arable land during the preparatory period.
6.The conditions and procedures for the dissolution of the preparatory office and the disposal of the real estate after the dissolution.
Applicants who apply in accordance with Subparagraph 6, Paragraph 1 shall additionally submit a transcript of the household registration containing the deceased's death record, the transcript of the current household registration of all the heirs, and the inheritance system table.
Article 7
If it finds that the application documents or materials are lacking and can make corrections after the competent authority accepts the application, it shall notify the applicant to make corrections within three months.
Article 8
If the application documents and materials meet the requirements after review, the competent authority shall make a public announcement and notify the real estate registration nominee or all his heirs. The announcement period is at least one month.
The announcement in the preceding paragraph shall state the following matters:
1.The location number or construction number of the real estate.
2.Documents or materials that comply with the provisions of Paragraph 1 of Article 4.
3.Period of announcement.
4.Other matters that should be announced.
The announcement in Paragraph 1 shall be published on the notice board and website of the competent authority, the township (town, city, district) office where the real estate is located, and the premises of religious organizations; if necessary, it may be published in other appropriate places or in other appropriate ways.
Article 9
The nominee of real estate registration, his heirs or interested parties may file an objection with the competent authority by presenting the qualification certificate, objection letter and relevant evidential materials within the period of public announcement in Paragraph 1 of the preceding Article.
Objection will not be accepted under any of the following circumstances:
1.Failure to raise an objection within the period of announcement in Paragraph 1 of the preceding Article.
2.There are deficiencies in the documents or materials in the preceding paragraph, and the objector is notified to make corrections within ten days.
Article 10
After the competent authority accepts the objection, it shall be handled in accordance with the following provisions:
1.Within 20 days after the expiration of public announcement period, send the objection letter to the applicant, and ask the applicant to submit a response in writing with evidence and materials within three months from the date of delivery.
2.Within 20 days from the date of receiving the applicant's response, send the response to the objector, and ask the objector to indicate whether there is still any objection within one month from the date of delivery.
3.If the objector indicates that he still has objections within the period specified in the preceding paragraph, the competent authority shall notify the applicant and the objector and file a lawsuit with the court within three months.
If the applicant or objector files a lawsuit in accordance with the provisions of Subparagraph 3 of the preceding Paragraph, he or she shall, within ten days from the date of filing the lawsuit, submit the copy of the complaint and the photocopies of the certification documents to the competent authority.
If the applicant or objector files a lawsuit in accordance with the provisions of Subparagraph 3, Paragraph 1 or the dispute over the ownership of the real estate is being tried by the court, the competent authority shall stop the examination and verification of the ownership of the real estate.
After the reasons for the suspension of processing in the preceding paragraph have been eliminated, the competent authority shall continue the processing.
Article 11
In any of the following circumstances, the competent authority shall state the reasons for rejecting the application:
1.The application documents or materials have not been supplemented and corrected; after being notified to supplement and correct within a time limit according to Article 7, the supplement and correction are not made within the time limit or the supplement and correction still do not meet the requirements.
2.There are facts which are sufficient to confirm that the documents and materials specified in Article 6 or the evidential materials specified in Subparagraph 1, Paragraph 1 of the preceding Article are forged, altered or false.
3.The applicant fails to submit a response in accordance with the provisions of Subparagraph 1, Paragraph 1 of the preceding Article.
4.Neither the applicant nor the objector has filed a lawsuit in accordance with the provisions of Subparagraph 3, Paragraph 1 of the preceding Article, or the applicant has withdrawn the lawsuit after filing a lawsuit.
5.The court has determined a judgment or a document that has the same effect as the judgment, and it is determined that the applicant has no legal reasons for acquiring the ownership of the real estate.
Article 12
Under any of the following circumstances, the competent authority shall entrust the real estate registration authority to handle the registration of name change or restriction of registration:
1.The application case expires after the announcement period of Paragraph 1 of Article 8, and no objection is raised.
2.The objector has not indicated that he still has objections in accordance with the provisions of Article 10, Paragraph 1, Subparagraph 2.
3.The objector withdraws after filing a lawsuit in accordance with Article 10, Paragraph 1, Subparagraph 3.
4.The court has determined a judgment or a document that has the same effect as the judgment, confirming that the applicant has a legal reason for acquiring the ownership of the real estate.
When the competent authority entrusts the entrustment in accordance with the provisions of the preceding paragraph, it shall notify the applicant and the nominee of real estate registration or all his heirs.
Article 13
The entrusted name change registration or restriction registration mentioned in Paragraph 1 of the preceding Article shall be handled in accordance with the following provisions:
1.Registration of name change by entrustment: The applicant is a legal person of a religious foundation, a legal person of a religious association, or a temple that has completed the registration of a temple, and has been registered as the owner in the name of another natural person as well as there is no circumstance that the real estate cannot be acquired by law, the name change registration is owned by the applicant.
2.Registration of Entrustment Restriction: If the applicant is a temple that has not been registered as a temple, or that has real estate as arable land, or purchased or donated real estate and has not undergone transfer registration, it is a religious organization that has restricted registration and indicated that its rights are attributable to accreditation.
The registration items restricted in the second paragraph of the preceding paragraph shall become invalid upon the expiration of the implementation period of this Act. The competent authority shall entrust the real estate registration authority to cancel the restricted registration on the register when it expires.
Religious groups may apply to the real estate registration authority for the following registrations with the real estate registration authority in accordance with the provisions of Subparagraph 2, Paragraph 1, if they meet any of the following circumstances:
1.When the temple preparatory office is registered as the owner in the name of another natural person after having purchased or received a donated real estate, and there is no circumstance that the real estate cannot be taken over by law. After completing the registration of the temple, the temple registration certificate is issued to change the name to be registered as the temple.
2.According to the law, the rights indicated in the transfer registration as restricted registration belong to the recognized religious organization.
Article 14
For the real estate that has undergone restricted registration in accordance with Paragraph 1, Subparagraph 2 of the preceding Article, its ownership is prohibited from being transferred, and shall not establish superficial rights, agricultural rights, real estate easements, mortgages, and pawn rights. However, the following circumstances are not subject to the prohibition of transfer of ownership:
1.The arable land may be sold or exchanged with others to become land legally registered as owned by a religious group with the consent of the registered nominee and a religious group that recognizes the ownership of the rights indicated in the restricted registration.
2.Handling expropriation, section expropriation or negotiated price purchase according to law.
3.Inheritance.
Religious groups should report to the competent authority to instruct the registration of cancellation restrictions before going through the transfer registration with the real estate registration authority in accordance with the provisions of the first paragraph of the preceding paragraph.
Article 15
After the real estate has been registered for name change or restricted registration, if the competent authority finds any of the following circumstances, it shall ask the real estate registration authority to cancel the name change registration or restricted registration:
1.There are facts to confirm that the application documents or materials are forged, altered or false.
2.The court has determined a judgment or a document that has the same effect as the judgment, and it is determined that the applicant has no legal reasons for acquiring the ownership of the real estate.
Article 16
This Act shall come into force on the date of its promulgation and shall be in force for ten years.