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Possession And Title To Land In English Law, Kent Mcneil
Possession And Title To Land In English Law, Kent Mcneil
Articles & Book Chapters
The common law relating to land relies heavily on possession as a source of title and proprietary rights. Even a trespasser who wrongfully takes possession of land acquires a title to it that is good against anyone who cannot prove he or she has a better title. This is due in part to the rule that title is presumed from possession, but in addition it relies upon the incapacity of an outside claimant to rely on a jus tertii. In other words, the claimant is barred from pointing to a third party’s title under which he or she does not …
The Crown’S Title To Lands In England, Kent Mcneil
The Crown’S Title To Lands In England, Kent Mcneil
Articles & Book Chapters
A fundamental principle of the common law, stemming from the doctrine of tenures, provides that the Crown has the underlying or radical title to all land within its common law dominions. Private persons and corporations do not “own” land; instead, they hold estates in land that are presumed to be derived from Crown grants. This common law edifice is built on the legal fiction that the Crown once possessed and therefore owned all the lands in England. As this is known to be a fiction, all it does is give the Crown its underlying title and thus a right to …