Les Cayes. Dessalines issues his decree on wills and donations

JACQUES I, Emperor of Haiti and supreme head of the army, by the grace of God and the constitutional law of the State; Considering that the courts have until this day ratified without distinction all the wills presented to them; Considering that, in contempt of the ordinance of the seventh of February 1804, which fixes the date that annuls the sales, wills and donations made by the whites, these courts have not ceased since their installation to ratify and register such deeds, Decrees: Art. 1. Henceforth, when a will or any other deed conveying a donation has been presented either for ratification or for registration, the civil court, before giving judgment, shall inform the principal administrator of the division of the application for ratification of the said will, so as to ascertain whether the State has grounds to oppose the said application. Art. 2. Henceforth no notary may draw up deeds of sale or donation unless the seller or donor has first produced, besides his titles of property, a certificate from the principal administrator of the division attesting that the said donor or seller is the lawful owner, and that the property he wishes to sell or give does not belong, in whole or in part, to the domains of the State. Art. 3. In no case may the court ratify or register any deed conveying a donation unless the party at law has produced the certificate mentioned in the preceding article. Art. 4. The provisions of the present decree extend even to deeds made between Haitians. Etc., etc., etc. Given at Les Cayes, the 1st of September 1806, Year 3 of Independence and the second of our reign. Signed: DESSALINES. By the Emperor: For the secretary general, absent, Signed: BOISROND TONNERRE.