Report on Reform and Modernisation of Land Law

391 Pages·2005·1.03 MB·English

_______________

REPORT

ON

REFORM AND MODERNISATION

OF

LAND LAW AND CONVEYANCING LAW

_______________

(LRC 74 – 2005)

IRELAND

The Law Reform Commission

35-39 Shelbourne Road, Ballsbridge, Dublin 4
© Copyright The Law Reform Commission 2005
First Published July 2005

ISSN 1393 - 3132
ii
An Taoiseach Bertie Ahern TD
Department of the Taoiseach
Government Buildings
Upper Merrion Street
Dublin 2

1 July 2005

Report on Reform and Modernisation of Land Law and Conveyancing Law

Dear Taoiseach

I enclose a copy of the Commission’s Report on Reform and Modernisation of
Land Law and Conveyancing Law (LRC 74 – 2005) will be published in the near
future.

Yours sincerely

__________________
Catherine McGuinness
President

THE LAW REFORM COMMISSION

Background

The Law Reform Commission is an independent statutory body
whose main aim is to keep the law under review and make practical
proposals for its reform. It was established on 20 October 1975
pursuant to section 3 of the Law Reform Commission Act 1975.

The Commission’s Second Programme for Law Reform, prepared in
consultation with the Attorney General, was approved by the
Government and copies were laid before both Houses of the
Oireachtas in December 2000. The Commission also works on
matters which are referred to it on occasion by the Office of the
Attorney General under the terms of the Act.

To date, the Commission has published seventy two Reports
containing proposals for the reform of the law; eleven Working
Papers; thirty seven Consultation Papers; a number of specialised
papers for limited circulation; An Examination of the Law of Bail; and
twenty five Annual Reports in accordance with section 6 of the 1975
Act. A full list of its publications relating to land law and
conveyancing is contained in Appendix C to this Report.

Membership

The Law Reform Commission consists of a President, one full time
Commissioner and three part-time Commissioners. The
Commissioners at present are:

President: The Hon Mrs Justice Catherine
McGuinness, Supreme Court

Full-Time Commissioner: Patricia T. Rickard-Clarke, Solicitor

Part-Time Commissioner: Professor Finbarr McAuley, Jean
Monnet Professor of European Criminal
Justice, University College Dublin

Part-Time Commissioner: Marian Shanley, Solicitor
Secretary: John Quirke

Research Staff

Director of Research: Raymond Byrne BCL, LLM, Barrister-
at-Law

Legal Researchers: Deirdre Ahern LLB, LLM (Cantab),
Solicitor
Alan Brady LLB, LLM (Lond),
Attorney-at-Law (New York)
Ronan Flanagan LLB, LLM (Cantab)
Roberta Guiry BCL
Orla Joyce BCL, LLM (Cantab)
Sinéad Ring BCL (Law & German)
Mary Townsend BCL, LLM (NUI)
Aisling Wall BCL, LLM (Cantab)

Administration Staff

Project Manager: Pearse Rayel

Executive Officer: Denis McKenna

Legal Information Manager: Conor Kennedy BA, H Dip LIS

Cataloguer: Eithne Boland, BA (Hons), H Dip Ed,
H Dip LIS

Information Technology
Officer: Liam Dargan

Clerical Officers: Alan Bonny
Debbie Murray

Principal Legal Researcher on the Report

Professor J.C.W. Wylie LLM (Harvard), LLD (Belfast), Professor of
Law at Cardiff University

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Other Legal Researchers involved with this Report

Mary Townsend BCL, LLM (NUI)

Marcus Bourke MA, Barrister-at-Law, former Parliamentary
Draftsman assisted in the drafting of the attached Bill.

Contact Details:

Further information can be obtained from:

The Secretary,
The Law Reform Commission,
35-39 Shelbourne Road,
Ballsbridge,
Dublin 4.

Telephone [phone]
Fax No [phone]
Email [email protected]
Website www.lawreform.ie
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THE PROJECT

Publication of this Report marks the completion of the third, and
final, phase of the joint project for the major reform and
modernisation of land law and conveyancing law which was
established in late 2003 by the Department of Justice, Equality and
Law Reform and the Law Reform Commission. This project is part
of a larger programme of reform which has as its ultimate goal the
introduction of a comprehensive system of eConveyancing. Its
primary aim is to modernise the substantive law which underpins the
conveyancing system and, in so doing, to replace the large number of
pre-1922 statutes, some of which are centuries old, still in force in the
State.

The first phase of the project involved the screening of the pre-1922
statutes with a view to identifying those which could be: (i) repealed
without replacement; (ii) replaced without substantial amendment;
(iii) replaced with substantial amendment. It also involved a review
of the general law. The second phase comprised a consultation
process which was initiated by publication in October 2004 of the
Consultation Paper on Reform and Modernisation of Land Law and
Conveyancing Law (LRC CP34 – 2004). That Paper set out the
results of the first phase and made numerous recommendations with
respect to repeal and replacement of pre-1922 statutes and reform of
the general law. It invited comments and submissions and the
Department and Commission were pleased to receive those submitted
by the various individuals and organisations listed in Appendix A.
The consultation process was also advanced by an all-day Conference
held at UCD on 25 November 2004, at which various expert speakers,
including several from overseas, addressed issues raised by the
Consultation Paper. The keynote speaker was Professor J C W
Wylie who had been engaged as the legal researcher with
responsibility for carrying out the first phase of the project. Professor
Wylie, together with members of the Commission and the
Department also gave a presentation to the Dáil Eireann Joint
Committee on Justice, Equality, Defence and Women’s Rights on 24
November 2004.

The third phase of the project has involved the drafting of the
legislation to implement the recommendations contained in the
Consultation Paper, taking into account the various comments and
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submissions received from individuals and organisations. Professor
Wylie was again engaged to carry out this task, with the assistance of
Marcus Bourke, former Parliamentary Draftsman. Further assistance
was provided by the Commission’s Substantive Law Working Group,
which is part of the eConveyancing Project. Its members are:

The Hon Mrs. Justice Catherine McGuinness, President of the
Law Reform Commission
Commissioner Patricia T. Rickard-Clarke
Commissioner Marian Shanley
Seamus Carroll, Department of Justice, Equality and Law
Reform
Vivienne Bradley, Solicitor
Dr. John Breslin, Barrister-at-Law
Patrick Fagan, Solicitor
Chris Hogan, Former Senior Deputy Registrar, Land Registry
Caroline Kelly, Barrister-at-Law
Deirdre Morris, Solicitor
Marjorie Murphy, Solicitor
Doreen Shivnen, Barrister-at-Law

Detailed comments on the draft Bill were also provided by the Hon.
Miss Justice Mary Laffoy and Gavin Ralston SC. The Commission’s
Legal Researcher who provided much technical assistance in the
preparation of this Report was Mary Townsend.

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